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Presentation, discussion, and possible action to ratify staff’s actions to accept and implement the Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing allocation under the Emergency Solutions Grants Program (ESG RUSH), and to ratify staff’s submission of an amendment to the State of Texas 2023 State of Texas One Year Action Plan reflecting such action.
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, on May 17, 2024, President Biden issued a major disaster declaration for the State of Texas resulting from severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding;
WHEREAS, on July 9, 2024, the President also issued a major disaster declaration for the State of Texas in response to Hurricane Beryl;
WHEREAS, on July 18, 2024, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a Federal Register Notice implementing the new Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing allocation under the Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESG RUSH);
WHEREAS, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the Department) received a special allocation of $1,885,118 in ESG RUSH from HUD;
WHEREAS, the Department will make available $1,800,288 in ESG RUSH funding for eligible Subrecipients, and in accordance with 10 TAC §7.33 concerning Apportionment of ESG Funds will retain $84,830 for administrative purposes;
WHEREAS, HUD regulations require that in order to receive the allocation the Department must submit an amendment the 2023 State of Texas One Year Action Plan within 30 days of HUD’s award notification, which was dated August 28, 2024; staff proceeded with the submission without Board authority due to the time limitation, and based on the Board’s long-standing support and interest in bringing additional resources to help Texas communities in need;
WHEREAS, the Board authorizes a waiver 10 TAC Chapter §7.3(a) as described herein in order to provide all available resources to Texans affected by the disasters;
WHEREAS, the Department is committed to promptly providing much needed funding in the communities affected by the disasters, and as such staff is requesting to award the ESG RUSH funding as new contracts to current high performing ESG Subrecipients in only the geographically eligible areas; and
WHEREAS, the HUD Notice includes the possibility of additional allocations of ESG RUSH funding to recipients of the initial allocation, and for future allocations made that may be for other eligible disasters and as such staff is also requesting authority that if awarded, additional allocations be made available in similar fashion as direct awards to current ESG Subrecipients;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies the acceptance of the ESG RUSH allocation awarded in response to the major disaster declaration for the State of Texas;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board hereby ratifies staff’s submission of an amendment to the 2023 State of Texas Action Plan;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Executive Director, his designees, and each of them be and they hereby are authorized, empowered, and directed, for and on behalf of the Department, to take any and all such actions as they or any of them may deem necessary or advisable to administer and award the first allocation of ESG RUSH funding; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Executive Director, his designees, and each of them be and they are hereby authorized, empowered, and directed, for and on behalf of the Department, to take any and all such action as they or any of them may deem necessary or advisable to accept and administer future allocations of ESG RUSH funding, including submission of required amendments to the applicable State of Texas One Year Action Plan.
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BACKGROUND
When there is a Presidential declaration of a major disaster pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, HUD typically provides relief through the implementation of regulatory waivers for the use of Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program funds in the affected areas. On July 18, 2024, HUD released a Federal Register Notice announcing the creation of a new form of disaster relief that allocates special grants under the existing Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program, which HUD designates as Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) funds.
The ESG RUSH allocations are funded through HUD’s recapture of unspent homeless assistance grants, including ESG and Continuum of Care (COC) funding. HUD makes these allocations available to States and/or local governments to address the needs of individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of experiencing homelessness residing in a declared disaster area whose needs are not otherwise addressed or fully met by existing Federal disaster relief programs. ESG RUSH funds may be used to address short-term disaster response needs; other eligible activities are those federally eligible under the annual ESG Program, including street outreach, emergency shelter, homeless prevention, rapid rehousing, and HMIS.
On May 17, 2024, and July 9, 2024, the President issued a major disaster declaration for the State of Texas resulting from severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding and in response to Hurricane Beryl, respectively. In response to the President’s major disaster declaration HUD awarded the Department a special allocation of ESG RUSH in the amount of $1,885,118 for use within the declared disaster areas, or to persons who resided in the declared disaster area as of the date of the disaster. The Department will retain $84,830 for administrative purposes; the remaining funds will be made available for awards to Subrecipients providing services within the eligible areas. The service area is geographically restricted to areas identified as eligible for FEMA Individual Assistance when a major disaster is declared. A listing of eligible counties by Continuum of Care (CoC) for this initial allocation of ESG RUSH is included in Attachment A. Since some areas in the eligible counties have also been offered an allocation of ESG RUSH, staff submitted an inquiry to HUD to determine if these counties must be excluded from the TDHCA ESG RUSH service area. Regardless of HUD’s response, staff recommended prioritizing TDHCA ESG RUSH to areas otherwise unable to access this fund source in its amendment to the 2023 State of Texas One Year Action Plan (2023 OYAP).
To expedite the release of funds into the affected communities, HUD has waived CoC consultation requirements noted in 24 CFR 576.400(a) and Consultation and citizen participation requirements under 24 CFR §§91.110 and 91.115 for the first allocation. However, HUD regulations require the Department submit an amendment to the 2023 State of Texas One Year Action Plan within 30 days of HUD’s award notification, which was dated August 28, 2024. Therefore, during the Board meeting of September 5, 2024, the Executive Director notified the Board that the required submission must be made prior to obtaining Board approval.
To expedite the delivery of services in affected communities, staff is recommending awarding funds as new contracts to existing high performing ESG Subrecipients which provide services within the affected areas, noted in Attachment A. Staff recommends direct awards rather than a competitive NOFA when possible due to the immediate need for these funds. Funding recommendations arising from this action must complete a Previous Participation Review, in accordance with 10 TAC §1.302, prior to Board recommendation.
In addition to the request to award RUSH funds to high performing Subrecipients, Staff requests a waiver of 10 TAC §7.3(a) which prohibits the use of ESG funds for new construction, renovation, rehabilitation, or conversion of a shelter, or construction or rehabilitation of a Dwelling Unit. Although new construction is not permissible under the federal regulation, renovation, rehabilitation, or conversion of a shelter is a federally eligible use of ESG funding. Typically, both the one-year contract term and administrative requirements tied to such large-scale projects create an impediment to using ESG Annual funds for these activities. However, the need for this specific activity due to the potential damage sustained by shelters because of the disaster may substantially expedite processes that generally render this activity unavailable under regular ESG. This waiver will allow Subrecipients be able to use the ESG RUSH funds to rehabilitate emergency shelters damaged in the eligible disaster. The Board is authorized to provide such waiver pursuant to 10 TAC §7.12, Waivers.
The HUD Notice included the possibility of a second allocation of RUSH funding if ongoing disaster effects continue to show a high level of unmet needs and additional funds become available. Since these funds are meant to address immediate needs after a disaster, staff is requesting that the Executive Director and his designees have authority to accept future allocations of ESG RUSH as they may become available for these disasters or other future disasters, and authorization to submit required amendments to the applicable State of Texas One Year Action Plan for such allocations. Staff will prepare a report to the Board each time an allocation of RUSH funding is received by the Department, and all awards of ESG RUSH to Subrecipients will be presented to the Board for approval prior to commencement.