title
A resolution appropriating $1,600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from Fund #30216 to the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency for a pilot program to provide wraparound services to residents.
body
WHEREAS, on June 15, 2021, the Metropolitan Council passed Resolution RS2021-966, a resolution which accepted grant funds for local government support from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP Funds”) from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, which was subsequently signed into law by Mayor John Cooper on June 16, 2021; and,
WHEREAS, Resolution RS2021-966 established a COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee ("the Committee") whose role is to collect, consider, and recommend appropriate uses of the ARP Funds as designated by the Metropolitan Council disbursement plan. The Committee will submit its reports and recommendations to the Mayor, the Director of Finance, and the Metropolitan Council not later than June 30, 2025; and,
WHEREAS, there are federal requirements for use of ARP Funds that require that these funds be expended or obligated on or before December 31, 2024; and,
WHEREAS, the Committee recognizes that Nashville’s heated housing market limits opportunities for low income families to obtain housing, further emphasizing the existing need for Metro to provide quality public housing; and,
WHEREAS, the Committee recognizes that the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (“MDHA”) traditionally used federal grant funds to provide wraparound services for its public housing properties to employ social workers, career coaches, and other human services staff to assist residents with their greatest needs; and,
WHEREAS, the Committee recognizes that these federal grant funds are no longer available since MDHA converted its properties to an alternate funding mechanism through the Rental Assistance Demonstration program (“RAD”); and,
WHEREAS, the Committee recognizes that wraparound services are critical to empower individuals and families to achieve self-sufficiency and accumulate economic opportunities such that they can move to units requiring less financial support; and,
WHEREAS, MDHA has developed a pilot program to provide these services to 50 families at seven of its housing sites, as further described in Exhibit A; and,
WHEREAS, MDHA seeks to procure a service provider to partner with other agencies to implement this pilot program over a two-year period; and,
WHEREAS, it is to the benefit of the citizens of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County that this resolution be approved.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. The Metropolitan Council accepts this resolution as a recommendation of the COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee.
Section 2. That $ 1,600,000 from the Covid-19 American Rescue Plan Fund #30216 is hereby appropriated to the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency for the purposes outlined in Exhibit A.
Section 3. This resolution shall take effect from and after its final passage, the welfare of the public requiring it.
Agenda Analysis
Analysis
This resolution appropriates $1,600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”) funds from Fund #30216 to the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (“MDHA”).
MDHA has traditionally used federal grant funds to employ social workers, career coaches, and other human services staff to provide wraparound services for its public housing properties to assist residents. These federal grant funds are no longer available because MDHA has converted its properties to an alternative funding mechanism through the Rental Assistance Demonstration program. MDHA has developed a pilot program to provide wraparound services for 50 families at seven of its housing sites. The proposal requests $800,000 each year for two years to support this programing. MDHA would competitively procure these services from partner organizations.
Fiscal Note: This $1,600,000 appropriation, along with the appropriations per Resolution No. RS2022-1865, RS2022-1863, RS2022-1860, RS2022-1861, RS2022-1862, and Resolution No. RS2022-1856 would be the 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th and 40th resolutions appropriating from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARP) Fund for a cumulative total of $221,497,030. The total grant award is $259,810,600. The first half of this amount was received in July 2021 and the second half was received in July 2022. The grant award must be obligated by December 31, 2024 and expend by December 31, 2026.