Longview council authorizes application for Texas PATH homelessness grant after extended Q&A
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Summary
Council voted to authorize staff to apply for (but not accept) a five-year PATH grant (up to $6M) to fund housing navigation, one-time rental assistance and HMIS licensing; members sought more detail on staffing, match, monitoring and jail coordination before any acceptance.
The City Council authorized staff to submit a competitive application for a Texas Health and Human Services PATH grant that would provide up to $6 million over five years to support housing navigation and related services, but members emphasized the need for a more detailed implementation plan before accepting any award.
Laura Hill presented the application and clarified the current request is permission to apply, not approval to accept federal funds. She said the grant model focuses on housing navigation and limited one-time rental assistance (security deposits and short-term rent) combined with case management and coordination with behavioral-health partners. "This is the only grant we could find that would help us start to accomplish some of those goals," Hill said.
Council members raised multiple operational questions: how much of the award would pay staff salaries versus direct housing assistance, whether existing city employees would be tapped as in‑kind match, how the city would avoid overburdening current staff, and how the program would coordinate with Community Health Corps and the Gregg County jail to identify eligible participants. Hill said the grant allows limited housing assistance (the maximum allowed for direct housing assistance under the draft was $900,000) and that the city would hire dedicated caseworkers funded by the grant while using existing staff activities as in‑kind match.
On cost and match, Hill said roughly 30% of the grant must be matched by cash or in-kind contributions and that the application proposes using existing staff time and program activities as part of that match. Council members pressed for assurances that current staff workloads would not be significantly increased without additional compensation and requested a future work session detailing staffing, reporting obligations and how grant performance would be monitored to avoid repayment risks.
Hill said award notifications would likely come in May and, if awarded, the program would begin Sept. 1. Council voted to authorize staff to submit the application and to return for acceptance only if awarded and after council review of program specifics.
Next steps: staff will submit the application, return with implementation details and, if the city is awarded funds, present a work session with affected employees and final acceptance and budget actions before obligating funds.
