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New Items of Interest
Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP)
Information Now Available
Funding for homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing assistance was awarded in August 2009 to the County of Northampton. The Homelessness Prevention Fund was created under Title XII of Division A of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“Recovery Act”) and administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Community Planning and Development. Additional HPRP funds were also granted to the County in September 2009 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
HPRP is focused on housing for homeless and at-risk households. It will provide temporary financial assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services to individuals and families who are homeless or would be homeless but for this assistance.
The funds under this program are intended to target two populations of persons facing housing instability:
1) individuals and families who are currently in housing but are at risk of becoming homeless and need temporary rent or utility assistance to prevent them from becoming homeless or assistance to move to another unit (prevention), and
2) individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness (residing in emergency or transitional shelters or on the street) and need temporary assistance in order to obtain housing and retain it (rapid re-housing).
Generally, the intent of HPRP assistance is to rapidly transition program participants to stability, either through their own means or through public assistance, as appropriate. HPRP assistance is not intended to provide long-term support for program participants, nor will it be able to address all of the financial and supportive services needs of households that affect housing stability. Rather, assistance should be focused on housing stabilization, linking program participants to community resources and mainstream benefits, and helping them develop a plan for preventing future housing instability. Grantee programs should therefore ensure that there is a clear process for determining the type, level, and duration of assistance for each program participant.
More Information, including the list of agencies who can provide HPRP assistance and forms providers will need, is available on this site. To access this information, select “Community Development Programs,” from the menu on the left side of this screen, and then select the, “HPRP,” bullet.
HUD Guidance on Section 3 Compliance, Issued May 2009
HUD has issued guidance for recipients of CDBG, NSP, PIH/PH Capitol Funds on compliance with Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. Section 3 is one of HUD’s tools for ensuring that the expenditure of federal funds in economically distressed communities has a multiplier effect by targeting local low- and very low-income persons and qualified businesses for jobs, training, and contracting opportunities.
For applicants interested in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (CDBG-R), the requirements of Section 3 apply in the same manner as they do for other types of covered HUD financial assistance. Since ARRA funding is specifically intended to create jobs and other economic opportunities for those most impacted by the recession, compliance with the requirements of Section 3 is critical. The attached guidance was tailored to the ARRA requirements but is helpful for all potential recipients of HUD funding.
Click here to open the document.
Housing-Related Grant Reporting
Agencies receiving housing-related grants, namely Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) and Affordable Housing grants, must submit Fiscal Status and Beneficiary report forms semi-annually and upon close-out of the grant. These reports are due every January 31 and July 31 during the contract period. The forms may be accessed at the "Housing Report Forms" link under Community Development Programs.
Hotel Room Rental Tax Information Now Available On-line – October 19, 2007
Information for the Operators of hotels in Northampton County can now be accessed on the DCED web page. Select the “Hotel Tax” link at the left of this page to access forms and items of interest.
Electronic Funding Request Form Now Available – September 10, 2007
By selecting the “Funding Request” link on the left-hand side of this page, any organization or municipality can submit a request for funds to NCDCED. We will receive your information electronically, cutting down on the amount of paperwork required for current and future funding applications.
Northampton County ’s DCED recognizes the hard work and limited resources of its grant recipients, especially those who are non-profit organizations. Recently, we have made a few changes in our procedures, all of which are designed to help us:
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Increase our familiarity with your work, and
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Adopt funding processes that create consistency and reduce the administrative burdens on the recipients.
One major change is our new electronic Funding Request process. Another goal for this year is to convert all existing paper-based report forms to electronic reports. This should save grantees time in completing reports (and subsequently save a few trees).
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