Health Department: ERA tranche 3 served 717 households but will return unspent federal funds
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Summary
The Anchorage Health Department told the Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee it allocated about $4 million of ERA tranche 3 funding, spent roughly $3.2 million and served 717 unique households; officials cited a compressed federal deadline and eligibility checks as reasons some funds were returned.
The Anchorage Health Department reported on Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) tranche 3 during the Assembly’s Housing and Homeless Committee meeting Dec. 17, saying the municipality received about $4,000,000 for that tranche, spent about $3,200,000 and served 717 unique households.
Jed Drollet, community systems program manager for the Anchorage Health Department, told the committee that a hard federal deadline of Sept. 30 for ERA spending and the short window after the municipality gained access to tranche 3 constrained operations and left some funds unspent that will be returned to the U.S. Treasury. “We will be returning some money to the treasury,” he said, adding that the compressed timeframe was a major constraint on how the program was set up.
The nut graf: the department said the program nevertheless exceeded its client‑service projection for tranche 3 and spent most of the allocation, while flagging process issues — mostly a fragmented intake across multiple grantees and a centralized eligibility check — that slowed distribution and led to underspending.
Drollet described the grantee structure and reallocations used to maximize spending. Six grantees were selected: Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness; Choosing Our Roots; Henning; NeighborWorks; New Life Development; and United Way. United Way held three separate awards. Drollet said Henning, New Life Development and United Way ultimately spent all of their funding, and that the department reallocated some funds from grantees that could not spend them in time. He cautioned that the department has not independently verified all grantees’ internal reasons for underspending, though monitoring (including a site visit to the coalition) is underway.
The presentation included interim metrics: the department had projected serving roughly 600 households but served 717. Drollet summarized client counts by grantee (United Way about 300 clients across its awards; Henning about 150; other grantees served fewer clients due to targeted populations). He also presented a rough cost‑per‑client calculation for the short program period, which the slide described as about $67,000 per client when administrative and supportive costs are included; the presenter described that number as a quick calculation and noted the program covered broader services beyond direct rent payments.
Committee members pressed for outcome data, particularly whether people served by tranche 3 have remained housed. Drollet said Treasury-prescribed reporting metrics exist and that the municipality will provide a snapshot of existing outcome tracking now and updated numbers after final reporting is submitted to Treasury; the municipality’s final ERA reporting is due Jan. 28. He said continuing agreements with grantees — some of which include non‑expiring funding — will allow ongoing outcome tracking into next year.
Drollet identified operational bottlenecks grantees reported: because each grantee ran its own intake portal, clients might apply to more than one provider, creating duplication and extra work; the department routed applications in the background but said a single intake/clearinghouse would be more efficient in future programs. A second major bottleneck was the requirement to check applicants against a centralized database maintained by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) to ensure applicants had not already used their allowable months of ERA assistance; AHFC required a single designated point of contact for those checks, and that process delayed some approvals. Finally, grantees said it was harder to recruit landlords for very short-term assistance that could not guarantee ongoing support after the Sept. 30 cutoff.
Drollet set out commitments in future programs: improved transparency about underspent grant fees, more on‑site monitoring and oversight of grantees, stronger outreach and a simplified single‑point intake to reduce duplicative applications. He also said the department will compile and submit final closeout reports on the broader ERA program, at which point Treasury will determine how much must be returned and whether any expenses are ineligible.
The committee requested the department provide a fuller update on outcomes in a spring meeting and a final closeout presentation when reporting to Treasury is complete. Drollet said updated closeout numbers will be available after the grantees’ Dec. 19 paperwork deadline and Treasury’s Dec. 29 processing window, with final reporting due Jan. 28.
