Sponsor: Housing Stability
Title
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Grant Award from Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for Homework Starts with Home
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Recommendation
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1. Ratify the Housing Stability Department sponsored submittal of the Solid Ground Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Homework Starts with Home application.
2. Accept a grant award from and approve a grant agreement with the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for the period of October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2023 in the amount of $444,700.
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 and contracts in accordance with the county’s procurement policies and procedures provided the amounts are within the limits of the grant funding.
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Background and Rationale
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In 2018, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA), in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Heading Home Minnesota Funders Collaborative initiated a project called Homework Starts with Home. The effort is part of the State of Minnesota Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. It is intended to support collaborative efforts between schools, housing organizations, and local governments to identify, engage, and stabilize students and their families who are experiencing homelessness. At development of the project, it was decided that the local government agencies who were the Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) grantees would have the role of being the grant recipient and administrator of resulting contracts; in partnership with Heading Home Ramsey Continuum of Care (COC), the Housing Stability department presently serves as the FHPAP grantee.
Target populations for the grant are families who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness and have children who are in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 academic programs or youth (with or without children of their own) without a parent or guardian who are eligible for an academic program through grade 12 and who are facing housing instability. Priority was given in the grant selection process to students or families who are currently homeless, students who are themselves custodial parents, students with significant educational deficits, families with children in grade 5 or younger, and students experiencing homelessness without their parents or guardians.
MHFA led the grantee selection process and Solid Ground in partnership with Lutheran Social Services was selected. Housing Stability along Heading Home Ramsey CoC Governing Board serve as the respective grant administrators and Advisory Council. As the FHPAP grantee, Housing Stability wrote letters of support and agreed to accept the funds to pass through to Solid Ground. The county will receive a total of $444,700 to pass through as a direct contract action to Solid Ground. Solid Ground will in turn be the lead of the area Homework Starts with Home collaborative which includes Solid Ground, Lutheran Social Services, and Saint Andrews Community Resource Center, and the Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative, with Solid Ground navigations services being the only action funded through the contract.
These funs help support the broader Heading Home Ramsey Continuum of Care strategic priorities to prevent and end homelessness in the county. A memorandum of agreement between the county and the providers will be jointly developed clarifying roles and responsibilities. Housing Stability will be responsible for the administration of grant activities and resulting agreements; this is a done as an in-kind contribution for the CoC.
For more information about Heading Home Ramsey CoC, please visit www.headinghomeramsey.org <http://www.headinghomeramsey.org>
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☒ Prosperity ☒ Opportunity ☒ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
Ongoing, the CoC Governing Board/Advisory Council, which includes the FHPAP projects and Homework Starts with Home collaborative, has launched an equity sub-committee to focus on racial disparities in the overall homeless crisis response system in Ramsey County. The subcommittee is called the Racial Equity Accountability Project (REAP). REAP is focused on continuing the work by moving racial equity action plans forward and to track and share progress to promote accountability in reducing racial disparities within the regions. REAP has three goals to focus on for calendar year 2022:
1. Coordinated Entry - Increase the number of adults in shelter assessed through coordinated entry to 61% and increase the connection to housing 12%.
2. Housing After Incarceration - Reduce by half (1.6%) the disparity between white and BIPOC populations in the percentage of exits over twelve months from the Ramsey County Correctional Facility entering homelessness.
3. Landlord Engagement - Work with CoC to develop Landlord 101 curriculum that includes racial equity training.
Community Participation Level and Impact
Minnesota Housing Finance Agency requires engagement of community members, stakeholders, people with lived experience, and school partners to be members of the CoC Governing Board/Advisory Council.
☒ Inform ☒ Consult ☒ Involve ☒ Collaborate ☐ Empower
Fiscal Impact
Grant funds pass-through Housing Stability and the CoC Governing Board is the Advisory Council. Housing Stability staff will administer and monitor the grant funds within existing resources included in the proposed 2022-23 Housing Stability budget.
County Manager Comments
No additional comments.
Last Previous Action
On September 11, 2018, the Ramsey County Board accepted the previous grant award of $164,068 from Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for Homework Starts with Home (Resolution B2018-236).
Attachments
1. Finance Agency for Homework Start with Home Exhibit E Budget
2. Finance Agency for Homework Start with Home Exhibit B Work Plan
3. Finance Agency for Homework Start with Home MOU
4. Finance Agency for Homework Start with Home Grant Contract Agreement