The Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) recommends Council approval of an ordinance authorizing the Seventh Substantial Amendment to the current ESG-CV budget in the 2019 Annual Action Plan, transferring $2,000,000.00 from Emergency Shelter to the Street Outreach Activity. Street Outreach Activities will provide funding for a community-wide response connecting unsheltered street homeless individuals and families to emergency shelter, housing, or critical services that will help to prepare, prevent and respond to the urgency of the COVID-19 crisis and the imminent threat to the public health and safety of the unsheltered homeless population. Housing and services for unsheltered individuals or families currently living on the streets is the best and recommended intervention to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 amongst this highly susceptible population in Houston.
In accordance with HUD’s Citizen Participation Plan regulations, the City is required to amend components of its Consolidated Plan/Annual Action Plan for a variety of reasons, including when a reallocation of funds increases or decreases the budget of an activity by more than 25% or when an activity is added or deleted in the Plan(s).
On March 27, 2020 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Public Law-116-136, authorized a special allocation of CDBG-CV, HOPWA-CV, and ESG-CV to states and local jurisdictions to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Under the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94), HUD has provided an additional $21,649,868.00 in ESG-CV funding to supplement previously allocated funding to prevent and respond to COVID-19 impacts in Houston through grant eligible activities in alignment with the Amended 2019 Annual Action Plan. The format and information presented in the Substantial Amendment to the Amended 2019 Annual Action Plan are based on federal guidance and requirements. The funding allocated through the CARES Act must be expended by September 30, 2022.
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Emergency Solutions Program - Coronavirus Grant
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Activity
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Delete/Decrease
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Add/Increase
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The ESG-CV Budget is Amended as follows:
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Street Outreach
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$2,000,000.00
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Emergency Shelter
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($2,000,000.00)
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Total ESG-CV Budget Changes:
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($2,000,000.00)
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$2,000,000.00
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There was no formal Housing and Community Affairs Committee meeting during the month of July; therefore, the Chairs were briefed on this item on July 28, 2021.
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Tom McCasland, Director