The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH Act) amended the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, revising the Emergency Shelter Grants Program in significant ways and renaming it the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program. The ESG Interim Rule took effect on January 4, 2012. The change in the program's name, from Emergency Shelter Grants to Emergency Solutions Grants, reflects the change in the program's focus from addressing the needs of homeless people in emergency or transitional shelters to assisting people to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness.
What is the Purpose of ESG Funding?
The ESG program provides funding to:
- Engage homeless individuals and families living on the street;
- Improve the number and quality of emergency shelters for homeless individuals and families;
- Help operate these shelters;
- Provide essential services to shelter residents;
- Rapidly re-house homeless individuals and families; and
- Prevent families and individuals from becoming homeless.
ESG funds may be used for five program components: street outreach, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing assistance, and HMIS; as well as administrative activities (up to 7.5% of a recipient’s allocation can be used for administrative activities).
What Activities Can be Funded through ESG?
Street Outreach
Essential Services related to reaching out to unsheltered homeless individuals and families, connecting them with emergency shelter, housing, or critical services, and providing them with urgent, non-facility-based care. Eligible costs include engagement, case management, emergency health and mental health services, transportation, and services for special populations. See 24 CFR 576.101.
Emergency Shelter
Renovation, including major rehabilitation or conversion, of a building to serve as an emergency shelter. The emergency shelter must be owned by a government entity or private nonprofit organization. The shelter must serve homeless persons for at least 3 or 10 years, depending on the type of renovation and the value of the building. Note: Property acquisition and new construction are ineligible ESG activities.
Essential Services, including case management, child care, education services, employment assistance and job training, outpatient health services, legal services, life skills training, mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, transportation, and services for special populations.
Shelter Operations, including maintenance, rent, repair, security, fuel, equipment, insurance, utilities, food, furnishings, and supplies necessary for the operation of the emergency shelter. Where no appropriate emergency shelter is available for a homeless family or individual, eligible costs may also include a hotel or motel voucher for that family or individual.
See 24 CFR 576.102.
Homelessness Prevention
Housing relocation and stabilization services and short-and/or medium-term rental assistance as necessary to prevent the individual or family from moving to an emergency shelter, a place not meant for human habitation, or another place described in paragraph (1) of the homeless definition.
The costs of homelessness prevention are only eligible to the extent that the assistance is necessary to help the program participant regain stability in their current housing or move into other permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing.
Eligible costs include:
- Rental Assistance: rental assistance and rental arrears
- Financial assistance: rental application fees, security and utility deposits, utility payments, last month's rent, moving costs
- Services: housing search and placement, housing stability case management, landlord-tenant mediation, tenant legal services, credit repair
See 24 CFR 576.103.
Rapid Re-Housing
Housing relocation and stabilization services and/or short-and/or medium-term rental assistance as necessary to help individuals or families living in shelters or in places not meant for human habitation move as quickly as possible into permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing.
Eligible costs include:
- Rental Assistance: rental assistance and rental arrears
- Financial Assistance: rental application fees, security and utility deposits, utility payments, last month's rent, moving costs
- Services: housing search and placement, housing stability case management, landlord-tenant mediation, tenant legal services, credit repair
See 24 CFR 576.104
Data Collection (HMIS)
ESG funds may be used to pay for the costs of participating in and contributing to the HMIS designated by the Continuum of Care for the area. More information about using an HMIS is available on the HMIS page.
See 24 CFR 576.107
Administration
Up to 7.5 percent of a recipient's allocation can be used for Administrative activities. These include general management, oversight, and coordination; reporting on the program; the costs of providing training on ESG requirements and attending HUD-sponsored ESG trainings; the costs of preparing and amending the ESG and homelessness-related sections of the Consolidated Plan, Annual Action Plan, and CAPER; and the costs of carrying out environmental review responsibilities.
State recipients must share administrative funds with their subrecipients that are local governments, and may share administrative funds with their subrecipients that are nonprofit organizations.
How Can My Organization Access Funding?
If you would like to propose a project, please use the contact info on this page to email us or give us a call. The first step in the process is a meeting with CSD staff to determine if this funding source is a good fit for your project. If so, a formal application process follows. If this process is successful and funding is available, your project would then included in the next year's Action Plan or, if appropriate, amended into the current year Action Plan via a "substantial amendment."