Title
Consideration of a grant in the amount of $53,741 for COMCARE's Samaritan Housing Program.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the application for the grant, authorize the Chairman to sign all necessary documents including the grant agreement amendment and award, and authorize the establishment of budget authority as provided in the Financial Considerations section of this Request. Per County Resolution 64-2013, this will be submitted to the County Manager for final approval and signature.
Body
Grant Renewal: No
Never Applied: Yes
Applied; not awarded: No
Grant Background:
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the 2013 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Program. This NOFA makes funds available for Homeless Assistance Grants which include transitional housing, supportive services for homeless persons, and permanent supportive housing. The community application will be submitted to HUD through the United Way of the Plains by February 3rd, 2014.
One of the programs included in the community application has been United Way's Samaritan Housing initiative. Because of changes in HUD regulations, United Way can no longer administer the Samaritan Housing program. In order to avoid losing this funding and beds for the community, COMCARE has been collaborating with United Way to take over operations for this program. The Grant Agreement Amendment officially transfers the ownership of this program to COMCARE of Sedgwick County.
The program will provide 8 apartment units for chronically homeless individuals who have a mental illness and/or substance use disorder. The project's goal is to effectively address the complex needs of the chronically homeless by offering integrated treatment services to improve housing stability and increase access to mainstream resources. These 8 apartments will be scattered-sites and COMCARE will lease them from community landlords. This program is considered permanent housing, and accordingly residents may stay in the program as long as needed to stabilize their housing situation and address their mental health and substance use disorder needs in order to maintain long term recovery.
COMCARE is applying for $53,741 from HUD to operate the Samaritan Housing program in Sedgwick County. The majority of these dollars will be used for leasing, with a small amount for administration and operating costs (primarily bed bug prevention) included as well. No new staff will be added with this grant, as it will be administered by existing staff at COMCARE's Homeless Program.
Summary:
This item includes two documents for approval related to the Samaritan Housing Initiative:
1- First is the Grant Agreement Amendment. This amendment amends the agreement between United Way and HUD transferring ownership to COMCARE.
2- Second is the Samaritan Housing application to HUD for the next grant year, beginning January 1, 2015.
Financial Considerations:
Grant period starts: 01/01/15
Grant period ends: 12/31/15
Source of funding
Grant: $53,741
Required Match: $0
Required Cash Match: $1,062
Required In-Kind Match: $0
Other funding:$0
TOTAL SOURCES: $54,803
Uses of funding
Operational costs: $54,803
Personnel: $0
Contractual services: $51,384
Operational supplies: $0
Equipment:$0
Indirect administrative costs: $3,419
Capital projects cost:$0
TOTAL USES: $54,803
Source of matching funds: Unencumbered Cash
Source of other funding: N/A
Budget Authority Adjustment: Authorize the necessary budget authority adjustment in the amount of $54,803, which will be managed through a new cost center.
Personnel considerations: None. No new staff will be added with this grant.
Expected measurable outcomes: Research has shown that people who are dually diagnosed (with a mental illness and substance use disorder) have the most difficulty maintaining housing accessing services. It is expected that by participating in this program, individuals who had been previously considered chronically homeless will improve their self-sufficiency by increasing their income, through competitive employment or accessing appropriate benefits, and maintaining their housing so that they can focus on long-term recovery.
Alternatives: Should the grant application not be approved, the community would lose this housing resource for homeless clients. Currently there is no other funding source for this lease subsidy, and as many clients served are indigent, they would more than likely not be able to access housing and/or treatment services without this program.
Policy considerations: All Sedgwick County policies were followed in the review of the amendment and development of the grant application.
Legal considerations: The authority for this action is K.S.A. 19-101 and a simple majority vote is required. Compliance with federal laws, specifically the Fair Housing Act, is a requirement for this grant.