The Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) in HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) issued Notice CPD-21-05 allowing supplemental Emergency Solutions Grants-Coronavirus (ESG-CV) funds provided by the CARES Act (see Memo, 4/6/20, 6/15/20) to be used to provide rapid re-housing (RRH) assistance to individuals and families in the form of short- and medium-term rental assistance where they are currently living and receiving time-limited subsidies funded by another source that will expire within 30 days. The individuals and families must have met the definition of “homeless” before entering their current housing. Eligible individuals and families may also receive housing relocation and stabilization services. The notice also allows recipients and subrecipients to accept inspections conducted by other providers indicating that the housing is safe and sanitary, instead of having to conduct their own habitability inspections before providing RRH assistance funded by ESG-CV.
In addition to continuing support for individuals and families who meet existing requirements in the ESG rapid re-housing assistance program, the waiver allows a recipient to expand RRH beneficiaries to include those who meet all of the following criteria:
Qualify as “homeless” (as defined in the ESG regulation) immediately before moving into their current housing;
Have been residing in their housing receiving time-limited rental assistance provided by homeless assistance program other than the ESG program. A homelessness assistance program means assistance limited to or reserved, either federally or locally, for people who are “homeless” as defined in the ESG regulation. Examples of a homelessness assistance program other than the ESG program include time-limited rental assistance that was funded under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program or the Coronavirus Relief Fund and provided only to people who qualified as “homeless;”
Have no overlap in rental assistance between the non-ESG program and the ESG program, due to exhaustion or expiration of the non-ESG assistance or program funds;
Do not have a gap of more than one month (or equivalent number of days) between the end of the non-ESG rental assistance and the beginning of their ESG RRH rental assistance; and
Do not have resources or support networks (beyond an eviction moratorium) such as family, friends, or other social networks, needed to keep their existing housing without ESG assistance.
Notice CPD-21-05 is at: https://bit.ly/3319phU
More information about ESG is on page 4-84 of NLIHC’s 2021 Advocates’ Guide.