Agenda Information Sheet
DEPARTMENT: Development Services
CM/ACM: Todd Hileman
DATE: March 7, 2017
SUBJECT
Title
Consider adoption of an ordinance of the City of Denton, Texas authorizing the City Manager to make application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Emergency Solutions Grant Program and take all other actions necessary to obtain funding and implement the program; and providing for an effective date.
Body
BACKGROUND
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has released the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) that provides assistance to the homeless and those at-risk of becoming homeless. TDHCA is designated by the Texas Legislature to administer the ESG Program.
The award period for the funds awarded under this NOFA is for two years and is intended to run from September 1, 2017 to August 31, 2019. For this application, applicants will set performance measures and budgets for a twenty-four-month cycle for Program Year (PY) 2017 and PY 2018 between September 1, 2017 and August 31, 2019.
For 2016, the Department received $8,817,205. For each of PYs 2017 and 2018, the Department expects to receive either a similar level of funding or less. Using an allocation formula, the Department is making available a certain percentage of the State’s ESG allocation to each CoC region to be awarded on a competitive basis within that region. The ESG funds can be used for the following purposes:
• The rehabilitation or conversion of buildings for use as emergency shelter for the homeless;
• The payment of certain expenses related to operating emergency shelters;
• Essential services related to emergency shelters and street outreach for the homeless; and,
• Homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing assistance.
Within the ESG application, the City of Denton serves as Lead Agency in a collaborative application with nonprofit partner agencies. The five (5) partners are Christian Community Action, Denton County Friends of the Family, Giving HOPE Inc., Interfaith Ministries of Denton, Inc., and The Salvation Army Denton, a Georgia Corporation. ESG funds are leveraged to provide assistance to the homeless and those at-risk of becoming homeless in Denton County. The Collaborative has been awarded the ESG grant in previous years including $600,339 in 2015-16 ESG funding.
The partners will be submitting a collaborative application. The application request will be $600,000 for program year 2017-18 and $600,000 for program year 2018-19 for $1.2 million dollars total.
Figure 1: Breakdown of grant request by program and agency.
The collaborative application was not awarded funds for PY 2016. For more information about ESG funding loss, please refer to Informal Staff Reports, 2016-062 Emergency Solutions Grant Funding Loss and 2016-093 Emergency Solutions Grant Funding Loss (Exhibit 1). If the application is not funded, the next option to apply will not be available until 2019. Should the grant not be approved in this two year funding cycle, the agencies will have to make cuts to personnel and will reduce the number of homeless they can serve in homeless and housing assistance programs. In addition, the City’s public safety services should expect to see some level of increased demand on emergency response services. Since the loss of the grant on 2016-17, the agencies have been working individually and in collaboration to seek new sources of funding for local projects but no significant sources have been identified or secured at this time.
OPTIONS
• Direct staff to apply for the Emergency Solutions Grant as Lead Agency in collaboration with the partner nonprofit agencies.
• Direct staff not to apply for the Emergency Solution Grant as Lead Agency in collaboration with the partner nonprofit agencies.
RECOMMENDATION
Direct staff to apply for the Emergency Solutions Grant as the lead agency in collaborative with the partner nonprofit agencies.
ESTIMATED SCHEDULE OF PROJECT
September 1, 2017 to August 31, 2019.
PRIOR ACTION/REVIEW (Council, Boards, Commissions)
The Denton City Council has approved the application for ESG funds annually from 2010-2016. The Texas Homeless Network, the designated lead organization for the federally recognized Continuum of Care, reviewed and supports local participation in the Emergency Solutions Grant Program application.
FISCAL INFORMATION
The Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESG) is a collaborative effort. The City acts as lead agency. Nearly 100% of ESG funds pass through to the collaborative partners Christian Community Action, Denton County Friends of the Family, Giving HOPE Inc., Interfaith Ministries and The Salvation Army-Denton. ESG requires a 100% match. Match will consist of employee salaries, donated facilities, donated supplies, cash donations, and volunteer hours. It will be provided primarily by the partners but, could also include Community Development staff salaries.
STRATEGIC PLAN RELATIONSHIP
The City of Denton’s Strategic Plan is an action-oriented road map that will help the City achieve its vision. The foundation for the plan is the five long-term Key Focus Areas (KFA): Organizational Excellence; Public Infrastructure; Economic Development; Safe, Livable, and Family-Friendly Community; and Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship. While individual items may support multiple KFAs, this specific City Council agenda item contributes most directly to the following KFA and goal:
Related Key Focus Area: Safe, Liveable & Family-Friendly Community
Related Goal: 4.5 Provide support to citizens in need through social service agencies and programs
In the 2016-17 Strategic Plan this relates to Goal 5, Strategic Outcome #3 By 2020, reduce Denton’s homeless population by 20%.
EXHIBITS
Exhibit 1 - Informal Staff Reports
Exhibit 2 - Proposed Ordinance
Respectfully submitted:
Barbara Ross
Community Development Manager
Prepared by:
Danielle Shaw
Human Services Coordinator