Chair Stevens on $15M federal grant and concept paper status
Stevens asks about a 2022 $15 million federal grant and a concept paper that would have increased provider reimbursement rates but was tabled by OMB. Susan Haskell clarifies the grant was HUD's Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program funding street outreach, rapid rehousing, and permanent housing services, not a concept paper for an RFP.
In 2022, New York City was promised a $15 million federal grant as part of its commitment to prevent and end homelessness.
In connection with this initiative, DYCD issued a concept paper and developed an RFP that would have increased providers' per-bred reimbursement rates.
However, the RFP was substantially tabled by OMB.
What is the status of that RFP, and does DYCD plan to release it?
Thank you for your question, Chair.
Hi, Susan.
Hello.
In 2022 was actually a really exciting time for Runaway and Homeless Youth Services.
We pulled together a broad swath of stakeholders to discuss what was needed to end youth homelessness, and it gave us an opportunity to try some new services, including...
Peer navigation, housing navigation, financial literacy, that yielded a report, an accountability report, really, with recommendations that DYCD
when operationalized to, with our partnerships, with ACS, with DSS, with our other partners to meet those goals.
And that's been an ongoing process since 2022.
I wouldn't call it a concept paper, and it wasn't planned to be a request for a proposal.
It was a stakeholder engagement and planning that yielded a report, which was the mayor's report to end youth homelessness in 2022.
And we continue to reflect on those recommendations.
We've implemented so many of them and stay in touch with the committee.
So that's...
That $15 million, that was the grant from the federal government.
That was all used just to create this report.
No, I'm going to turn to my colleague to speak more about the $15 million, but that was a grant from HUD that went, in some cases, directly to providers, I believe.
Some of it came to DYCD for the planning, but largely the investment that DYCD made in response to that was CTL funding.
Most of the HUD funding was directly to providers or as part of the planning process.
So most of it was, so none of it was to, it was for the report and it went to some different fundings for some of the programs.
So that's where all the money was allocated for?
Yeah, I can add a little bit more context.
There were...
Can you speak into the mic and play?
Oh, it's not.
I'm not.
Okay.
It's on, but I know I can't hear.
Can you hear me now?
Yeah.
Okay.
The grant was the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program.
It's a multi-year grant.
And there were three types of programs that were funded through that grant.
Street outreach.
Rapid rehousing programs and services to support young people to access permanent housing.
And that work has been folded into the New York City Continuum of Care work through HUD and is in continuous.
refunded.
So we funded several providers for those three programs.
The rapid rehousing had multiple contracts, and that's where the bulk of the money was.
And those programs were RFPed out and responded to.
And that's probably the concept paper that you're referring to.
Okay.
Yeah.
And now it's part...
Back with the COC and the funding continues and the work continues.
Yeah, because when I spoke to providers, they said that this concept paper had came out in the RFP, but they didn't know where it was.
I would like to acknowledge Councilman Rose, who has joined us.