The program is designed to help improve the quality of
emergency shelters and transitional housing for the homeless, to make
available additional shelters, to meet the costs of operating shelters, to
provide essential social services to homeless individuals, and to help prevent
homelessness.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Formula Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Grantees may use the grant for one or more of the
following activities relating to emergency shelter and transitional housing
for the homeless: (1) renovation, major rehabilitation, or conversion of
buildings for use as shelters for the homeless; (2) provision of essential
services to the homeless (not more than 30 percent of the grant, unless waived
by HUD); (3) payment of operations (not more than 10 percent of the grant for
staff management costs), maintenance, rent, repair, security, fuel, equipment,
insurance, utilities, and furnishings; and (4) homeless prevention activities
(not more than 30 percent of the grant). Grantees can use up to five percent
of the allocation for administering the grant. In the case of State grantees,
the grant for administration must be shared with funded recipients.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: States,
metropolitan cities, urban counties, and territories. Local governments
receiving formula allocations may distribute all or part of their grants to
nonprofit recipients to be used for ESG activities. State grantees must
distribute ESG funds to local governments, or directly to nonprofit
organizations with the approval of the local government. Only local
governments and nonprofit organizations may apply for ESG funds directly from
States. The territories receive their allocations based on their population
size.
Beneficiary Eligibility:
Homeless families and individuals, and low-income persons in immediate risk of
losing their housing due to eviction, foreclosure, or utility shutoffs.
Credentials/Documentation:
States, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and territories that elect to
participate in the program must submit (1) an approved Consolidated Plan; and
(2) certifications that each grantee will (a) supplement the assistance
provided under the program with an equal amount of funds from other sources,
except for State grantees under the $100,000 exemption, (b) ensure that any
building using ESG funds will continue as a homeless shelter for specified
periods, (c) ensure that assisted rehabilitation is sufficient to make the
structure safe and sanitary, (d) provide for a procedure to ensure the
confidentiality of victims of domestic violence, and assist homeless
individuals in obtaining appropriate supportive services and other available
assistance, and (e) meet other generally applicable requirements, such as
nondiscrimination and equal opportunity. Costs will be determined in
accordance with OMB Circular No. A-133 for State and local governments. State
grantees are exempt from matching the first $100,000 of their award, but
States must certify that they will provide the benefits of that exemption to
local government and nonprofit recipients.
Pre-application Coordination:
This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372,
"Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should
consult the State office or official designated as the single point of contact
for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in
applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. The
Consolidated Plan required by 24 CFR Part 91 must be used for this program.
Application Procedure: To
be eligible, each grantee must have a HUD-approved Consolidated Plan, which
contain descriptions of the community's homeless assistance needs, details
available resources, and provides a five year plan and a yearly action plan.
The yearly action plan is updated annually, along with any revisions in the
overall document. Each participating grantee must submit certifications
required by HUD.
Award Procedure: The HUD
State or local field office reviews the grantee's Consolidated Plan and, if
approved, executes a grant agreement.
Deadlines: Each State,
metropolitan city, urban county, and territory grantee should submit its
Consolidated Plan to its local HUD office no later than 45 days before the
start of its program year as required by 24 CFR Part 91.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:
The Consolidated plan is generally approved in 10 working days or deemed
approved by HUD within 45 days of receipt.
Appeals: None.
Renewals: None.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements:
After the ESG appropriation is set aside for the territories, the amount of
each grant for formula grantees is determined by the Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) formula using several objective measures of community need,
including poverty, population, housing overcrowding, age of housing and growth
lag. Allocations among the territories are based on their populations. If,
according to the formula, an eligible government receives less than .05
percent of the yearly appropriation, then that grant is added to the
allocation for that State. A State must allocate to its local governments or
to nonprofit organizations the entire grant, except for the up to five percent
used to administer the grant. The administrative funds must be shared with
local government grantees in that State. Grantees must match grant funds with
an equal amount of funds from other sources including donated material or a
building, leasehold value, additional staff salaries, and volunteer time.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:
Grant awards should be made within 45 days of HUD's receipt and approval of
the Consolidated Plan. A State should make available to its recipients all of
its grant allocation within 65 days of the date of the grant award by HUD. A
State recipient should have its entire grant obligated by 180 days from the
date on which the State made the grant available to it, and spent the entire
grant within 24 months of this date. For State homeless prevention funds, the
State may continue to make available homeless prevention funds within 180 days
of grant award. State recipient local government agencies and nonprofit
organizations then have 30 days to obligate the funds, and up to 24 months to
spend them. Each local government grantee should have all of its grant
obligated by 180 days from its grant award by HUD, and entirely spent within
24 months.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: Each grantee shall
annually report on its uses of funds and program progress in a HUD-approved
format within 90 days after the close of its program year. Local governments
report via an on-line computer linkup with HUD, and a consolidated annual
performance and evaluation report. Most States will report their performance
in a written format.
Audits: In accordance with
the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133, "Audits of States, Local
Governments, and Nonprofit Institutions," State and local governments
that expend total Federal financial assistance of $300,000 or more within
their fiscal year must have an independent financial audit conducted for that
year. This single audit combines the government's annual financial statement
audit with additional audit coverage of its Federal funds.
Records: According to the
ESG regulations, grantees and recipients must retain records for four years
from the date of submission of the annual performance report.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification:
86-0192-0-1-604.
Obligations: (Grants) FY 01
$149,670,000; FY 02 est $150,000,000; and FY 03 est $150,000,000. (NOTE:
Amounts reported reflect allocation of new budget authority rather than
obligation amounts).
Range and Average of Financial Assistance:
For fiscal year 2002 the grant allocations ranged from $75,000 to $7,784,000.
The mean average allocation was $413,000.
During fiscal year 2002, 363 grants will be made, 50
States (including Puerto Rico), 213 metropolitan cities, 95 urban counties,
and 4 territories.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
The program is governed by streamlined final regulations
published in the Federal Register on October 2, 1996, at 24 CFR Part 576. A
comprehensive "Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) Program Desk Guide" is
available from HUD at 1-800-998- 9999, Or can be found on the ESG homepage on
HUD's Website at - http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/library/esg/esgdeskguide/
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office:
Contact appropriate HUD State or Field Office listed in Appendix IV of the
Catalog.
Headquarters Office: John
Garrity, Director, Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs, Room 7262.
Telephone: (202) 708-4300, e-mail John_Garrity@hud.gov.
Web Site Address: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/programs/esg/index.cfm
EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
Not applicable.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
Proposed ESG projects are part of the prospective
grantee's Consolidated Plan, which are reviewed according to criteria set
forth in 24 CFR 91.
