Item Description:
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Allocate $9,600,000 additional funding for the provision of family emergency shelter and services, 04/01/24-12/31/24; supp appr of $9,600,000 to the 2024 HSPH dept budget, authorize 14 FTEs
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Resolution:
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BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners allocates $9,600,000 of funding to increase capacity for family emergency shelter and services during the period of April 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a supplemental appropriation of $9,600,000 to the 2024 Human Services and Public Health Budget is approved, that the 2024 budgeted use of fund balance in the Human Services and Public Health Budget is increased by $9,600,000, and that 14 FTE positions are added to the 2024 budget.
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Background:
Since 2005, Hennepin County has had a shelter-all policy for families with children. This policy is unique in the State of Minnesota. Only a handful of communities nationwide operate under similar policies.
Levels of family homelessness began increasing steeply following the end of pandemic-related federal rent assistance and the eviction moratorium in 2022. In addition, in late 2022 we also began seeing requests for temporary shelter from families newly arriving to Minnesota who lack the supports and infrastructure to move quickly into stable housing. In response, Hennepin County expanded contracted shelter and overflow sites through 2022 and 2023 to meet demand and fulfill the aforementioned policy.
To support these actions, on September 27, 2022, Board Resolution 22-0405 approved the expenditure of $3.5 million to address the needs of families seeking shelter in Hennepin County through March 31, 2023. On March 21, 2023, Board Resolution 23-0144 approved the expenditure of $17,228,900, and authorized the negotiation and execution of agreements, for this purpose through December 31, 2023.
As of the end of February 2024, our combined efforts are sheltering approximately 450 households of adults with children. In addition to providing a temporary place to stay in a time of crisis, families also receive meals, case management services to identify and address barriers to housing, supports to keep children in school, and other services to help families transition back into housing as quickly as possible.
The approved 2024 budget included expenditures of $16,525,856 for family shelter. Pandemic Recovery Funds have since been allocated in the amount of $5,959,000 and a FEMA grant will provide an additional $1,793,352. Existing commitments combined with this latest Board Action Request will bring the total projected spend on family shelter to $34,136,752 for 2024. To sustain these efforts through 2024, the requested $9,600,000 will provide rooms, meals and other services necessary to address the shelter needs of families in Hennepin County. Funding will go toward:
• Extending leases and contracts with sites and vendors necessary to provide safe, dignified shelter for families.
• Adding staffing resources to ensure families receive the levels of support necessary while in shelter and to ensure stays in shelter are as short as possible, including responding to and helping to address the unique barriers faced by new arrivals to our community.
This Board Action Request will provide funding for resources to stabilize the system and to allow continued focus on the longer strategy of making homelessness - and homeless shelter use - rare, brief and nonrecurring.
Current request: This Board Action Request seeks the allocation of $9,600,000 in additional funding for family emergency shelter and services for April 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 ; authorization of up to 14 FTE positions; and a supplemental appropriation to the 2024 Human Services and Public Health Budget, which is detailed in the tables in the attached budget document.
recommendation
Recommendation from County Administrator: Recommend Approval