Funding Sources Targeted Homeless Assistance

Funding Sources -- Targeted Homeless Assistance

• Administered by Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA)
• Awards grants to community-based organizations
• Purpose of grants is to improve access to primary health care, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment
• Funds primary health care, substance abuse treatment, outreach, case management, provision of or referral to mental health services, housing assistance, benefits assistance, and innovative outreach and primary health services for homeless children and children at-risk of homelessness

• Administered by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
• Awards grants to states and territories
• Purpose of grants is to support community-based services for people with serious mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness
• Funds outreach, screening and assessment, case management, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, provision of or linkage to supportive services, housing subsidies and other services

• Administered by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
• Awards grants to local public and nonprofit agencies to provide substance abuse services, mental health services or both
• Purpose of grants is to develop and expand mental health and substance abuse treatment services for people who are homeless
• Funds substance abuse services and/or mental health services

Consolidated Runaway and Homeless Youth Program

• Administered by Family and Youth Services Bureau

• Consists of three components

1. Transitional Living Program (TLP)

1. Street Outreach Program (SOP)

1. Basic Center Program (BCP)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Programs

Emergency Shelter Grants

• These are formula grants to state governments, large cities, urban counties, and U.S. territories for the purpose of providing emergency and transitional housing for homeless individuals and families. These grantees receive the ESG grants and then make these funds available to eligible recipients, which can be either local government agencies or private nonprofit organizations. The grants are coordinated through the Consolidated Plan, a five-year, comprehensive housing plan required of communities to access HUD housing resources.
• Funds can be used for rehabilitation or remodeling of a building used as a new shelter, operations and maintenance of the facility, essential supportive services (i.e., case management, physical and mental health treatment, substance abuse counseling, childcare, etc.), homeless prevention, and grant administration.
• Grantees, except for state governments, must match ESG grant funds dollar for dollar with their own locally generated amounts. These local amounts can come from the grantee or recipient agency or organization; other federal, state and local grants; and from "in-kind" contributions.

Supportive Housing Program (SHP) Funds

• SHP funds may be used to develop transitional and permanent housing. Eligible uses include new construction, acquisition, rehabilitation and leasing of buildings. SHP funds may also be used to provide supportive services that will help people transition from homelessness and move to independence.
• Funds are awarded through an annual competition that requires communities to engage in a coordinated strategic planning process and to submit a comprehensive Continuum of Care plan to address homelessness.

• S+C funds provide rental assistance for permanent housing for hard-to-serve homeless people with disabilities. Dollar-for-dollar matching by the grantee from federal, state, local or private sources is required in order to provide supportive services linked to the housing.
• Funds are awarded through an annual competition that requires communities to engage in a coordinated strategic planning process and to submit a comprehensive Continuum of Care plan to address homelessness.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Programs

• Section 8 SRO funds can be used for rental assistance in single-room-occupancy dwellings.
• Funds are awarded through an annual competition that requires communities to engage in a coordinated strategic planning process and to submit a comprehensive Continuum of Care plan to address homelessness.
• Funds are distributed by local public housing agencies.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Programs

Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans

• Provides funds to VA medical centers to support the delivery of health, mental health, substance abuse, and other social services in residential treatment settings for veterans who are homeless.

Health Care for Homeless Veterans

• Supports outreach and assessment, treatment, case management, physical and psychiatric health exams, treatment, and referral to community-based residential care for veterans with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders who are homeless.

HUD-VA Supported Housing Program

• Administered jointly with HUD, provides permanent supportive housing and ongoing treatment services to veterans with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders who are homeless.
• HUD designates a portion of Section 8 Vouchers for chronically homeless mentally ill veterans, and VA staff provide outreach, clinical care, and case management services.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Programs

• Provides loan guarantees for transitional housing projects for veterans that provide supportive services including job counseling and require that residents seek and maintain employment, pay reasonable rent and maintain sobriety as a condition of occupancy.
• Loan guarantees may be for cover construction, renovation of existing property, and refinancing of existing loans, facility furnishing or working capital.

The Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program

• The Grant and Per Diem program is offered annually (as funding permits) by the VA to fund community-based agencies providing transitional housing or service centers for homeless veterans.
• It has two components:
• Under the Capital Grant Component, the VA may fund up to 65% of the costs for the construction, acquisition, or renovation of facilities or to purchase van(s) to provide outreach and services to homeless veterans.
• The Per Diem component is available to recipients of the capital grants to help off-set operational expenses. Programs serving veterans who have not received a capital grant may apply for Per Diem funding under a separate announcement, when published in the Federal Register, announcing the funding for “Per Diem Only.

• Disadvantaged, at-risk, and homeless veterans live in CWT/TR community-based supervised group homes while working for pay in VA's Compensated Work Therapy Program (also known as Veterans Industries).
• Veterans in the CWT/TR program work about 33 hours per week, with approximate earnings of $732 per month, and pay an average of $186 per month toward maintenance and up-keep of the residence.
• The average length of stay is about 174 days.
• VA contracts with private industry and the public sector for work done by these veterans, who learn new job skills, relearn successful work habits, and regain a sense of self-esteem and self-worth.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Programs

• This program makes all the properties VA obtains through foreclosures on VA-insured mortgages available for sale to homeless provider organizations at a discount of 20 to 50 percent.

U.S. Department of Education Program

McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program

• The McKinney-Vento Act protects the rights of homeless children and youth by providing them with educational rights and services as well as various supportive services that will help them transition between schools when they have to move.
• The Act prohibits the segregation of homeless students into separate schools or separate classrooms. States are responsible for aiding homeless students in enrollment in public schools, as well as reviewing and revising laws and practices that may hinder their right to equal access of public education.
• Formula grants are made to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico based on each state’s share of Title I, Part A, funds. Among other things, these funds support an office for coordination of the education of homeless children and youths in each state, which gathers comprehensive information about homeless children and youths and the impediments they must overcome to regularly attend school. States must also make competitive subgrants to local jurisdictions to facilitate the enrollment, attendance, and success in school of homeless children and youths. This includes addressing problems due to transportation needs, immunization and residency requirements, lack of birth certificates and school records, and guardianship issues.
• For more information:

1