REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
July 13, 2021
FROM
CASONYA THOMAS, Assistant Executive Officer, Community Revitalization
SUBJECT
Title
Grant Awards from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Continuum of Care Homeless Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Accept and approve grant award agreement for the non-competitive grant awards from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Continuum of Care Homeless Program, in a combined total amount of $664,343, for the following projects:
a. Project No. CA1955L9D092000 for the Continuum of Care Homeless Planning funding, in the amount of $414,185, for a one-year period beginning the date the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development completes the grant approval process.
b. Project No. CA0939L9D092011 for the Continuum of Care Homeless Management Information System, in the amount of $250,158, for the period of November 1, 2021 through October 31, 2022.
2. Designate the Chief Executive Officer or Assistant Executive Officer - Community Revitalization or Chief of Homeless Services to execute the grant award documents, as well as all other ancillary supporting documents, and make any subsequent non-substantive amendments and changes necessary on behalf of the County, subject to review by County Counsel.
3. Authorize the Office of Homeless Services to prepare and submit the grant awards and supporting materials and documents on behalf of the San Bernardino County Continuum of Care.
4. Direct the Chief Executive Officer or Assistant Executive Officer - Community Revitalization or Chief of Homeless Services to transmit all grant award documents and amendments in relation to the Continuum of Care Homeless Program to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
(Presenter: CaSonya Thomas, Assistant Executive Officer, 387-4717)
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 grant awards in the total combined amount of $664,343 ($414,185 for Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Planning (Planning) funding and $250,158 for the CoC Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) funding) from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires a minimum 25 percent cash and/or in-kind match. The total match of $166,086 ($103,546 for Planning funding and $62,540 for HMIS funding) will be provided in the form of salaries funded from non-federal resources. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Office of Homeless Services (OHS) 2021-22 budget and will be included in the 2022-23 recommended budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On January 29, 2021, HUD released FY 2020 CoC Program Non-Competitive Funding Notice CPD-21-01 stating HUD was non-competitively renewing for one 12-month period existing CoC renewal projects and CoC planning awards. On May 4, 2021, the San Bernardino County CoC received notification of the conditional awards under HUD’s FY 2020 CoC Program Non-Competitive grant funding process for the Planning grant award (Project No. CA1955L9D092000) in the amount of $414,185, for a one-year period beginning the date HUD completes the grant approval process and for the HMIS grant award (Project No. CA0939L9D092011) in the amount of $250,158, for the period of November 1, 2021 through October 31, 2022. These non-competitive project renewals continue the previous Board approved awards for the HUD FY 2019 Planning Project grant award to provide funding for consultation services and the HUD FY 2019 HMIS grant award for the operation of the HMIS system.
The HUD CoC Homeless program is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goals of ending homelessness; to provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, states and local governments to quickly re-house homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; to promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and to optimize self-sufficiency among those experiencing homelessness.
The Planning funding may be utilized under the following five key areas to improve the design and carry out the collaborative process for the application to HUD: 1) increase and expand the evaluative outcomes of the CoC and Emergency Solutions Grant programs, including collaborative efforts and alignment of services to identify outreach strategies and improve service; 2) engage local municipalities to participate and assume ownership of an annual Point-In-Time Count; 3) integrate the CoC and other homeless funded programs into the consolidated planning process of the local and municipal agencies to enhance regional coordination of services; 4) further the development of a CoC system that will end homelessness among veterans, youth, families, and the chronically homeless; and 5) the development of a CoC homeless action plan.
The tasks required in order to meet Planning’s key areas are in alignment with recent action taken by the Board of Supervisors (Board). On November 17, 2020 (Item No. 43), the Board approved the development of an annual San Bernardino County Homeless Strategic Plan to increase the efficacy and expand the impact of the County’s housing and homeless programs. The Homeless Strategic Plan will encompass broad strategies that will bring the necessary capacity, investment, partnership and collective impact to achieve the goal of addressing homelessness. Upon Board adoption of the Homeless Strategic Plan, the County and the CoC will collaborate to propose projects and programs aligned with the Homeless Strategic Plan related to CoC planning activities.
HMIS is the information system designated by the San Bernardino County CoC to comply with HUD’s data collection, management, and reporting standards. HMIS is utilized to collect client-level data and data on the provision of housing and services to homeless individuals and families and persons at risk of homelessness. OHS is the administrator of the HMIS for the San Bernardino County CoC and will use the grant funding for HMIS operating expenses, such as, staffing costs and software for the HMIS database. OHS has operated the web-enabled database system on behalf of the San Bernardino County CoC since 2013. Utilization of the HMIS is a requirement for agencies/entities to receive funding from HUD for the CoC Homeless program and the Emergency Solutions Grant, as well as a requirement for State grant programs, such as the Homeless Emergency Aid Program and the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program.
On September 23, 2019, the FY 2019 Planning Project and FY 2019 HMIS grant applications were approved by the County Administrative Office and submitted to HUD on September 27, 2019 as part of the entire CoC collaborative grant application process. OHS acts in the role of an administrative agent on behalf of the San Bernardino County CoC, which includes the submission of the annual HUD CoC Homeless Assistance program collaborative grant application during the HUD CoC Program Competition.
On October 27, 2020 (Item Nos. 46 and 47), the Board approved the FY 2019 Planning Project grant award in the amount of $372,687 for a one-year period effective upon HUD approval and the FY 2019 HMIS grant award in the amount of $250,158 for the period of November 1, 2020 through October 31, 2021.
Approval of this item will allow OHS to accept the grant awards and authorizes the Chief Executive Officer, Assistant Executive Officer - Community Revitalization, or Chief of Homeless Services to execute and submit the grant agreement documents and any subsequent non-substantive amendments on behalf of the County, 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 June 11, 2021; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on June 22, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on June 23, 2021.