Emergency Solutions Grant

How Should We Spend Our ESG Dollars?

The Homeless Congress in cooperation with NEOCH, the City of Cleveland, the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services, and the Bishop Cosgrove Center are hosting a meeting to discuss the new Emergency Solutions Grant funding. This is a new pool of funds that were intended to replace the stimulus funding from 2009.  It is hardly a replacement since we were given around $5 million per year for preventing homelessness in Cuyahoga County and the new allocation in 2012 will be around $600,000 to $700,000.  This is all because of the push in DC to cut, cut, cut, and cut until it hurts.  The program has been effective in serving thousands in Cleveland, but it will have to be scaled back because of funding from the federal government.

The Emergency Solutions Grant funding is distributed to Cuyahoga County and most every Continuum in the country.  In accepting these funds, the City/County must adjust their Consolidated Plan.  The Homeless Congress is having a special meeting on Tuesday February 28 at 1 p.m. at the Cosgrove Center to hear input from consumers of homeless social services about their recommendations in utilizing these prevention dollars.   The Office of Homeless Services is hosting another public meeting for social service providers and other members of the public on 

                                              Friday, March 2, 2012

                                              9:00 - 10:30 AM at

                                              the ADAMHS Board, 6th Floor

                                              2012 W. 25th St.--the old bank building kitty corner 

                                              from the West Side Market.

Parking is available on the street and at the West Side Market.  Parking is not available in the ADAMHS Board lots. Also, do not park in the depressing shopping center across the street or your call will be towed.

 

Congress passed the stimulus in 2009 to get the economy going, and with the housing crisis there was a huge pool created to prevent homeless.  There was an attempt to get this money on the street quickly, and so they dumped this money into existing programs.  Cuyahoga County received $14 million to be used between July 2009 and July 2012, and is just about out of funds.  Just for context, the program served 10,224 individuals between September 15, 2009 and December 31, 2011.  There were 2,074 families were served which is made up of 4,441 children.  Five percent of the total are veterans and 29% have some long term disability which makes it difficult to find housing.  Of the 6,800 who left the program before the end of 2011, 32% receive Social Security as their primary source of income with another 8% were receiving Social Security Disability, and 38% had some earned income but if they did not receive help they would have become homeless and had to live in a shelter. 

The program has funded legal help, mediation assistance,  the housing website, eviction prevention, rental assistance, housing search help, case management, and education of tenants of their rights when facing an eviction. We will have to figure out how to sustain these services with additional state or local dollars or figure out how to keep people out of the shelters with only about 15% of the money we had before. 

Brian

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Local Reports from Around United States

Local Reports from the National Coalition Meeting

I attended the National Coalition for the Homeless meeting a couple of weeks ago. Here are a few things that I heard around the country.

Indiana: – There were large cuts from the Indiana State Budget—They are holding back on new Medicare enrollment to try to balance the budget. Homeless Prevention Rapid Rehousing (HPRP)/Stimulus funds for homeless people is slow going and not much going to people in Southern Indiana.

Texas: Governor refused to accept stimulus now refusing to accept education dollars. Austin held a let’s get to work forum in an attempt to fix the transitional shelters to get people to work. Workers Hotel initiatives planned to try to get Council support renovate old YMCA want to provide housing to the lowest income who may have some money but no place to live.

Florida: Still struggling with residency restrictions for sex offenders. Many Florida cities are passing anti-street feeding ordinances. Miami is proposing to license those who serve food downtown and they must provide a bathroom. HPRP is working very well, but giving out a ton of money very quickly.

Massachusetts: Legislation trying to make it illegal to provide shelter for sex offenders in the state.

Minnesota: Still trying to lobby for foreclosure protections from the Subcommittee on Housing that both Rep Waters and Rep. Ellison sit on. There is a proposed cut to General assistance. Spending more on HPRP/Stimulus toward homeless people then the state is spending on shelter now in Minnesota. The State Housing Link organization reports that only 166,000 households earning less than $25,000 per year, while there were only 82,000 units of subsidized housing. This translates to 50% of those who need affordable housing being able to find it within the state.

Montana: Governor not going after Education stimulus money. They are most likely not going to reappoint Governor’s. Council on Homelessness. This may lead to the group forming their own 501-c-3. They received a lot of press because of the subzero weather, and the impact on the homeless population.

California: - No Statewide Interagency Council in place within the state. They will not be appointed by end of the Swarzenegger term as governor. $20 billion hole in the state budget which meant a 15% cut to TANF (welfare) spending. If they do not get Federal dollars to cut deficit by $6/9 billion, the plan is to cut more from welfare, Passport type program for seniors, and the Foster care system. All this will trickle down to result in massive cuts to the County budgets. Deep cuts to Human Services planned. – Sacramento has prioritized the 10 year plan to end homelessness. They are still working on finding a permanent site for the tent city, but they are moving forward on a new basketball arena. There are groups that are trying to get a deal for help with homelessness in exchange for support for the arena.

South Carolina: Sen. Jim DeMint new hero as leader of tea party group. Senator Graham will not support any expansion of hate crimes to include homeless people. The Stimulus money for Housing/HPRP was distributed in July; so far no money has been given out yet. Special needs populations are not getting any help in South Carolina especially in the area of housing. They focus more on homeowners or the elderly for help. They got none of the Neighborhood Stabilization/Foreclosure help. There was a story about two Greenville police officers who beat up a homeless individual. The officers were put them on administrative leave. The State coalition has just been passing out info/training and sharing opportunities. They are switching to do more advocacy since they are in the bottom of almost every negative category among the states.

Atlanta, GA: - The state has serious budget problems and are putting teachers on furlough – no money left for anything. The power elite in Atlanta are allowing Grady hospital to move to a private organization. They have allowed massive demolition of Public Housing and even the privatization of the Mental health system and the prisons. There was a big story about people dying because they cannot find affordable dialysis in Atlanta. The Task force shelter building is in Foreclosure with a due date in February 2010. Borrowed money in 1998. They have a lawsuit involving the loans from that period of time when the city began de-funding the organization. Homeless people have really stepped up to keep the shelter open.

Colorado: Budget cut may terminate General Assistance, which currently helps those waiting for SSI. The Colorado Coalition saw a $3.4 million cut. They had to eliminate the mobile health clinic and close group homes, cutting salaries and implementing a hiring freeze. The good news is that the State is matching the $10 million in HPRP/Homeless Prevention money that came to the state using TANF/welfare funds. 40 organizations across the state got together to do a common assessment form. They are still opening new housing units for homeless people. Boulder successfully advocated against laws restricting camping. The Mayor has signed a moratorium on enforcement of this law.

Brian Davis

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.