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State program would seed $50 million for local homelessness solutions, with reporting and matching rules
Summary
A proposed $50 million line item would fund a flexible State Housing Trust Fund grant program to support local homelessness solutions, require local matching funds, use reimbursable grants, and mandate reporting through HMIS for recipients of state funds.
Commissioner Nunn outlined a proposed amended-budget line to provide $50 million through the State Housing Trust Fund for competitive, locally driven homelessness grants. He said the program would emphasize flexibility so that rural counties and large urban centers can deploy solutions tailored to their needs, while requiring significant local matching funds and reporting to improve statewide visibility of homelessness.
Nunn said the grants would generally be reimbursable, meaning recipients must spend funds on approved work before being reimbursed, and the department would perform audits and site visits to ensure compliance. He described an expectation of two to three rounds of competitive awards, with an initial round for communities that already have projects "down the road" and later rounds to help smaller or less-prepared communities participate.
Committee members pressed for more detail on application criteria and monitoring. A member asked what applicants would include in their proposals; Nunn said applications would need to state objectives, target populations, expected numbers served, proposed outcomes and plans for sustainability since the funds are one-time. Committee members also urged that the review prioritize proven interventions, not untested approaches they feared could have perverse incentives.
On reporting, Nunn said the department intends to require recipients of state funds to use the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) when federal rules already require it for federal funding recipients. He argued HMIS is the best available tool for tracking sheltered populations and that requiring it for state-funded recipients would improve data quality and compliance.
The presentation closed with Nunn offering to provide additional program details to committee members offline and emphasizing the intent to move quickly where communities are ready while preserving funding for later competitive rounds.
