Harris County Community Services Department

PY2009 Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Homeless Prevention

Program Subrecipient Orientation

Public Services Staff

Esmeralda Gonzalez, Manager 713-578-2042 Natalie Garcia, Project Monitor 713-578-2065 Ron Smith, Project Monitor 713-578-2128 Shalla Bass, Project Assistant 713-578-2127

Contents of Folder

Welcome letter Agenda Subrecipient Orientation Acknowledgment Evaluation Form Programmatic Forms ESG Homeless Prevention Handbook

Agreements

Agreements were drafted based on applicants’ Request for Proposals (RFP’s) submitted to CSD for PY2009 funding

PY2009 Time of Performance: March 1, 2009 to February 28, 2010

Two (2) budget revisions are allowed per year, no later than 90 days prior to the end of the program year (cut-off to receive your budget revision request: November 30, 2009.)

Agreements

Refer to Exhibit A: Scope of Service and Exhibit B: Budget Activity Unit Definition Cost per Unit of Service Total No. of Units Per Activity Maximum Total Cost Per Year PY2009 Number Served

ESG Overview

ESG Objectives: To increase the number and quality of emergency shelters and transitional

housing facilities for homeless individuals and families, To operate these facilities and provide essential social services, and To help prevent homelessness. Eligible program activities: To provide homeless persons with basic shelter and essential supportive

services To assist with operational costs of a shelter facility To provide short-term homeless prevention

assistance to persons at imminent risk of losing their own housing due to eviction, foreclosure, or utility shutoffs.

Eligibility for Homeless Prevention

For homeless prevention activities, Subrecipients must obtain evidence of:

an eviction, foreclosure, or utility termination notice, and

that the inability to pay was due to a sudden loss of income, and

that assistance is necessary to prevent homelessness, and

The resumption of payment is reasonably expected within the near future.

Harris County Service Area

Restriction on location of activities (24 CFR 570.309) Subrecipients funded by CSD will provide activities to persons who

reside in the Harris County service area.

Prior to providing assistance, service area eligibility must be determined by conducting an address search utilizing the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) web page.

www.hcad.org The CSD service area includes the unincorporated areas of Harris County outside

of the cities of Houston, Baytown and Pasadena. Included in this service area are the 15 cooperative cities of Bellaire, Deer Park, Galena Park, Humble, Jacinto City, Katy, La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Seabrook, Shoreacres, South Houston, Tomball, Waller, Webster, and West University Place.

All persons served must be in the Harris County Service Area

An address is eligible if : The code 040 (Harris County) appears in the list, and The following codes do not appear:

061 (City of Houston, 051 (City of Baytown), 074 (City of Pasadena), 053 (Bunker Hill Village), 055 (Hedwig Village), 056 (El Lago), 060 (Hillshire Village), 064 (Missouri City), 065 (Hunters Creek Village), 068 (Meadows), 090 (Jersey Village), 073 (Nassau Bay), 075 (Piney Point Village), 079 (Southside Place), 080 (Spring Valley), or 082 (Taylor Lake Village).

All persons served mustbe very low, low or moderateincome before reduction of income

INCOME LEVELS & HOUSEHOLD SIZE

INCOME LEVELS HOUSEHOLD SIZE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Very Low Income(Limits based on 0-30% of area median income)

12,850 14,700 16,500 18,350 19,800 21,300 22,750 24,200

Low Income(Limits based on 31-50% of area median

income)21,400 24,450 27,500 30,550 33,000 35,450 37,900 40,350

Moderate Income(Limits based on 51-80% of area median

income)34,250 39,100 44,000 48,900 52,800 56,700 60,650 64,550

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, January 28, 2008.

Homeless Prevention Program Handbook, Rules and Guidelines

Subrecipients providing homeless prevention assistance must collect required documentation and receive CSD approval prior to providing the actual assistance.

Turn to the following sections in the CSD Homeless Prevention Program

Handbook 04.01 Service Area Residency04.02 Examples of Income Guidelines04.03 Eligible Activities04.04A Examples of “sudden reduction of income”04.04C Acceptable Documentation to show resumption of payments05.01 Documentation to be submitted for authorization05.02 Authorization of Assistance05.05 Maximum Assistance Amounts

PY2009 Programmatic Reports

1. Coversheet / Checklist2. Project Status Report3. Client Data Report4. Tally Sheet5. Individual Eligibility Forms6. Employee Data Report7. Client Track Print-out 8. Mid-Year Report or Annual Performance Report

What if…

For the period ending April 30, 2009, the Client Data Report indicates that 3 new

households and 2 duplicates from March were provided homeless prevention assistance. How many Individual

Eligibility Forms should be submitted in April? What should the totals in the Tally

Sheet reflect?

What if…

Your project’s goal is to serve 30 households. You served 0 households in the first 3 months and 10 households by the end of the 6th month. What information will you provide in the Mid-Year Report on how the project is meeting its goals?

Important notes on monthly reports

Monthly reports are due within 10 working days of the end of the monthly reporting periods.

For projects that expend funds early, submission of monthly reports with no new persons/services is still required.

Example: Project meets contract goals of persons served, units of service provided, and funds are exhausted by the end of January 31, 2010; submission of reports for period ending February 28, 2010 is still required.

Client Track Reporting

CSD requires Subrecipients which provide homeless prevention assistance with County funds to participate in the Homeless Management Information System administered by the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH).

The ClientTrack print-outs can be submitted to CSD after you: Inform the CFTH of your grant name, type of funding, the operating year,

and list of services funded through the grant Sign up and receive training Input information on clients and services provided into ClientTrack

Please contact CFTH staff at 713-739-7514 or click on their website at www.homelesshouston.org for further assistance.

Subrecipient Monitoring

CSD staff conduct monthly desk reviews of Subrecipient program reports and reimbursement requests submitted.

Projects are monitored on-site at least annually to ensure compliance with Federal regulations and CSD requirements.

Subrecipient Monitoring

CSD sends a notice of the monitoring visit 15-30 days prior to the visit.

Participant eligibility, activities provided, and consistency with terms of the Agreement are reviewed, as detailed in the monitoring checklist attached to the notice.

CSD sends a monitoring results letter within 30 days after the monitoring visit citing findings and/or concerns (if any).

Subrecipient response letter is due no later than 30 days after the date of the results letter if responding to findings and/or concerns.

Important Points

Grantor Recognition Spell out “Harris County Community Services Department” Keep all items that document grantor recognition in a Grant File for

review during the monitoring visit (press releases, media announcements, fundraising brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, print-out from agency website)

Policy and Procedures Handbook for CSD-funded project will be obtained for CSD’s files

Units of Service in the client files should match the numbers of Units of Service reported in Client Data and Project Status Reports

What if…

The March 2009 Client Data Report shows 2 units of case management for Mama Bear. In her file, there is a case management note documenting services on March 23rd. What

will the Project Monitor ask you?

What if…

Your agency recognizes Harris County as a Grantor in its annual newsletter for ESG

funding. What will your Project Monitor say about that?

Homeless Assistance and Participation

Per 24 CFR 576.56 (b) (1) and (2), recipients of ESG funds must provide for the participation of homeless or formerly homeless individuals on its policy-making entity and involve homeless individuals and families in providing work or services pertaining to ESG assisted activities.

At the monitoring visit, we will request documentation evidencing your agency’s compliance with this requirement (refer to sample letters.)

What if…

One of your Board members writes “I was homeless, and now I serve on the Board.”

What more is needed to adequately document Homeless Assistance and

Participation?

Reference Tools

Forms are located on the CD provided and at our Grants Management webpage, which will be

http://www.csd.hctx.net/

Please visit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website for references and links to all applicable rules, laws, and regulations.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/programs/esg/index.cfmhttp://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/24cfr576_04.html

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/retrieve.html

Questions & Answers: Programmatic Forms

What source doc. do we need to submit for CSD pre-approval?

Can I report duplicate clients on the Tally Sheet?

Is telephone utility assistance an allowable cost?

For Your Information

Harris County Community Services Department

Office of Housing and Community Development

8410 Lantern Point

Houston, Texas 77054

Main number: 713-578-2000

Fax number: 713-578-2269

http://www.csd.hctx.net/

CSD staff email address: firstname.lastname@csd.hctx.net

Finance Staff Presentation

We hope this orientation was informative and beneficial.

Please sign and submit the Acknowledgment form, provide feedback on the Evaluation

Form, and pick up your Certificate of Attendance.