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7525 ESG-CV-Grant-Application-RFQ SOWRFQ 7525 PRE-QUALIFIED LIST FOR EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FUNDS AVAILABLE On March 27, 2020, the Federal government enacted the third stimulus package for COVID-19, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act included $4 billion for a supplemental appropriation of Homeless Assistance Grants under the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) as authorized by McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-77), as amended by the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009 (P.L.111-22) (42 U.S.C.S.§11371 et. seq.). The funding supports additional homeless assistance and homelessness prevention activities to mitigate the impacts created by coronavirus. The first allocation of ESG CARES Act funding (ESG-CV) released by HUD allocated $33,254,679 to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), the State ESG Recipient. On April 23, 2020, the TDHCA Board approved that Continuum of Care (CoC) Lead Agencies perform the role of an ESG Coordinator for their geography. The Texas Homeless Network (THN), the CoC Lead Agency for the Texas Balance of State Continuum of Care (TX BoS CoC), has applied and is the only application for the Role of ESG Coordinator for the 215 counties within the TX BoS CoC. THN has $7,020,131 in ESG CARES funds to distribute. On May 25, 2020, the CoC released the ESG CV-19 application for agencies in the TX BoS CoC. The City of Denton is included and participates in the TX BoS CoC. The City made application to the TX BoS CoC for $1.425 million in ESG-CV program funds. The City of Denton is awarded $1,425,000 dollars from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). With funding needs supported by the data, investment in ESG eligible activities such as Street Outreach (SO), Emergency Shelter (ES), Homeless Prevention (HP), Rapid Re-housing (RRH) and use of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) are a part of the HCRS coordinated housing-focused strategy that aims to reduce the number of people who become homeless, shorten the length of time people experience homelessness, and increase the number of people experiencing homelessness who are transitioned from unsheltered living situations to emergency/transitional housing and/or to permanent housing. The ESG-CV funding will allow the City to support programs in our Housing Crisis Response System (HCRS) providing services to people experiencing and at-risk of homelessness, and to collaboratively address the increased needs of people experiencing homelessness who are disproportionately affected by the COVID- 19 and the global pandemic. The funds may be used to cover or reimburse allowable costs incurred to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. Based on the application requirements, the City of Denton intends to contract through a qualified list with local social service agencies to provide ESG-CV eligible services and have the ability to award an unspecified number of contracts per scope of work category through the term of the City’s contract with TDHCA from November 1, 202 through July 31, 2021 or until the funds are expended, whichever comes first. The ESG-CV contracts will end on July 31, 2020. CARES ACT ESG WAIVERS The City of Denton Community Development Division will be responsible to administer the grant funds and uphold the following CARES Act Waivers: • Emergency Shelter & Street Outreach Cap – The funds are not subject to the spending cap on emergency shelter and outreach under 24 CFR 576.100(b)(1); • Match Requirement – The funds are exempt from the ESG match requirements, including 24 CFR 576.201; • At Risk of Homelessness Definition – The funds may be used to provide homelessness prevention assistance (as authorized under 24 CFR 576.103 or subsequent HUD notices) to any individual or family who does not have income higher than HUD’s Very Low-Income Limit for the area and meets the criteria in paragraphs (1)(ii) and (1)(iii) of the “at risk of homelessness” definition in 24 CFR 576.3; (This is a change from Annual ESG income limits of 30 percent of Area Median Income.) • Procurement – That recipients may deviate from applicable procurement standards when using these funds to procure goods and services to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, notwithstanding 24 CFR 576.407(f) and 2 CFR 200.317-200.326; • Case Management – Treatment and supportive services must not be required to receive treatment or perform any other prerequisite activities as a condition for receiving shelter, housing, or other services for which these funds are used, notwithstanding 24 CFR 576.401(e). (Includes Housing Stability Case Management) • Fair Market Rent Limit – The requirement at 24 CFR 576.106(d) that prohibits rental assistance where the rent for the unit exceeds the Fair Market Rent established by HUD, as provided under 24 CFR Part 888, is waived so long as the rent complies with HUD’s standards of rent reasonableness, as established under 24 CFR 982.507. • Extension of RRH and HP Assistance – Medium-rent defined as “for more than 3 months but not more than 24 months of rent” in 24 CFR 576.106(a)(2), is waived and an alternative requirement is established where medium-term is established as for more than 3 months but not more than 12 months. • Coordinated Entry, Written Standards, and HMIS Requirements – Coordinated entry, ESG written standards, and HMIS must be used for all ESG-CV activities. ESG ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES - Funds may be used for eligible activities in 5 programs and for administrative activities. See the City of Denton ESG-CV Written Standards for more details on eligible activities. Street Outreach (§576.101) ▪ Outreach & Engagement ▪ General Case Management ▪ Emergency Health Services ▪ Emergency Mental Health Services ▪ Transportation ▪ Services for Special Populations Emergency Shelter (§576.102) Essential Services Shelter Operations ▪ General Case Management ** ▪ Child Care ▪ Education Services ▪ Employment Assistance and Job Training ▪ Outpatient Health Services ▪ Legal Services ▪ Life Skills Training ▪ Mental Health Services ▪ Substance Abuse Treatment Services ▪ Equipment ▪ Food ▪ Fuel ▪ Furnishings ▪ Hotel/Motel Vouchers ▪ Insurance ▪ Maintenance ▪ Operating Supplies ▪ Rent ▪ Security ▪ Utilities Homelessness Prevention Activities (§576.103) & Rapid Re‐housing Activities (§576.104) Direct Financial Assistance Housing Relocation and Stabilization (§576.105) ▪ Rental Application Fees ▪ Security Deposits ▪ Last Month’s Rent ▪ Utility Deposits ▪ Utility Payments ▪ Moving Costs ▪ Housing Stability Case Management** ▪ Housing Search and Placement ▪ Mediation ▪ Legal Services ▪ Credit Repair Short-term rental assistance* (§576.106) ▪ Short‐Term Rental Subsidies ▪ Medium‐Term Rental Subsidies ▪ Rent Arrearages *Rental assistance can be project-based, or tenant-based. **Waivers - ESG-CV participants may not be required to engage in case management services HMIS (§576.107) HMIS Lead ▪ Hosting/Maintaining ▪ Backing up, recovering or repairing ▪ System Upgrades ▪ Integrating/Storing Data ▪ Administering the system ▪ Reporting to CoC and HUD ▪ Conducting training • Establish a comparable database ▪ Computer Purchasing/Leasing ▪ Purchasing Software ▪ Equipment Purchasing/Leasing ▪ Obtaining Technical Support ▪ Office Space Leasing ▪ Paying Utilities ▪ Salaries ▪ Travel to Training ▪ Staff Travel to Conduct Intake ▪ Fees to HMIS Lead Agency ADMINISTRATIVE (§576.108) ▪ Salaries Admin Staff ▪ Travel to monitoring sub recipients ▪ Administrative services ▪ Rental/Purchase of equipment ▪ Training from HUD sponsored trainings ▪ Preparing/Amending Consolidated Plan ▪ Environmental Review HOUSING CRISIS RESPONSE SYSTEM In Denton and throughout Denton County, our Housing Crisis Response System (HCRS) plan is to achieve our goals through the following collaborative efforts: • Street Outreach: Street Outreach (SO) is a valuable tool in our HCRS to ensure that people living unsheltered are provided information and referrals, have access to emergency shelter (if available), are assessed through Coordinated Entry (CE) and included on the community’s Housing Priority List (HPL) for housing placement, crisis intervention, and ongoing support. • Coordinated Entry (CE) and the Housing Priority List (HPL): Denton has adopted and is continuously improving a uniform process designed to quickly identify, assess, refer and connect people in crisis to housing assistance and services. Households that complete the CE assessment process are then included in the HPL and referred to the most appropriate housing solution. Households are pulled off the HPL in order of priority status as housing assistance becomes available. • Diversion and Prevention: As the most cost effective of all solutions, diversion and prevention are key components of our HCRS by reducing the number of people who become homeless. Homeless prevention helps households stay in their current housing situation while diversion prevents homelessness for people seeking shelter by helping them identify immediate alternate housing arrangements and, when necessary, connecting them with services. When implemented strategically, Diversion services can remove barriers to stable housing often at a lower cost than short- and medium-term rental assistance. • Emergency Shelters and Transitional Housing: Emergency shelter and transitional housing connect people experiencing a housing crisis or fleeing an unsafe situation to a safe place to stay. Emergency and temporary housing are on a continuum of service provision that align with the larger moving people from homelessness to housing. • Permanent Housing: Without permanent housing, there is constant housing instability. Our HCRS includes a goal to increase our capacity to connect people experiencing homelessness with permanent housing programs, such as Rapid Re-Housing (RRH), Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), and other stable permanent housing solutions. REQUIREMENTS & EVALUATION CRITERIA The City of Denton is seeking a variety of applicants to provide expanded and innovative housing solutions and services, the need and variety for which has grown due to the impact of the coronavirus. The ESG -CV program provides funding specifically to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus (also called COVID-19). All proposals must clearly demonstrate how the project will prevent, prepare for or respond to coronavirus. Per CPD-20-08, proposals must meet one or more of the following definitions: Prevent... coronavirus means an activity designed to prevent the initial or further spread of the virus to people experiencing homelessness, people at risk of homelessness, recipient or subrecipient staff, or other shelter or housing residents. This includes providing Personal Protective Equipment to Street Outreach and Emergency Shelter staff and program participants, paying for non-congregate shelter options such as hotels and motels, paying for stations and portable toilets for use by people living in unsheltered situations, and providing rapid re-housing or homelessness prevention assistance to individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness (as applicable) to reduce their risk of contracting or further spreading the virus. Prepare for... coronavirus means an activity carried out prior to or during a coronavirus outbreak in their jurisdiction to plan to keep people healthy and reduce the risk of exposure to coronavirus and avoid or slow the spread of disease. This includes updating written standards to prioritize people at severe risk of contracting coronavirus for shelter and housing consistent with fair housing and nondiscrimination requirements, adapting coordinated entry policies and procedures to account for social distancing measures or increased demand, developing a strategy and recruiting landlords to provide housing to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, training providers on infectious disease prevention and mitigation, and implementing a non-congregate shelter strategy to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Respond to… coronavirus means an activity carried out once coronavirus has spread to people experiencing homelessness, provider staff, or once individuals and families lose or are at risk of losing their housing as a result of the economic downturn caused by coronavirus. This includes transporting individuals and families experiencing homelessness to medical appointments, paying for shelter to isolate individuals who have contracted coronavirus from other program participants and people experiencing homelessness, providing rental assistance to those who are at risk of losing their housing, have already become homeless, or continue to experience homelessness due to the economic downturn caused by coronavirus, and providing hazard pay to recipient or subrecipient staff who put their own health at risk to provide necessary services to individuals and families experiencing and at-risk of homelessness. SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS Interested nonprofit organizations must submit a summary of qualifications that showcases the nonprofits qualifications as outlined in this section and throughout the scope of work. The qualified nonprofit must: • Be a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation described by 26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3) that: o has been incorporated in this state of Texas for at least two years; in operation for more than two years; and o is providing services to people/households experiencing homelessness as defined by 42 U.S. Code § 11302 or preventing homelessness in at-risk households. • Agency must use HMIS and actively participate in Denton’s Coordinated Entry process, including participating in monthly Case Conferencing. SELECTION CRITERIA All respondents will be evaluated and scored as outlined in the evaluation procedures of this solicitation. Organizations with a score of 80 and above that meet and follow all the requirements as outlined in this specification will be. Pricing will not be a factor in evaluation and awarding this RFQ. Any and all pricing references will apply if selected and once a specific project is awarded. Grant funds awarded for each contract shall be negotiated. The City of Denton is interested in funding the following activities/services in support of this Housing Crisis Response System, ESG -CV (HCRS-CV): ▪ PRIORITIZATION – Priority for clients with high vulnerability scores identified through CE and included on the Housing Priority List (HPL) who are Chronic homeless, Veterans, DV or living unsheltered. ▪ HOUSING – Connecting clients to emergency, temporary, and permanent housing to slow the spread of COVID-19; o HOUSING FOCUSED CASE MANAGEMENT – Every client unsheltered, in shelter or other temporary housing should be on a path to permanent housing. Housing focused case management can be combining unsheltered and sheltered services with Rapid Re-housing and Permanent Supportive Housing so that clients have access to housing and supportive services that can quickly re-stabilize their housing situation. o HOUSING REFERRAL – To move people from unsheltered to sheltered and on to permanent housing, the HCRS ESG-CV funded project will attend collaborative case management meetings (from outreach engagement, to housing transition, to housing stability) which will improve housing outcomes for this population o DIVERSION – Diversion should be attempted with all potential participant households before or within the first seven days enrollment into Emergency Shelter (ES). o LOW BARRIER SHELTER – HCRS ESG-CV emergency shelter must be low barrier by reducing all preconditions for entry to shelter and services. Emergency essential services to shelter and temporary housing to people experiencing homelessness that provides a safe option for people experiencing a housing crisis or fleeing an unsafe situation. o ENHANCE SHELTER – In addition to coordination of mainstream and other services, housing focused case management is a priority throughout the HCRS. Prioritized clients should have the option for extended shelter stay while the client and the HCRS ESG-CV RRH or other PSH provider work together to secure affordable and available housing. While participants may not be required to engage in case management activities, service providers are still expected to make this resource available. ▪ Right of Return - Have the right of return with a guaranteed bed each night, and therefore do not have to line-up each day for shelter access; ▪ Pets - Can bring their pets with them into the shelter; and ▪ Possessions - Are provided with a locked storage unit so that they can protect their personal possessions when they leave for work, one-on-one case management appointments, employment interviews, medical visits, and more. o TEMPORARY/QUARANTINE HOUSING – Clients who are positive for COVID-19 need to have access to services and a safe place to stay, separated from others who are not infected. To facilitate a continuation of services, the HCRS ESG-CV collaboration will include resources to connect people living unsheltered to emergency and temporary housing, including access to individual private rooms with the provision of appropriate services, supplies, and staffing. ▪ PREVENTION OF HOMELESSNESS – Provision of short-term rental assistance, utility assistance, and/or relocation to housing that is affordable for the household. ▪ ADEQUATE SURGE STAFFING – Facilitate a surge of staff support (i.e., housing case management, medical, mental, behavioral health, substance use counseling, medication assisted treatment, janitorial, and security). ▪ CONNECTION TO MEDICAL/BEHAVIORAL/MENTAL HEALTH ACCESS – Connecting clients to medical care and facilitating access to non-urgent medical care as needed. The funding will further support improving standard outreach procedures around clients in need of immediate medical attention. ▪ FACILITY LAYOUT – Improvements to the layout of facilities to create separation and isolation, including temporary barriers for separation of sleeping units. MUST increase the number of beds available based on bed count before funding is awarded. o SAFE DISTANCING – Encouraging individuals to set up their tents/sleeping quarters with adequate space per person, PROPOSAL NARRATIVE REQUIREMENTS & EVALUATION CRITERIA EXPECTED ACTIVITIES/RESOURCES TO BE REFERENCED BY APPLICANTS: • Housing Crisis Response System (HCRS) – An effective HCRS identifies all people experiencing or at risk of homelessness across the community, prevents homelessness whenever possible, provides immediate access through coordinated entry to shelter and crisis services without barriers to entry, as stable housing and supports are being secured, and quickly connects people who experience homelessness to housing assistance and/or services tailored to the unique strengths and needs of households and which enable them to achieve and maintain permanent housing. • Data Dashboard (linked) – (United Way of Denton County) • Barriers Fund (linked) for Diversion assistance – The Denton County Homelessness Barriers Fund was created to help families overcome barriers to getting and staying housed. The fund is intended as a ‘fund of last resort’ and is meant to be accessed when no other funding or resources are available in the community to ensure housing stability for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. • Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) – HMIS is shared databased tracks the data regarding the homeless and services provided by agencies across the county. • Coordinated Entry (CE) – Collaborative process used in to streamline access, assessment, and referral for housing and other services across agencies in a community. ESG-CV service providers are required to participate in Denton County’s CE system by collaborating with the HMIS/CE Support Specialist at the United Way of Denton County to ensure all necessary staff are trained in and actively utilizing all CE related tools and processes. • Housing Priority List (HPL) – List of individuals and families who have been assessed according to the community’s CE process (using the VI-SPDAT in HMIS) and are waiting to be connected to a permanent housing solution. • Case Conferencing – Bi-weekly meeting of the Denton County Homelessness Leadership Team Housing Workgroup to collaborate with services providers and review and prioritize households on the Housing Priority List (HPL) for available housing. Participation will be required of all ESG- CV recipients. • Denton County Housing Navigator/Landlord incentive program – Centralized approach to landlord engagement and communication responsible for connecting local housing program participants with available, accessible units across the county. ESG-CV funding recipients will be expected to collaborate with this program to mediate barriers to housing and quickly connect individuals and families to housing. Proposal Requirements: • Proposal Completeness: All documentation and RFQ requirements were submitted. • Deadline: The complete proposal was submitted by the deadline. • Qualification Scoring Questionnaire items 1-10 • Project schedule REVIEW & SELECTION PROCESS The City will evaluate all proposals in a four-phase procurement process: 1. The first step will involve a review of the proposals by Procurement staff for conformance to the submission requirements and a determination of whether the proposals meet the minimum criteria established in this RFQ. 2. The second step will involve review of each proposal for adherence to guidance provided within this RFQ and feasibility for implementation by Community Services staff. After step 2 staff will provide written notification to all applicants regarding selections. This communication will further discuss the process for awarding contracts, negotiation for Section 11 Services and Section 12 Budget and name an employee of the City who will be the contact has been approved by the Denton City Council, which may or may not approve the contract.