Grants to support essential services related to emergency shelter and street outreach, including building rehabilitations and conversions into emergency shelters, operation of emergency shelters, short-term and medium-term rental assistance, and housing relocation and stabilization services.

Nature of Program: Provides grants by formula to states, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and U.S. territories for eligible activities, which generally include essential services related to emergency shelter and street outreach; rehabilitation and conversion of buildings to be used as emergency shelters; operation of emergency shelters; short-term and medium-term rental assistance for individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; housing relocation and stabilization services for individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; and Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) participation costs. Shelter and Street outreach activities are limited to the greater of 60 percent of the recipient's fiscal year grant and the amount of Fiscal Year 2010 Emergency Shelter Grant funds the recipient committed to homeless assistance activities. Up to 7.5 percent of a recipient's fiscal year grant can be used for administrative activities, such as program management, oversight, coordination, and reporting. States must share these administrative funds with their subrecipients that are local governments, and all recipients may share these administrative funds with their subrecipients that are nonprofit organizations.

Applicant Eligibility: States (including Puerto Rico), metropolitan cities (including District of Columbia), urban counties, and U.S. territories are eligible. Metropolitan cities and urban counties are eligible if, after applying the formula, their allocation is greater than 0.05 percent of the funds appropriated.

Funding Distribution: HUD sets aside for allocation to the territories up to 0.2 percent, but not less than 0.1 percent, of the total amount of each appropriation in any fiscal year. The remainder is allocated to states, metropolitan cities, and urban counties. The percentage allocated to each state, metropolitan city, and urban county is equal to the percentage of the total amount available under section 106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 for the prior fiscal year that was allocated to the state, metropolitan city or urban county. If an allocation to a metropolitan city or urban county would be less than 0.05 percent of the total fiscal year appropriation for ESG, the amount is added to the allocation of the state in which the city or county is located.

Legal Authority: Subtitle B of Title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11371-11378).

Regulations are at 24 CFR part 576.

Information Sources: Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development; local HUD field offices.

On the Web: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/esg/

Current Status: Active.