Fiscal Note
Cost of the projects, totaling $437,305 will be covered by the State and Federal grants and administered through a segregated fund. The City will receive up to $7,300 in ETH fund to use for grant administration costs.
Title
Authorizing the Mayor to sign and the CD Division to submit an application to the Wisconsin Department of Administration for Emergency Solutions Grant, Transitional Housing Program and Homeless Prevention Program (ETH) funds on behalf of specific agencies providing housing and services to homeless and at-risk persons; and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute agreements with the State and specific non-profit agencies using the state ETH funds to serve homeless and at-risk individuals and families.
Body
The City of Madison has worked closely with a group of community-based non-profit agencies that provide services and housing to homeless persons and those at risk of becoming homeless. This cooperation involves city sponsorship and administration of an annual application to the State of Wisconsin for federal and state funds for various projects.
The Division of Housing determines awards based on a formula using data from monthly homeless census as well as poverty, unemployment and population data. Dane County is allocated $437,305. Following the notice of award, the CD Division will enter into contracts with the participating non-profits with activities provided from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015.
The application is comprised of five initiatives: 1) homeless prevention, 2) street outreach, 3) rapid re-housing, 4) emergency shelter, and 5) transitional housing programs. A minimum of 30% of the grant must be spent on rapid re-housing activities in Dane County; rapid re-housing activities are those that move homeless persons from the street or emergency shelter in as short a time as possible thereby minimizing their time homeless.
A small portion of funds included in the application, are designated to partially fund HMIS activities. The City and Dane County agencies participate in entering client-level data into Wisconsin ServicePoint (WISP) which is administered through contracts between each of the state's CoCs and the Institute for Community Alliances (ICA). ICA is a non-profit that serves as the lead HMIS administrator for CoC's in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.
In addition to the ICA project identified above, there are 17 unique projects orperated by 12 agencies included in the City's application for ETH funding. These agencies include: Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Inc.; Dane County Parent Council, Inc.; Institute for Community Alliances; Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. Porchlight, Inc.; The Road Home Dane County, Inc.; The Salvation Army of Dane County; Stoughton United Ministries, Tellurian UCAN, Inc.; Tenant Resource Center, Inc.; YWCA of Madison, Inc.; and Youth Services of Southern Wisconsin, Inc.
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 this problem using community-based groups; and
WHEREAS, the Common Council has accepted the Community Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in Dane County which includes goals and objectives represented in these activities; and
WHEREAS, the CD Division staff have worked collaboratively with interested Homeless Services Consortium agencies to analyze current unmet needs and jointly develop a list of projects for submission to the State for ETH funds.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council accept the following projects as part of the City's application for ETH funding with the State Department of Administration, Division of Housing; authorize the Mayor to sign and the CD Division to submit an application for Emergency Solutions Grant, Transitional Housing Program and Homeless Prevention Program funds; and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute agreements with the State and specific non-profit agencies providing housing and services for homeless persons.
Community Action Coalition for South Central WI - $131,405 for the Rentable Program which provides financial assistance and housing stabilization services 1) to persons at-risk of homelessness in the form of rent in arrears and/or rent subsidies and 2) to homeless persons in the form of a security deposit and/or rent subsidy. A portion of these funds are set-aside for use by participating HSC agencies.
Dane County Parent Council - $13,500 for Hope House Support Services to assist young homeless mothers and children enrolled in the Early Head Start program.
Institute for Community Alliances - $3,900 for HMIS lead agency services including WISP training and support.
Legal Action of WI - $20,000 for Legal Services to prevent evictions that led to homelessness.
Porchlight - $23,300 for the STABLE Program to pay for staff and operations to serve homeless single adults with substance abuse issues and $25,000 for Outreach Services serving homeless single men identified through the men's Drop-In Shelter.
The Road Home Dane County - $16,800 Shelter Case Management to serve homeless families using the IHN Shelter Program or on the waitlist.
The Salvation Army Dane County - $16,800 Shelter Case Management for Families on the shelter waitlist; $18,800 Shelter Case Management for Single Women who use the Single Women's Shelter; and $8,100 Medical Vouchers which provide motel vouchers for homeless persons with medical needs that cannot be accommodated in traditional shelter.
Stoughton United Ministries - $10,400 Pathways to Self Sufficiency provides case management to at-risk families with children and single adults.
Tellurian - $20,000 Employment Coordination to work with homeless participants in transitional housing, connecting them to employers and providing job coaching.
Tenant Resource Center - $10,100 Housing Mediation Services for tenants and landlords who are scheduled to appear in Eviction Small Claims Court in order to avoid evictions and homelessness.
YWCA of Madison - $16,800 Family Shelter Case Management to serve those families who reside in emergency shelter; and $50,000 Rapid Re-housing Program to move homeless families from shelter to permanent housing as quickly as possible to minimize the length of homelessness.
Youth Services of Southern WI - $22,000 Youth Street Team provides outreach workers to engage homeless youth under age 18 and young adults; and $23,100 Support Services for Youth Adults in Cooperative Housing which combines efforts with Madison Community Cooperative to provide housing for homeless youth under age 25.