HomeMy WebLinkAboutWORKSHOP re CHG Lead Grantee JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
CONSENT AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Judy Shepherd,Finance Director
Amanda Christofferson,Grants Administrator
DATE: January 13,2025
SUBJECT: WORKSHOP re: Homeless Response System in Jefferson County and
Consolidated Homeless Grant Lead Grantee for Jefferson County
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
In response to an inquiry from Washington State Department of Commerce regarding Jefferson County's
interest in assuming the Lead Grantee for the Consolidated Homeless Grant (CHG) for 2026-2027 the
Auditors office has requested this workshop. Staff will provide detail regarding; goals of CHG from
Washington State, the duties and responsibilities of the Lead Grantee, the spending of CHG funding in the
last two-year cycle, and the use of CHG by peers.
ANALYSIS:
The Auditors office conferred with Washington State Department of Commerce, OlyCAP, Jefferson County
Housing Fund Board, and Housing Providers, in preparing the attached presentation to verify information
was factual and accurate.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The funding in 2024-2025 represented a$1.6 million dollar grant of funds to OIyCAP in order to perform
duties associated with CHG.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff requests that the Board determine whether or not to make a motion to assume Lead Grantee for CHG.
REVIEWED BY:
Mark McCauley, unty Administrator Date
HOMELESS RESPONSE
SYSTEM
PRESENTATION TO JEFFERSON BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS I/13/2025
DO NO HARM
It is important that we state clearly that the goal of this investigation into the use of CHG
funding is to perform appropriate due diligence of the County in order to support our
vulnerable neighbors.
Looking at the current performance of CHG Lead and malting any decisions for the future
must be made in a sincere and conscious effort to do no harm to the existing homeless
response system. With the first goal of improving care for all of the persons involved;
housing service providers, unhoused people themselves and the long term housing outlook.
HOW DOES CHG WORK?
The goal of CHG is to have a holistic homeless response system for Jefferson County with
a strong awareness of the housing landscape and the long term plan.
Since 2012 Washington State Legislature has set aside pooled funding to support the
emergency housing assistance continuum in every county. This pooled funding is called the
Consolidated Homeless Grant (CHG) and is provided to local jurisdictions and non-profits.
Using this funding requires implementation of best practices, reporting and planning in
accordance with statewide goals for a homeless crisis response system based on
Chapter 43. 185C RCW.
LEAD GRANTEE
WA State Dept. of Commerce notified Jefferson County that the County could elect to
be the Lead Grantee for the 2025-2027 two-year fiscal period. This opportunity will
recur in early calendar year 2027 for the 2027-2029 biennium. CHG follows the state
fiscal year and is granted for a biennium from I July of the first year through 30 June of
the second year.
Deadline for decision is January 20t" 2025.
HOMELESS RESPONSE SYSTEM GOALS FOR JEFFERSON
COUNTY
FINANCE LEADERSHIP
Provide a strong homeless response system Hold strong accountability for the performance of
with appropriate diversity of bed types/needs. the homeless response system.
Coordinate the spending of DRF/1590 funds Work collaboratively with all housing services
and CHG oversight to improve the Homeless partners and funders; OIyCAP Bayside Housing &
Response System. Services, DoveHouse, Habitat for Humanity,
Control administrative expense and maximize Peninsula Housing Authority, Owl360,YMCA,Winter
implementation investments.
Welcoming Center, Housing Fund Board and others.
Produce accurate data that results in informed
decisions.
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ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS OF CHG LEAD
GRANTEE
Below are the administrative requirements of all CHG Leads statewide. They are
updated regularly and contained in theHG Guidelines produced by WA State Dept. of
Commerce.
#1 Strive to improve housing outcomes as measured by statewide
performance targets.
#2 LOW BARRIER PROJECTS
Each county must have at least one low barrier project serving homeless adults and at
least one low barrier project serving homeless households with children. By July 1 , 2025,
no less than 80% of a county's CHG funded projects (programs and facilities) must be
low barrier.
Currently Jefferson County has the following low barrier projects meeting required
criteria: Not known.
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#3 COORDINATED ENTRY SYSTEM
Each county must maintain a Coordinated Entry (CE) process. CE is a coordinated
system of intake, assessment, and referral that gets households in a housing crisis
connected to available resources in the community.The goal of CE is to help
communities prioritize assistance to ensure people who need the assistance the most
can receive it in a timely manner.
Lead/subgrantees providing direct service must enter client data into the Homeless
Management Information System (HMIS) for all temporary and permanent housing
interventions regardless of funding source.
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#4 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Local Homeless Housing Plan: Lead must work with local task force to prepare this.
Annual county Expenditure Report: Lead must provide expenditure tracking to
Commerce.
Point in Time Count: Lead must ensure it is performed in accordance with Commerce
guidelines.
Essential Needs Report: Lead must ensure this reporting is completed.
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#5 REQUIRED TRAINING
- Lead/subgrantees must identify staff to attend and complete trainings.These staff should include staff that
provide direct services, supervisors of direct service staff, and staff that manage homeless grants.
The following trainings are required at least every three years and attendance must be documented:
Trauma Informed Services, Supporting survivors of domestic violence, Local coordinated entry policies and
procedures as required by lead CE entity, Fair Housing, Housing First, Racial Equity, LGBTQ+ competency,
Rapid Re-Housing, Progressive Engagement and Problem-Solving (Diversion). Other recommended
trainings include mental health first aid, crisis intervention, professional boundaries, and case management.
In addition, lead/subgrantee staff are highly encouraged to attend the annual Washington State
Conference on Ending Homelessness.
#6 SUBGRANTEE REQUIREMENTS
Lead grantees may enter into an agreement with any other local government, Council of
Governments, Housing Authority, Community Action Agency, nonprofit community or
neighborhood-based organization, federally recognized Indian tribe in the state of
Washington, or regional or statewide nonprofit housing assistance organizations who
operate programs to end homelessness within a defined service area.
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RESPONSIBILITY TO, BY AND FOR COMMUNITIES
Lead grantees must make a reasonable effort to sub-grant with By and For organizations. At
least 10 percent of the Eviction Prevention total award must be sub-granted to organizations
that serve and are substantially governed by marginalized populations (By and For
organizations). Sub-grant activities may include the full scope of homelessness prevention
program activities.
Commerce expects grantees to be anti-racist leaders in their crisis response systems and
facilitate partnerships among organizations that respond to the disproportionality in services
and outcomes for communities that don't seek assistance from mainstream organizations.At
minimum, this includes acknowledging By and For agency subject matter expertise in serving
their communities, including them in homeless response planning and decision making and
ensuring resources are equitably distributed to communities most impacted.
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ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES
(CHG IS MADE UP OF Temporary Housing Interventions
SEVERAL PROGRAMS Emergency Shelter
TARGETED TO SUPPORT
SPECIFIC POPULATIONS AND Transitional Housing
NEEDS) Permanent Housing Interventions
Rapid Re-Housing
Permanent Supportive Housing
There are administrative, operations
Street Outreach
and facility budgets associated with
CHG programs. All of these eligible Homelessness(Eviction) Prevention
activities are documented in the
CHr r, Housing and Essential Needs
HOW IS CHG FUNDING ALLOCATED
DIRECT QUOTES FROM DEPT OF COMMERCE STAFF
"The initial formula for distribution of CHG funds included number of people living in
poverty by county, number of people unemployed by county, number of homeless and
without housing and DSHS medical assistance recipients with serious mental illness. In
the past few grant cycles, the allocations have been based on prior biennium awards and
spending."
"The CHG budget is proposed by the Lead grantee.The legislature and Commerce do
not dictate the CHG budget apart from having distinct funding sources and caps on
administrative expenses. Each county will be given the award by funding source to then
determine how they will use/budget the funds."
Category Current Budget Amt Exp Total Amt
CHG Admin( $17,229.00 $15,492.98
CHG Rent $85,945.00 $27,465.27
CHG Operations $111,687.00 $96,811.84
HEN Admin 2024 $8,589.00 $8,388.86
HEN Rent/Fac Support 2024 $57,061.00 $57,061.00
HEN
00
SPENDING OF HEN Admin t2025 ions 024 $$8,589.00 $$7,454.78
$8,589.00 $7,454.78
CHG AWARD IN HEN Rent/Fac Support 2025 $57,061.00 $41,145.43
HEN Operations 2025 $57,061.00 $34,594.27
2024-2025 Eviction Prevention Admin $75,580.00 $54,168.87
Eviction Prevention Rent $324,689.00 $153,059.20
Budget/Expenditure report Eviction Prevention Operations $263,600.00 $263,600.00
provided by WA State HEN FCS Bridge Admin 2024 $488.00 $0.00
HEN FCS Bridge Rent 2024 $3,242.00 $0.00
Dept of Commerce HEN FCS Bridge Operations 2024 $3,242.00 $0.00
1/3/2024 HEN FCS Bridge Admin 2025 $488.00 $0.00
HEN FCS Bridge Rent 2025 $3,242.00 $0.00
HEN FCS Bridge Operations 2025 $3,242.00 $0.00
Inflation Increase 2024 $66,037.00 $64,303.97
Inflation Increase 2025 $66,037.00 $28,051.41
EHF FY 25 Admin $47,640.00 $16,110.16
EHF FY 25 Operations $333,481.00 $146,456.01
Totals $1,651,291.00 $1,071,225.05
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2024-2025 CHG SPENDING BY TYPE/PROGRAM
ACCOUNTING DATA PROVIDED BY OLYCAP ON 1/3/2024 FROM 7/1/23 - 12/31/24
EHF CHG HEN CHG Standard Eviction Prevention TOTAL
Operations $ 42,454.00 $ 32,258.00 $ 50,093.00 $ 102,579.00 $ 227,384.00 57%of total
Rent $ 9,651.00 $ 1,099.00 $ 25,404.00 $ 56,938.00 $ 93,092.00
Facilities $ 23,063.00 $ 4,912.00 $ 33,349.00 $ 61,324.00
$ 154,416.00 68%of Operations
Training $ 12,380.00 $ 509.00 $ 12,889.00
Salaries $ 213,254.00 $ 71,803.00 $ 42,435.00 $ 129,025.00 $ 456,517.00 33%of total
Admin $ 44,538.00 $ 15,844.00 $ 15,493.00 $ 49,743.00 $ 125,618.00 10%of total
Direct Services $ 184,222.00 $ 116,781.00 $ 43,641.00 $ 214,271.00 $ 558,915.00 40%of total
1800000 CHG Funding in Jeff. Co.
1600000
1400000
Anticipated
decrease
1200000
FUNDING 1000000
800000
Funding for CHG and it's associated 600000
programs is based on legislative 400000
appropriation. The 2025-2027
200000
funding is expected to decrease up
to 20%. Commerce has reported 0 2018-2019 2020-202I 2022-2023 2024-2025 2026-2027
that CHG funds have not been fully
spent for the last 4 years.
CHG --OIyCAP Spending of CHG
LOCAL FUNDING COLLECTED:
DOCUMENT RECORDING/ 1590
RCW 36.22.25C lays out the means by which the Document Recording surcharge is
collected and distributed. 30% is retained by the county or city in which it is collected to
"accomplish the purposes of its local homeless housing plan", 54. 1 % is transmitted back
to the state for homelessness programming and 14.9% is transmitted to the State
Treasurer.
In Jefferson County the work of utilizing this funding to improve the Homeless Response
System is accomplished by the Housing Fund Board. The Housing Fund Board, our local
"homeless housing task force", also has the responsibility to prepare the required 5-year
Homeless Housing Plan, the most recent of which expired December of 2024. A new
plan for 2025-2030 will be prepared and adopted this year in December 2025.
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PEERS USE OF CHG
SKAGIT, 131,000 POPULATION. GRAYS HARBOR, 77,290 POPULATION
• County Health Department-Community Services is Lead To be provided on 1/13
Grantee,"Helpful to have an outside entity to convene the body"
• 3 staff with CHG funds,20 subgrants,2024-2025 funding was
$3.9million
• Pool the CHG funding,DRF,a portion of behavioral health funds
and additional grant funds to subgrant/programs.
• Housing Service Providers still have issues with operations and
maintenance of property.
• Working with a consultant,TenFold,to determine how to move
forward across system with reduced funding.
• CE Intakes are completed by Volunteers of America of Western
Washington,using 211 along with walk-in service.
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PEERS USE OF CHG
PACIFIC, 24,000 POPULATION DOUGLAS, 48,000 POPULATION
• To be provided on 1 / 13 To be provided on 1 / 13
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