60A - FY 2020-2021 EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANTS

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Fiscal Year 2020 — 2021 Emergency Solutions Grants Program April 7, 2020 Page 2 DISCUSSION The Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program provides funds to assist sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals, as well as those at risk of homelessness to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. Recipients of ESG Program funding in Orange County include the following entitlement jurisdictions: County of Orange, City of Anaheim, City of Irvine, City of Santa Ana and City of Garden Grove. Collectively, this group is referred to as the Orange County ESG Collaborative that was formed over five years ago. To ensure that funds are leveraged to create maximum impact, the Orange County ESG Collaborative has created a single Request for Proposals process, developed aligned values and priorities, and makes funding recommendations collaboratively to achieve the Orange County Continuum of Care goal to end homelessness. On November 7, 2019, three member cities of the Orange County ESG Collaborative released a combined ESG Request for Proposals (RFP) to support the Orange County Continuum of Care's goal to end homelessness (the County of Orange and City of Irvine allocated their funding independent of the Collaborative this funding cycle). The Collaborative accepted applications until December 10, 2019, with supplemental applications and requirements for both the City of Santa Ana and Anaheim. The RFP included a provision for up to four one-year renewals that could be exercised by each Collaborative member. Should the OC Collaborative determine to exercise these annual renewals past the end of FY 20-21, an RFP will not be released again. This means that current subrecipients awarded funding in FY 20-21 will be required to submit a new budget and program summary each year, but a new RFP will not be issued again for five years. Any new forms and information will be provided by the Collaborative each year. In addition, the Collaborative reserves the right to redistribute funding and/or issue a new RFP at its discretion. Each annual renewal for the City of Santa Ana will be recommended for approval by City Council. Applications were reviewed by City staff together with housing and community development commissioners from Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Anaheim. Applicants were interviewed by the review panel on February 5, 2020. Following this RFP process, staff are recommending FY 2020- 21 ESG program funding to seven organizations. Exhibit 1 identifies the summary of FY 2020-21 funding recommendations. The funding recommendations are based upon applications received, performance and current needs identified by staff. The allocation is broken down by category to provide more detail on funds allocated to specific eligible ESG activities. A template of the grant agreement that will be executed with each organization after approval by City Council is provided as Exhibit 2. The memorandum of understanding with the Santa Ana Police Department is provided as Exhibit 3. In regards to the $151,468 recommended for Mercy House for Shelter Operations and Essential Services, this specific allocation is to count toward the $6,398,123 already approved for the Link shelter by City Council. On September 18, 2018, City Council authorized the City Manager to execute an agreement with Mercy House to operate an interim emergency homeless shelter with a total budget in an amount not to exceed $6,398,123. The Link will be operational at least through the end of October 2020. A total of $151,468 of the $6,398,123 for the Link will be allocated from the ESG Program for FY 2020-2021. If the total ESG funds of $151,468 allocated 60A-2