title
Presentation, discussion, and possible action on release of the draft Federal Fiscal Years 2026-2027 Community Services Block Grant State Plan for public comment
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USHHS) requires that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the Department) submit a State Plan every two years in order to receive its allotment of Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds;
WHEREAS, the Department has prepared a draft Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2026-2027 CSBG State Plan (the Plan); and
WHEREAS, USHHS requires that a draft Plan be released for public comment and the State requires four public hearings prior to the submission of the Plan to USHHS;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the draft Plan, in the form presented to this meeting, is hereby approved to be released for public comment, public hearings, posted on the Department’s website and published in the Texas Register;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that if USHHS releases different guidance after Board approval, the Board authorizes staff to make needed conforming changes and non-substantive changes to the Plan, and if necessary to change the public hearing dates and the comment period; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the final Plan with consideration for final grant guidance, public comment and technical corrections made by staff, along with award recommendations for eligible entities, will be presented to the Board no later than July 2025.
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BACKGROUND
USHHS requires that the State of Texas submit a CSBG State Plan every two years on or before September 1 in order to receive its allotment of CSBG funds. In response to this requirement, the Department has prepared a draft FFY 2026-2027 CSBG State Plan. Eligible Entities had two previous opportunities to provide input into the drafting of this Plan. The first opportunity included a 17-day timeframe in December 2024 to provide comments on what they wanted changed from the 2024-2025 CSBG State Plan, and the second opportunity included an 18-day period in March 2025 to comment on this draft 2026-2027 Plan before presenting it to the Board at this meeting.
The Plan, upon approval by the Board, will be posted on the Department’s website, published in the Texas Register, released for public comment, and public hearings will be held.
An announcement of the availability of the draft Plan and details regarding the timeframe to accept comments from the public and the public hearing will be posted on the Department’s website upon Board approval and published in the Texas Register on April 25, 2025. The period to accept comments from the public regarding the Plan will be open from April 25, 2025, through May 21, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Central time. Written comments concerning the Plan may be submitted to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Community Affairs Division-Gavin Reid, P.O. Box 13941, Austin, TX 78711-3941, or by email to gavin.reid@tdhca.texas.gov. Comments are due no later than 5:00 p.m. Central time on May 21, 2025.
The Department will also conduct four public hearings throughout the state. Meeting dates, times and locations are:
• Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 5:30 pm - 6:00 p.m. at Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, 221 East 11th Street, 1st Floor, Austin, TX 78701.
• Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. at BakerRipley, First Floor Education Center, 3838 Aberdeen Way, Houston, TX 77025.
• Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. at Northside Community Center, 1100 NW 18th Street, Room R44133, Fort Worth, TX 76164.
• Thursday, May 15, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. at West Texas Opportunities, 1415 East 2nd Street, Odessa, TX 79761.
Upon completion of the public comment period and public hearings, staff will modify the Plan, if appropriate, based on public comment. Staff will also include any changes required by federal guidance and necessary technical corrections made by staff. Staff anticipates presenting the revised Plan, along with recommendations for eligible entity awards, to the Board for review and final approval no later than July.
As listed in Section 7.9 and 7.11 of the Plan, 5% of the Department’s CSBG allocation is reserved for discretionary activities and can be used for a variety of CSBG related purposes. Examples of these purposes can include training and technical assistance for subrecipients and awarding funds to organizations conducting community development activities or neighborhood innovation projects. Recipients of CSBG discretionary funds may, but are not required to, be eligible entities. The table below reflects the discretionary activities and funding levels for the current biennium as a point of comparison, followed by what the plan will reflect for the 2026-2027 biennium. The two primary changes are no longer funding the Housing Voucher Program Support Fund (which was funds set aside to support the central administration of the Section 8 Program and had not been used in several years), and an increase to the disaster recovery fund.
|
CSBG-Discretionary Activity |
2024-2025 |
2026-2027 |
Difference |
|
Re-Entry Assistance Program |
$400,000 |
$400,000 |
$0 |
|
Network Training and Technical Assistance |
$150,000 |
$150,000 |
$0 |
|
Organizational Capacity Improvements |
$50,000 |
$50,000 |
$0 |
|
3rd Party T&TA/Assessment Services |
$100,000 |
$100,000 |
$0 |
|
Network Transition Fund |
$50,000 |
$50,000 |
$0 |
|
Migrant Seasonal Farmworker & Native American Populations Employment and Educational Initiatives |
$300,000 |
$300,000 |
$0 |
|
Housing Voucher Program Support Fund |
$150,000 |
$0 |
($150,000) |
|
Disaster Recovery Fund |
$500,000 |
$750,000 |
$250,000 |
|
Balance of State Continuum of Care and Related Statewide Homelessness Initiatives |
$75,000 |
$50,000 |
($25,000) |
|
Subtotal |
$1,775,000 |
$1,850,000 |
$75,000* |
*Reflects a moderate estimated increase of the annual allocation amounts.
In review of the Plan, attached, it should be noted that the Plan follows a template and series of prompts pre-determined by USHHS with character limitations and specific instructions.
The full text of the draft 2026-2027 CSBG State Plan may be viewed at the Department’s website: <https://www.tdhca.texas.gov/tdhca-public-comment-center>. The public may also receive a copy of the draft 2026-2027 CSBG State Plan by contacting Gavin Reid at gavin.reid@tdhca.texas.gov.