Agenda 6-c - Funding Plan for Orange County Services Impacted by Federal Government Shutdown

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2 ORANGE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES As detailed in Attachment 1, there was an early issuance of Food and Nutrition (SNAP) benefits for February and those households will not receive additional funds until sometime in March, even though the shutdown ended. For some of these families, managing their funds so they do not run out of food before the March issuance will be problematic. Information about this situation has been sent to clients by the state, and the Orange County Department of Social Services (DSS) is answering phone calls from the public about their concerns. The guidance the County is receiving (see Attachment 1) is to encourage families to stretch these resources and that the funds will remain on their cards for the usual twelve months. Orange County Department of Social Services (DSS) continues to take and process new applications and these can be approved since the shutdown ended. If another shutdown occurs, USDA would again be in the position to run out of funds for new applicants. For these reasons, DSS anticipates additional requests for food, particularly after February 15th. Although food pantries appear to be stocked fairly well for now, it is unlikely that they would be able to support this higher demand. Although the shutdown ended for three weeks, a food shortage is still possible during the transition. It is difficult to estimate how many of the 5,000 local households would need assistance until the March distribution. If another shutdown occurs, all households would be impacted and there would be a monthly loss of $1.1 million until such time as USDA can release funds. It appears there may be some movement to adopt legislation to release Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and child care (has passed House and Senate). That passage would assure continuance of Work First checks and staff costs paid by TANF. If not, another shutdown could have significant impacts starting in March. Another impact if this continues past February would be lost revenue to support staff working in Food and Nutrition services or in programs supported by TANF. Orange County could lose approximately $122,000 in administrative funds for Food and Nutrition and another $166,000 from TANF each month of the shutdown. In terms of the County's response, DSS suggests promoting food drives starting in mid-February and continuing until food benefits are issued again. DSS has convened the various organizations with food pantries or other food resources to coordinate efforts to meet this need. There may also be a need for emergency funds to assist families impacted by the early distribution or by another shutdown. Any funds provided by the County for food will not be reimbursed by federal or state agencies. ORANGE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT The government shutdown has negatively impacted the work being undertaken in the Housing and Community Development Department (H&CD) in two (2) ways, including the following: Funding for FY18-19 HOME projects will be delayed. Therefore, the four (4) entities awarded funding will not be able to start their projects as anticipated in January 2019. The entities and award amounts are as follows: Community Home Trust — $60,000 EmPOWERment, Inc. — $145,000 Habitat for Humanity— $60,000