Funding Sources – Mainstream Resources
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ProgramsNote: In collaboration with nine federal partners, HHS has developed an interactive computer program, known as FirstStep, to assist case managers and outreach workers in linking homeless people with the federal mainstream services for which they are eligible.
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/firststep/index.html
Medicaid
§ Purpose: To provide health care for certain low-income and medically needy people, including people who are elderly, blind and disabled, and other special groups§ Funded by: The program is funded jointly through a Federal-state partnership. Within Federal guidelines, each state administers its own program and sets its own criteria for eligibility, type, amount, duration and scope of services, and payment as outlined in the State Medicaid Plan.
§ Eligible Services: Eligible individuals and families receive a variety of services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital services, physician services, surgical dental services, rural health clinic services, lab and x-ray services, and prescription drugs. Optional services, such as the rehabilitation option and the targeted case management option, can be used to provide many of the supportive services needed to help maintain people with serious mental illnesses or co-occurring disorders in housing.
State Children’s Health Insurance Program
§ Purpose: To provide health insurance to uninsured low-income children ages 18 years and younger, including those that are homeless§ Funded by: It is jointly financed by the federal and state governments and administered by the states. SCHIP provides a capped amount of funds to states that must be matched.
§ Eligible Services: While each state determines eligibility and benefits, the scope of coverage generally includes: routine doctor visits, immunizations, hospital and emergency room services, lab and x-ray services, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, dental care, eye care, hearing care, prescriptions, and physical and speech therapy.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Programs
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
§ Purpose: To help low-income families with children become self-sufficient.
§ Funded by: Funds are provided to states through block grants. Cost-sharing by states is required.
§ Eligible Services: Provides cash aid to needy families with (or expecting) children and provides parents with job preparation, work, and support services. States may determine what benefit levels to set and what categories of families are eligible, including homeless families with children. Eligible services, depending on the State, can include childcare; transportation; education and training; job search, placement and retention services; mental health and substance abuse treatment; and savings assistance through individual development accounts. In some states, funds are used to provide rental subsidies, assistance with security deposits and moving costs, and payment for back rent to prevent evictions.
Community Mental Health Services Block Grant
§ Purpose: To create comprehensive, community-based systems of care for adults with serious mental illnesses and children with severe emotional disturbances§ Funded by: Formula grants to states and territories. The program is the single largest source of federal funds for improving mental health service systems across the country.
§ Eligible Services: Funds are used at the discretion of states to provide services such as health, mental health, rehabilitation, employment, housing, and other supportive services. Most states provide services to adults with serious mental illnesses who are homeless, and in some places, states use block grant funds to provide services in supportive housing. Mental health block grant funds also may be used to provide services for individuals with substance use disorders within certain guidelines.
Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grants
§ Purpose: To fund alcohol prevention and treatment activities, prevention and treatment related to other drugs, and primary prevention programs.§ Funded by: Formula grants to states and territories.
§ Eligible Activities: All individuals who have alcohol or substance use problems are eligible for services, including people who are homeless, or persons with co-occurring substance use disorders.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Programs
Access to Recovery (ATR)
§ Program Description: Substance abuse treatment voucher program. It allows addicted individuals to choose clinical treatment and recovery support services, including faith-based and community providers.
§ Funded by: ATR is a competitive discretionary grant program eligible to states and territories.
Community Health Centers
§ Program Description: Centers provide preventive and primary care services to medically underserved populations. Many have specific programs designed to serve individuals who are homeless.§ Funded by: Supported by discretionary project grants
Community Services Block Grants
§ Program Description: Block grants support a range of services designed to address poverty and to promote self-sufficiency among low-income members of communities, including those who are homeless.§ Funded by: Formula grants to states
Social Services Block Grants
§ Program Description: Block grants can be used to support a range of services to prevent, reduce, and eliminate dependency and increase self-sufficiency among community residents.§ Funded by: Formula grants to states
Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (CARE)
§ Program Description: Funds housing-related services for individuals living with HIV disease in localities that are most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Act includes initiatives that specifically target minority and youth populations.
§ Eligible Services: Services include outpatient and ambulatory health services including substance abuse and mental health treatment, outreach, and early intervention services.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Programs
Assets for Independence Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
§ Program Description: This matched savings program permits lower income working individuals and families to use an IDA to accumulate savings to use in the future for specified purposes, including the purchase of a principal residence by a first-time home buyer, the capitalization of a business, or post-secondary education. A project grantee works with the participant to establish a schedule and goal of savings from earned income. The grantee and participant agree on a rate to be matched with each dollar saved.
§ Project Grantee Eligibility: Five-year Federal grants are offered to the following eligible applicants: not-for-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations; State, local or Tribal government agencies applying jointly with a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization; and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) or a Low Income Credit Unions (so designated by the NCUA), provided that the CDFI or Credit Union has a collaborative relationship with a local community-based organization whose activities are designed to address poverty in the community. Grantees must match in cash an amount equal to the federal grant.
§ Participant eligibility: Participants are eligible if they qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or if their income over the previous year was less than 200% of the poverty guidelines as well as households with a net worth below $10,000 are eligible.
§ For more information: http://www.workworld.org/wwwebhelp/individual_development_account_ida_assets_for_independence_program.htm
Job Opportunities for Low Income Individuals (JOLI)
§ Program Description: The program aims to help low-income individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency. Grantees are able to use their JOLI program funding to provide technical and financial assistance to private employers in order to create job opportunities to the low-income who are unemployed.
§ Applicant Requirements: Non-Profits with 501(c) (3) IRS status, faith-based and community organization
§ For more information:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2007-ACF-OCS-EO-0054.html
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Programs
Public Housing
§ Program Description: Public Housing is developed, owned, and managed by public housing agencies (PHAs) under contract with HUD.§ Funded by: HUD provides subsidies to cover operating and management costs of the units and of the public housing agencies. Tenants in public housing generally pay 30 percent of their incomes toward rent.
§ Applicant Requirements: PHAs are allowed to establish local preferences for income targets and tenant selection and must submit a 5-year plan that outlines these preferences and demonstrates their consistency with the local needs and strategies identified in the consolidated plan.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
§ Program Description: LIHTC vests with states the authority to issue roughly $5 billion annually in tax credits for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of rental housing targeted to low-income households, including permanent supportive housing.
§ Funded by: Tax credits are generally given to nonprofit housing developers at the outset of a project and then sold by the nonprofit developer to for-profit investors who use the credits as lucrative tax right-offs. Tax credits typically provide 30% to 50% of the total capital for affordable housing projects.
§ Applicant Requirements: Recipient states are required to adopt a statewide tax credit plan, known as the Qualified Allocation Plan, which establishes the state’s criteria and preferences for allocating credits.
The Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly referred to as the Section 8 program)
§ Program Description: Largest Federal program targeted to very low-income households, including people with disabilities. The program offers six different vouchers: homeownership vouchers; project-based vouchers (for property owners to construct units for very low-income families); tenant-based vouchers, vouchers for people with disabilities; conversion vouchers (for replacement of housing as a result of demolition of public housing); and family unification vouchers. Tenant-based vouchers are the most common form, offering subsidies that allow tenants to pay 30 percent of their income toward housing costs in a unit of their choice.
§ Funded by: It is administered through state or local PHAs.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Programs
The Home Program: HOME Investment Partnerships
§ Program Description: HOME is specifically designed to expand the supply of affordable housing for low- and very low-income people. Funds may be used for homeownership, rental housing production, new construction and tenant-based rental assistance, and are easily combined with funds from HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs.§ Funded by: Program funds are controlled through the consolidated plan and awarded via formula grant to states and local jurisdictions. Participating jurisdictions must match HOME funds and partner with government, nonprofit organizations and private industry.
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
§ Program Description: HOPWA supports the provision of both housing and services for low-income people with HIV/AIDS. Funds can be used for a variety of activities, including housing information and coordination assistance; acquisition, rehabilitation, and leasing of property; rental assistance; operating costs; supportive services; and technical assistance.
§ Funded by: Funds are awarded by block grant to states and the most populous city in each eligible “Metropolitan Statistical Area”.
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
§ Program Description: CDBG funds provide decent housing and suitable living environments for moderate- and low-income people. CDBG funds also are controlled through the consolidated plan and can be used for housing rehabilitation or construction, including shelters and transitional housing facilities, and for supportive services such as counseling, employment, and health care.
§ Funded by: Formula grants to states, local governments, and “entitlement communities” (as defined by HUD)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Programs
Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program and Supportive Housing for the Elderly
§ Program Description: This program supports the development and operation of supportive housing for people with disabilities and for the elderly. Grants are made to nonprofits in the form of no-interest capital advances, which do not have to be repaid for 40 years so long as the housing remains available for persons with disabilities. Funds may be used for new construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition; for project-based rental assistance; and for supportive services to address the health, mental health, or other needs of people with disabilities and the elderly.
§ Funded by: Funds awarded competitively to community based nonprofit organizations
Tax Incentive Program for Renewal of Disadvantaged Areas
§ Program Description: Program provides tax relief to businesses that improve blighted areas. The HUD secretary is authorized to designate up to 40 “renewal communities” from areas nominated by states and localities. Businesses in the renewal areas receive tax incentives. Among the tax incentives are renewal community employment tax credits, commercial revitalization credits and a zero-percent capital gains rate.Social Security Administration (SSA) Programs
Social Security Benefits
§ Social Security benefits are monthly benefits paid by the Social Security Administration to individuals and/or their dependents for various reasons including that the recipient is disabled and can no longer work, or that the recipient is retired.§ The social security tax is used to pay for the program.
§ For more information: www.ssa.gov
Social Security Administration (SSA) Programs
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
§ Purpose: SSI provides income support to low-income individuals and those with disabilities, including people with serious mental illnesses and/or co-occurring substance use disorders who are homeless. Individuals with a substance use disorder as their primary disability are not eligible for SSI or the Medicaid benefits that accompany it.
§ Participant Eligibility: Persons or couples age 65 and older, or who are blind or disabled are eligible. Must also be U.S citizens whose cash and savings do not exceed $2,000 (individuals) $3,000 (couples). Monthly income restrictions apply as well.
§ For more information: http://www.aarp.org/money/social_security/ssi.html.html.
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
§ Purpose: SSDI pays benefits to individuals and certain family members if the individual is disabled and has worked long enough in jobs covered by Social Security. In general, benefits are paid to people who are unable to work for a year or more because of a disability.
§ More information: http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify.html
Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program
§ Administered by: SSA
§ Purpose: An employment program targeted toward people with disabilities who are interested in working. The program is focused on increasing choices and opportunities for Social Security disability beneficiaries to obtain supportive services from employers, and other providers so that they can effectively find and keep a job. Beneficiaries receive a “ticket” that they can then use to get help finding a job, vocational rehabilitation and other employment services. These services are provided by employment networks and state vocational rehabilitation agencies. Employment networks are private organizations or government agencies that have agreed to work with Social Security to provide employment services.
§ http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10061.html and http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/options.htm
Other Federal Department Programs
The Food Stamps Program