Harris County Community Services Department

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Harris County Community Services Department

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• PY 2014
• Community Development Block Grant(CDBG) and
• Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG)
• Subrecipient Orientation
• February 25, 2014

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Public Services, Grants Management
Staff713-578-2000

• Manager Esmeralda Gonzalez x2106
• Senior Project Monitor Natalie Garcia x2065
• Project Monitors Michelle Leija x2202
• Ebony Love x2086

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CONTENTS OF FOLDER

• Welcome letter
• Subrecipient Orientation Acknowledgment
• Copy of presentation
• CD containing
• Programmatic reporting templates and guidance
  material
• Financial reporting templates and guidance
  material

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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 to general welfare services such as the
  provision of food and clothing, health services,
  educational services, youth enrichment and
  juvenile delinquency prevention programs and
  employment and job development services.

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ESG Overview

• To broaden existing emergency shelter
• Emphasize Rapid Re-housing
• Help people quickly regain stability in permanent
  housing after experiencing a housing crisis
  and/or homelessness
• Support more coordinated and effective data
  collection, performance measurement, and program
  evaluation.

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Homeless Definition

• Homeless definition has 4 Categories
• 1) Literally homeless individuals/families
• 2) Individuals/families who will imminently
  (within 14 days) lose their primary nighttime
  residence with no subsequent residence, resources
  or support networks
• 3) Unaccompanied youth 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.

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Homeless Category 1

• 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.

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Homelessness Documentation Category 1

• Homelessness documentation for individuals/familie
  s 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/familie
  s 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
• a written record of the intake workers 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

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Homeless Category 4

• 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 individuals or familys 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

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Homelessness Documentation Category 4

• 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
• 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.
• 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.

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Scenario 1

• What information/documentation should be
  maintained in a client file for a client reported
  as being literally homeless/exiting jail
  (Category 1)?

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Answer

• 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 clients 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/shelter.

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Scenario 2

• What information/documentation should be
  maintained in a file for a client reported as
  fleeing domestic violence (Category 4)?

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Answer

• The client file should contain documentation that
  the client was fleeing a domestic violence
  situation and had nowhere else to stay but at
  your shelter, and specific detailed information
  pertaining to that clients situation regarding
  lacking 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.

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AGREEMENTS

• Agreements were drafted based on applicants
  Request for Proposals (RFPs) submitted to CSD
  for PY2014 funding
• PY2014 Time of Performance March 1, 2014 to
  February 28, 2015
• 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
  90 days prior to the end of the program year.
• Cut-off to submit your budget revision request
  November 30, 2014

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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
• PY2014 Number Served

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PY2013 Programmatic Reports

• Coversheet / Checklist
• Project Status Report
• Client Data Report
• Tally Sheet
• Individual Eligibility Forms
• Employee Data Report
• Bed Days Log
• HMIS Reports
• Mid-Year Report or Annual Performance Report

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Important notes on monthly reports

• Check your Agreement for monthly reports due
  date.
• For projects that expend funds early, submission
  of monthly reports with no new persons/services
  is not required.
• Ensure corrections are carried forward to the
  next monthly report to avoid resubmitting
  reports.

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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 PY2014 Individual
  Eligibility Form (IEF) and Harris County
  Appraisal District (HCAD) print-out 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?

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Answer

• The following reports need to be corrected
• Project Status Report
• Client Data Report
• 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
• Inform the CFTH of your grant name, type of
  funding, the operating year, and list of services
  funded through the grant
• Sign up and receive training
• Input information on clients and services
  provided into ClientTrack
• The following HMIS reports must be submitted
  monthly
• Clients Served with Details
• Clients in Programs
• Client Summary Report
• Please contact CFTH staff at 713-739-7514 or
  click on their website at www.homelesshouston.org
  for further assistance.

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Homeless Participation

• 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 agencys compliance
  with this requirement.

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Important Points

• Section 504 survey will be reviewed for
  applicable updates
• 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 Programmatic Forms
Can I report duplicate clients on the Tally Sheet?
When are the programmatic forms due?
If my project is not on target for reporting
month what must I do?
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Break Time

• After the break
• Finance Staff Presentation
• Please turn in the Orientation Acknowledge form
  before you leave.