Harris County Community

Ser vices Department

PY 2014Community Development Block Grant(CDBG)

Subrecipient Orientation

February 25, 2014

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Manager Esmeralda Gonzalez x2106

Senior Project Monitor Natalie Garcia x2065

Project Monitors Michelle Leija x2202

Ebony Love x2086

Public Services,

Grants Management Staff713-578-2000

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CONTENTS OF FOLDER

Welcome letter

Subrecipient Orientation Acknowledgment

Copy of presentation

CD containing:

• Programmatic reporting templates and guidance

material

• Financial reporting templates and guidance

material

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CDBG Overview

National Objective

Benefit Low/Moderate Income Persons

Eligible Public Service Activities

Provision of public services including but not limited togeneral welfare services such as the provision of foodand clothing, health services, educational services,youth enrichment and juvenile delinquency preventionprograms and employment and job developmentservices.

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Harris County Service Area

Restriction on location of activities (24 CFR 570.309):

Subrecipients funded by CSD will provide activities to persons who reside in the Harris County service area.

Prior to providing assistance, service area eligibility must be determined by conducting an address search utilizing the

HarrisCounty Appraisal District (HCAD) web page. www.hcad.org

The CSD service area includes the unincorporated areas of Harris County outside of the cities of Houston, Baytown and Pasadena. Included in this service area are the 15 cooperative cities of Bellaire, Deer Park, Galena Park, Humble, Jacinto City, Katy, La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Seabrook, Shoreacres, South Houston, Tomball, Waller, Webster, and West University Place.

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Project Requirement

Subrecipients must maintain source

documentation to evidence household

income as well as eligibility under the

“Presumed Benefit” categories in

accordance with 24 CFR 570.506

(b)(1)(3)(i).

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51% of persons served must be very

low/low/mod income

Annual Income is not reported for persons that

are “Presumed Benefit”

INCOME LEVELS

HOUSEHOLD SIZE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Very Low Income

(Limits based on 0-30% of median

family income)

14,000 16,000 18,000 20,000 21,600 23,200 24,800 26,400

Low Income

(Limits based on 31-50% of median

family income)

23,350 26,650 30,000 33,300 36,000 38,650 41,300 44,000

Moderate Income

(Limits based on 51-80% of median

family income)

37,350 42,650 48,000 53,300 57,600 61,850 66,100 70,400

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INCOME LEVELS & HOUSEHOLD SIZE

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentEffective December 18, 2013

Notes on Household Income

Include the income of all household members.

Use the gross amount, before any payroll deductions,

when calculating income.

Income source documentation must be current.

Annual Income includes:

• Wages, salaries, overtime pay, commissions, fees, tips and bonuses• Unemployment payments• Disability compensation• Worker’s compensation• Severance pay• Alimony and child support payments• Net income from the operation of a business or profession• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)• Social Security and Social Security Income

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Notes on Household Income

Annual Income does not include:

• Income from employment of children, including foster children, under the age of 18 years

• Payments received for the care of foster children or foster adults

• Lump-sum additions to family assets

• Income of a live-in aide

• Food Stamps or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits

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Income Documentation

Examples of source documentation for

limited clientele (51% low-mod):

◦ Employment check stubs

◦ Social Security Income/Social Security Disability

Income award letter

◦ Child Support Documentation

◦ TANF Benefits Letter

◦ Unemployment Benefits Letter

◦ Veterans Administration award letter

◦ Copy of “free/reduced lunch” school letter

specific to family10

Scenario # 1

The annual household income was

reported as $15,600 for services

provided March 2014. (source

documentation is a copy of a paycheck

stub dated December 2012 showing gross

income is $600 per week and the net

income is $300 per week)

Is this documentation sufficient? Is it

calculated correctly?

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Answer:

The source documentation is not

sufficient because it must be no older

than 120 days (related to date of service).

The calculation is also incorrect, annual

household income must be calculated

using the gross not net amount, i.e, $600 *

52 weeks = $31,200.

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PRESUMED BENEFIT

Activities that exclusively serve a group of persons in any one of the following categories are presumed to benefit persons, 51% of whom are low and moderate income:

abused children battered spouses

elderly persons severely disabled adults

homeless persons illiterate adults

persons living with AIDS migrant farm workers

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Source Documentation

Examples of source documentation for:

◦ Seniors – copies of ID, Drivers License, Social

Security Award Letter

◦ Disabled – Receipt of Disability Check or

SSDI award letter

◦ Abused and neglected children – referral

documenting “abused child status”

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Scenario # 2

What source documentation needs to be

in the client file if the client’s age is

reported on the IEF and Client Data

Report as 62, and household income is

reported as “presumed benefit?”

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Answer:

The file must contain a copy of:

Identification Card (ID), or

Drivers License, or

SS award letter.

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AGREEMENTS

Agreements were drafted based on applicants’ Request for Proposals (RFP’s) submitted to CSD for PY2014 funding

PY2014 Time of Performance: March 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015

At the discretion of HCCSD management, no more than two (2) budget revision requests shall be allowed each year, to be submitted no later than 90days prior to the end of the program year. Cut-off to submit your budget revision request: November 30,

2014

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Agreements

Refer to Exhibit A: Scope of Services and

Exhibit B: Budget

Activity

Unit Definition

Cost per Unit of Service

Total No. of Units Per Activity

Maximum Total Cost Per Year

PY2014 Number Served

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PY2013 Programmatic Reports

1. Coversheet / Checklist

2. Project Status Report

3. Client Data Report

4. Tally Sheet

5. Individual Eligibility Forms

6. Employee Data Report

7. Mid-Year Report or Annual Performance Report

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Important notes on monthly

reports

Check your Agreement for monthly reports due date.

For projects that expend funds early, submission of monthly reports with no new persons/services is not required.

Ensure corrections are carried forward to the next monthly report to avoid resubmitting reports.

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Scenario # 3

What forms need to be submitted if your

Project Status Report indicates that your

agency has served 20 new eligible

persons?

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Answer:

Your agency must submit a PY2014

Individual Eligibility Form (IEF) and Harris

County Appraisal District (HCAD) print-

out for all 20 new persons served.

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Scenario # 4

What is needed on the Project Status

Report if you have attained 20% of your

contract goal and you should be at 50% of

your goal?

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Answer:

You must provide an explanation on the

Project Status Report for not being on

target for the reporting month. Should

your agency consistently fail to comply

with the requirement of timely level of

performance and expenditures, a desk

finding will be issued.

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Scenario # 5

Which monthly reports need to be

corrected if you report 20 new clients;

however, 3 were disallowed?

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Answer:

The following reports need to be

corrected:

1. Project Status Report

2. Client Data Report

3. Tally Sheet

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See handouts “Subrecipient Preparation for Monitoring” and “Subrecipient Monitoring Checklist”

Notice letter 15-30 days prior to the visit

Entrance conference

Participant eligibility, activities provided, and consistency with terms of the Agreement, Policies & Procedures, Section 504 survey are reviewed

Exit conference

Results letter within 30 days after the visit Findings

Concerns

Response letter from Subrecipient in 30 days

Response letter from CSD in 30 days

Subrec ip ient Moni tor ing

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Important Points

Section 504 survey will be reviewed for applicable

updates

Grantor Recognition• Spell out “Harris County Community Services Department”

• Keep all items that document grantor recognition in a Grant File for review during the monitoring visit (press releases, media announcements, fundraising brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, print-out from agency website)

Units of Service in the client files should match the

amounts reported under Units of Service in the Client

Data and Project Status Reports

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Questions & Answers:

Programmatic Forms

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When are the programmatic forms due?

Can I report duplicate clients on the Tally Sheet?

If my project is not on target for reporting month what must I do?

Break Time

After the break:

Finance Staff Presentation

Please turn in the Orientation Acknowledge form before you leave.

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