AGENDA CAPTION:
Title
Receive a Staff Presentation regarding Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF)/General Fund Criteria and Process, and provide direction to Staff.
Body
Meeting date: March 2, 2021
Department: Planning and Development Services
Amount & Source of Funding
Funds Required: Click or tap here to enter text.
Account Number: Click or tap here to enter text.
Funds Available: Click or tap here to enter text.
Account Name: Click or tap here to enter text.
Fiscal Note:
Prior Council Action: At the February 2, 2021, Work Session, City Council provided direction to staff on the initial allocation percentages and general categories for the approximately $2 million that may be made available in the General Fund by payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund.
City Council Strategic Initiative: [Please select from the dropdown menu below]
Choose an item.
Choose an item.
Choose an item.
Comprehensive Plan Element (s): [Please select the Plan element(s) and Goal # from dropdown menu below]
☐ Economic Development - Choose an item.
☐ Environment & Resource Protection - Choose an item.
☐ Land Use - Choose an item.
☐ Neighborhoods & Housing - Choose an item.
☐ Parks, Public Spaces & Facilities - Choose an item.
☐ Transportation - Choose an item.
☐ Core Services
☒ Not Applicable
Master Plan: [Please select the corresponding Master Plan from the dropdown menu below (if applicable)]
Choose an item.
Background Information:
At the February 2nd Council work session, the majority favored using 20% of the possible $2 million for Capacity Building in the community and 80% to provide funding for people currently in crisis. Generally the following categories were favored: Comprehensive Homeless Needs Assessment, Capacity Building, Rent / Mortgage / Utilities, Business Support, and Crisis Funding.
Next steps are as follows. By mid-to-late March the City should receive notice of the amount approved by the Texas Department of Emergency Management. After that, staff anticipates the following timeline:
• 4/2 City Council meeting:
Adopt City program and policies
Allocate some funding to subrecipients
• 4/30 Deadline for agency applications for remainder
• 5/8 Finalize application review
• 5/18 City Council meeting: Allocate to agencies
Council Committee, Board/Commission Action:
Click or tap here to enter text.
Alternatives:
Click or tap here to enter text.
Recommendation:
Staff recommends dividing the Capacity Building funding into two steps. First, spending some on a comprehensive assessment of gaps in services and coordination for not only homeless people, but also people with stable housing but other needs. Abilene Christian University provided a Comprehensive Homelessness Needs Assessment for the City of Abilene and staff recommends exploring a similar partnership with Texas State University, but with review of service gaps for both homeless and non-homeless. This could be approximately $15,000-$25,000. Abilene’s Homeless needs assessment is in your packet as an example.
Also it seemed there was general support for following up on that study with at minimum support for funding Homeless Management Information System licenses to assist with the coordination of services, which cost $1,400 for a package of five licenses. So a rough estimate of $5,000 could provide one year of licenses for multiple agencies.
After the Comprehensive Assessment was complete, staff would bring forward a recommendation for funding to help begin to close priority gaps identified in the study. This could involve providing training to non-profit staff to build capacity, bringing in consultants for specific purposes, or purchasing updated equipment to assist with service coordination.
Staff will be requesting City Council’s direction on these recommendations for the 20%.
Creating social services programs involves layers of decisions to be made, and at the March 2, 2021, work session staff will ask for Council’s direction on criteria for subrecipients (or, the agencies that run the programs), the programs, and beneficiaries (the people receiving assistance).
Staff recommends that subrecipients (the agencies) be evaluated on the following criteria using a scoring mechanism similar to the one in your packet.
• Track record of producing results
• Experience evaluating applicant documentation
• Capability of quick implementation
• Open to all non-profits, governmental, and faith based programs
• Scoring is based on experience and program description
• Additional points for case management
Staff will ask for Council direction on these criteria, and any additions or deletions.
As part of the process, the programs themselves are also evaluated. Recommended criteria for the programs are as follows:
• Must have public benefit
• Low overhead expenses
• Rent/mortgage payments go only to the landlord/mortgage holder
• Additional points for these programs: child care, internet support, car payments, job training, homelessness prevention
Staff will ask for Council direction on these criteria, and any additions or deletions.
Finally, City Council needs to set policy standards for the people who will receive assistance payments. Staff recommends the following criteria:
• San Marcos resident, including non-citizens
• Difficulty must be related to the pandemic
• Need based (not first come first served)
• People with <=80% of area median income
• Businesses: < 50 employees, cash infusion, must follow CDC and local health requirements
Staff will ask for Council direction on these criteria, and any additions or deletions.