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CONSIDERATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF A 2018 CONTINUUM OF CARE PLANNING GRANT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $12,088 TO BE USED FOR THE COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES RELATED TO HOMELESSNESS; APPROVAL OF CONTRACT K-1819-134; AND BUDGET APPROPRIATION FROM THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FUND BALANCE.
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BACKGROUND: As a component of the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Fiscal Year 2018 for the Continuum of Care Program Competition, Collaborative Applicants were allocated by formula a Planning Grant for Homeless Activities. The City of Norman, as the designated Collaborative Applicant for the Cleveland County Continuum of Care (OK504) was allocated $12,088. Nation-wide, the Continuum of Care Competition funds approximately $1.7 billion for assisting sheltered and unsheltered homeless people by providing the housing and/or services needed to help individuals move into transitional or permanent housing, with the goal of long term stability. Homeless service agencies within the Cleveland County Continuum of Care receive over $450,000 annually from the Continuum of Care NOFA. This awarded funding is contracted between the agency receiving the award and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
DISCUSSION: In the 2018 competition, the City of Norman was awarded this Planning Grant in the amount of $12,088. The application indicated that if awarded, the funds would be utilized for general planning and coordination of activities related to homelessness whether performed by the City of Norman or by contract with a qualified consultant. As stated in the application for funding there are no specific projects identified but eligible expenditures include the reimbursement of staff costs or provision of training that would benefit the Continuum of Care. This will be the fourth award that the City of Norman has received. Past awards have been utilized to provide for training contracted to Org Code, Inc. for Homeless Case Management. In 2018 training was conducted in February and was attended by all Continuum of Care providers where presentations were made to better understand each other’s agencies programs and limitations. An all-day training is scheduled in April 2019 for all CoC Agencies. Topics to be covered are appropriate Case Management Standards, Fair Housing Training among other subjects. The offering of training to the Continuum members is the first priority for these funds; any remaining funds are utilized to offset staff time spent by CDBG personnel in the planning of the Continuum of Care activities. This grant will be administered on a reimbursement basis.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends acceptance of the grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department and approval and execution of contract K-1819-134 in the amount of $12,088 with funds to be appropriated from the Community Development Block Grant Fund Balance (account 021-0000-253.20-00) to COC Planning Grant, Full-Time Salaries (account 021-4090-463.20-01) for this purpose. When future training is scheduled, a transfer will be made to the appropriate account at that time. Upon reimbursement, the funds will be deposited into Revenue-COC Planning Grant (account 021-0000-331.13-85).