Center County Commissioners approve $389,488 ESG grant submission for rental assistance and HMIS costs

The Center County Board of Commissioners on June 27 approved a same-day submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for the Fiscal Year 2025 Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) totaling $389,487.88.

Faith, an adult services staff member for the county, told commissioners the request includes $198,500 for homeless prevention (financial rental assistance and caseworker personnel), $156,910 for emergency shelter operations and essential services, $20,000 for Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) participation and $14,077.88 for administration. "We're also requesting a category called HMIS administration. It's a huge statewide database that we have to participate in, and this would help with personnel costs," she said.

The nut graf: The ESG award would augment the county's rental assistance and shelter support during FY25 and, for the first time in this application's history, explicitly budgets for HMIS personnel costs. Commissioners said approving the application on the same day keeps the county on the grant timeline required by DCED.

During the presentation, Faith said the program is one piece of a broader rental assistance strategy and estimated the prior program had served "probably close to 30 to 40" people in fiscal year 2023. She also said the county historically receives about half of what it requests because of statewide demand, so the department filed for the larger amount.

Commissioners moved and seconded to approve the grant submission; the motion carried after a voice vote of aye. The county sought same-day approval so staff could submit the application before the DCED deadline. The county will apply under standard ESG budget categories but noted that some line items can be moved later via budget modifications if the award differs from the request.

No commissioner voiced opposition during the vote. The county did not specify an exact projected number of additional households the FY25 award would serve if fully funded beyond the historical 30–40 served in FY23.

Looking ahead, staff said HMIS participation is required statewide and that allocating grant dollars for HMIS administration is intended to cover personnel time spent on data entry and reporting. The award, if granted, will require the county to follow DCED and ESG program rules for eligible activities and reporting.

The board approved the motion and moved to the next agenda item.