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ACCEPTANCE OF AMENDMENT ONE TO EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT (ESG-CR-2020-NORMAN-CI-00021) IN THE AMOUNT OF $40,810 FOR A TOTAL AWARD OF $188,502 FROM THE OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO BE USED TO OPERATE A STREET OUTREACH PROGRAM, APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT NO. ONE TO CONTRACT K-2021-42, AND ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION R-2021-67 APPROPRIATING FUNDS.
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BACKGROUND: The Oklahoma Department of Commerce (ODOC) received $5,743,528 of Emergency Solutions Grant - Corona Virus (ESG-CR) Funds as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The City of Norman is not an Entitlement Community for Emergency Solutions Grant funding, including the ESG-CR allocations, and all funding is passed through the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to the seven rural Continuum’s of Care. Oklahoma City and the City of Tulsa, as Entitlement Communities, receive a direct formula allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The ESG-CR funds were allocated to these seven rural Continuum of Care entities utilizing a formula which included the number of COVID-19 cases, the unemployment rate, the number of uninsured, as well as population. With the first allocation, the Norman/Cleveland County Continuum of Care was allocated a total of $326,657. Contract K-2021-42 (17924 ESG-CR 20) appropriated a total of $147,692 to the City of Norman for the operation of a Winter Warming Shelter. The remaining funds ($178,965) were awarded to Food and Shelter, Inc. and Thunderbird Clubhouse, Inc. to assist their agencies in addressing the COVID-19 crisis.
During the initial allocation process, several CoC’s declined or reduced their acceptance of funding which resulted in an additional $439,190 being available. The Norman/Cleveland County CoC applied and was awarded the full amount of these funds. Again, in addition to the City of Norman, Food and Shelter, Inc. and Thunderbird Clubhouse, Inc. successfully applied for funding. Each application for funding was amended to detail the work items and amount that reflect the second allocation. These second awards are documented as Amendment One to each of the existing contracts.
The Norman/Cleveland County Continuum of Care collaboratively developed a solution that takes into consideration the entire funding availability to provide a community solution to address the unique needs of households experiencing homelessness or that are precariously housed and are affected by the Novel Coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19) Crisis. The range of activities that are funded include homeless prevention, rapid rehousing, street outreach and emergency shelter operations. The funding allocations were strategically awarded to the agencies based upon their experience and capacity to undertake the activities within the extremely short time frame that the contract allows. All funding must be expended by June 30, 2021.
This proposal was reviewed and approved by the Norman/Cleveland County CoC. In addition, the City of Norman proposal was discussed in multiple meetings and formally presented to the Council Ad-hoc Committee of Homelessness on December 22, 2020.
DISCUSSION: With the second allocation the City of Norman was awarded $40,810 to develop and operate a Street Outreach Program. This funding will allow for the start-up costs for an enhanced street outreach program that will continue to be funded with the award of a second allocation of Community Development Block Grant CV (CDBG-CV) funding of $737,568. This award, which allows for multi-year expenditures, will be considered by the Norman City Council as a future agenda item once the Citizen Participation process is completed.
The Street Outreach Program will be focused on addressing the issue of homeless encampments within the City of Norman. Utilizing both the ESG-CR and the CDBG-CV funds, a Housing Outreach Case Manager position and a Housing Navigator position (Outreach Workers) will be fully funded until June 30, 2023. These two positions will be full-time/temporary City of Norman employees and disclosed with the application, it will be noted that the positions are grant-funded and not permanent. These two positions will concentrate on working with the persons that are occupying multiple encampments to work towards permanent housing solutions for them. The housing solutions funding, including continued case management, will be provided by the awards to Food and Shelter, Inc. and Thunderbird Clubhouse, Inc. Future funding allocations will include the continuance of these efforts as a priority.
These efforts do not constitute a “sweep” of the encampments resulting in sudden displacement and removal of personal property. Instead, this is implementation of long term housing solutions for these vulnerable populations. All Continuum of Care partners see homelessness as a condition of housing. Effective homeless street outreach realizes that permanently solving an issue also results in reduced calls for emergency response; that getting people to move along solves nothing other than displacing people (and the “problem”) elsewhere. This initiative is focused on finding a permanent solution to the person’s homelessness situation. This program also reflects how as a community, we are working hard to have a positive impact on homelessness and respond to encampments as part of a coordinated response to resolve them, without requiring intervention from law enforcement personnel, if at all possible. This aspect is imperative to a successful movement from encampment to permanent housing.
The CDBG-CV funding, in addition to continuing the personnel funding until June 30, 2023, will include funding for cleanup of the encampments to discourage re-occupation.
K-2021-42 is an electronic document in its original and executed form and the amendment attached to this item will be executed electronically by all parties once approved. The attached amendment document demonstrates the $40,810 increase and a new amended total contract amount of $188,502.
RECOMMENDATION: Approval of Amendment One to K-2021-42 as proposed, including acceptance of the Emergency Solutions Grant-CR funding in the amount of $40,810.
The grant funds will be deposited to the Community Development Block Grant Fund, ESG-CR account (212-333319). Resolution R-2021-67 will appropriate funds totaling $40,810 to the following accounts:
Full-Time Salary (21240021-42001; $26,900); FICA (21240021-42901; $2,900); Medical Insurance - Employer Contribution (21240021-42210; $5,548); Life Insurance (21240021-42211; $48); Employer Retirement Contribution (21240021-42902; $3,304); HMIS License Fees (21240021-44226; $2,110)
Staff also recommends that Resolution R-2021-67 be adopted by City Council.