Item Coversheet

Board Action Request
22-0338

Item Description:
Agmt A2211368 with U.S. Dept of HUD to accept grant funds for the Continuum of Care for the Homeless Planning Project, 12/01/22–11/30/23, $406,718 (recv)
Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED, that Agreement A2211368 with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care Program to accept grant funds for the Hennepin County Continuum of Care for the Homeless Planning Project to develop and implement a comprehensive homeless response system that includes coordinated entry, data quality and analysis, performance measures and evaluation, and other related systems, during the period December 1, 2022 -- November 30, 2023, in the amount of $406,718, be approved; that the Chair of the Board be authorized to sign the agreement on behalf of the county; and that the Controller be authorized to disburse the funds as directed; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that sponsorship and acceptance of grant funding for this program by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners does not imply a continuing funding commitment by Hennepin County for this program when grant funds are no longer available.

Background:

In 2012 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) adopted the Interim Rule for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program in order to implement the HEARTH Act amendments to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. These new regulations for the CoC Program provided for planning funding for local Continuums of Care (CoCs) to assist them to plan and develop systems to better comply with the HEARTH Act, especially regarding CoC governance, establishment and operation of a coordinated entry and assessment system, and performance standards and evaluation of CoC Program and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funded programs.

Since 2012, HUD has included the CoC planning project as part of the Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) and Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Hennepin County has applied for and been awarded this funding in every NOFA/NOFO since then. The last award of $370,476 (FY2020), Agreement A2110815, was approved by Board resolution 21-0240 on July 20, 2021.

Hennepin County applied for and was awarded FY2021 planning grant funding in the amount of $406,718 in this grant Agreement A2211368. The Fiscal year FY 2021 CoC funds are provided by HUD for planning activities of the Hennepin County Continuum of Care (CoC), in order to assure that the CoC has a comprehensive homeless response system which includes data-driven performance metrics that are standard across our system. In order to comply with regulatory requirements, these funds will be used for a variety of concurrent planning activities, which include the following: development and implementation of a coordinated entry system; review and evaluation of individual providers and systemwide performance metrics; Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data quality and system planning; and assuring a fair and transparent process for developing these elements, including local community stakeholders and federal, state and local government partners.

Impact/outcomes: This funding supports activities that assure a data-driven response to homelessness in the community, including reducing disparities and improving housing outcomes for people.

Disparity reduction: This request reduces disparities in the housing domain by supporting planning, data analysis, and evaluation activities for Hennepin County’s homeless response system, including the coordinated entry system. This planning and these analyses identify, measure, and help to address racial and other disparities in those systems, and to improve housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness, who are most often people who are members of groups disparately impacted by homelessness and housing instability.