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Home My WebLink About(0007) IR 22-017 - Status of Emergency Rental Assistance ProgramsINFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-017 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 1, 2022 Page 1 of 5 SUBJECT: STATUS OF EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS On February 23, 2021, the City Council approved M&C 21-0106 and M&C 21-0111 to administer two rental assistance programs to assist persons financially impacted by COVID-19: 1.) the Texas Emergency Rental Assistance Program (TERAP) and 2.) the U.S. Treasury's Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA-1). These programs provided funding in the amounts of $1,840,489 and $27,484,117, respectively. On October 19, 2021, the City Council approved M&C 21-0816 to accept an additional $29,071,786 (ERA-2) from the U.S. Department of Treasury to continue to assist persons financially impacted during the pandemic. Rental assistance offered to Fort Worth residents through TERAP and ERA 1 & 2 totals $58,396,392. As part of the implementation process, the Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) developed an online application portal utilizing Neighborly software. The application portal was launched on March 8, 2021, and included features allowing either the landlord or tenant to initiate the rental assistance application process. In addition to the online application process, the City partnered with six (6) organizations to provide case management and assist in the overall administration of the program, including five (5) nonprofit agencies (Center for Transforming Lives, Samaritan House, Salvation Army, Housing Channel, and Cornerstone Assistance Network) and Fort Worth Housing Solutions (FWHS), the City's housing authority. NSD contracted with Alpha Business Images, LLC to implement an outreach and advertising campaign that specifically targeted demographic groups that were at risk of housing displacement and eviction. Additional City staff was hired to expand our intake capacity and to work directly with the Justice of Peace courts to prevent evictions. Expenditures Ahead of Schedule As of January 24, 2022, a total of 4,206 households were assisted with rental assistance funds from the following programs: Funds Provided to # Households Amount of Funds % of Funds Expenditure Program City of Fort Worth Assisted Expended Expended Deadline ERA-1* $27,484,117 * 3,711 $27,484,117 * 100% September 2022 ERA-2* $29,071,786 * 289 $3,084,117 * 11% September 2025 TERAP $1,840,489 206 $1,840,489 100% November 2021 Total $58,396,392 4,206 $32,408,723 56% * Includes administrative cost of 10% ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-017 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 1, 2022 ° �d Page 2 of 5 �`o s SUBJECT: STATUS OF EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS r�rA re�a Applicant Demographics The following tables and charts provide an update of the program including demographics: f,4:04:10111111ri[C141115912MADILI&I42AIs] 4P21114 l:�'��fL�LI►�i��>!X►1�� XTA:II<i: REFUSE TO ANSWER W Q OTHER MULTI -RACIAL Ian_[+][+1:�_►y:;IC+1_►►1_►�►it�:>I[i_►il �_►PSI �:� C�h_►itl litl �] h_►itl�l a_► �_F7!_'lith_'~ l V[: ■ Below $16,125 ■ $16,125-$27,086 ■ $27,086-$38,000 $38,001-$60,800 More than $60,801 Demographics 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Percentage of Race ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-017 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 1, 2022 VWN Page 3 of 5 Ai �`o s SUBJECT: STATUS OF EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS r�rA re�a Households Assisted by Council District $6,000,000 740 744 800 477 $4, 672 $5,000,000 $4, 53 585 700 $4,070,264 517 600 a, 500 0 s$4,000,000 $3,450,165 3$3, 598 Q �+ $3,000,000 327 338 400 283 $2, 300 $2,295,660 ° 300 E $2,000,000 $1. 535 `m Q 200 E $1,000,000 100 z $0 0 District 2 District 3 District 4 District 5 District 6 District 7 District 8 District 9 Ethnicity Percentages ■ Refuse to Answer Hispanic or Latino ■ Non -Hispanic or Latino ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-017 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 1, 2022 ° �d Page 4 of 5 �`o s SUBJECT: STATUS OF EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS r�rA re�a ERAP Assisted Residents f o •MEW o o • • 'Q 16 a p a 0 � i • I District 2 (253j Disttict 6 (672) Dmtnct 3 (740) DsWo 7 (327i District 9 (5M Disttict 8 (585) District 5 (744j District 9 (338) C out of listricts (0) 9 2.25 LS 9 AAi1as rr I F0 WOsrH. y 13.5 '��oM� aon agrm rert Yxw..u..n.ca:....oma.k..i..•.k-i...xy..e.er w..mnora.++Mur ya�M .M�*YY�n.NO... erNUH brd.11lki+ipN..^inwnnp.nv..f^Apmow. rM cnr d rim wam .w,.K.A e<..v..are vu...�,xr. d wa om ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-017 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 1, 2022 Page 5 of 5 SUBJECT: STATUS OF EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Applications Outpacing Resources In the month of December 2021, the City received 3,744 new application inquiries and are on pace to receive an additional 4,000 applicants for the month of January 2022. The expenditures for the program are currently averaging $4.5 million per month, with an average of $7,300 in assistance per household. At the current rate of expenditures, staff projects the funds to be exhausted by July 2022. To address the growing number of submitted applications, Tarrant County has agreed to voluntarily reallocate $10 million from their Emergency Rental Assistance funds to the City of Fort Worth pending approval by the U.S. Treasury, to enable us to continue assisting the citizens within Fort Worth city limits. The additional $10 million will enable the City to help residents who have already submitted their applications and are pending approval. However, the additional funding will not cover all newly submitted applications or Additional Funding Requests (AFR) applications submitted by qualifying households previously assisted. For additional information about this topic, please contact Victor Turner, Director of the Neighborhood Services Department, at 817-392-8187. David Cooke City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS