Committee accepts FY2023 HUD Continuum of Care planning grant to support homelessness system

The Community and Economic Development Committee voted to accept and appropriate the fiscal-year-2023 Continuum of Care (CoC) planning grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the city’s lead role in the Milwaukee Continuum of Care.

Mario Higgins, director of Community Development Grants Administration, told the committee the award (spoken in the meeting as about $939,649) pays for CoC planning work, staffing, consultants, improvements to the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), coordinated entry, and strategic planning and gap analysis. The grant supports cross-agency planning, training and oversight for projects funded through HUD’s CoC program.

Steve Mahan, who participates in CoC operations, described Milwaukee’s Continuum of Care as a long-standing collaborative network and said planning dollars fund outreach and coordination with providers. Alderman Jose Perez and several committee members pressed staff and CoC representatives for more upstream action in a concentrated problem corridor on Lincoln Avenue, where committee members and business owners report a cluster of open drinking, substance-use activity and encampments.

Committee members discussed whether the CoC planning funds could be used to develop targeted strategies for areas such as Lincoln Avenue, including increased outreach, AODA (alcohol and other drug) services and partnerships with county outreach teams, warming rooms and shelter providers. Steve Mahan and Mario Higgins said the CoC will work with Milwaukee County and local partners to develop a coordinated response and that some planning funds will support outreach and convenings to refine service strategies.

The formal action (file number 241373) was moved by Alderman Mark Chambers; the chair ordered it adopted on a voice vote with no objection. The grant acceptance authorizes the city to use planning funds on staffing, consultants, HMIS/coordinated entry improvements and strategic planning for CoC operations.

Committee members asked staff to bring partners together for a focused conversation and to share meeting invitations with council members so members could observe and participate in the CoC process. The committee heard that much of the street-level activity in the corridor involves people experiencing homelessness who also have substance-use needs, creating a need for coordinated upstream responses that combine housing, outreach and AODA services.