ORDINANCE approving and authorizing second amendment to contract between City of Houston and THE COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS OF HOUSTON/HARRIS COUNTY, extending the term of the contract and providing additional Emergency Solutions Grant Funds and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS Funds for the continuing operation and maintenance of a Homeless Management Information System - $150,135.00 - Grant Fund

The Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) recommends Council approval of an Ordinance authorizing a Second Amendment to the Contract between the City of Houston (City) and the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (the Coalition), providing $84,130.00 of Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds and $66,005.00 in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds, for the operation and maintenance of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), which is used to track services received by homeless or near-homeless recipients.

The HMIS is a software application designed to record and store individual client information, including the types of services needed by Houston’s homeless community. The HMIS was developed in response to the U.S. Congress' request for information on how appropriated federal homeless funds are spent. Congress is not only interested in fiscal responsibility, but also who the homeless are as a group, and the outcomes of the programs assisting them. All agencies receiving federal funds for homeless services are required to participate in the HMIS. The City contracts with the Coalition to comply with this requirement.

Participation in the HMIS enables HCDD to track households receiving assistance through the HOPWA Program, reduce duplication of client services, and minimize errors in data reporting. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development encourages HOPWA grantees and project sponsors to participate in the HMIS, to improve coordination and to enhance clients' access to other community assistance programs. The Coalition is establishing a central wait list for the project sponsors on the HOPWA HMIS. The HMIS wait list ranks the clients in vulnerability order based on their needs. Assistance is provided to new clients based on their vulnerability ranking.

The initial contract period was May 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020 and was administratively extended through May 31, 2020. The First Amendment provided funding through April 30, 2021 and was administratively extended through May 31, 2021. This Second Amendment provides funding through April 30, 2022. The Coalition began receiving funding for HMIS operations through the City in 2012.

As of November 2020, the Coalition has operated and maintained the HMIS for the City, utilizing approximately 64% of funding. There were no findings on the annual compliance monitoring.

No Fiscal Note is required on grant items.

This item was reviewed by the Housing and Community Affairs Committee on February 23, 2021.


____________________________________________
Tom McCasland, Director

5/1/2019 (O) 2019-327

5/26/2020 (O) 220-446

$150,135.00

Federal Government – Grant Funded

Fund 5000