At this week's City Commission, Commissioners considered approving Resolution No. 22-8125 authorizing staff to submit an application on behalf of eligible local recipient agencies for the 2023 Kansas Emergency Solutions Grant Program.
BACKGROUND:
The Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) is accepting applications for the 2023 Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Program which the City of Salina has consistently been applying for since 1994. This grant is designed to prevent homelessness with a primary focus on enabling homeless persons to move toward sustained independent living. Applications are only accepted and considered from local units of government and are to be administered by the local government. Grant recipients may include nonprofit organizations that are tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The organizations must have, among other requirements, an acceptable accounting system, voluntary board, and non-discrimination hiring practices for their provision of services.
The ESG program is a federal block grant authorized by subtitle B of the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act and is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Funding can be used for five categories of specific program activities: street outreach, emergency shelter, homeless prevention, rapid re-housing assistance, and HMIS (Homeless Management Information Systems).
Eligible Activities
Street Outreach Funds may be used for costs of providing essential services through street outreach activities to connect with unsheltered and homeless people; providing them with resources for emergency shelter, housing, or critical services; and providing urgent non-facility-based care to unsheltered homeless people who are unwilling or unable to access emergency shelter, housing or an appropriate health facility.
Emergency Shelter Funds may be used for costs of providing essential services to families and individuals residing in emergency shelters; maintenance and repair of buildings to be used as emergency shelter for homeless families and individuals; and operating emergency shelters.
Homeless Prevention Funds may be used to provide housing relocation and stabilization services and short-term or medium-term rental assistance necessary to prevent an individual or family from moving into an emergency shelter and prevent incidences of homelessness.
Rapid Re-Housing Funds may be used to provide housing relocation and stabilization services and short-term or medium-term rental assistance necessary to help a homeless individual or family move as quickly as possible into permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing.
HMIS (Homeless Manaqement Information System) Funds may be used to pay the costs of contributing to the HMIS designated by the Continuum of Care for the area including the costs of purchasing hardware, software licenses or equipment, obtaining technical support, completing data entry and analysis, monitoring and reviewing data quality, training, reporting, and coordinating and integrating the system.
Administration KHRC as the recipient may use up to 7.5% of its ESG grant for the payment of administrative costs related to the planning and execution of ESG activities.
The Salina community has established a strong continuum of care to address homelessness and at risk of homelessness issues. The non-profit agencies represented in this application are integral to creating a safety net of shelter within the Salina community. These agencies offer both emergency shelter and supportive services that lead individuals and families to or keep them in decent, affordable housing within the parameters of the grant requirements.
As the largest community in Saline County and a regional service area for surrounding counties, the City of Salina can demonstrate a significant need for housing support services for homeless individuals and those at-risk of homelessness. To address this need, Salina has established a strong network of local providers to ensure a continuum of care to help individuals facing housing issues led by those applying to be ESG Funded Agencies in this proposed grant.
This year, agencies who have submitted applications to provide qualified services related to ESG funding are Ashby House Ltd., the Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas (DVACK), and Salina Grace. A total of $418,700 will be requested in the application, with each agency requesting the following amounts:
The City of Salina has been successful in applying for and receiving grant awards for the Emergency Solutions Grant (formerly Emergency Shelter Grant) for over 25 years. In the past ten years, the City of Salina has been awarded over $1,000,000 in ESG funds which directly benefit individuals and families in our community. KHRC requires an annual audit of the City's management of the grant in order to remain eligible. City Grant awards from 2016-2022:
ESG FFY Requested Granted
2022 $409,000 $140,072
2021 $314,900 $249,324
2019 $199,200 $130,740
2018 $170,000 $138,546
2017 $220,800 $146,968
2016 $259,696 $114,308
Special COVID-related funds were automatically awarded in 2020 and then replaced with ESG COVID funds in order to quickly provide emergency funds to communities during the pandemic. These funds did not have the same requirements as regular ESG funds, and there was a more streamlined application process. Salina was automatically awarded around double the amount of funds that were requested in 2019.
FISCAL NOTE:
This grant requires a 100% match by the recipient agencies. The City of Salina is not required to provide any matching funds for the grant.
ESG awards typically include an amount, usually about 7.5% of the total grant award, for administrative costs to be reimbursed to the local unit of government to partially defray program related administrative staff costs. Community Relations staff review, validate and submit quarterly reimbursement requests and maintain records for the grant.
The motion to approve Resolution No. 23-8125, authorizing the preparation and submittal of an application to the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) for the Emergency Solutions Grant was approved 5-0.