Latest News: Emergency Solutions Grant Substantial Amendment

In May 2009 congress passed the Homeless Emergency and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009 which amends and reauthorizes the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. This is the first significant reauthorization of homeless assistance programs since 1992. With the Hearth Act, the Emergency Shelter Grant becomes the Emergency Solutions Grant and essentially combines the old program activities with those of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), which was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Funding levels for the new program can remain roughly the same for shelters with additional funding being directed at homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing.

In November 2011, Montgomery County received notification of its first allocation of funds ($126,775) under the new regulations governing the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) for county fiscal year 2012 (FFY 2011). This augments the original allocation, made under the Emergency Shelter Grant, of $225,377, bringing the total funding up to $352,152. You can view the proposed amended budget here. The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the lead agency responsible for the Emergency Solutions Grant. The additional funding is proposed to be administered by HHS for the following activities:

1) Rapid Re-Housing ($116,775)
Funds will be used for Rapid Re-Housing activities, including Housing Stabilization and Relocation Assistance ($75,900) and Rental Assistance ($40,875) to help stabilize households who are homeless.  An estimated 25 households will benefit.

2) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) ($10,000)
Funds will be used for licensing fees, data quality activities, and other costs necessary to support the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). This Montgomery County Continuum of Care (CoC)-wide database is used to track client services and provides valuable data to support planning activities.

The Department is proposing a formal amendment to its adopted one year Action Plan for the county fiscal year 2012, required under Title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, to reflect the additional ESG funding described above. In general, the annual Action Plan is a document that outlines the Department's objectives, describes its funding plans and priorities, and identifies specific programs and projects to be funded under the following grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership Act, and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). You can the see the current FY12 Action Plan below. Other sections of the Consolidated Plan, particularly the Continuum of Care Application, provide additional information related to homelessness.

Comments regarding the proposed use of additional ESG funds may be submitted in writing by 5:00 p.m. February 26, 2012 to:

Mr. Stevens Brown, Community Development Section
Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs
100 Maryland Avenue, 4th Floor
Rockville, Maryland 20850.

All comments received by this date will be considered, and a summary of these comments will be attached to the proposed substantial amendment to the County's Action Plan, and to the county's environmental review record. If a comment is not accepted, the reasons for non-acceptance will be included.

FY12 Consolidated Plan Annual Action Plan

The FY12 Annual Action Plan was submitted for approval to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on May 13, 2011. This Plan serves as Montgomery County's application for CDBG, HOME and ESG funds for Fiscal Year 2012 (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012). The plan identifies community needs as well as specific uses for the annual funding allocations under these three programs. The Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) has also revised the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice along with this year's Action Plan (included below as Appendix C and also posted here with additional fair housing information: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/dhca/community/Fair_Housing/home.asp).

Hard copies of all Consolidated Plan materials and the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice are available for review at DHCA during normal business hours: 100 maryland Avenue, Fourth Floor, Rockville, Maryland 20850.

Please call or email Matthew Greene, Senior Planning Specialist, if you have questions regarding Consolidated Plans - (240) 777-3631 or Cathy Mahmud, Senior Planning Specialist, for questions regarding the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice - (240) 777-3669. Our TTY number (for the hearing impaired) is 240 773-3556.  

Executive Summary and Section 1 (includes annual Action Plan of proposed spending; 77 pages, 1.7 MB)

Action Plan (proposed use of funds for CDBG, ESG, and HOME funding; 8 pages, 44 KB)

Section 2 - HUD Tables (55 pages, 1.9 MB)

Section 3 - Continuum of Care (155 pages, 903 KB)

Appendix A - Citizen Participation (10 pages, 537 KB)

Appendix B - Affordable Housing Task Force Status Report (5 pages, 24 KB)

Appendix C - Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) (30 pages, 495 KB)

Appendix D - Advertisement in Local Paper/Request for Comment/Comments (6 pages, 1.2 MB)

Appendix E - Montgomery County Legislative Session Highlights (11 pages, 9 MB)

Five-Year Consolidated Plan FY11-15

Montgomery County’s Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development, covering the period July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2015, was approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in summer 2010. The Plan includes a Five-Year Plan and Annual Action Plan for the 2010-2011 Consolidated Plan Program Year (County fiscal year 2011, July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011). The Consolidated plan is mandated by HUD as a condition of receiving Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Shelter Grant, and HOME Investment Partnership Grant funds. This plan identifies community needs and identifies specific uses for the annual funding allocations under these three programs.

 

You can view or download the entire Plan as one document or view or download separate sections:

 

Consolidated Plan (249 pages, 5MB)

 

Executive Summary and Section 1 (includes annual Action Plan of proposed spending; 72 pages, 1.4 MB)

 

Action Plan (projected use of funds for CDBG, ESG, and HOME funding; 8 pages, 32 KB)

 

Section 2 - HUD Tables (65 pages, 1.2 MB)

 

Section 3 - Continuum of Care (74 pages, 1 MB)

 

Appendix A - Citizen Participation (10 pages, 43 KB)

Appendix B - Affordable Housing Task Force Status Report (6 pages, 25 KB)

Appendix C - Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) (8 pages, 43 KB)

Appendix D - Advertisement in Local Paper/Request for Comment/Comments (4 pages, 550 KB)

Appendix E - Montgomery County Legislative Session Highlights (11 pages, 1.7 MB)

 

A Substantial Amendment was made to the FY2009 Consolidated Plan (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009) to allow for use of federal funds through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. You can find more information about the program and the amendment to the plan here.