Harris County Community

Ser vices Department

PY 2019

Community Development Block Grant(CDBG)/

Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG)

Subrecipient Orientation

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Meet the Team in Public Services:

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Tel – (832) 927-4700

Fax – (832) 927-0561

Natalie Garcia x4774

Michelle Perales x4775

Ebony Love x4777

Catherine Oliva x4784

Annmarie Oliva x 4773

CONTENTS OF FOLDER

Subrecipient Orientation

Acknowledgment

Presentation Slides Handout

Programmatic Reporting Templates

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CDBG Overview

National Objective

Benefit Low/Moderate Income Persons

Eligible Public Service Activities

Provision of public services including but not limited togeneral welfare services such as the provision of foodand clothing, health services, educational services,youth enrichment and juvenile delinquency preventionprograms and employment and job developmentservices.

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The ESG program 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;

Help operate these shelters;

Provide essential services to shelter residents;

Rapidly re-house homeless individuals and families; and

Prevent families and individuals from becoming homeless.

ESG funds may be used for five components: street outreach,

emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing

assistance, & HMIS.

ESG Objective

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Homeless definition has 4 Categories: 1) Literally homeless individuals/families

2) Individuals/families who will imminently (within 14 days of the date of

application for homeless assistance) lose their primary nighttime

residence with no subsequent residence, resources or support networks

3) Unaccompanied youth (under 25 years of age), or families with

children/youth who meet the homeless definition under another federal

statute and 3 additional criteria

4) Individuals/families fleeing or attempting to flee domestic

violence with no subsequent residence, resources or support

networks to obtain permanent housing.

Homeless Definition

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A homeless person is: an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime

residence, meaning:

• Living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to

provide temporary living accommodations (including hotels/motels paid by

charitable organizations or by federal, state, or local government programs

for low-income individuals, congregate shelters, and transitional housing); or

• Living in a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a

regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park,

abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground; or

• Exiting an institution (e.g., jail, hospital) where he or she resided for 90 days

or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for

human habitation immediately before entering that institution.

Homeless Category 1

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Homelessness documentation for individuals/families sleeping in a place

not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping

accommodation or living in a shelter designated to provide temporary

living arrangements:

◦ a written referral by another housing or service provider, or

◦ a written observation by an outreach worker of the conditions where the

individual or family was living, or

◦ a certification by the individual or head of household seeking assistance.

Homelessness documentation for individuals/families exiting an

institution (e.g., jail, hospital):

◦ one of the three documentation listed above, AND

◦ discharge paperwork or a written or oral referral from a social worker, case

manager, or other appropriate official of the institution, stating the beginning

and end dates of the time residing in the institution, all oral statements must be

recorded by the intake worker, or

o a written record of the intake worker’s due diligence in attempting to obtain

the discharge paperwork or a written or oral referral and a certification by

the individual seeking assistance that states he or she is exiting or has just

exited an institution where he or she resided for 90 days or less

Homelessness Documentation Category 1

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Individuals/families fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating

violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life threatening

conditions that relate to violence against the individual or a family member,

including a child, that has either taken place within the individual’s or

family’s primary nighttime residence or has made the individual or family

afraid to return to their primary nighttime residence; AND

individual/family has no other residence; AND

lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family friends, faith-

based or other social networks, to obtain other permanent housing

Homeless Category 4

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Homelessness documentation for individuals/families fleeing or

attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault,

stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions related to

violence:

o For victim service providers: An oral statement by the individual or head of

household seeking assistance which states: that they are fleeing; they have no

subsequent residence; and they lack resources. Statement must be documented

by a self-certification or a certification by the intake worker.

o For non-victim service providers: Oral statement by the individual or head of

household seeking assistance that they are fleeing. This statement is documented

by a self-certification or by the case worker. Where the safety of the individual is

not jeopardized, the oral statement must be verified; and certification by the

individual or head of household that no subsequent residence has been identified,

and self-certification or other written document that the individual or family

lacks the financial resources or support networks to obtain other permanent

housing.

Homelessness Documentation Category 4

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What information/documentation should be

maintained in a client file for a client reported

as being literally homeless/exiting jail

(Category 1)?

Scenario # 1

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The client file should contain discharge paperwork

that includes the entry date and discharge date to

ensure the client resided at the institution for 90 days

or less. The file should also maintain source

documentation to document the client’s homeless

status prior to entering jail, for example a written

referral by another housing or service provider or

written observation by the outreach worker, or

certification by the individual stating he was living on

the streets/emergency shelter.

Answer:

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What information/documentation should be

maintained in a file for a client reported as

fleeing domestic violence (Category 4)?

Scenario # 2

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The client file should contain documentation that

the client was fleeing a domestic violence situation,

and that the client has no other residence and lacks

the resources and support networks, such as family,

friends, faith-based or other social networks,

needed to obtain other permanent housing.

* Be sure your assessment forms capture all the

necessary elements to document eligibility under

Category 4.

Answer:

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AGREEMENTS

Agreements were drafted based on applicants’ Request for Proposals (RFP’s) submitted to CSD for PY2019 funding

PY2019 Time of Performance: March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020

At the discretion of HCCSD management, no more than two (2) budget revision requests shall be allowed each year, to be submitted no later than 90days prior to the end of the program year. Cut-off to submit your budget revision request: November 30,

2019

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Agreements

Refer to Exhibit A: Scope of Services and

Exhibit B: Budget

Activity

Unit Definition

Cost per Unit of Service

Total No. of Units Per Activity

Maximum Total Cost Per Year

PY2019 Number Served

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1. Coversheet / Checklist

2. Project Status Report

3. Client Data Report

4. Tally Sheet

5. Individual Eligibility Forms

6. Employee Data Report

7. Bed Days Log

8. HMIS Reports

9. Mid-Year Report or Annual Performance Report

PY2019 Programmatic Reports

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Important notes on monthly

reports Check your Agreement for monthly reports due

date.

Make sure reports are legible.

Please review the reports prior to submittal to avoid conflicting information, i.e., the Client Data Report must reflect the information on the Individual Eligibility forms

Ensure corrections are carried forward to the next monthly report to avoid resubmitting reports. 18

Scenario # 3

What forms need to be submitted if your

Project Status Report indicates your

agency served 20 new eligible persons?

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Answer:

Your agency must submit a PY2019

Individual Eligibility Form (IEF) for all 20

new persons served.

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Scenario # 4

What is needed on the Project Status

Report if you have attained 20% of your

contract goal and you should be at 50% of

your goal?

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Answer:

You must provide an explanation on the

Project Status Report for not being on

target for the reporting month. Should

your agency consistently fail to comply

with the requirement of timely level of

performance and expenditures, a desk

finding will be issued.

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Scenario # 5

Which monthly reports need to be

corrected if you report 20 new clients;

however, 3 were disallowed due to

insufficient homeless documentation?

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Answer:

The following reports need to be

corrected:

1. Project Status Report

2. Client Data Report

3. Tally Sheet

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HMIS CSD requires Subrecipients that provide services to homeless

persons with County funds to participate in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) administered by the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH). If the Subrecipient is a victim services provider, it may use a comparable database that

collects client-level data over time and generates unduplicated aggregate reports based on the data. Information entered into a comparable database must not be entered directly into or provided to an HMIS.

To participate in HMIS:

Please contact CFTH staff at 713-739-7514

2000 Crawford, Suite 700

Houston, Texas 77002

CFTH website: www.homelesshouston.org

The following HMIS reports must be submitted monthly:

Clients Served with Details

Clients in Programs

Client Summary Report

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Recipients of ESG funds must provide for the participation of not less than one homeless or formerly homeless individual on the board of directors or other equivalent policy-making entity of the recipient, in accordance with 24 CFR 576.405(a).

At the monitoring visit, we will request documentation evidencing your agency’s compliance with this requirement.

Homeless Participation (ESG

only)

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Fair Housing Act ComplianceThe Department of Housing and Urban Development

(“HUD”) is responsible for enforcing the federal Fair

Housing Act (the “Act”), which prohibits discrimination in

housing on the basis or race, color religion, sex, national

origin, familial status, and disability. One type of disability

discrimination prohibited by the Act is the refusal to make

reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or

services when such accommodations may be necessary to

afford a person with a disability the equal opportunity to use

and enjoy the dwelling.

Agencies receiving ESG Funds must have a policy in place for

program recipients to request reasonable accommodations.

For more information refer to:

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/fair_hou

sing_act_overview 27

Equal Access To Housing CDBG/ESG

On February 3, 2012, HUD published a final rule in the Federal Register entitled

Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs regardless of Sexual Orientation or

Gender Identity. The rule creates a new regulatory provision that generally

prohibits considering a person's marital status, sexual orientation, or gender

identity (a person's internal sense of being male or female) in making housing

assistance available. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are guaranteed

equal access to all housing for all types of housing (affordable, permanent,

transitional and emergency) funded through HUD.

In addition to the final rule on Equal Access to Housing, HUD published a final

rule in the Federal Register entitled "Equal Access in Accordance with an

Individual's Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs".

This rule was published on September 21, 2016. This rule ensures that each

individual in accordance with their gender identity will have equal access to

housing and shelter programs administered by HUD. This rule creates a new

regulatory provision that requires those entities that are receiving any HUD

funding grant equal access to facilities, benefits, accommodations and services to

individuals in accordance with the individual's gender identity and in a manner that

affords equal access to the individual's family.

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See handouts “Subrecipient Preparation for Monitoring” and “Subrecipient Monitoring Checklist”

Notice letter 15-30 days prior to the visit

Entrance conference

Participant eligibility, activities provided, and consistency with terms of the Agreement, Policies & Procedures, Section 504 survey are reviewed

Exit conference

Results letter within 30 days after the visit Findings

Concerns

Response letter from Subrecipient in 30 days

Response letter from CSD in 30 days

Subrec ip ient Moni tor ing

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Monitoring Pitfalls Please plan for the Monitor to be there the entire

scheduled day or longer if the Monitor does not

complete the review in one day.

Please have the requested client files along with

the documents listed on the monitoring notice

letter/checklist ready for review.

Please make sure the appropriate personnel will

be available for the entry and exit conference.

Ensure that eligibility source documentation is in

the file (copy of homeless documentation).

Ensure the activity provided to the client/reported

to CSD is documented in the file.30

Important Points

Equal Access to Housing Policy will be obtained

Current Section 504 Survey be obtained

Copy of Program Policy & Procedures will be obtained

Copy of Employee Handbook will be obtained

Limited English Proficiency Policy will be obtained

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)

Units of Service in the client files should match the

amounts reported under Units of Service in the Client

Data and Project Status Reports

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Questions & Answers:

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for attending, please don’t forget to turn in your Subrecipient Orientation Acknowledgment Forms.