Last time there was funding involved, they couldn’t even find a sponsor, this time, the Board of Estimates and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) has recommended funding. Question is, do they even know that is what they approved? This is a little tricky, the Homeless Services Consortium Board of Directors makes this recommendation. I was surprised the United Way, YWCA, Community Action Coalition, Madison Metropolitan School District and other organizations voted for this funding, but when I talked to the members afterwards, it seemed really clear they didn’t know what they voted for. They were caught off-guard like the alders were last time.
What is the problem with CareNet?
This is from an earlier article:
The first sign of trouble came early Thursday evening when Ald. Joe Clausius, whose district includes the proposed project and who had earlier voiced support for the project and Care Net’s work, told committee members he had changed his position.
“I’m a lifelong pro-choice person,” he said. Clausius noted that he supported the conditional use permit for the site — which was approved by the Plan Commission Monday night — but said that he had recently become aware of the “tactics” used by Care Net and that it would be wrong for taxpayers to support the project.
“I will not support this on the council floor, and I encourage you to reject it at this time,” said Clausius.
Clausius’ comments came after Megin McDonell, a board member with NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, and Ald. Lisa Subeck, the former executive director of NARAL, told the committee that Care Net, an anti-abortion, faith-based group, misleads women about the risks of abortion and does not offer “all-options” counseling, as it advertises.
“I don’t think our public money should go to an organization that relies on deception to advance their agenda,” McDonell said.
Care Net executive director Liz Osborn acknowledged that her organization does not refer for abortion services but rejected claims of misleading women.
The rest of the sponsors also withdrew their support and the funding wasn’t approved.
History
Here’s the stories and info from the last time this issue came up.
– Ald. Joe Claussius opposes funding Carenet Housing Proposal
– Madison CDBG Committee rejects funding for CareNet Crisis Pregnancy Center Housing Project
– Madison City Staff Recommend Funding for CareNet Crisis Pregnancy Center Housing
– When abortion and Zoning Collide
Do they know what they are voting on
Trick is, I don’t think the CDBG Commission or the Board of Estimates know that this is what they are approving, as the information wasn’t included in the resolution or as an attachment.
This is the item – number 26 on the council agenda on Tuesday:
Authorizing the Mayor to sign, and the Community Development Division to submit, a grant application to the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Housing for 2015-2016 ETH grant funds on behalf of local agencies providing housing and services to homeless and at-risk persons.
The resolution is as follows and there are no attachments:
Fiscal Note
This Resolution authorizes the City’s submission of a grant application to the state DOH for $471,453 in ETH (Emergency Solutions Grant, Transitional Housing Program, and Homeless Prevention Program) grant funds, an amount that would cover the costs of several programs serving homeless and at-risk individuals and families, and associated grant administration costs.Up to $500,000 in ETH grant revenues and commensurate expenditures was authorized and approved as part of the Community Development Division’s 2015 Adopted Operating Budget.
Title
Authorizing the Mayor to sign, and the Community Development Division to submit, a grant application to the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Housing for 2015-2016 ETH grant funds on behalf of local agencies providing housing and services to homeless and at-risk persons.Body
BACKGROUND
The City of Madison has worked closely with a group of community-based non-profit agencies that provide services and housing to homeless persons and those at risk of becoming homeless. This cooperation involves City sponsorship and administration of an annual application to the State of Wisconsin for grant funds for various projects.The Division of Housing determines awards based on a formula using data from monthly homeless census as well as poverty, unemployment and population data. Dane County is being awarded a total of $471,453 in federal Emergency Solutions Grant funds and state Transitional Housing Program funds. Following the notice of award, the CD Division will enter into contracts with the participating non-profits, with activities provided from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016.
The application is comprised of five initiatives: (1) homeless prevention, (2) street outreach, (3) rapid re-housing, (4) emergency shelter, and (5) transitional housing programs. A minimum of 30% of the grant must be spent on rapid re-housing activities in Dane County; rapid re-housing activities are those that move homeless persons from the street or emergency shelter into permanent housing in as short a time possible, thereby minimizing their time homeless.
The Division of Housing requires that each applicant select one agency to receive all financial assistance to prevent homelessness. The CD Division recommends that the City continues its relationship with Community Action Coalition of South Central Wisconsin as the lead agency for providing financial assistance and housing stabilization services to homeless persons and those at-risk.
A small portion of these funds is designated to partially fund HMIS (Homeless Management Information Services) activities. The City and Dane County agencies participate in entering client-level data into Wisconsin ServicePoint (WISP) which is administered through contracts between each of the state’s CoCs and the Institute for Community Alliances (ICA). ICA is a non-profit that serves as the lead HMIS administrator for CoC’s in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.
For the 2015-2016 grant cycle, the Division of Housing is requiring an expedited submission date for proposals, and a planning meeting has been scheduled for the purpose of determining which proposals for activities will be included in the application. At the time of this Resolution’s consideration, specific proposals have not yet been finalized, but it is likely that agencies who have participated in the past will participate in this application. These agencies include: Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Inc.; Dane County Parent Council, Inc.; Institute for Community Alliances; Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. Porchlight, Inc.; The Road Home Dane County, Inc.; The Salvation Army of Dane County; Stoughton United Ministries, Tellurian UCAN, Inc.; Tenant Resource Center, Inc.; YWCA of Madison, Inc.; and Youth Services of Southern Wisconsin, Inc.
Note: Once the City’s ETH award for 2015-2016 has been announced, a complete list of the funded programs and their allocations will be articulated in a subsequent Resolution that authorizes the Mayor and City Clerk to execute agreements with the Wisconsin DOA’s Division of Housing and with the designated non-profit subcontractor agencies.
ACTION
WHEREAS, the Common Council has adopted a five-year Community and Neighborhood Development Plan which identifies homelessness as a critical issue within the community and outlines a set of strategies and priorities to address those problems using community-based groups; and,WHEREAS, the Common Council has accepted the Community Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in Dane County, which includes goals and objectives represented in these activities; and,
WHEREAS, the CD Division staff have created an open process and worked collaboratively with interested Homeless Services Consortium agencies to analyze current unmet needs and jointly develop a list of proposals for submission to the state Division of Housing for Emergency Solutions Grant, Transitional Housing Program and Homeless Prevention Program (ETH) funds;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council hereby authorizes the Mayor to sign and approve the submission of an application to the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Housing for 2015-2016 ETH funds, and to execute any additional documents necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Resolution.
The council will be told what they are voting on, after they have voted, apparently. Here is what they are voting on . . .
THP Transitional Briarpatch Transitional Living Program 12 young adults 18-21 yrs. Old 23,100
ESG Outreach Briarpatch Youth Outreach 100 youth & young adults 22,000
HPP/ESG Prevention CACSCW Rentable & HPP/ESG Prevention/RRH CACSCW Rentable 119,109
ESG Admin CACSCW Rentable 10,000
ESG Shelter DCPC Hope House 3 young mothers w/child 16,800
ESG HMIS ICA WISP Lead Aministrator 3,900
ESG Prevention LAW Legal Advocacy 32 households w/ evictions 20,000
ESG Outreach Porchlight Single Men Outreach 60 single men 25,000
ESG Transitional Porchlight STABLE Program 16,400
THP Transitional Porchlight STABLE Program 6,900
ESG Shelter The Road Home Shelter CM 22 families 16,800
ESG Prevention SUM Pathways to Self Sufficiency 5 families at risk of homelessness 12,400
ESG Shelter The Salvation Army Medical Vouchers 25 households 8,100
ESG Shelter The Salvation Army Single Women CM 100 single women 18,800
ESG Shelter The Salvation Army Waitlist CM 50 families 16,800
ESG Shelter EATA, Inc. BOOST 30 households 20,000
ESG Prevention Tenant Resource Center Housing Mediation 140 tenant households 10,100
ESG RRH YWCA RRH-Families 10-12 families 50,000
ESG Shelter YWCA Family Shelter CM 60 families 16,800
Admin City 6,344
ESG HMIS CACSCW Coor. Entry HMIS 2,100
ESG Shelter CareNet Elizabeth Hse 10,000
ESG Outreach Tenant Resource Center Outreach to CH Single Adults 20,000Totals 471,453
Available 471,453
The information is the last page of this pdf. But has not been provided the the CDBG Commission, Board of Estimates or the Council. Hmmmm.
