Department: County Administration
Department Head/Elected Official: David Berry, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Contract - Amendment
Project ID (if applicable): 22GEN0684
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): BakerRipley
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Office of County Administration for the approval of an amendment to the agreement with BakerRipley in the amount of $8.2M for eviction intervention services via the Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program, funded by reallocation of U.S. Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance funds from other jurisdictions.
end
Background and Discussion:
In January 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department established the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program to provide funding to state and local governments to assist eligible renter households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, funded via the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Commissioners Court established the 2021 Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program on February 9, 2021, in collaboration with the City of Houston. The program administrators are BakerRipley, Catholic Charities, and the Alliance.
Jurisdictions across the country were required to meet performance benchmarks for ERA1 funds by September 2021 or risk recoupment. The US Treasury initiated a reallocation process from underperforming jurisdictions to those demonstrating on-target performance and ongoing need. Harris County met performance targets and was therefore eligible to receive reallocated funds. We were awarded $8.6M in Round 1 of the ERA1 reallocation in December 2021. A funding request for Round 2 of ERA1 reallocation was submitted in January and on March 14,2022, the County was notified that we were awarded $8.9M. Funds were received on April 1, 2022.
Expected Impact:
In February 2022, in response to limited remaining funding and rising eviction cases, the Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program shifted to an eviction intervention model. The requested amendment will provide an additional $7.5M in rental assistance to support eligible Harris County tenants in active eviction proceedings. The amendment also includes $711k for BakerRipley for application processing and payment, technology, and other program development costs. Funding for this agreement will be fully provided by the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury CAA ERA1 Funds.
Alternative Options: N/A
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
X Economic Opportunity
X Housing
X Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
2/9/21 |
21-134 |
2021 Emergency Rental Assistance Program Approval and Contract Award to BakerRipley and Catholic Charities |
3/9/21 |
21-885 |
Approval of ERAP Navigator Agency Contracts |
5/25/21 |
21-2485 |
Amendment of BakerRipley ERA1 Contract |
6/8/21 |
21-2771 |
Approval of ERA2 Contracts with BakerRipley and Catholic Charities |
6/8/21 |
21-2770 |
Approval of ERA2 Contract with The Alliance |
9/14/21 |
21-4893 |
Amendment of BakerRipley and Catholic Charities ERA2 Contracts |
11/30/21 |
21-6579 |
Second amendment of BakerRipley ERA2 Contract |
3/8/2022 |
22-1722 |
Approval of ERA1 Contract with The Alliance |
3/22/2022 |
22-2117 |
Second amendment of BakerRipley ERA1 Contract |
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Countywide
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
Service Name |
Emergency Rental Assistance Program |
|
SFY 22 |
FY 23 |
Next 3 FYs |
Incremental Expenditures (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
Labor Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Non-Labor Expenditures |
$8,210,500 |
$ |
$ |
Total Incremental Expenditures |
$8,210,500 |
$ |
$ |
Funding Sources (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
Existing Budget |
Grant |
$8,210,500 |
$ |
$ |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Total Current Budget |
$8,210,500 |
$ |
$ |
Additional Budget Requested |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Total Additional Budget Requested |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Total Funding Sources |
$8,210,500 |
$ |
$ |
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
Additional Positions Requested |
- |
- |
- |
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Implementation Date: 4/26/2022
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department:
Leah Barton, Managing Director Strategic Initiatives, Office of County Administration
Janet Gonzalez, Director of Budget and Performance, Office of Management and Budget
Attachments (if applicable): Contract amendment to follow