Entitlement Programs

The San Joaquin County Neighborhood Preservation Division administers several federal grant programs that provide assistance to low-income and homeless residents of the County. These programs include the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) program, and the Emergency Solutions Grant program.

WHAT IS THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM?

CDBG is a flexible funding source that helps address local housing and community development needs. Activities must first meet one of the following national objectives:

Address the needs of low-income persons
Eliminate a slum or blighted condition
Resolve an urgent need

A wide range of activities are eligible for funding. Typical activities include

Acquisition of Real Property
Acquisition, Construction, Rehabilitation, or Installation of Public Facilities, Including Infrastructure
Public Services (limited to 15% of total CDBG grant)
Removal of Architectural Barriers
Commercial or Industrial Rehabilitation
Special Economic Delivery

WHAT IS THE HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS (HOME) PROGRAM?

The intent of the HOME Program is:

To provide decent affordable housing to low-income households,
To leverage private-sector participation.

Eligible activities include:

Homeowner Housing Rehabilitation
Homebuyer Activities
Acquisition, Rehabilitation, or Construction of Rental Housing
Tenant-based Rental AssistanceOther Activities Conducted in Conjunction With the Above Activities,
Including Acquisition of Vacant Land, Site Improvements, and Refinancing

A minimum of 15% of the annual HOME allocation must be set aside for use by Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDO). A CHDO is a private, nonprofit community based service organization that provides affordable housing to the community that it serves.

WHAT IS THE EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT (ESG) PROGRAM?

The Emergency Shelter Grant program assists emergency shelters for the homeless by providing funds that may be used for the following activities:

Renovation or rehabilitation of buildings used as emergency shelters
Provision of essential services to the homeless including street outreach
Payment of maintenance and operational expenses for emergency shelters
Developing and implementing homeless prevention and rapid re-housing activities
Maintaining a Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS)

HOW MUCH MONEY IS AVAILABLE?

Each year the County receives an annual allocation of CDBG, HOME, and ESG funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The amount that is available is dependent upon the amount of funds appropriated by Congress. Over the past few years, San Joaquin has received an average of $2.4 million per year of CDBG funds and $700,000 of HOME funds. Approximately half of these funds are passed through to the cities of Escalon, Lathrop, Manteca, Ripon, and Tracy, which then go through their own application process and allocate funds to projects approved by their city councils.

The County has received an average of $200,000 of ESG funds each year. These funds are distributed to the emergency shelters throughout the County and are used primarily to offset operating costs. The funds are also used to partially fund a homeless prevention program.

HOW DO I APPLY FOR CDBG, HOME, OR ESG FUNDS?

In December of each year, a notice of funding availability is distributed to individuals and organizations that have expressed an interest in applying for funds. The funding requests that are received are first reviewed to determine eligibility and then to determine if they meet one of HUD's national objectives and one of the County's local community development objectives. The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors considers eligible applications at a public hearing that is typically held in March. Funding for the selected projects is available in July.

HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ANY OF THESE PROGRAMS?

Call (209) 468-3175 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for additional information.