ORDINANCE appropriating $72,711.50 from Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (“TIRZ”) Affordable Housing Fund (2409); approving and authorizing agreement between the City and the HOUSTON DOWNTOWN MANAGEMENT DISTRICT to provide for payment of a portion of costs to fund the position of Special Advisor to the Mayor for Homeless Initiatives and Community Transformation and related consulting services, in an amount not to exceed $72,711.50 in TIRZ Funds

The Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) recommends City Council approve a one-year contract in an amount not to exceed $72,711.50 of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Affordable Housing funds with the Houston Downtown Management District (the District) for the services of a Special Advisor to the Mayor for Homeless Initiatives and Community Transformation and related consulting services.

The District will contract with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) to provide a Special Advisor to the Mayor for Homeless Initiatives and Community Transformation and related consultant services on behalf of the City. Under the contract, the City and the District will each pay half of the costs for services from the Special Advisor and other CSH professional staff working on behalf of the City.

The Special Advisor will work with the Mayor, City Council, City Departments and other stakeholders, including private entities and non-profit organizations, to carry out a variety of duties such as:

• Provide ongoing federal liaison activities, including representing the City and greater Houston community on the National Alliance to End Homelessness Leadership Council and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
•  Deliver technical expertise to the Special Assistant for Homeless Initiatives and Community Transformation
•  Support efforts to secure private resources for the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Capital Gap Fund
•  Provide high-level oversight and project management, in partnership with the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, of the initiative to end chronic homelessness
•  Provide high-level support for implementation of the PSH Service Model expansion and sustainability plan including:
  •  Securing private resources to match State service fund
  •  Negotiating with the State Health and Human Services Commission to fund Houston’s PSH service model
  •  Supporting implementation among Managed Care Organizations, healthcare systems, and service partners
  •  Hosting Social Transformation Labs and other events to showcase and refine Houston’s collective impact success and transformation formula, including expansion of the formula to new social service sectors within Houston
  •  Providing consulting services to other cities on the Houston model
  •  Seizing and cultivating new opportunities to connect systems and resources within Houston and across the country to support homelessness prevention and community transformation

CSH will provide additional consulting services in support of The Way Home’s Plan to End Homelessness as follows:

•  Project Management for implementation of new PSH units
•  Quality assurance activities for PSH and Rapid Rehousing
•  Project Management of the PSH Service Model expansion and sustainability work groups

This item was reviewed by the Housing and Community Affairs Committee on July 19, 2016.

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Tom McCasland, Interim Director

$72,711.50

Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Affordable Housing Fund (2409)

Roxanne Lawson

Phone: 832-394-6282