Emergency Solutions Grant Program, Addressing Homelessness in Evanston
The Human Services Committee will hold a Public Hearing on April 2, 2012 to receive comment on the City of Evanston’s Substantial Amendment to the 2011 Action Plan and the 2012 Action Plan portions of the 2010-2014 Evanston Consolidated Plan that address implementation of the Emergency Solutions Grant program, formerly the Emergency Shelter Grant program under the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009. All interested persons are encouraged to attend. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, Room 2402, 2100 Ridge Ave.
Drafts of both substantial amendments may be reviewed at the Planning Division Office, Room 3000 of the Lorraine H Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave. or online: memo here>>>, budget summaries here>>>, and amendments here>>>.
The 30-day public comment period for the substantial amendments opens March 30 and closes on April 28th, 2012 at 5 PM CDT. Comments may be submitted in person at the meeting on April 2, 2012, or in writing to Sarah Flax, City of Evanston Planning & Zoning Division, 2100 Ridge Ave, Room 3102, Evanston, IL 60201, or by fax to 847/448-8120 or email to cdbg@cityofevanston.org.
The Emergency Shelter Grant (now Emergency Solutions Grant) program provided funding for a broad range of activities that addressed the needs of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Eligible activities included conversion, renovation, and rehabilitation of facilities; operation of facilities; delivery of essential services; and homelessness prevention. ESG is one of 20 programs established by the Stewart B. McKinney Vento Homeless Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-77), the Nation's first comprehensive response to homelessness. The City of Evanston has received ESG funds since 1989.
In 2009, Congress approved the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act to better coordinate resources and address the growing problem of homelessness. The implementation of HEARTH includes changes in ESG to a program model based on the ARRA funded Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing program (HPRP). These changes were delayed because 2011 appropriations were significantly lower than requested in the President’s budget. As a result, HUD allocated 2011 ESG funds in a two-stage process. Evanston’s allocation consists of: (1) $84,885 released in 2011 following the existing Emergency Shelter Grants regulations; and (2) $47,748 to be released in 2012 following submission and HUD approval of a substantial amendment to the City’s 2011 Action Plan that follows the Interim Rule of the Emergency Solutions Grant that went into effect in January 2012.
The new Emergency Solutions Grant regulations direct entitlement communities to use the second 2011 allocation for primarily prevention and re-housing programs, following the “housing first” approach in the HEARTH Act. The name change from the Emergency Shelter Grant to the Emergency Solutions Grant highlights the new focus on permanent housing instead of short-term shelters. Re-housing for people who are homeless is strongly prioritized. To facilitate a smooth transition from a shelter-based system to a housing first model, ESG continues to allow activities from the “old” ESG program, including: conversion, renovation, and rehabilitation of homeless shelter facilities; operational costs for those shelters; and street outreach services, though funding for these activities is capped at 60% of an entitlement community’s allocation or the amount of funding used for these activities in the 2010 fiscal year, whichever is greater. The ESG program now allows funding to be used for the Homeless Management and Information Service (HMIS), use of which is now required for all ESG service providers (excluding domestic violence shelters) in order to ensure consistency of data points and to reduce duplication of services among providers.
Through a consultation process with Evanston service providers and the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness, the consultation identified families as the highest need group. This is consistent with the needs identified in the 2010-2014 Consolidated Plan.
Because the City’s 2012 Annual Action Plan was approved by HUD prior to release of the new ESG regulations, this triggers the need for a concurrent substantial amendment to the 2012 Annual Action Plan. In order to efficiently manage the amendment process, staff has prepared draft amendments for the second allocation of 2011 ESG funds as well as the entire 2012 ESG allocation. Both amendments follow for the new ESG regulations and build upon the current HPRP program model.