Harris County Community Services Department

1. To insert your company logo on this slide • From the Insert Menu • Select “Picture” • Locate your logo file • Click OK • To resize the logo • Click anywhere inside the logo. The boxes that appear outside the logo are known as “resize handles.” • Use these to resize the object. • If you hold down the shift key before using the resize handles, you will maintain the proportions of the object you wish to resize. Harris County Community Services Department PY2009 Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Homeless Prevention Program Subrecipient Orientation

2. Public Services Staff • Esmeralda Gonzalez, Manager 713-578-2042 • Natalie Garcia, Project Monitor 713-578-2065 • Ron Smith, Project Monitor 713-578-2128 • Shalla Bass, Project Assistant 713-578-2127

3. Contents of Folder • Welcome letter • Agenda • Subrecipient Orientation Acknowledgment • Evaluation Form • Programmatic Forms • ESG Homeless Prevention Handbook

4. Agreements • Agreements were drafted based on applicants’ Request for Proposals (RFP’s) submitted to CSD for PY2009 funding • PY2009 Time of Performance: March 1, 2009 to February 28, 2010 • Two (2) budget revisions are allowed per year, no later than 90 days prior to the end of the program year (cut-off to receive your budget revision request: November 30, 2009.)

5. Agreements • Refer to Exhibit A: Scope of Service and Exhibit B: Budget • Activity • Unit Definition • Cost per Unit of Service • Total No. of Units Per Activity • Maximum Total Cost Per Year • PY2009 Number Served

6. ESG Overview ESG Objectives: • To increase the number and quality of emergency shelters and transitional housing facilities for homeless individuals and families, • To operate these facilities and provide essential social services, and • To help prevent homelessness. Eligible program activities: • To provide homeless persons with basic shelter and essential supportive services • To assist with operational costs of a shelter facility • To provide short-term homeless prevention assistance to persons at imminent risk of losing their own housing due to eviction, foreclosure, or utility shutoffs.

7. Eligibility for Homeless Prevention • For homeless prevention activities, Subrecipients must obtain evidence of: • an eviction, foreclosure, or utility termination notice, and • that the inability to pay was due to a sudden loss of income, and • that assistance is necessary to prevent homelessness, and • The resumption of payment is reasonably expected within the near future.

8. Harris County Service Area Restriction on location of activities (24 CFR 570.309) • Subrecipients funded by CSD will provide activities to persons who reside in the Harris County service area. • Prior to providing assistance, service area eligibility must be determined by conducting an address search utilizing the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) web page. www.hcad.org • The CSD service area includes the unincorporated areas of Harris County outside of the cities of Houston, Baytown and Pasadena. Included in this service area are the 15 cooperative cities of Bellaire, Deer Park, Galena Park, Humble, Jacinto City, Katy, La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Seabrook, Shoreacres, South Houston, Tomball, Waller, Webster, and West University Place.

9. All persons served must be in the Harris County Service Area • An address is eligible if : • The code 040 (Harris County) appears in the list, and • The following codes do not appear: 061 (City of Houston, 051 (City of Baytown), 074 (City of Pasadena), 053 (Bunker Hill Village), 055 (Hedwig Village), 056 (El Lago), 060 (Hillshire Village), 064 (Missouri City), 065 (Hunters Creek Village), 068 (Meadows), 090 (Jersey Village), 073 (Nassau Bay), 075 (Piney Point Village), 079 (Southside Place), 080 (Spring Valley), or 082 (Taylor Lake Village).

10. All persons served mustbe very low, low or moderateincome before reduction of income INCOME LEVELS & HOUSEHOLD SIZE Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, January 28, 2008.

11. Homeless Prevention Program Handbook, Rules and Guidelines • Subrecipients providing homeless prevention assistance must collect required documentation and receive CSD approval prior to providing the actual assistance. • Turn to the following sections in the CSD Homeless Prevention Program Handbook 04.01 Service Area Residency 04.02 Examples of Income Guidelines 04.03 Eligible Activities 04.04A Examples of “sudden reduction of income” 04.04C Acceptable Documentation to show resumption of payments 05.01 Documentation to be submitted for authorization 05.02 Authorization of Assistance 05.05 Maximum Assistance Amounts

12. PY2009 Programmatic Reports • Coversheet / Checklist • Project Status Report • Client Data Report • Tally Sheet • Individual Eligibility Forms • Employee Data Report • Client Track Print-out • Mid-Year Report or Annual Performance Report

13. What if… For the period ending April 30, 2009, the Client Data Report indicates that 3 new households and 2 duplicates from March were provided homeless prevention assistance. How many Individual Eligibility Forms should be submitted in April? What should the totals in the Tally Sheet reflect?

14. What if… • Your project’s goal is to serve 30 households. You served 0 households in the first 3 months and 10 households by the end of the 6th month. What information will you provide in the Mid-Year Report on how the project is meeting its goals?

15. Important notes on monthly reports • Monthly reports are due within 10 working days of the end of the monthly reporting periods. • For projects that expend funds early, submission of monthly reports with no new persons/services is still required. • Example: Project meets contract goals of persons served, units of service provided, and funds are exhausted by the end of January 31, 2010; submission of reports for period ending February 28, 2010 is still required.

16. Client Track Reporting • CSD requires Subrecipients which provide homeless prevention assistance with County funds to participate in the Homeless Management Information System administered by the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH). • The ClientTrack print-outs can be submitted to CSD after you: • Inform the CFTH of your grant name, type of funding, the operating year, and list of services funded through the grant • Sign up and receive training • Input information on clients and services provided into ClientTrack • Please contact CFTH staff at 713-739-7514 or click on their website at www.homelesshouston.org for further assistance.

17. Subrecipient Monitoring CSD staff conduct monthly desk reviews of Subrecipient program reports and reimbursement requests submitted. Projects are monitored on-site at least annually to ensure compliance with Federal regulations and CSD requirements.

18. Subrecipient Monitoring • CSD sends a notice of the monitoring visit 15-30 days prior to the visit. • Participant eligibility, activities provided, and consistency with terms of the Agreement are reviewed, as detailed in the monitoring checklist attached to the notice. • CSD sends a monitoring results letter within 30 days after the monitoring visit citing findings and/or concerns (if any). • Subrecipient response letter is due no later than 30 days after the date of the results letter if responding to findings and/or concerns.

19. Important Points • Grantor Recognition • Spell out “Harris County Community Services Department” • Keep all items that document grantor recognition in a Grant File for review during the monitoring visit (press releases, media announcements, fundraising brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, print-out from agency website) • Policy and Procedures Handbook for CSD-funded project will be obtained for CSD’s files • Units of Service in the client files should match the numbers of Units of Service reported in Client Data and Project Status Reports

20. What if… The March 2009 Client Data Report shows 2 units of case management for Mama Bear. In her file, there is a case management note documenting services on March 23rd. What will the Project Monitor ask you?

21. What if… Your agency recognizes Harris County as a Grantor in its annual newsletter for ESG funding. What will your Project Monitor say about that?

22. Homeless Assistance and Participation • Per 24 CFR 576.56 (b) (1) and (2), recipients of ESG funds must provide for the participation of homeless or formerly homeless individuals on its policy-making entity and involve homeless individuals and families in providing work or services pertaining to ESG assisted activities. • At the monitoring visit, we will request documentation evidencing your agency’s compliance with this requirement (refer to sample letters.)

23. What if… One of your Board members writes “I was homeless, and now I serve on the Board.” What more is needed to adequately document Homeless Assistance and Participation?

24. Reference Tools • Forms are located on the CD provided and at our Grants Management webpage, which will be http://www.csd.hctx.net/ • Please visit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website for references and links to all applicable rules, laws, and regulations. http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/programs/esg/index.cfm http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/24cfr576_04.html http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/retrieve.html

25. Questions & Answers: Programmatic Forms What source doc. do we need to submit for CSD pre-approval? Can I report duplicate clients on the Tally Sheet? Is telephone utility assistance an allowable cost?

26. For Your Information Harris County Community Services Department Office of Housing and Community Development 8410 Lantern Point Houston, Texas 77054 Main number: 713-578-2000 Fax number: 713-578-2269 http://www.csd.hctx.net/ CSD staff email address: firstname.lastname@csd.hctx.net

27. Finance Staff Presentation We hope this orientation was informative and beneficial. Please sign and submit the Acknowledgment form, provide feedback on the Evaluation Form, and pick up your Certificate of Attendance.