Sponsor: Housing Stability
Title
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Grant Agreement with the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program
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Recommendation
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1. Ratify the submittal of the grant application to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, in the amount of $13,633,364
2. Accept a grant award and approve and approve a grant agreement with Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program for the period of October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2025, in the amount of $6,590,000.
3. Authorize the Chair and Chief Clerk to execute the grant agreement.
4. Authorize the County Manager to enter into agreements and execute amendments to agreements in accordance with the county’s procurement policies and procedures provided the amounts are within the limits of the grant funding.
5. Approve an increase in the personnel complement of the Housing Stability department by 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent position, for the duration of the grant
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Background and Rationale
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The Minnesota Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) was established in 1993 to assist families with children, single adults and youth who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) administers the FHPAP with guidance from the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness and the state’s plan to prevent and end homelessness. The FHPAP provides funds to serve low-income (less than 200% Federal Poverty Guidelines) residents to prevent homelessness and/or to rapidly rehouse those households that are homeless.
The county works with its community partners through an FHPAP Advisory Committee (required by statute) and Heading Home Ramsey (the county’s Continuum of Care or “CoC”) to design a homeless crisis response system, develop project outcome measures, and assess the short and long-term effectiveness of the program in meeting the needs of families who are at risk of homelessness, or are experiencing homeless. This year, Heading Home Ramsey prioritized serving families with minor children, single adults, and parenting or unaccompanied youth under 25 years old for the 2023-2025 grant cycle by providing street outreach, prevention assistance, coordinated entry, and rapid rehousing services.
MHFA awarded Ramsey County $6,590,000 for the 2023-2025 FHPAP Biennium. Of the total funding, $6,380,000 of the grant funding will be awarded to 13 subgrantees and $210,000 will be retained as personnel costs within the Ramsey County Housing Stability department for a 1.0 FTE Planning Specialist position for the duration of the grant. Ramsey County issued a solicitation in February 2023.
The solicitation received 20 respondents, of which 13 were awarded funding. Funded agencies include:
1. 1 Day At A Time
2. American Indian Family Center
3. Catholic Charities
4. Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES)
5. Face to Face
6. Hmong American Partnership
7. Lutheran Social Services
8. Merrick Community Services
9. Minnesota Community Care
10. Neighborhood House
11. Solid Ground
12. Wilder Foundation
13. YMCA
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☒ Prosperity ☒ Opportunity ☐ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
MHFA strives to be inclusive, equitable and just in its actions. Examples of this include supporting a state plan to prevent and end homelessness which focuses on racial, housing and health justice, as well as providing funding commitments such as FHPAP. To further address the racial disparities that exist among Minnesotans experiencing homelessness, MHFA prioritizes working with grant administrators who will be successful in improving housing stability for communities disproportionately impacted by homelessness.
For the 2023-2025 biennium, the Heading Home Ramsey ranking committee’s selections included the following subgrantees that will specialize serving populations where disparities are evident in the CoC’s performance measures:
• 1 Day At A Time - Rapid Rehousing Project - African American households.
• Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) - Prevention Project - Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish speaking households.
• Hmong American Partnership (HAP) - Prevention Project - Southeast Asian households.
• American Indian Family Center (AIFC) - Prevention Project - American Indian households.
Ramsey County also prioritizes the Equity Focus prevention practice model as outlined in the 2023-2025 FHPAP Program Guide. The Equity Focus practice model employs strategies and responses that are attuned to the populations at greatest risk for homelessness. To effectively carry out Equity Focus, Ramsey County works with the CoC, FHPAP Advisory Committee and its subgrantees to develop and implement data-driven strategies to ensure interventions for homeless individuals and families are representative of the populations being served and culturally appropriate.
Community Participation Level and Impact
MHFA requires engagement of community members, stakeholders, school partners, and people with lived experience to be members of the required FHPAP Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee also functions as the CoC’s Prevention and Tenant Stabilization (PTS) Work Group which develops prevention-focused strategies and recommendations. The FHPAP Advisory/PTS Work Group will continue and begin to work on the following strategies for the 2023-2025 FHPAP biennium:
1. Continue to partner with the Ramsey County Financial Assistance Services department to align strategies and services for residents seeking FHPAP and emergency financial assistance to resolve crises to prevent homelessness.
2. Continually update public-facing information for residents, property owners, and other community members in need of resources.
3. Develop and implement a one-door approach for residents in need by leveraging stakeholder input, particularly those with lived experience of homelessness to increase efficiency and effectiveness of our FHPAP projects.
☒ Inform ☒ Consult ☒ Involve ☒ Collaborate ☒ Empower
Fiscal Impact
Total funding in the amount of $6,590,000 will be received from two sources: $3,196,150 from the FHPAP Base Grant and $3,393,850 from the FHPAP Fast Track Grant.
Of the total funding, $6,380,000 of the grant funding will be awarded to 13 subgrantees and $210,000 will be retained for personnel costs within the Ramsey County Housing Stability department for a 1.0 FTE Planning Specialist position for the duration of the grant. When executed, funds will be moved to a grant fund and will be allocated through the life of the grant (October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2025).
Last Previous Action
On June 27, 2023, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved an amendment to the agreement with Minnesota Housing Finance Association for the Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program (B2023-097).
Attachments
1. FHPAP Grant Contract Agreement