Kane County staff brief committee on continuum-of-care role, 2024 homelessness snapshot and rapid rehousing expansion

Nisreen Wakile, the county’s continuum-of-care program manager, told the Kane County Public Health Committee that the Continuum of Care (CoC) is a federal program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that “is designed to promote communitywide commitment to ending homelessness.” She described the county’s responsibilities: coordinating local stakeholders, operating the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), conducting the annual point-in-time homeless count and administering CoC planning and administrative grants.

Wakile provided a 2024 snapshot drawn from county data: 1,717 individuals used emergency shelter in 2024; 44 were veterans; 144 were youth age 18–24; 300 households were fleeing domestic violence; roughly 372 people experienced unsheltered homelessness; 561 were families with children; 110 were under age 5; 174 were ages 6–12; and 103 were ages 13–18. Wakile said almost half of those counted reported one or more disabilities and that the county’s 2025 needs analysis and a draft 2025–2029 strategic plan will prioritize permanent supportive housing, emergency-shelter expansion and behavioral-health services.

Wakile explained funding that supports the CoC structure. She said CoC administrative grants received by the county typically range “somewhere usually between $2.5 and $3,000,000,” of which county COC staff receive about $250,000 to run the program; the remainder supports housing providers. She described other funding: an annual Emergency Solutions Grant allocation from the state (about $300,000), an increase in state homeless-prevention funding (from around $230,000 in 2018 to nearly $1,000,000 for the current state fiscal year that began July 1) and a Home Illinois package that the county receives for specific activities (Wakile listed approximately $820,000 for rapid rehousing, $370,000 for permanent supportive housing and $150,000 for shelter diversion).

Rick Vanderforest, program manager for rental assistance, described operational rapid-rehousing work and housing-placement challenges. He said rapid rehousing served nine individuals countywide in 2019; the county has since grown that capacity and “we've gone from 9 to serving a 159 households from 2020 to present.” Vanderforest described a case-management approach that includes help obtaining bank accounts, budgeting, landlord engagement and ongoing contact (weekly initially, stepping down to monthly) to improve tenancy success. He said 73% of participants measured last year showed improvement on self-sufficiency metrics.

Committee members asked how the point-in-time count affects funding and how CoC funding fared in recent federal budget proposals. Wakile said the administration had proposed merging CoC with ESG, but congressional action kept CoC funding largely intact; she also said point-in-time increases do not straightforwardly produce higher allocations and that CoCs are scored on performance metrics rather than receiving funds strictly by count changes.

Members asked about domestic-violence services and human trafficking. Wakile said two local domestic-violence providers — Mutual Ground in Aurora and Community Crisis Center in Elgin — provide shelter and rapid rehousing and that the county recently submitted a domestic-violence rapid-rehousing application to HUD. Vanderforest said 12 of the 23 households currently receiving rapid rehousing assistance were domestic-violence survivors.

Committee members requested follow-up items. Wakile offered to share the 2025 homelessness report and needs analysis and to circulate the draft 2025–2029 strategic plan. Members also asked for an organizational flow chart showing where CoC and related programs sit within county departments following recent internal program reorganizations; staff agreed to provide that in a future meeting. Vanderforest and Wakile noted continued implementation challenges: tight rental markets (the presenters cited about a 1% vacancy rate for fair-market rental units) and limited housing stock, which constrain rapid-rehousing placements despite strong landlord partnerships.

No formal motions or funding decisions were made at the meeting; the presentation was for committee briefing and feedback. Staff indicated they will pursue federal and state competitive opportunities and return with requested materials and updates.