REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
September 24, 2024
FROM
DIANE RUNDLES, Assistant Executive Officer, Community Revitalization
SUBJECT
Title
Grant Agreements from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Continuum of Care Planning and Homeless Management Information System Grants
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve, on behalf of the San Bernardino City and County Continuum of Care, the following grant award agreements from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in a combined total amount of $1,070,409:
a. Agreement (Grant No. CA2300L9D092300) for the Continuum of Care Planning Grant, for a one-year period beginning October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025, in the amount of $820,251.
b. Agreement (Grant No. CA0939L9D092314) for the Continuum of Care Homeless Management Information System, for a one-year period beginning November 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025, in the amount of $250,158.
2. Authorize the Chief Executive Officer, Assistant Executive Officer, or the Chief of Homeless Services, to execute the grant agreements, any subsequent non-substantive amendments, and all other ancillary supporting documents necessary for the administration of these grants, on behalf of the San Bernardino City and County Continuum of Care, subject to review by County Counsel.
3. Direct the Chief of Homeless Services to transmit the grant award agreements and amendments in relation to the Continuum of Care Planning and Homeless Management Information Systems grants to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
4. Authorize the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector to post the necessary budget adjustment to the Office of Homeless Services budget, as detailed in the Financial Impact section (Four votes required).
(Presenter: Marcus Dillard, Chief of Homeless Services, 501-0610)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The total combined grant awards of $1,070,409 include $820,251 for the San Bernardino City and County Continuum of Care (CoC) Planning grant and $250,158 for the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) grant. The grants require a minimum of 25% cash and/or in-kind match. The County, as the lead agency of the CoC, is required to provide a 25% total match of $205,603 for Planning and $62,540 for the Homeless Management Information Systems, that will be provided in the form of salaries funded from non-federal sources, such as State or local funding. The CoC Planning grant is $388,932 greater than anticipated and requires a budget adjustment in that amount.
Approval of this item authorizes the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector to post the following budget adjustments necessary to authorize expenditures:
|
Fund Center |
Commitment Item |
Description |
Action |
Amount |
|
6210002489 |
40509094 |
Federal Grants |
Increase |
$388,932 |
|
6210002489 |
52002000 |
Operating Expenses-Services & Supplies |
Increase |
$388,932 |
|
6210002489 |
40909975 |
Operating Transfers In |
Increase |
$205,603 |
|
6210002489 |
55405010 |
Salaries and Benefits Transfer Out |
Increase |
$205,603 |
|
6210001000 |
55415011 |
Salaries and Benefits Transfer In |
Increase |
$205,603 |
|
6210001000 |
55305030 |
Operating Transfers Out |
Increase |
$205,603 |
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
As the Administrative Entity for the CoC, the Office of Homeless Services (OHS) will utilize the CoC Planning and HMIS grants to provide essential administrative support to the CoC and maintain the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandated county-wide HMIS.
The CoC program is designed to promote community-wide planning and strategic use of resources to address homelessness, improve coordination and integration with mainstream resources and other efforts targeted to people experiencing homelessness, and improve data collection and performance measurement.
The CoC works to ensure community-wide commitment to ending and preventing homelessness in all areas of the county through the inclusion of a variety of community stakeholders who are invested in resolving homelessness and located in the CoC geographic area. Stakeholders include organizational representatives of non-profit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, local governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless veterans, and homeless and formerly homeless persons.
The awarded CoC Planning grant funds will be used to continue a partnership with the Institute of Urban Initiatives, which assists OHS and the CoC with a variety of planning-related activities, such as improving the design and integration of information needed to complete and submit the most competitive HUD collaborative grant applications; providing assistance and technical expertise for the administration of the annual Point-In-Time Count and Housing Inventory Count, as well as producing related reports for each; conducting the Annual Performance Report; providing homeless assistance trainings for the CoC; providing guidance, analysis and annual reviews of the Coordinated Entry System; providing technical support for the HMIS; developing and updating the Homeless Strategic Action Plan; and covering the planning, coordination, and staffing costs associated with the annual Homeless Summit and Housing Conference.
The HMIS is a local information technology system used to collect data related to the provision of housing and services to individuals and families at risk of and experiencing homelessness. The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 requires each local jurisdiction to have an HMIS software solution with the capacity to collect unduplicated counts of individuals and families experiencing homelessness that complies with HUD data collection, management, and reporting standards. HMIS is also required to provide annual reports to HUD demonstrating the progress that each community is making to prevent and end homelessness.
The HMIS grant funds will be used to continue the maintenance and operation of Bitfocus, Inc.’s Clarity Human Services database, on behalf of the CoC. Clarity Human Services is a web-enabled database used by homeless service providers throughout the county to capture information about the individuals they serve. The data is utilized to evaluate performance metrics to ensure outcome goals are achieved and to strategically implement programs and services that reduce homelessness and increase housing and economic stability. The HMIS grant is also utilized to cover software and staffing costs to support the proper application of data collection and meet HUD standard data reporting requirements.
On June 4, 2024, acting as the lead agency on behalf of the CoC, OHS received HUD’s Fiscal Year 2023 CoC Program Standard Agreement for the HMIS renewal grant award (Project No. CA0939L9D092314) in the amount of $250,158 and on July 23, 2024, the Standard Agreement for Planning grant award (Project No. CA2300L9D092300) in the amount of $820,251, for a total grant amount of $1,070,409. The Board has been accepting and approving these Planning and HMIS grants annually since 2013. Delegated authority for the Chief of Homeless Services to sign the grant agreement is requested as they are the authorized signatory with HUD.
The planned expenditure of these funds will be as follows:
|
Expense |
Cost |
|
Homeless Management Information System |
|
HMIS Software |
$132,600 |
|
Staffing |
$117,558 |
|
Planning Grant |
|
Consultant Services - Annual Application |
$149,000 |
|
Project Evaluation Services |
$63,100 |
|
HUD Monitoring Compliance |
$136,900 |
|
Point in Time Count |
$58,200 |
|
CoC System Enhancement |
$201,500 |
|
CoC Application Activities/Development |
$175,251 |
|
Consolidated Plan Consulting Services |
$36,300 |
|
Total |
$1,070,409 |
Approval of this item will allow OHS to accept the HUD Planning grant award for the period of October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 and the HUD HMIS grant award for the period of November 1, 2024, through October 31, 2025, and authorizes the Chief Executive Officer, Assistant Executive Officer, or the Chief of Homeless Services to execute and submit the grant agreements and any subsequent non-substantive amendments and ancillary supporting documents for administration of these grants, on behalf of the County and CoC, subject to review by County Counsel.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Suzanne Bryant, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 20, 2024; Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (Mima Ugbo, Auditor-Controller Manager, 382-3035) on August 26, 2024; Finance (Christopher Lange, Deputy Director, 386-8393) on September 10, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on September 10, 2024.
.