HEARTH Act Presentation

Meggan MedinaElizabeth MoralesMattie Lord McVey

The Homeless Assistance Programs last reauthorized in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992.

Subsequent changes came about through the annual appropriations, such as the creation of the Continuum of Care process, implemented in 1995

Four Programs Shelter Plus Care Supportive Housing Program

Permanent Supportive Housing Acquisition & rehabilitation, new construction Leasing Supportive Services Operations

Transitional Housing Program Safe Havens

Moderate Rehabilitation /Single Room Occupancy Program

Emergency Shelter Grant

2007- two bills were introduced S. 1518 Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act H.R. 840 Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid

Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH) Compromise arrived by House and Senate and passed by

House as H.R. 7221, but did not pass in Senate before the end of Session

• Passage of HEARTH Act on April 2, 2009 attached by amendment to the Helping Families Save Their

Homes Act (S. 896) Enacted on May 20, 2009

Homeless prevention significantly expanded New incentives to place more emphasis on rapid

re-housing, especially for homeless families (served as a model to HPRP)

Expands definition of homelessness and includes families in chronic definition

Rural communities will have the option of applying under a different set of guidelines that offer more flexibility and more assistance with capacity building.

Designates 30% of total funds for new permanent housing for families and individuals with a disability. (10% for families with children)

Consolidates the three programs (SPC, SHP and Mod Rehab)

Simplified Match Requirement No longer Emergency Shelter Grant, now called

Emergency Solutions Grants program (doubled to 20% of total funds)

Performance Based Focus Funding- Authorizes a funding level FY 2010 of $2.2 bill.

(vs. $1.677 bill. in FY 2009)

The New Emergency Solutions Grant Definition of Homelessness Applying for Funds Responsibilities of the Collaborative Applicant The new “Continuum of Care Program” Incentives, Selection Criteria and Set Asides Rural Programs Match High Performing Communities Additional changes to the HEARTH Act Other Provisions

New name signifies shift to funding prevention and re-housing as well as emergency shelter

Additional eligible activities beyond traditional shelter short- or medium-term rental assistance Housing relocation or stabilization services (housing search mediation,

outreach to landlords, legal services, credit repair, security or rental deposits, utility payments, final month’s rental assistance, and moving costs)

• Serve those who are homeless or at risk, including those with less than 30% AMI and move frequently, live doubled up, facing eviction, live in a hotel, overcrowded, exiting an institution.

• Funding doubled. At least 40% of ESG funds are dedicated to prevention and re-housing activities

• Funding for existing shelters should remain the same, we should see increase funding for other activities

EXISTING NEW

People living in places not meant for human habitation (streets, abandoned buildings, etc)

Emergency shelter Transitional housing facility Facing loss of housing within

7 days with no resources

Adds to the existing definition Imminent risk- person must

leave within the next 14 days with no resources

Instability (families with children and unaccompanied youth) *up to 10% of funds

Homeless under Dept. of Ed Lived for a long period without

living independently in permanent housing

Moved frequently Will continue to experience

instability due to disability, hx of DV or abuse, or multiple barriers of employment

Application process is similar to current CoC Applicants in a community organize and submit a

joint application to HUD. The application is scored and projects are funded in order that are prioritized.

The entity is now referred to as Collaborative Applicant

Selection criteria focuses more on actual performance

Collaborative Applicant can be Unified Agency and apply and disburse or sub grant the funding itself.

A CoC that is entirely rural or in a rural state may apply under a different set of criteria (more under Rural Program)

Submits consolidated application Receives up to 3% of its community’s funding

for administrative costs. If Unified Funding Agency than it can receive up to 6%

It may designate another entity to help it apply for and receive grants and perform other administrative duties

Responsible for ensuring participation in HMIS

Consolidation into single program called “Continuum of Care”. Programs now merged are Shelter Plus Care, Supportive Housing Program, and Moderate Rehabilitation/SRO

Re-housing services is now added eligible activity Operating Costs are redefined to include service

coordination Project sponsors may request a 15-year project based

assistance (first 5-years paid with initial grant) Project sponsors may receive up to 10% for administrative

costs Reasonable amounts can be used for staff training Permanent Housing Rental Assistance can only be

administered by PHA or government agencies

Incentives given by strategies that are proven to reduce homelessness (rapid re-housing, permanent housing for chronically homeless)

HUD can add additional strategies Amount and nature of incentives is not spelled out in

legislation and TBD by HUD 30% set aside for permanent housing is national

requirement not each CoC At least 10% permanent housing activities for families HUD will continue to use pro-rata need formula and selection

criteria to determine funding Within 2 years HUD will be required to develop pro-rata need

by regulation

SIMPLIFIED SET OF CRITERIA FOR APPLYING

ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

Description of who lives in the worst housing conditions in the community

And how their programs can serve people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness

Compared only to other rural applicants (5% funding)

Rural defined as those that have no metropolitan statistical areas

Rent, mortgage or utility asst Security deposits, 1st month’s

rent, & relocation asst Short term emergency lodging Construction of transitional or

permanent housing Acquisition and rehabilitation Leasing of property Rental Assistance Operating costs Supportive Services Up to 20% used for capacity

building activities

Collaborative Applicant must provide a match equal to 25% of community’s total grant

Applied community wide, not project by project Match not required for leasing grants Match can be cash or in-kind when

documented by Memorandum of Understanding

Match requirements are the same for rural

High performing (low levels of homelessness) can use as much funding needed for prevention and re-housing assistance if meet the following: Average length of stay in homelessness has declined by

10% from year below or is below 20 days Few than 5% of people who exit homelessness become

homeless again in the next 2 years (or 20% reduction of recidivism)

Homeless people are encouraged to participate in homeless services and recipient has been high performing community in the past

Funding for permanent housing renewals can come from either the appropriation account for HUD’s homeless Assistance Grants or the Project-Based Section 8 program Funded non-competitively one year at a timeFamily Homelessness ResearchDV Program ParticipationNon Discrimination against families with

older children

Sets a goal of ensuring that no family is homeless for more than 30 days

Will release NOFA no more than 3 months after enactment of appropriations. Awards announced no later than 5 months after applications are due.

Definition of chronic homelessness changes to include families with children and ignore brief stays in institutional care

Up to 1% for technical assistance GAO is required to perform study of rural

homelessness and a study of the appropriate administrative fee for the Emergency Solutions grant

Fall/Winter 2009 HUD issues draft regulations for public comment

No later than May 20, 2010- Final HUD regulations released

Three months after final regulations released or by November 20, 2010 the new regulations will go into effect

Concerns, Comments, Questions?