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Committee approves transfer of Continuum of Care grant designation from MDHA to Office of Homeless Services
Summary
The committee approved an amendment transferring the HUD Continuum of Care grant designation from the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) to Metro’s Office of Homeless Services; staff said the change follows a year‑and‑a‑half transition process and that OHS will direct funds to community training and planning.
The Public Health & Safety Committee recommended approval of an amendment to the Continuum of Care (CoC) grant that replaces the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) as the collaborative applicant with the Metropolitan Office of Homeless Services (OHS).
The resolution on the committee agenda (RS 20 25‑1013) transfers the community’s HUD CoC administrative grant from MDHA to OHS, concluding a multi‑step transition staff described as taking about 18 months. The committee recommended approval after questions about monitoring, training and safeguards against misuse of federal homeless‑assistance funds.
Why it matters: The collaborative applicant compiles and submits the community’s consolidated CoC application to HUD and is responsible for monitoring programmatic and financial compliance of funded providers. Council members and public commenters raised concerns about prior instances where federal homeless‑assistance funds were used to house people who did not meet homelessness documentation requirements.
Bill Clendening, grants coordinator for the Office of Homeless Services, described the transition as deliberate and reviewed: “In November 2023, that body voted to begin the transition of collaborative applicant from MDHA to OHS.” Clendening said OHS and MDHA have worked closely and used HUD technical assistance during the change.
Clendening told the committee OHS plans to use the transferred funds for community planning and training rather than salaries: “OHS doesn't need to use any of this for salaries. It'll all go straight to planning and training for the community.” He said planned trainings include Critical Time Intervention (CTI) case‑management training for nonprofit partners.
A public commenter, Steve Reiter, urged stronger monitoring and said he believed some providers had used homeless‑assistance funds to house people who were not homeless: “The taxpayers expect this money to go to homeless, and some of the money is not.” Clendening said the performance evaluation committee can pursue reallocation of funds from low‑performing agencies and that OHS plans monthly engagement with grantees and ongoing data monitoring.
The committee recorded a recommendation for approval; the clerk noted that one council member was briefly absent during the vote and the committee tally was recorded as nine in favor, zero against.
