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Cowlitz County to sign certification to pursue biennial consolidated homeless grant
Summary
Health and Human Services told the Board the county must submit a certification page signed by the board chair as the first step in the biennial consolidated homeless grant process; the full budget and contract will follow after the state legislative session.
Gina James, Health and Human Services, told the Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners on the record that the county must submit a certification form as the first step to participate in the state’s biennial consolidated homeless grant process.
The certification asks for Chairman Dahl’s signature to indicate Cowlitz County’s intent to participate. James said the grant covers a mix of state funding and locally retained document-recording fees that are folded into the grant and that the state will send a budget and contract after the legislative session concludes.
"We go through this process every two years," James said, describing the multistep schedule that begins with the certification, then a budget and contract later in the year. She added the current contract contains one-time additional funding that inflated the most recent total; the prior two-year contract totaled about $4,500,000.
James said portions of the grant support the Housing Intervention Network (HIN) program, coordinated entry contracts, and staff time for activities such as the point-in-time count and the county’s five-year plan. She told the board reimbursement is on an allowable-cost basis: "It's based on our actual cost, for the allowable activities. So it is a percent of our actual cost that's allowable to be reimbursed through this grant." (Gina James, Health and Human Services.)
Commissioners raised routine clarifying questions about the reimbursement structure and timing. Commissioner Raider asked whether the grant reimburses a percentage of actual costs; James confirmed it does. No formal vote was recorded. James said she will send the certification page for the chairman’s signature so the county can file the first-step paperwork.
The board did not take a final funding or contract action at the meeting; James said the county will receive the budget and contract language after the state legislative session, at which point the county will have more detail and may return with contract-related actions.
