Here’s the recommendations of the City-County Homeless Issues Committee. In case you are going to the public hearing tonight, you might want to mention some of these needs. Please and thank you!
COUNTY RECOMMENDATIONS
This is an email that recently went out to the Homeless Services Consortium, written by a member. It’s a good summary.
There is a public hearing on the County Budget TONIGHT/Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 7 PM in room 201 of the City County Building. This is a great opportunity to express your support for affordable housing funds, eviction prevention assistance, and a homeless services specialist position. These items were recommended by the City-County Homeless Issues Committee last Thursday. Attached is the budget memo sent to City and County officials on behalf of the committee. More info on the Dane County Budget can be found here and loads of information has been compiled at Brenda’s blog. (Thanks, Brenda!). Below is some more information on the recommendations.
- The CCHIC recommends an increase from $3M to $6M to the Affordable Housing Development Fund, which would maintain the 2019 funding level.According to Dr. Kurt Paulsen’s 2019 Report, “Housing Needs Assessment: Dane County and Municipalities”, there is a housing gap of 10,812 for people who are under 30% of the area median income. Even though there were over 25,000 net new housing units in Dane County from 2006-2017, Dane County under-produced more than 11,000 housing units relative to household growth. In 2019, Dane County received $15.2M in requests for $7.3M in funding from the Affordable Housing Development Fund.
- The CCHIC recommends $1.3M in funding for The Salvation Army’s purpose-built shelter and affordable housing campus redevelopment at the current shelter site on the 600 block of E. Washington Ave. The campus will include a purpose-built shelter for families and single women, pay-to-stay shelter, medical respite shelter, single room occupancy housing, and studios and one-bedroom apartments. This summer, The Salvation Army’s single women’s shelter turned away an average of 10 women a night and family shelter turned away average 16 families a night due to lack of space. When turned away from The Salvation Army shelter, there is no other emergency shelter for single women and families in Dane County that can take them in. It is the goal of The Salvation Army to develop a two-building campus that will help single women and families regain their lives by focusing on three components: dignified shelter, permanent homes and supportive services. The County has long supported the Salvation Army’s shelter operations and, more recently, its rapid rehousing program for families. Supporting The Salvation Army campus development furthers Dane County’s goal of ending homelessness. More info on the proposal is available here.
- The CCHIC recommends adding $100,000 for eviction prevention financial assistance for Homeless Services Consortium prevention coordinated entry providers to serve applicants who do not qualify for HUD Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) assistance. Due to strict limitations on eligibility for the HUD Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds, more flexible funding is needed to serve families and individuals who present through coordinated entry, but don’t meet the ESG eligibility criteria.
- The CCHIC recommends $50,000 (to hopefully be matched by $50K from the City of Madison) to create a new homeless specialist position to focus on “category 3 families” (aka doubled up folks). This is a recommendation that came out of the doubled-up working group of the HSC Board.
If you can’t make Wednesday’s county budget hearing you can email the county board at county_board_recipients@countyofdane.com. There will be additional opportunities to advocate when the amendments are taken up by committee. The agendas are not yet out for these later meetings, but they will be posted here when they are out.
CITY RECOMMENDATIONS
In case you are wondering, there are city recommendations as well. Here is the full memo. 10 – 10 2020 CCHIC Budget Reccs
The city recommendations are as follows:
2019 City of Madison Budget
- An additional $1 million increase in capital funds for the City of Madison’s Affordable Housing Development Fund, bringing the fund to $6 million total in 2020.
- $100,000 in funding for eviction prevention funds from the City of Madison targeted specifically for individuals who are at risk of losing their housing, but do not meet the eligibility criteria for other programs funded by the state or federal government. The committee is requesting a $100,000 match from Dane County (above) to help fund this initiative.
- $50,000 to help fund a homeless specialist position in the proposed Dane County Department of Human Services’ Housing Access and Affordability Division. The position would focus on underserved populations in the homeless and housing system, including families with children or youth who are defined as homeless under other federal statutes (please see the Category 3 definition of homelessness under the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for more information). The committee is requesting a $50,000 match from Dane County (above) to help fund this position.
- Assistance in planning and community engagement efforts around establishing a purpose-built emergency shelter for men, through support from existing City of Madison and Dane County staff and relevant government committees.
Comments for the city could go to mayor@cityofmadison.com and allalders@cityofmadison.com.
