§576.2. Definitions. — Inbound Citations

(a) Subject to the expenditure limit in § 576.100(b), ESG funds may be used for costs of providing essential services necessary to reach out to unsheltered homeless people; connect them with emergency shelter, housing, or critical services; and provide urgent, nonfacility-based care to unsheltered homeless people who are unwilling or unable to access emergency shelter, housing, or an appropriate health facility. For the purposes of this section, the term “unsheltered homeless people” means individuals and families who qualify as homeless under paragraph (1)(i) of the “homeless” definition under § 576.2. The eligible costs and requirements for essential services consist of:

(1) The costs of activities to locate, identify, and build relationships with unsheltered homeless people and engage them for the purpose of providing immediate support, intervention, and connections with homeless assistance programs and/or mainstream social services and housing programs. These activities consist of making an initial assessment of needs and eligibility; providing crisis counseling; addressing urgent physical needs, such as providing meals, blankets, clothes, or toiletries; and actively connecting and providing information and referrals to programs targeted to homeless people and mainstream social services and housing programs, including emergency shelter, transitional housing, community-based services, permanent supportive housing, and rapid re-housing programs. Eligible costs include the cell phone costs of outreach workers during the performance of these activities.

(2) The cost of assessing housing and service needs, arranging, coordinating, and monitoring the delivery of individualized services to meet the needs of the program participant. Eligible services and activities are as follows: using the centralized or coordinated assessment system as required under § 576.400(d); conducting the initial evaluation required under § 576.401(a), including verifying and documenting eligibility; counseling; developing, securing and coordinating services; obtaining Federal, State, and local benefits; monitoring and evaluating program participant progress; providing information and referrals to other providers; and developing an individualized housing and service plan, including planning a path to permanent housing stability.

(i) Eligible costs are for the direct outpatient treatment of medical conditions and are provided by licensed medical professionals operating in community-based settings, including streets, parks, and other places where unsheltered homeless people are living.

(ii) ESG funds may be used only for these services to the extent that other appropriate health services are inaccessible or unavailable within the area.

(iii) Eligible treatment consists of assessing a program participant's health problems and developing a treatment plan; assisting program participants to understand their health needs; providing directly or assisting program participants to obtain appropriate emergency medical treatment; and providing medication and follow-up services.

(i) Eligible costs are the direct outpatient treatment by licensed professionals of mental health conditions operating in community-based settings, including streets, parks, and other places where unsheltered people are living.

(ii) ESG funds may be used only for these services to the extent that other appropriate mental health services are inaccessible or unavailable within the community.

(iii) Mental health services are the application of therapeutic processes to personal, family, situational, or occupational problems in order to bring about positive resolution of the problem or improved individual or family functioning or circumstances.

(iv) Eligible treatment consists of crisis interventions, the prescription of psychotropic medications, explanation about the use and management of medications, and combinations of therapeutic approaches to address multiple problems.

(5) The transportation costs of travel by outreach workers, social workers, medical professionals, or other service providers are eligible, provided that this travel takes place during the provision of services eligible under this section. The costs of transporting unsheltered people to emergency shelters or other service facilities are also eligible. These costs include the following:

(i) The cost of a program participant's travel on public transportation;

(ii) If service workers use their own vehicles, mileage allowance for service workers to visit program participants;

(iii) The cost of purchasing or leasing a vehicle for the recipient or subrecipient in which staff transports program participants and/or staff serving program participants, and the cost of gas, insurance, taxes and maintenance for the vehicle; and

(iv) The travel costs of recipient or subrecipient staff to accompany or assist program participants to use public transportation.

(6) ESG funds may be used to provide services for homeless youth, victim services, and services for people living with HIV/AIDS, so long as the costs of providing these services are eligible under paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5) of this section. The term victim services means services that assist program participants who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including services offered by rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters, and other organizations with a documented history of effective work concerning domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

ESG funds may be used to provide housing relocation and stabilization services and short- and/or medium-term rental assistance necessary to prevent an individual or family from moving into an emergency shelter or another place described in paragraph (1) of the “homeless” definition in § 576.2. This assistance, referred to as homelessness prevention, may be provided to individuals and families who meet the criteria under the “at risk of homelessness” definition, or who meet the criteria in paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of the “homeless” definition in § 576.2 and have an annual income below 30 percent of median family income for the area, as determined by HUD. The costs of homelessness prevention are only eligible to the extent that the assistance is necessary to help the program participant regain stability in the program participant's current permanent housing or move into other permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing. Homelessness prevention must be provided in accordance with the housing relocation and stabilization services requirements in § 576.105, the short-term and medium-term rental assistance requirements in § 576.106, and the written standards and procedures established under § 576.400.

ESG funds may be used to provide housing relocation and stabilization services and short- and/or medium-term rental assistance as necessary to help a homeless individual or family move as quickly as possible into permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing. This assistance, referred to as rapid re-housing assistance, may be provided to program participants who meet the criteria under paragraph (1) of the “homeless” definition in § 576.2 or who meet the criteria under paragraph (4) of the “homeless” definition and live in an emergency shelter or other place described in paragraph (1) of the “homeless” definition. The rapid re-housing assistance must be provided in accordance with the housing relocation and stabilization services requirements in § 576.105, the short- and medium-term rental assistance requirements in § 576.106, and the written standards and procedures established under § 576.400.

(b) The recipient must maintain and follow written intake procedures to ensure compliance with the homeless definition in § 576.2. The procedures must require documentation at intake of the evidence relied upon to establish and verify homeless status. The procedures must establish the order of priority for obtaining evidence as third-party documentation first, intake worker observations second, and certification from the person seeking assistance third. However, lack of third-party documentation must not prevent an individual or family from being immediately admitted to emergency shelter, receiving street outreach services, or being immediately admitted to shelter or receiving services provided by a victim service provider. Records contained in an HMIS or comparable database used by victim service or legal service providers are acceptable evidence of third-party documentation and intake worker observations if the HMIS retains an auditable history of all entries, including the person who entered the data, the date of entry, and the change made; and if the HMIS prevents overrides or changes of the dates on which entries are made.

(1) If the individual or family qualifies as homeless under paragraph (1)(i) or (ii) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, acceptable evidence includes a written observation by an outreach worker of the conditions where the individual or family was living, a written referral by another housing or service provider, or a certification by the individual or head of household seeking assistance.

(2) If the individual qualifies as homeless under paragraph (1)(iii) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, because he or she resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation and is exiting an institution where he or she resided for 90 days or less, acceptable evidence includes the evidence described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section and one of the following:

(i) Discharge paperwork or a written or oral referral from a social worker, case manager, or other appropriate official of the institution, stating the beginning and end dates of the time residing in the institution. All oral statements must be recorded by the intake worker; or

(ii) Where the evidence in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section is not obtainable, a written record of the intake worker's due diligence in attempting to obtain the evidence described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) and a certification by the individual seeking assistance that states he or she is exiting or has just exited an institution where he or she resided for 90 days or less.

(3) If the individual or family qualifies as homeless under paragraph (2) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, because the individual or family will imminently lose their housing, the evidence must include:

(A) A court order resulting from an eviction action that requires the individual or family to leave their residence within 14 days after the date of their application for homeless assistance; or the equivalent notice under applicable state law, a Notice to Quit, or a Notice to Terminate issued under state law;

(B) For individuals and families whose primary nighttime residence is a hotel or motel room not paid for by charitable organizations or federal, state, or local government programs for low-income individuals, evidence that the individual or family lacks the resources necessary to reside there for more than 14 days after the date of application for homeless assistance; or

(C) An oral statement by the individual or head of household that the owner or renter of the housing in which they currently reside will not allow them to stay for more than 14 days after the date of application for homeless assistance. The intake worker must record the statement and certify that it was found credible. To be found credible, the oral statement must either: (I) be verified by the owner or renter of the housing in which the individual or family resides at the time of application for homeless assistance and documented by a written certification by the owner or renter or by the intake worker's recording of the owner or renter's oral statement; or (II) if the intake worker is unable to contact the owner or renter, be documented by a written certification by the intake worker of his or her due diligence in attempting to obtain the owner or renter's verification and the written certification by the individual or head of household seeking assistance that his or her statement was true and complete;

(ii) Certification by the individual or head of household that no subsequent residence has been identified; and

(iii) Certification or other written documentation that the individual or family lacks the resources and support networks needed to obtain other permanent housing.

(4) If the individual or family qualifies as homeless under paragraph (3) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, because the individual or family does not otherwise qualify as homeless under the homeless definition but is an unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or homeless family with one or more children or youth, and is defined as homeless under another Federal statute or section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)), the evidence must include:

(i) For paragraph (3)(i) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, certification of homeless status by the local private nonprofit organization or state or local governmental entity responsible for administering assistance under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.), the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), subtitle N of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14043e et seq.), section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b), the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), or subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.), as applicable;

(ii) For paragraph (3)(ii) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, referral by a housing or service provider, written observation by an outreach worker, or certification by the homeless individual or head of household seeking assistance;

(iii) For paragraph (3)(iii) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, certification by the individual or head of household and any available supporting documentation that the individual or family moved two or more times during the 60-day period immediately preceding the date of application for homeless assistance, including: recorded statements or records obtained from each owner or renter of housing, provider of shelter or housing, or social worker, case worker, or other appropriate official of a hospital or institution in which the individual or family resided; or, where these statements or records are unobtainable, a written record of the intake worker's due diligence in attempting to obtain these statements or records. Where a move was due to the individual or family fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, then the intake worker may alternatively obtain a written certification from the individual or head of household seeking assistance that they were fleeing that situation and that they resided at that address; and

(iv) For paragraph (3)(iv) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, written diagnosis from a professional who is licensed by the state to diagnose and treat that condition (or intake staff-recorded observation of disability that within 45 days of date of the application for assistance is confirmed by a professional who is licensed by the state to diagnose and treat that condition); employment records; department of corrections records; literacy, English proficiency tests; or other reasonable documentation of the conditions required under paragraph (3)(iv) of the homeless definition.

(5) If the individual or family qualifies under paragraph (4) of the homeless definition in § 576.2, because the individual or family is fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions related to violence, then acceptable evidence includes an oral statement by the individual or head of household seeking assistance that they are fleeing that situation, that no subsequent residence has been identified and that they lack the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, needed to obtain other housing. If the individual or family is receiving shelter or services provided by a victim service provider, the oral statement must be documented by either a certification by the individual or head of household; or a certification by the intake worker. Otherwise, the oral statement that the individual or head of household seeking assistance has not identified a subsequent residence and lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, needed to obtain housing must be documented by a certification by the individual or head of household that the oral statement is true and complete, and, where the safety of the individual or family would not be jeopardized, the domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening condition must be verified by a written observation by the intake worker or a written referral by a housing or service provider, social worker, legal assistance provider, health-care provider, law enforcement agency, legal assistance provider, pastoral counselor, or any other organization from whom the individual or head of household has sought assistance for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The written referral or observation need only include the minimum amount of information necessary to document that the individual or family is fleeing, or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

(iv) With respect to Continuums that served homeless families and youth defined as homeless under other federal statutes in paragraph (3) of the definition of homeless in § 576.2:

(A) 95 percent of those families and youth did not become homeless again within a 2-year period following termination of assistance; or

(B) 85 percent of those families achieved independent living in permanent housing for at least 2 years following termination of assistance.

(a) Applicants that intend to serve unaccompanied youth and families with children and youth defined as homeless under other federal laws in paragraph (3) of the homeless definition in § 576.2 must demonstrate in their application, to HUD's satisfaction, that the use of grant funds to serve such persons is an equal or greater priority than serving persons defined as homeless under paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of the definition of homeless in § 576.2. To demonstrate that it is of equal or greater priority, applicants must show that it is equally or more cost effective in meeting the overall goals and objectives of the plan submitted under section 427(b)(1)(B) of the Act, especially with respect to children and unaccompanied youth.

(2) The date specified in the supportive services grant agreement, or any supplement or amendment thereto; or

For the purposes of this part:

(b) “At risk for homelessness” in this part means an individual who does not have sufficient resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, immediately available to prevent them from moving to an emergency shelter or another place described in paragraph (1) of the definition of “homeless” in 24 CFR 576.2 and meets one or more of the following conditions:

(1) Has moved because of economic reasons two or more times during the 60 days immediately preceding the application for assistance;

(2) Is living in the home of another because of economic hardship;

(3) Has been notified in writing that their right to occupy their current housing or living situation will be terminated within 21 days after the date of application for assistance;

(4) Is constructively evicted from their current housing because of untenable conditions created by the landlord such as shutting off electricity and water or discriminatory acts;

(5) Lives in a hotel or motel and the cost of the hotel or motel stay is not paid by charitable organizations or by Federal, State, or local government programs for low-income individuals;

(6) Lives in a single-room occupancy or efficiency apartment unit in which there reside more than two persons or lives in a larger housing unit in which there reside more than 1.5 persons reside per room, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau;

(7) Is exiting a publicly funded institution, or system of care (such as a health-care facility, a mental health facility, foster care or other youth facility, or correction program or institution);

(8) Is fleeing, or is attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual, including a child, that has either taken place within the individual's primary nighttime residence or has made the individual afraid to return to their primary nighttime residence; or

(9) Otherwise lives in housing that has characteristics associated with instability and an increased risk for homelessness.