Homelessness Prevention Programs

Program Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Continuum of Care Program (CoC) Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF)

Uses: Provides services to homeless individuals and families living on the street, improves  quality and number of emergency shelters, executes rapid re-housing programs Permanent housing rental assistance, short and medium-term, tenant based rental assistance,Supportive services, HMIS, Project Administration Rental Assistance, Supportive Services, Rapid Re-Housing, and Utility Payments for Veterans and Veteran FamiliesI

Funding Recipients: Public jurisdictions (metropolitan cities, urban counties, territories, and states) Private nonprofit organizations, states, local government, instrumentalities of state and local government, and public housing agencies VA awards grants to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives who provide supportive services to veterans

Eligible Beneficiary Requirements: Meets the HUD definition of “homelessness” or “at risk of homelessness,” which is defined as below 30% AMI Individuals and families meeting the HUD definition of “homeless” and any additional requirements for eligibility  Veteran families with an income of 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) or below, families must include at least one Veteran and be homeless or imminently at risk of homelessness Federal Dollars Allocated FY2019 $280 Million $2.254 Billion $380 Million

HUD category definitions of “homelessness:” An individual/family who(se):
1) Literally Homeless: lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence or has recently resided in a private/public/emergency shelter not meant for human habituation
2) Imminent Risk of Homelessness: Residence will be lost within 14 days of the date of application for homeless assistance
3) Homeless under other Federal statutes: is an unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age who has experienced housing instability (two moves or more) in the preceding 60 days
4) Fleeing Domestic Violence: attempting to flee domestic violence and has no other residence

Homelessness Statistics & Demographics:

  • According to the National Alliance to End Homlessness 2018 report1, a total of 552,830 people experienced homlessness on a single night in 2018. This number represents 17 out of every 10,000 people in the United States.

  • Most people experiencing homlessness are individuals (67%), the remainder (33%) are people in families with children. Youth (under the age of 25) make up 7% of the homeless population. 24% of the population is considered chronically homeless, a term used to describe people who have experienced homelessness for at least a year — or repeatedly — while struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability.

  • Additionally, 35.2% of homeless individuals were living without shelter.

  • Between 2017 and 2018, the homeless population increased slightly by 0.3%. However, national counts have generally trended downward over the last decade.

  • In 2018, the 10 states with the highest total people experiencing were California, New York, Florida, Texas, Washington, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Illinois. The CoCs with the highest homelessness counts include New York City, Los Angeles City & County, Seattle/King County, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, and the District of Columbia.

Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Program: 2
ESG provides funding to:

  • Engage homeless individuals and families living on the street

  • Improve the number and quality of emergency shelters for homeless individuals and families, and help operate these shelters

  • Provide essential services to shelter residents

  • Rapidly re-house homeless individuals and families 3

  • Prevent families/individuals from becoming homeless overall
    Eligible Uses of Grant: 4

    • Street outreach

    • Emergency Shelter

    • Homelessness Prevention

  • Administration

Eligible Grant Recipients: 3

  • Eligible recipients generally consist of metropolitan cities, urban counties, states, and territories.

  • State recipients must subgrant ESG funds to non-profit organizations (see below.)

  • How Eligible Recipients Apply:

    • Each state or local jurisdiction applies through the Consolidated Planning Process* by submitting a Consolidated Plan (or Annual Action Plan) to the appropriate HUD field office no later than 45 days before the start of its consolidated program year.

    • This plan is designed to help states and local jurisdictions to assess their affordable housing, community development needs, and market conditions, and to make data-driven, place-based investment decisions. Program Requirements for State Recipients: States must subgrant all of their ESG funds (except funds used for administrative costs) to units of local government and/or private nonprofit organizations. States typically distribute funds through a specific process, though the HUD program regulations do not specify what this is. All recipients must consult with the Continuum of Care (CoC) operating within the jurisdiction in determining how to allocate ESG funds. State recipients are required to consult with all Continuums of Care within the state.

  • Continuum of Care is another federal homelessness-specific funding source that works with more non-profit/local governments within larger localities covered by ESG. CoC is elaborated upon below.

  • Match Requirement:5 ESG recipients must match grant funds with an equal amount of cash and/or noncash contributions, which may include donated buildings, materials and volunteer services.

  • States must match all but $100,000 of their awards, but must pass on the benefits of that $100,000 exception to their subrecipients that are least capable of providing matching amounts.

  • States must obligate all funds, except administrative and HMIS costs, within 60 days after the date HUD signs the grant agreement. In turn, local governments must obligate all ESG funds within 120 days after the state obligates its funds to those subrecipients.

Eligible Populations:

  • Any individual or family that meets the criteria of “homlessness,” defined as an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, or “at risk of homlessness,” as defined in the ESG Interim Rule6 as an individual who:

    • Has an annual income below 30% AMI (area median income) of the median family income for the state/district, as determined by HUD

    • Does not have sufficient resources and/or support networks available to them to prevent them from moving to an emergency shelter

    • Has moved because of economic reasons two or more times during the 60 days immediately preceding the application for homelessness prevention assistance

    • Is living in the home of another because of economic hardship

  • Has been notified in writing that their right to occupy their current housing or living situation will be terminated within 21 days after the date of application for assistance

  • Is exiting a publicly funded institution, or system of care, such as a health-care facility, a mental health facility, foster care or other youth facility, or correctional program or institution

Continuum of Care - CoC Program: 7

Basic Concept:

  • CoC provides funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, state, 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, increasing utilization of mainstream programs by homeless people, and optimizing self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

  • Eligible Uses of Program:

    • Permanent Housing

    • Transitional Housing

    • Supportive Services through the Supportive Service Only (SSO) program

    • Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)

Eligible Funding Recipients: 8

  • Private nonprofit organizations, states, local governments, instrumentalities of state and local government, and PHAs (public housing agencies.)

  • Eligible recipients also apply for this program by submitting a CoC Consolidated Plan.

  • Additionally, decisions regarding the use of CoC program funds for rapid re-housing are made by CoCs through their written policies and procedures. Any requests for rapid re-housing funds (new or renewal) must be made through the annual CoC program competition.

  • Eligible Populations:2

    • Individuals and families meeting the HUD definition of homeless and any additional requirements for eligibility based on the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) under which the project was originally awarded for that fiscal year.

  • For FY 2019, there were no additional eligibility requirements, but additional funds were made available to support Domestic Violence Bonus Projects and the Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP.)

Homelessness Assistance & Preventing Homelessness:

  • Homeless services providers are equipped to offer temporary beds to the majority of 70% of people experiencing homelessness on a given night. This leaves 30% of people without access to a year-round bed.

  • Moving more people into permanent housing options (executed by the programs described above), as opposed to temporary beds, has become a recognized best practice. In 2007, 31% of homeless assistance beds were “dedicated” to permanent housing options. By 2018, this number was 57%.

  • Although these federal/state homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing programs have prevented many individuals and families from being considered homeless. The National Alliance to End Homelessness argues that more federal funding is needed in order to fully eradicate homelessness/ the risk of homelessness for Americans.

  • The Alliance states that Congress should invest at least $3 billion for Homeless Assistance in FY 2020. This represents a $364 million increase over the FY 19 level, and would end homelessness for 70,000 additional households.

  • According to The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, “Ending Homelessness is defined by:”9

  • Ending Homelessness means that every community will have the capacity to:

    • Quickly identify and engage people at risk of and experiencing homelessness

    • Intervene to prevent people from losing housing & divert people from entering the homelessness services system

    • Provide people with immediate access to shelter and crisis services without barriers to entry if homelessness does occur

    • Quickly connecting people to housing assistance and services tailored to their unique needs and strengths to help them achieve and maintain stable housing.

See link for breakdown of distribution of funds by state for FY 2017: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/homeless/budget/2017

Endnotes

  1. Information from the National Alliance to End Homelessness https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-report/

  2. Information from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development ESG fact sheet, https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/EmergencySolutionsGrantsProgramFactSheet.pdf

  3. Information from US Interagency Council on Homelessness Rapid Re-Housing Fact Sheet, https://www.usich.gov/resources/uploads/asset_library/Federal_Funding_Sources_RRH.pdf

  4. Information from the Laws, Regulations, and Notices Provided by the US HUD, https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/esg/esg-law-regulations-and-notices/

  5. Information from US HUD ESG for State Recipients Fact Sheet, https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Homelessness-Programs-Toolkits-for-State-ESG-Recipients-Basics.pdf

  6. Information from the ESG Interim Rule published April 2017, https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/HEARTH_ESGInterimRuleandConPlanConformingAmendments.pdf

  7. Information from the HUD Exchange website, https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/

  8. https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/FY-2019-CoC-Program-Competition-NOFA.pdf

  9. From USICH, https://www.usich.gov/goals/what-does-ending-homelessness-mean/