Human Services Advisory Commission - August 14, 2025

here.
Vice Chair Jung
here.
Commissioner Jameson
here.
Commissioner Shear
here.
Commissioner Kulie
here.
Commissioner Hill
here.
And Commissioner Row
here.
Chair Luri, you have a quorum.
Thank you. Uh this is a time reserved
for public comment. Citizens may address
members of the Human Services Advisory
Commission.
This public comment time is reserved for
citizen comments regarding
non-aggendaized items. Arizona state law
prohibits commissioners from discussing
or taking action on any item and
testimony is limited to three minutes
per speaker. Do we have any uh comment
cards?
No, we do not.
Okay. So, moving forward,
uh, could I get a motion to approve the
minutes from the July 24th meeting?
So, move.
Second.
Second.
Okay. And a roll call vote.
Chair Lurie,
yes.
Vice Chair Jung,
yes.
Commissioner Jameson,
yes.
Commissioner Shear,
yes. And may I just say our minutes are
always really, really well done. So,
thank you,
Commissioner Kulie.
Yes.
Commissioner Hill,
yes.
Commissioner Row,
yes.
Okay. Um, I I was just going to make a
comment before I move forward that I
guess these screens up here are a new
thing and I'm like I think I'm not tall
enough to look over it, but uh
particularly since the very first
speaker is Tracy Whis from the Family
Resource Center who's going to talk
about u activities and what's going on.
Uh Tracy, you're up.
Good evening, um, Chair Lori and members
of the commission. So, I'm going to be
presenting about the Scottsdale Family
Resource Center tonight.
So, the Scottsdale Family Resource
Center
is it
um is located at Pyute Neighborhood
Center and has been supporting families
with children from birth to five since
2017.
The F FRC is grant funded through First
Things First and as a Arizona's early
childhood agency, First Things First
partners with families and communities
to give all Arizona children the
opportunity to arrive to kindergarten
healthy and ready to succeed.
Next slide.
One of the ways the F FRC supports
families is through providing referrals
for services. Families often need
assistance with economic supports and
family stability, health care, child
care, and early education, community and
social supports, among so much more.
In fiscal year 25, the FRC provided 768
referrals to families of young children
as well as served 2,995
families. So far for fiscal year, the F
FRC has provided 80 plus referrals to
families.
We also provide to Scottsdale's families
through our emergency pantry as well as
programming. With our emergency pantry,
we can provide Scottsdale families in
need with diapers, formula, baby food,
and baby bags and new car seats. Pyute
has a certified car seat technician that
can properly install install new or used
car seats. All formula diapers and car
seats have been donated.
Just recently, North Scottsdale United
Methodist Church did a diaper drive and
donated over 2,000 diapers. And Partners
for Pyu Partners for Pyute generously
donated new car seats. In fiscal year
25, we provided 238 programs with 2,381
adults and 2,400 children
in attendance. Programs include
parenting workshops, parent child
interactions, parent support groups and
events.
We provided many parenting workshops by
collaborating with agencies such as
child crisis Arizona and you can see
some of the programs that they provide
at our center. UN University of Arizona
Cooperative Extension, which
unfortunately just lost their funding
and will be closing,
and Scottsdale Unified School District.
These workshops helped to provide our
families with useful parenting skills as
well as ideas for healthy living.
A few of the adult child interaction
programs that we were able to provide
included Arizona Science on Wheels with
the Arizona Science Center as well as
some programs we share with the
Scottsdale Public Library.
Some of the in-house programs include
our crafty story time, music and
movement, once upon a quento, which is a
bilingual story time, and welcome to our
Scottsdale neighborhood, where we show
our families um various places that they
can take their children and enjoy in the
neighborhood. Our newest program, the
Little Reader Book Club, was created
using a generous private donation in
hopes of supporting early literacy in
South Scottsdale. This fun, interactive
book club includes seven weeks of
programming with six hardback books that
children can enjoy and add to their home
library.
Our parent support group, Cafacito,
helps build community. Parents work
together to share in activities such as
cooking, crocheting, couponing,
scrapbooking, and soon to be jewelry
making.
As part of our outreach efforts, we also
have participated in many fun family
events. Our families have joined us on
field trips at McCormack, Stillman, and
Pyute Parks, as well as met Smokeoky the
Bear, Scottsdale Fire Department, Crisis
Kines, and local authors.
Next slide. As we move forward, we are
looking to build new partnerships and
create new opportunities. We are working
on two parent surveys. One which gives
us experience feedback, another on
protective factors that are supported
through attendance to at our F FRC.
We are also looking to collaborate with
Wolf Trap in providing artistrun
programs as well as implementing
creative movement which um is partially
supported through partners for Pyute.
Finally, we are looking to connect with
CompuD, an an organization that provides
refurbished laptops, support, and
internet to families in need, as well as
um writing a grant application to the
Scottsdale Leadership Project, Lead It
Forward, in hopes of creating an outdoor
play area for our children. We have so
much to look forward to, and thank you.
I I'm so pleased that the city continues
to support uh the family resource center
and thank you for the great work that
you and your team do there. Um I want to
turn it over to the group. Um I I one of
the one of the comments on one of your
slides was facilitating economic support
and is that done through
um well let me just ask h how do you how
do you support the people economically?
So, some of the needs that we're able to
support them with with our emergency
pantry, but we also have a a list of
partners that we work with that we can
refer our families to as well as at
Pyute, we have our case workers that if
they need further assistance that we're
not able to provide, we can help them
with that.
Okay. Very good. Yeah.
And we also have a whole network of
family resource centers that are
throughout our entire state that we also
collaborate with as well.
Thank you, Tracy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciated that
presentation. Always do. It's great to
see you and the wonderful things that
happen at the Family Resource Center.
I'm I'm curious. I need a little more uh
clarity regarding your funding. You
mentioned First Things First. Is is that
um 100% of your operating funding? I
mean, can you give me an idea? And then
what is the city of Scottsdale bringing
to this program? Um I'm assuming your
space and your beautiful facility, but
please um elaborate.
Yes. So, Chair Larry and members of the
commission, um we are on a four-year
grant cycle. We're on our second
four-year grant cycle with First Things
First. The first one was actually five
years because of COVID and it's 250,000
a year um renewable each year. That that
provides all the funding for the family
resource center other than inind funding
and the facilities and the
infrastructure that we use as well as um
you know the support from the city of
Scottsdale like servicing our computers
and things like that.
Thank you. Y
Jeff,
yes,
thank you for the presentation. Very
well done. Uh, a couple questions. Uh,
just a point of clarification. Um, when
you looked at parent workshops and my
plate with the University of Arizona
Cooperative Extension, did I hear you
right that they have lost their funding?
Yes. Um, in around July, they were not
no longer going to be able to service
our zip code. We were not in the zip
code that they were going to be
servicing. Um they I just received an
email that they um learned that they
were losing all of their funding and so
their program will be no longer.
Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that. Uh in
terms of the materials that you
distribute like diapers and those
materials, uh how has inflation impacted
you? Are you struggling to buy as much
as you could prior?
Um, so all of those um things have
affected families. Families um it's a
lot more expensive to be purchasing
those items and especially with um the
cost of living. But for us, we have had
many generous donations and we haven't
had to purchase any of those items as of
yet.
Do you do diaper drives and those types
of things? Yes.
Yes. So, um the the church just did a
diaper drive for us. The library has
done a diaper drive for us. Um National
Charity League has done a diaper drive
for us. We have just um members of the
community that ask how they can donate
and so we've had we've had very generous
donations.
Okay. Thank you very much,
Tracy. Thank you for wonderful
presentation. Uh I have a question on
your slide number three, the referrals
to services. Could you just draw the
distinction to for me of duplicated
versus unduplicated services?
Yes. So, um we treat we keep very uh
close records. First things first
because they're grant funding us. They
expect that we're doing what they've
asked. So, um quarterly we report to
them and and so they ask certain
numbers. Duplicated um would be the
number. It could be the same family that
gets receives another service. Um
unduplicated will be just how many
families without receiving services more
than one time.
Great. Thank you so much.
Uh
Commissioner Kulie.
Yes.
From the
Do you have any do you have any
questions?
I do. I do.
Okay. because we can't can't see your
hand or your face. There you are.
I see there. Here I am. Hi Tracy. Thank
you. Great uh great report. Loved
hearing it. Um very excited about the
Once Upon a Bilingual reading program. I
think that's excellent. Um did I
understand you to say that your
certified car seat installer also
installs used car seats?
Yes. So sometimes we have families that
come in and they already have a car
seat. They don't need a car seat, but
they want to make sure it's installed
properly. We get a lot of grandparents
that need help with their car seats.
They don't want their grandchild in the
car seat. That's not
Is there is there is there any liability
for installing a used car seat on the F
FRC?
So the um the car seat tech is looks at
the expiration date of the car seat,
asks the specific questions, and we work
with the Scottsdale Fire Department and
use their recommendations. So we work
together with them on that process.
Very good. I didn't know if it was like
bicycle helmets, you know, if one's
dropped, it's compromised. I don't know
how that applies to car seats, but
that's great that you're working with
the uh Scottsdale Fire Department. Thank
you so very much.
Yes. And if we do see a car seat that is
compromised or that the tech thinks is
compromised, we can provide them one or
if they're not a Scottsdale resident, we
know um other places that they can
receive one if um it's in a different
city.
Very good. Thank you.
Uh, great questions and and Tracy, thank
you again for the great work that you
and your team do there at the Family
Resource Center.
Thank you.
And and thank you for being here.
Oh, thank you.
Uh Chad, I believe you are up to update
us about ten tenantbased
rental assistance, TBR.
presentation will also be with Jennifer
Murphy,
human services operations supervisor,
chair Lori, members of the commission,
uh obviously my name is Chad Booker and
I'll be presenting on our tenantbased
rental assistance program. Approximately
about three and a half years ago, we uh
started thinking about this and
officially launched in November of 2024.
Next slide, please.
Oh, I can do this.
So the objective of the program is to
provide tenant-based rental assistance
and case management services to seniors
who are at or below 30% of AMI average
medium income for Maricopa County and
the rent and their rent burden is more
than 50% of their income. So if they're
below 30% and they're paying more than
50% of their income to their monthly
rent, that would qualify them. Obviously
they would have to be seniors as well.
Current home income limit for a
oneperson household at 30% is $23,600.
So approximately $2,000 a month. Most of
our clients are well below the 30% and
are well above the 50% rent burden.
A quick history of the program. So the
home funds that we received were
approved our first round in September of
2023 by city council. We had our first
senior approved and leased up in
November of 2023.
In July of 2024, as of July of 2024,
seven months into it, we had seven
seniors receiving assistance. And
currently, we have 13 seniors receiving
assistance. Uh, one
lease with wet ink on it right now. She
just signed. and then two additional
that are either approved and looking for
a unit or are going through the appro
they've been approved but haven't got
all the way through to where they're
looking for a unit.
Max participation for the program is 15
clients at a time based on the budget
and our two-year participation
threshold. So with TBR funds you are
allowed to the the maximum you can stay
in a unit or receive assistance is two
years. Uh the original goal of the
program was to bridge our clients into H
the housing choice voucher program.
Recently we have received guidance from
HUD that potentially we will no longer
be able to do that um based on
a lot of different things. Uh so uh we
have kind of moved the program around
and we're preparing our residents to
when they are off the program they can
be self-sufficient.
Uh just an example of our rent and
subsidies, what the city or what the
program is paying, what our tenants are
paying. So average monthly income for
our tenants is $1,177.
Average rent portion they pay is $257.
Average subsidy with the uh program is
paying about $1,200 for total rent right
around $1,600.
So for June of 2025 with our total rents
paid for our 12 clients, we paid
approximately
$15,000 in that month for 12 clients. If
we push that up to 15 clients, which is
our goal, the maximum number per month,
that would go up to approximately
$18,500
per month. You stretch that out for a
year, that's $222,000
per year to run the program. Um, we're
funded
with the two fiscal years so far, uh,
with another pending here in September
to where we could, uh, potentially move
that program and keep going for many
years. and also future years if if
funding accepts it. So, it's a little
tricky to get the the full range of the
budget and how far we go because we are
doing it's a two-year program. They get
reertified every year within the
program. So, their rents, their
subsidies are always going up and down.
Also, depending on where they're living
in the city, their rent could be higher
or lower. So, um, it is a tricky matrix
to try and figure out what that magic
number of clients we can keep at the
same time and also keep everyone's
housed and their rent paid throughout
the two-year term.
So, another uh key component of our TBR
program is case management. All of our
clients are required to meet with uh
human services case workers quarterly.
I can tell you right now they meet with
them a lot more than quarterly, probably
weekly or daily. Uh they provide
support, case management, and financial
stability and counseling to ensure the
seniors remain stably housed when the
tea rental assistance ends. As of August
1st, 2025,
our human service case workers have
provided 295 hours of case management
services to our clients.
Now, this is potential clients. Um,
these are follow-up client. They're they
talk to them through the whole
eligibility process. They help them get
all their documents together. Uh,
Jennifer is going to go in a a lot more
detail for this, but without the senior
savers, case workers, there's no
program. So, this is an inter
human service center program. We have
people from the housing community
assistance office both in the housing
choice voucher program and in the CDBG
program working on this and then we also
have our case workers from granite reef
and via Linda working together for this
one program.
I'll now turn it over to Jennifer Murphy
to go in more depth about the uh case
management services offered.
Thank you Chad. Um, good evening, Chair
Lori and members of the commission.
Tonight, I'll share with you a little
bit more about the case management
services that my staff do for the TBR
participants. And I'd like to share a
few success stories we've seen with the
TBR program.
Case management services have proven
vital to the success of the clients
participating in the TBR program. These
services go far beyond simply helping
someone pay rent. They provide
structure, guidance, support that
empower individuals to achieve long
long-term housing stability and personal
growth.
Case management is the backbone of the
TBRA program, ensuring that clients not
only secure housing, but maintain it and
thrive within it. Here's why it's
indispensable.
My case workers assess each client's
unique needs, challenges, and goals.
They develop individualized service
plans that guide clients towards
stability and self-sufficiency.
They help clients navigate lease
agreements, communicate with landlords,
and resolve housing related issues. They
monitor housing conditions and intervene
early to prevent evictions and
disruptions.
They assist with budgeting, managing
rent payments, and assessing benefits
like social security, disability income,
SNAP benefits.
They also link clients to health care,
mental health services, food assistance,
transportation, and legal aid. and they
ensure clients are aware of and can
utilize the community resources that
support their well-being.
They also provide consistent,
compassionate point of contact during
times of crisis or transition.
They help clients to rebuild confidence,
set goals, and foster healthy
relationships.
Case workers track progress and adjust
plans as needed, promoting
independence.
Chad shared in a previous slide that the
TBRA program requires quarterly visits
by the case workers. Um, he is correct.
They visit them an awful lot more than
that. To ensure the success, my case
workers meet with them in their homes at
least once a month and often many times
by phone every month.
So that has been um
a positive. Now I'd like to share with
you a few of the success stories.
Behind every name in the TBR program is
a story of courage, transformation, and
hope. Whether it's escaping
homelessness, overcoming financial
hardship, or rebuilding after trauma,
each participant has made meaningful
strides towards stability and
independence.
Well, what does success look like? Well,
for some, it's the first time in years
that they've had a safe place to sleep.
For others, it's the ability to pay
their bills without fear, care for loved
ones, or pursue employment to help pay
their bills. And for many, it's simply
the dignity of living in a place they
can call their own.
These victories, big and small, are the
heartbeat of the Tever program. So, I'd
like to share a couple of success
stories. The first one
is Helen, not her real name.
She's a 72-year-old woman from
Scottsdale who was facing a devastating
turn in her life when a crippling
disability severely impacted her health.
As her condition worsened, she found
herself unable to manage her bills,
ultimately losing her apartment and her
independence.
With no family to turn to, Helen was
forced to rely on the kindness of a
friend. And she was sleeping on their
couch just to stay off the streets.
Despite these overwhelming challenges,
Helen's resilience never wavered. When
she was introduced to this program, it
became her lifeline,
offering not just shelter, but dignity,
stability, and the tools to reclaim her
autonomy.
Through access to housing, health care
support, and financial guidance, Helen
has transitioned from crisis to self
sustainability.
This program didn't just give Helen a
roof over her head. It gave her hope,
purpose, and the ability to live with
pride and independence once again.
Another story I'd like to highlight
tonight is about John.
John is an 83-year-old grandfather who
found himself in a deeply painful
situation.
He was living with his daughter, her two
young children, and the daughter's
abusive boyfriend.
As a father, John could no longer bear
to witness the emotional harm and
encouraged his daughter to leave the
abusive situation.
When she chose to stay, she eventually
moved out, leaving Jon behind to
shoulder the full burden of the
apartment.
Living on a fixed income from social
security, Jon struggled to make ends
meet. The rent far exceeded what he
could afford and he faced losing his
apartment. But thanks to the support of
this program, John found stability. He
now lives independently, is able to pay
his bill, and has regained control over
his life. More than that, John has
become a steady and loving presence for
his grandchildren. He does help care for
them and provides the nurturing
environment every child deserves.
And then recently, we got a thank you
card in the mail from yet a third
person, and I'd like to read that to
you. It says, "I'm so thankful for this
opportunity to be a part of this housing
program. I was not able to afford an
apartment and this allows me to.
Otherwise, I would be on the streets and
most likely in great danger." And then
very coincidentally today, Usha brought
me another card we got and this says,
"Usha,
you are a beacon of light. I am so
blessed to have met you at VIA Linda.
You help me get into the TBR program
which is a godsend. I am able to save
money each and every month. I am in
Scottdale and I feel very safe. I get to
hear birds chirping,
see wildlife, and most of all the most
beautiful sunsets.
Almost forgot the mountains right across
from my apartment. I will always
remember your kindness. Thank you.
How do I change this Chad?
Okay.
Our caseworkers support and advocacy
have been the heart of this program and
central to its success. And before we go
to questions, I would like to
acknowledge I have two of my superheroes
here this evening. Usha Ramachandran and
Joanna Michelac who do the most of the
case work with the TER clients and they
do a phenomenal job.
Uh Jennifer and Chad, thank you very
much for the presentation
and uh I concur. The case workers,
the work that you do with with the
public, with the residents of the of our
community are exceptional. So, thank you
so much for the work that you do. Um
my concern and I I'm going to open it up
for for comments and questions in a
moment. Chad, I think I heard you say,
and I I don't want to I want to make
sure I get this right. It's a two-year
program. At the end of that two years,
the hope was that they would tr roll
into a housing choice voucher.
Uh but that is no longer the case. So,
am I to understand at the end of the two
years they're just cut loose with no
funding?
Chair Lori, members of the commission.
So around April, we received a guidance
and a PHA notice uh in regards to the
emergency
EHV
emergency housing voucher, which uh uh
basically was trying to do the same
thing as uh we were with our TBER
program that you could not bridge them
over based on the uh the two-year
increment of the the funding source and
the intent of the program. And so we are
still seeking guidance from HUD on that
because it it 100% is not been confirmed
but we are as we move forward we are
moving forward as if it is so we could
prepare our residents or our clients to
to have sustainable living after that
with um weight lists opening up around
the valley or in other states and
working on saving money and getting
everything the case management has been
doing just ramped up a little bit more
to to ensure that that that there is
some somewhere to go after the the two
years.
Yeah. I I'm I'm concerned that they
could get to the end of that two years
and have no source of income if they're
relying solely, for example, on social
security income to afford their rent. Um
what happens to them at the end of that
two-year period? Uh so I would
appreciate if if we could bring an
update back to this uh commission when
we know more. And with that, let me open
it up for other comments. Or did did I
take your thunder?
I think Mr. Chair, you probably took all
of our thunder on that one. I think I
think we were all trying to figure out
how the math worked with $1,200 a
average monthly income almost the $1,600
average rent and and the goal of
self-sufficiencies. Something's not
right with that equation.
Chill,
thank you. I have one easy question. I
think you referenced the 295 hours of
case management services that have been
provided as of August 1st. That's for
what period of time?
Chair Lori, Commissioner Row, the I
reserve the commission. The that is from
approximately
October of 2023, maybe a little bit
sooner than that.
Thank you.
Um I'm looking up at the ceiling to see
if there are questions from Commissioner
Kulie.
I I did have one, but I think I think
it's been answered. I was going to ask
how many case workers we had to uh
provide those 295 hours, but that's not
going to be probably a fair question
since it's from October of 23. So, uh
other than that, appreciate the uh
appreciate the news, the update, and and
wish we had better uh
better forecast, but thank you
nonetheless.
Hi, thank you both so much. I really
appreciate what you're doing. And I I
have a question. This might be because
I'm new, but my question is in some
cases you mentioned that people were
staying in their own place and you were
helping fund those locations and other
times you said we needed to find
apartments for people who didn't have
them. So where do you go about finding
these locations for the people that are
in this program?
Chair Lori, Commissioner Hill, members
of the commission. Uh, fortunately for
us, our office within our office is our
housing choice voucher program, which is
very similar. So, we offer uh courtesy
property listing, which um we post on
websites throughout city where landlords
can go in and post information when
units come available. Uh we recently
went through our landlord engagement
program initiatives where we heavily
recruited landlords to accept our
vouchers for these type of programs. Uh
we continue to meet with the landlord
advisory board semianually and we also
have a landlord events semianually for
uh just retainage and also recruitment
of new landlords to try and get on our
programs to to accept these vouchers.
Okay. Uh Chad Jennifer, thank you very
much. Thank you for being here and thank
you for the presentation. If I if I may,
one more comment. Members of the
commission,
uh I would like to recognize another
person that works in our tre. His name
is Carlo Ruskone and he works with the
clients after they become approved and
uh gets them eligible and helps them
with the leases and getting their half
contracts and everything else. So,
thank you.
All right, moving forward. The third
item on our agenda is u a presentation
by Mary Wikovsky and Sue O. Um, and I
will confess I asked for this to be
agendaized because I I read the email
update from the uh Maricopa Association
governments about continuum of care and
I was confused. Um, so I thought we
could all benefit from some education
around what continuum of care is.
Thank you. Um, Chair Lori, Vice Chair
Jang, members of the commission. My name
is Sue O. I'm a human service manager. I
will try my best to, um, explain, um,
and make you less confused about the
continuum of care. Um, and I will be
getting help from our interim director,
Mary Wikovsky. um half of the
presentation through. So um first I do
want to start off with um what Maroba
Regional Continuum of Care is. So um
basically it's a communitywide
initiative led by the Maricopa
Association of Governments to end
homelessness across the region. They
coordinate with 30 homeless assistance
programs across 11 agencies including lo
local governments like us, nonprofits
and other service providers.
They mainly use data from the point in
time count and the homeless management
information system HMIS to guide
decisions.
So how we collaborate with the continuum
of care? Um we get a lot of shared data
and resources from the Maricopa County
uh continuum of care. Scottsdale
contributes and um benefits from
regional data collection and analysis
joint initiatives. We um
partner with them with uh for programs
like the moving on program initiative um
to help individuals transition from
supportive housing to permanent housing
often in collaboration with Scottsdale
public housing authority
and of course regional planning.
Scottsdale staff um attend meetings. We
have local we have monthly local
jurisdictional meetings and um they we
gather to share um a lot of what's going
on um what's needed um what we're seeing
what our um current needs are and how we
can help each other throughout the city
um and Maricopa County and um we all
have an input in those those type of
meetings and um that shapes the COC
policies and funding priorities. So, we
don't directly receive any um funding
directly from the COC and we don't apply
for um and we don't plan to apply for
the NOA that's coming up and I will kind
of go into that as well. Um but the
Maricopa County Continuum of Care does
that on behalf of the city of Scottsdale
and other jurisdictions.
So I think this is um where chair Lori
you had read some updates from Maricopa
Association of Governments and I do um
apologize there isn't a lot of um
detailed information yet about some of
these things but I will give you
information on what we know so far. So,
P R W A um there is a reinterpretation
that does affect um some of the pro
homeless programs in Maricopa County. Um
so, that reinterpretation
um started in July of this year, 2025.
So several federal agencies announced
significant policy changes regarding how
the term federal public benefit is
interpreted under the personal
responsibility and work opportunity
reconciliation act of 1996. So as a
result of that reinterpretation
um the term federal public benefit
they're going to list out several
programs that is going to affect this.
So basically um they're saying that um
immigration status checks may be
required for individuals accessing
accessing shelters um and other federal
public benefits. So this um does not
affect our homeless programs in the city
of Scottsdale. We don't have any
shelters that use federal funding for um
homeless programs. So we will not have
to change any of our um programs in
terms of accepting um people and intake
process or helping them through out um
case management for homeless programs.
Um, we did get direction from our legal
department for the city of Scottsdale
after the Prop 314 came out and um, they
guided us to um, use the SAVE program
for any other public benefit that um, we
are using federal funding for and we do
run um, documents that um, we have to
verify immigration status and we are
doing that.
All right. And then so the fiscal year
2025 no update. Um there is a recent uh
another recent update on that. Um HUD
did announce that um they do have
intention to release this year's 2025
NOFO uh for the continuum of care
programs. Um again we as the city of
Scottsdale do not intend to apply for
the uh the NOFO on our own. Um, but I do
plan to attend the meeting that MAG will
be hosting tomorrow um for a community
input session. So, uh, the city of
Scottsdale Human Services does want um
we want to have the input that
if we if we do apply as the continuum of
care, we would like the funding to go
for transitional housing and outreach
throughout the valley.
Sue, if I may interrupt, uh, could you
spell out NOFO? Yes. Um the NOFO is
notice of funding opportunity.
N O FO.
Okay.
And um Mary's going to help me with the
SB Road to Housing Act of 2025. Mary,
good evening. Commissioners, Chair Lori.
Um, next slide, please.
I'm going to do my best um to try to
explain a little bit about um these
three funding appropriations that are
listed up on the board and part of the
updates that came from the Maricopa
Association of Governments. The first
one um you're going to hear the
terminology called road. Um it is a new
initiative. It's renewing opportunity in
the American dream. Um, and this was
passed by the Senate on July 29th of
2025. So, just recently before the
Senate went and the Senate and the House
went on break. So, this is the first um
legislative bill that has been
introduced in over a decade. Um, and
before I I start to talk a little bit
about this bill, I thought I'd take a
step backwards um because we all know
and explain the difference between um
appropriations and reconciliation. Um,
so we all know that the one big
beautiful bill was passed. Um, and that
is consider considered a reconciliation
in and in context I like to think of it
is like the president's wish list. Um,
and this is what and he has a proposals
in it to make that bill reconcile much
like much like we take our checkbooks
and balance the checkbook. So he's
balancing the federal budget by
reconciling it and saying these are the
areas I think you should cut. And so so
often like in the city council meetings
or when we're doing the budget
appropriations here, we as departments
give our wish list to city leadership.
City leadership then go through and then
guide us based on what's available with
revenues and things like that. Um and
that is part of what what we could refer
to now as appropriation. So the one big
beautiful bill isn't a reconciliation on
how to make it happen or a wish list
just like staff gives their wish lists
to the departments. Then city leadership
and city council become what we can
refer to as the Senate and the House.
The Senate and the House then make
appropriations based on the wish list of
items. And so while the one big
beautiful bill is passed, there's
certain items that are part of that one
big beautiful bill, such as the changes
in Medicare that won't take impact until
2028, some of the SNAP um language, and
then the um increase um for low-income
housing tax credits. those are
specifically called out in that
reconciliation. Everything else um that
was part of that reconciliation is just
a recommendation from the president. So
those have to now go before the Senate
and the House and they have to make
those appropriations. So it's starting
at ground zero over. So that's not an
automatic
um I know a lot of recommendations were
made in terms of cuts to housing and
urban development um cuts to community
social services block grant or the CAP
program. cuts to lie heap and other
items like that. So we have to remember
the difference um as we start these
discussions between reconciliation which
is the one big beautiful bill and
appropriations which are made by Senate
and the House or staff wish list versus
city council and leadership telling us
what we can and cannot do based on
revenues that the city has. I hope that
makes sense. That's the easiest way I
can explain the difference between the
two. Um so renewing opportunity
and I am new to this today so um it's a
new bill so I will do my best um but
like I said it was passed on July 29th
of 2025
um it is looking at and it is one of the
most bipartisan proposals uh make the
with right now across the nation there
are 39 move to work um public housing
agencies which mean that there are work
requirements associated with the housing
choice voucher and only certain housing
agencies across the nation are
designated as this move to work with the
road bill. Um it expands that network by
25. So the road bill could impact
Scottsdale housing agency because you
get designated as a move to work agency
by housing and urban development. Um in
addition um it lifts the unit and sunset
date for something called RAD, rental
assistance demonstration project. Um,
and that's where we hear the terms, have
you heard the term fair cloth limit
previously? Um, it may have come up um
through council discussions, but public
housing agencies with the exception of
Scottsdale, I'm sure others, we don't
own public housing in the sense of the
projects or um house or apartment
complexes, that's considered public
housing. And while we do own a 8-unit
facility, that is actually funded by
CDBG. is not considered public housing.
Um, and as public housing, a lot of it
is older. So, HUD created the rental
assistance demonstration program to help
us replace those old housing units. And
so, people are converting and they have
to they can't increase their fair cloth
limit or the number of public housing
units. They just have to convert them to
RAD.
And I don't know if I explained that
well, but I know you'll ask questions.
um and then implement and evaluate a
multi-year demonstration for an opt- out
approach to the FSS program. And that
one I'm going to have to do a little bit
more research to be able to explain um
exactly what that means. Um but
basically it's a wide range of
provisions to boost the supply of
affordable housing, improve financial
literacy, and streamline the housing
development process. The key components
of the act include reforms to housing
counseling and financial literacy, the
rental assistance demonstration program,
increasing housing in opportunity zones
which allows HUD to prioritize the
applicants in designated opportunity
zones for competitive grants. Um it
increases um housing supply framework
which directs HUD to publish guidelines
for state and local zoning and land use
policies. Um, it establishes a pilot
program for grants and forgivable loans
for essential home repairs and health
hazard mitigations. It requires building
more housing near transit and unlocking
the housing supply through streamline
and modernization.
Um, with that one, I will move on to
education for homeless children and
youth.
And this one is specifically in
relationship to the McKenna Vento Act.
Um, and like I talked about before, the
reconciliation bill called for this
elimination, but the appropriations or
the Senate is diverting from that and
actually making a recommendation. And
let me pull out the dollar amount that
they're making this recommendation for.
Um, this Senate bill includes $129
million matching the current levels. So,
it's actually increasing funding for the
McKenna Vento, which is our homeless
students, which lack a stable um
nighttime resident. It doesn't
necessarily mean that they're on the
streets. Um they could be on the
streets, they could be in a shelter,
they could be in a domestic violence
shelter. Um or they could be doubling up
with other families.
Um and then the last one everybody I'm
sure you guys are familiar with are
thud, transportation, housing, and urban
development. Um and while the
reconciliation bill did did call for um
housing choice voucher to be made into a
state block grant um as well as with
McKenna Vento and the thud bill
currently diverges diverts away from
that. Um they are still looking
according to the Senate. I can tell you
the the dollar amounts um based on their
appropriations in July of 26 or 25, my
apologies. Um
looking at um 4.1 billion for homeless
assistance, 3.3 billion for CDBG. Um the
House is recommending removing home.
However, the Senate is recommending 1.2
two billion um in home investment
partnership funds.
So while there are some reductions um
and there are some challenges ahead of
us um all hope is not lost.
That concludes this presentation and I
will try to answer any questions related
to those three acts.
Thank you Mary and Sue with trying to
digest some very complicated
materials. U with that looking around
questions, comments.
Jeff,
very good presentation. Thank you, Mary
and Sue. Um I particularly appreciated
the um explanation between a
reconciliation and appropriation which
based on what you're saying about road
eh cy and thud gives me a touch of hope
uh based on the reconciliation act. So
that's great. Appreciate it.
Um let's let's get commissioner ky. Oh
yes, you
shall I remember him. Thank you very
much. Thanks another great episode of
the Mary and Sue show. I also wanted to
give a shout out to Sue and Eddie Dazzo
for coming down for the Tucson Puma
collaboration to end homelessness
general council meeting. They drove two
hours down, stayed two hours and drove
back. That's quite the turnaround.
Hopefully got something out of it. There
was a couple of uh topics referring to
the continuum of care. Um I made a bunch
of notes. We got a few shots of some
slides. So hopefully that'll be
something that we can uh take into
consideration. There were 30 plus
agencies there today. So hopefully we
can we can pull something out of that.
No, no other uh comments. Do appreciate
the uh the backgrounder. Uh Mary, thanks
so much as always.
Oh sh Thank you. Wonderful presentation
both of you. Really chalk full of
information. So I'll have to digest it
um at length. I would just like a little
clarification on the acronym P R W A. I
got personal responsibility work
opportunity and then I fell off the
ledge.
I don't have it memorized. Chair Lori,
members of the commission, um I do have
it written down here. Um it is
personal responsibility and work
opportunity reconciliation act of 1996.
Great. Thank you so much. And I have to
um echo the comment about a fabulous
analogy between the reconciliation and
the appropriations. It was really
beautifully done.
I I concur with my fellow commissioners.
You you all are doing a great job. um
trying to clarify a lot of complicated
um moving parts at this point in time.
Um the um question that I had relates to
the timing of the federal budget
process. I know um and and thank you on
the appropriation reconciliation
distinction. So, the president has
proposed, his budget is out for all of
us to see for his fiscal year 2026
beginning October 1st of this year. um
the elimination of CDBG funding and the
collapsing of all of the public housing
programs into one
sort of state block grant program as
Mary referenced
um with a 43%
funding reduction for all those programs
including in those programs are our
housing choice voucher program which we
know we have around 550 50 households in
our community taking advantage of right
now. So, um, when do we anticipate that
Congress
will review and appropriate funds for
the 2026 budget? When when will all of
these moving parts actually become a
reality?
Um, I'm assuming over the next three
months.
Chair Luri, members of the commission, I
know the House and Senate are on summer
break. I believe they come back in
September. Um the goal, their their
ideal goal um is that the budget will be
appropriated by September 30th to take
effect October 1st. Um if that does not
take place, there are two options that
can occur. Um both of which you guys are
familiar with. Number one, a continuing
resolution to stay at the same funding
level. Um, I will tell you that the
housing choice voucher program is funded
on a calendar year. So, currently we are
funded through December of 2024. CDBG is
funded from July 1st to June 30th. They
are funded based on our fiscal year. So,
we are fully funded through June 30th of
next year. Um, the other option if they
cannot make a determination in addition
with the appropriations is to do a
government shutdown. Um and both of
those impacts our office um because we
cannot seek reimbursement. It will
impact the CAP office and other offices.
So um we're standing strong until we are
provided more information and we are a
little bit in the dark as to until they
come back from summer break what's going
to happen.
Thank you very much and please continue
to keep us um informed as more details
materialize. Thank you so much.
Um yeah, we'll we will I concur. We'll
wait for further guidance and further
updates and hope for the best when
Congress reconvenes in September. Um,
just for a point of clarification,
the
money that the CAP office uses for rent
and utility assistance, does that flow
through the continuum of care?
Chair Lori, members of the commission.
Um, no, it doesn't flow through the
continuum of care. It does come from
Maricopa County.
So they're direct county funds, not uh
like a block grant that comes to the
county through the federal government.
So um Maroba County does apply for
several different funding sources and we
do use um CSBG, TANNIF, things like
that. There's several different funding
sources that we do get from Maricopa
County and they apply for those funds.
Okay. Thank you for the clarification.
That brings us up to Oh,
yeah.
One more item if I may, Mary or Sue. Um,
this is very complex stuff. Um, and I
was wondering if you could supply us
with some talking points as I want to
reach out to our elected representatives
about the appropriations process and
where does all this fall under. So if I
write a, you know, dear Senator X, I
want you to support what, you know, what
element of the um reconciliation bill,
what department, you know, um it's very
vague.
Chair Lori, members of the commission, I
will probably have to seek direction on
that from our govern government um
affairs department on a specific things
that you could say. Um I'm not able to
give political
No, I'm not asking for those specific
things. I think it's important um as we
advocate and as you advocate um for um
human services to focus on the acronym
thud
um which is transportation, housing and
urban development. Um, so when you're
reaching out, you definitely want to see
the appropriations that Senate is
putting forward. While they are
reductions, um, they are not as severe
as listed in the reconciliation. Um,
CSBG is another talking point that you
could bring up. Um, that is something
that impacts um, the the CAP office. um
lie heap. Although I do believe and I
and don't quote me on this, I'm going to
have to look because the one big
beautiful bill that passed um I'll have
to do a word search um to see if lie
heap is specifically called out in the
bill that was passed. If it's
specifically called out, then it's
decided. If it's not specifically called
out in the in that one big beautiful
bill, then it's in appropriations.
So, when you when you Google the one big
beautiful bill and you do the word
search, um you'll find things like
Medicare. So, that's already been
decided. You'll find things like um I
don't know if SNAP's in there. I just
know Medicare is in there. I know if you
Google the word housing LITC is going to
show up. Um so,
that's where I would suggest starting.
Um I would I would definitely look at
the one big beautiful bill and do some
word searching in there. um regarding
some of our programs like CSBG, LIHE,
PEF, um SNAP, Medicare, Medicaid,
and Housing and Urban Development.
That that that's great guidance. Thank
you, Mary.
Thank you, Mary. Thank you, Sue. Uh so,
we're close to the end. This is a point
to identify future agenda items that
anyone wants to raise. Uh I will say
that
uh based on our our schedule the August
28th meeting we will oh by the way we
will be at the community design studio
and not here at the KA will have a
director's report and currently funded
application presentations
accomplishments fiscal year 2425.
Um
uh something I have reached out to Mary
about not for the August 28th meeting
but for a future meeting is I think many
of you have probably seen the executive
order out of the White House about
homelessness
and and uh I'd like us at some point to
address how that impacts
um the city response regarding
homelessness.
Um
and uh the only other thing on my mind
was the
um the funding process orientation. I
believe that's scheduled for September
18th.
Chair Luri, members of the commission.
Yes. September 18th.
Okay. So I will have uh we're
about 10 to 13 days to from releasing
our NOA and um with that NOA we'll
include the uh link to the live teams
application. So that will be sent out to
all of you as well as an invitation to
join us. Um I will also uh solicit some
of you to uh potentially uh speak during
the application orientation as well.
Very good. Okay. Thank you. Uh any other
agenda items anyone wants to raise for
future meetings?
Okay. So with Lee Commissioner Kulie
can't see you.
I'm here. I have no no future agenda
items at this time. Okay. So, with that,
could I get a motion to adjurnn?
So, moved.
So moved.
Second.
All right. And a roll call.
Chair Lurie.
Yes.
Vice Chair Jung.
Yes.
Commissioner Jameson.
Yes.
Commissioner Shear.
Yes.
Commissioner Culie,
yes.
Commissioner Hill,
yes.
Commissioner Row,
yes.
All right, we are adjourned. Stay cool,
everybody.