On June 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced and allocated an additional $2.96 billion in CARES Act funding to eligible ESG grantees. Contra Costa County, as an ESG grantee, was awarded an additional $9,283,441 in ESG-Coronavirus funds, known as ESG-CV2. As with with the first allocation of ESG-CV funds, these funds must be utilized for activities to assist those who are experiencing homelessness but the funds must also prevent, prepare for, and/or respond to the coronavirus and its impacts. There are six eligible components/activities that ESG Program funds can be utilized for, which are: 1) Emergency Shelter Services/Operations; 2) Street Outreach; 3) Rapid Rehousing; 4) Homelessness Prevention; 5) Data Collection; and 6) Administration.
Given that the ESG Program funds are to primarily benefit those who are experiencing homelessness, County staff recommended that the distribution of funds to eligible components/activities be recommended by the County's Council on Homelessness (CoH), the Board appointed advisory committee on homelessness matters, with those recommendations to be considered by the Board of Supervisors. A working group of CoH members along with County staff met during the months of September and October 2020 to prepare recommendations for the CoH to consider. On November 5, 2020, County staff presented recommendations to the CoH and the CoH approved the ESG-CV2 funds in the following manner:
ESG-CV2 Recommendations:
-Hotel/Motel Emergency Shelter Program: Congregate shelters for the homeless, where many people shelter together in one space, present a risk for quick spread of the coronavirus. The Health, Housing, and Homelessness Division (H3) of Contra Costa County’s Health Services Department is the lead agency in coordinating and managing the effort of operating non-congregate emergency shelters through the County's Hotel/Motel Emergency Shelter Program. Staff is recommending ESG-CV2 funds to H3 to support the County’s Hotel/Motel Emergency Shelter Program. The ESG-CV2 funds would be used by H3 to support operations in one or multiple hotel/motel sites to ensure as many persons experiencing homelessness are placed in emergency shelter and are not further displaced into literal homelessness, and that the County can continue to manage the spread of the coronavirus by placing those individuals into safe temporary shelter at hotels/motels. (Recommended Amount: $3,713,377)
-Rapid Rehousing Program: In conjunction with the Hotel/Motel Emergency Shelter Program, the County H3 Division will implement a rapid rehousing program to provide rapid exits to permanent housing for individuals and families currently in the County’s Hotel/Motel Emergency Shelter Program. As part of this program H3 will subcontract with a qualified service provider to help assess individuals/families and to assist with placing them in permanent housing units. (Recommended Amount: $4,641,720)
-Homeless Management Information System (HMIS): Every ESG-CV program is required by HUD to input client information/data in the County’s Continuum of Care’s HMIS reporting system. The County’s H3 Division within the County Health Services Department is the HMIS Lead Agency for the Contra Costa County Continuum of Care. The ESG-CV regulations allow for the HMIS Lead Agency to utilize ESG-CV funds to upgrade or improve the current HMIS capabilities and to pay for staff operating the HMIS system to collect and report better data about the impact of coronavirus across the County. This will allow H3 staff to collect data that is necessary to coordinate and report on activities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus among individuals and families experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness, and receiving homeless assistance. (Recommend Amount: $232,086)
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Administration: County staff will take on additional responsibility in managing these new programs to ensure that federal requirements are met and funds are being utilized in the manner necessary to address impacts of COVID-19. (Recommended Amount: $696,258)
As with the ESG-CV1 funds, the ESG-CV2 funds have an expenditure deadline of September 30, 2022; however, it is anticipated that the funds will be fully expended by June 30, 2022 or much earlier.