§ 576.400 - Area-wide systems coordination requirements.

§ 576.400 Area-wide systems coordination requirements.

(a) Consultation with Continuums of Care. The recipient must consult with each Continuum of Care that serves the recipient's jurisdiction in determining how to allocate ESG funds each program year; developing the performance standards for, and evaluating the outcomes of, projects and activities assisted by ESG funds; and developing funding, policies, and procedures for the administration and operation of the HMIS.

(b) Coordination with other targeted homeless services. The recipient and its subrecipients must coordinate and integrate, to the maximum extent practicable, ESG-funded activities with other programs targeted to homeless people in the area covered by the Continuum of Care or area over which the services are coordinated to provide a strategic, community-wide system to prevent and end homelessness for that area. These programs include:

(1) Shelter Plus Care Program (24 CFR part 582);

(2) Supportive Housing Program (24 CFR part 583);

(3) Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program for Single Room Occupancy Program for Homeless Individuals (24 CFR part 882);

(4) HUD - Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) (division K, title II, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Pub. L. 110-161 (2007), 73 FR 25026 (May 6, 2008));

(5) Education for Homeless Children and Youth Grants for State and Local Activities (title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.));

(6) Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (section 506 of the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa-5));

(7) Healthcare for the Homeless (42 CFR part 51c);

(8) Programs for Runaway and Homeless Youth (Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.));

(9) Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (part C of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290cc-21 et seq.));

(10) Services in Supportive Housing Grants (section 520A of the Public Health Service Act);

(11) Emergency Food and Shelter Program (title III of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11331 et seq.));

(12) Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking Program (section 40299 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (42 U.S.C. 13975));

(13) Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (section 5(a)(1)) of the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act (38 U.S.C. 2021);

(14) Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans Program (38 U.S.C. 2043);

(15) VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program (38 CFR part 61);

(16) Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program (38 U.S.C. 2031);

(17) Homeless Veterans Dental Program (38 U.S.C. 2062);

(18) Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program (38 CFR part 62); and

(19) Veteran Justice Outreach Initiative (38 U.S.C. 2031).

(c) System and program coordination with mainstream resources. The recipient and its subrecipients must coordinate and integrate, to the maximum extent practicable, ESG-funded activities with mainstream housing, health, social services, employment, education, and youth programs for which families and individuals at risk of homelessness and homeless individuals and families may be eligible. Examples of these programs include:

(1) Public housing programs assisted under section 9 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g) (24 CFR parts 905, 968, and 990);

(2) Housing programs receiving tenant-based or project-based assistance under section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) (respectively 24 CFR parts 982 and 983);

(3) Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811) (24 CFR part 891);

(4) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (24 CFR part 92);

(5) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (45 CFR parts 260-265);

(6) Health Center Program (42 CFR part 51c);

(7) State Children's Health Insurance Program (42 CFR part 457):

(8) Head Start (45 CFR chapter XIII, subchapter B);

(9) Mental Health and Substance Abuse Block Grants (45 CFR part 96); and

(10) Services funded under the Workforce Investment Act (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.).

(d) Centralized or coordinated assessment. Once the Continuum of Care has developed a centralized assessment system or a coordinated assessment system in accordance with requirements to be established by HUD, each ESG-funded program or project within the Continuum of Care's area must use that assessment system. The recipient and subrecipient must work with the Continuum of Care to ensure the screening, assessment and referral of program participants are consistent with the written standards required by paragraph (e) of this section. A victim service provider may choose not to use the Continuum of Care's centralized or coordinated assessment system.

(e) Written standards for providing ESG assistance.

(1) If the recipient is a metropolitan city, urban county, or territory, the recipient must have written standards for providing Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) assistance and must consistently apply those standards for all program participants. The recipient must describe these standards in its consolidated plan.

(2) If the recipient is a state:

(i) The recipient must establish and consistently apply, or require that its subrecipients establish and consistently apply, written standards for providing ESG assistance. If the written standards are established by the subrecipients, the recipient may require these written standards to be:

(A) Established for each area covered by a Continuum of Care or area over which the services are coordinated and followed by each subrecipient providing assistance in that area; or

(B) Established by each subrecipient and applied consistently within the subrecipient's program.

(ii) Written standards developed by the state must be included in the state's Consolidated Plan. If the written standards are developed by its subrecipients, the recipient must describe its requirements for the establishment and implementation of these standards in the state's Consolidated Plan.

(3) At a minimum these written standards must include:

(i) Standard policies and procedures for evaluating individuals' and families' eligibility for assistance under Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG);

(ii) Standards for targeting and providing essential services related to street outreach;

(iii) Policies and procedures for admission, diversion, referral, and discharge by emergency shelters assisted under ESG, including standards regarding length of stay, if any, and safeguards to meet the safety and shelter needs of special populations, e.g., victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and individuals and families who have the highest barriers to housing and are likely to be homeless the longest;

(iv) Policies and procedures for assessing, prioritizing, and reassessing individuals' and families' needs for essential services related to emergency shelter;

(v) Policies and procedures for coordination among emergency shelter providers, essential services providers, homelessness prevention, and rapid re-housing assistance providers; other homeless assistance providers; and mainstream service and housing providers (see § 576.400(b) and (c) for a list of programs with which ESG-funded activities must be coordinated and integrated to the maximum extent practicable);

(vi) Policies and procedures for determining and prioritizing which eligible families and individuals will receive homelessness prevention assistance and which eligible families and individuals will receive rapid re-housing assistance (these policies must include the emergency transfer priority required under § 576.409);

(vii) Standards for determining what percentage or amount of rent and utilities costs each program participant must pay while receiving homelessness prevention or rapid re-housing assistance;

(viii) Standards for determining how long a particular program participant will be provided with rental assistance and whether and how the amount of that assistance will be adjusted over time; and

(ix) Standards for determining the type, amount, and duration of housing stabilization and/or relocation services to provide to a program participant, including the limits, if any, on the homelessness prevention or rapid re-housing assistance that each program participant may receive, such as the maximum amount of assistance, maximum number of months the program participant receive assistance; or the maximum number of times the program participant may receive assistance.

(f) Participation in HMIS. The recipient must ensure that data on all persons served and all activities assisted under ESG are entered into the applicable community-wide HMIS in the area in which those persons and activities are located, or a comparable database, in accordance with HUD's standards on participation, data collection, and reporting under a local HMIS. If the subrecipient is a victim service provider or a legal services provider, it may use a comparable database that collects client-level data over time (i.e., longitudinal data) and generates unduplicated aggregate reports based on the data. Information entered into a comparable database must not be entered directly into or provided to an HMIS.

[76 FR 75974, Dec. 5, 2011, as amended at 81 FR 80808, Nov. 16, 2016]