Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution authorizes the City to submit an application on behalf of local service agencies for 2016-2017 ETH grant funds. The Community Development Division's 2016 Adopted Operating Budget authorized $500,000 in ETH grant revenues and commensurate expenditures. The City anticipates receiving an allocation of $497,114 in ESG, THP, and HPP grant funds for 2016-2017.
The following MUNIS accounts include the 2016 revenue budget authority for ETH grant funds:
62112101-42210-83016 HSG AST EN STATE REV OP 2016 ESG
62550101-42210-83016 CD 26 A EN STATE REV OP 2016 ESG
62112101-42210-83116 HSG AST EN STATE REV OP 2016 HPP
62112101-42210-83216 HSG AST EN STATE REV OP 2016 THP
Title
Authorizing the Mayor to sign an application for 2016-2017 ETH grant funds, to be submitted by the City to the Wisconsin DOA’s Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources, on behalf of local agencies providing housing and services to homeless and at-risk individuals and families.
Body
Background
The Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Transitional Housing Program (THP), and Homeless Prevention Program (HPP) are State-administered funds, collectively referred to as the ETH Program. ESG funds are awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Energy, Housing, and Community Resources (DEHCR) by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for distribution to eligible applicants. HPP and THP are State-funded programs.
ESG, THP and HPP funds are combined and allocated to local continuums of care (CoCs), each of which serve specific geographic areas of the state. The Madison/Dane County CoC is served by a group of community-based non-profit agencies that provide a range of services and housing to homeless persons and those at risk of becoming homeless. The lead applicant and sub-recipient applicants may apply for this funding under six different project types: administration, emergency shelter, homeless management information systems (HMIS), homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, and street outreach. However, though ETH funds are available for use by numerous service providers, the State accepts only a single application on behalf of the entire CoC. Thus, each CoC must collectively decide how best to allocate its State-determined grant award among eligible project types and applicants by considering local needs and past project performance. Final decisions pertaining to the content of the Madison/Dane County CoC application rests with the Homeless Services Consortium (HSC) Board of Directors.
The City of Madison provides administrative and technical support to CoC members and the HSC Board in assembling the ETH application. The City serves as the formal applicant on behalf of the CoC and also distributes and administers awarded funds. In return, the City receives 7.5% (or about $6,500) of the ESG portion of the ETH award to defray its staff costs.
The amount of funding to be made available to each CoC is determined by the State, utilizing a formula based on factors related to need, performance and funding stabilization. For 2016-17, the Madison/Dane County CoC has been informed that it will receive a total of $497,114 in combined ESG, THP and HPP funds.
The methodology to be used by the Madison/Dane County CoC in developing its 2016-17 ETH application was set by the HSC Board of Directors at its April 4th meeting. It invited agencies to submit applications and formed a review team to evaluate them, using Board-approved scoring criteria, and to formulate recommendations regarding the content of the CoC’s final application. Those recommendations were presented to the Board for final decisions at its April 15th meeting. The process described above was presented to the City’s CDBG Committee at its April 7th meeting, though that body had no direct role to play.
When the State DEHCR formally notifies the City of the CoC’s ETH award, CDD will present a separate resolution to the Council seeking authority to accept the grant on behalf of the CoC, and to execute agreements with each of the designated agencies to provide services commencing on July 1, 2016.
Action
WHEREAS, the Common Council has adopted a five-year Community and Neighborhood Development Plan which identifies homelessness as a critical issue within the community, and outlines a set of strategies and priorities to address those problems, which rely upon the work of community-based groups; and,
WHEREAS, the Common Council has also accepted the Community Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in Dane County, which includes goals and objectives represented in these activities; and,
WHEREAS, the City’s Community Development Division staff work collaboratively with a variety of non-profit community-based groups to analyze current unmet needs of homeless persons in our community and to pursue strategies and available resources to help address them; and,
WHEREAS, the State of Wisconsin makes State and Federal dollars available to support these efforts through the ETH Program, and stipulates that local service providers coordinate their proposals within a single application for these funds; and,
WHEREAS, the Homeless Services Consortium Board of Directors, which represents the local organizations serving Madison and Dane County, set forth a process by which the contents of an ETH application for the Madison/Dane County CoC were to be selected; and requested that the City of Madison, on behalf of the CoC, submit that application to the State by the application deadline of May 6, 2016;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes the Mayor to sign the ETH Application, which is to be submitted by the City, on behalf of the Madison/Dane County CoC, to the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources.