The National low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) launched an Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Resource Hub to facilitate resource-sharing across ERA programs. This hub includes resources from programs funded by the $25 billion Treasury ERA program appropriated by the December 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act (ERA1). In the coming weeks, the hub will include information and data regarding the $21.6 billion appropriated by the American Rescue Plan Act (ERA2). The hub offers a shared space for administrators to access tools and customizable examples to adapt ERA programs to meet new federal guidelines and will be updated regularly to respond to emerging resource needs among administrators.
The most recent Treasury guidance for emergency rental assistance programs strongly encourages programs to avoid establishing burdensome documentation requirements, requires ERA2 programs to provide direct-to-tenant assistance, and requires programs to explicitly state how they will prioritize applicants, among other notable changes. The ERA Resource Hub facilitates resource sharing across programs, particularly as administrators begin incorporating this guidance into their program design. Information for the Resource Hub was collected from state and local partners and from program webpages. The hub includes program forms, applications, procedures, reports, and other materials to serve as adaptable examples. The hub currently includes resources related to: 1) self-attestation; 2) direct-to-tenant payments; 3) prioritization of beneficiaries; 4) streamlined applications; 5) program data dashboards; 6) evaluation reports; and 7) program outreach.
Examples of resources included on the hub include self-attestation forms for applicants to attest to their income, place of residency, experiencing a COVID hardship, and experiencing housing instability. Some forms allow for self-attestation across multiple criteria. Direct-to-tenant forms from Cameron County, Texas and Elkhart County, Indiana provide examples of the kind of documentation programs are requiring when funding tenants directly. The hub also includes data dashboards from the State of Texas, San Antonio, Hawaii County, and Fulton County. These dashboards help ensure program transparency and integrity and can help administrators make mid-course program improvements. NLIHC will continually update the hub with new resources to reflect relevant trends and best practices.
In addition to the Resource Hub, NLIHC recently launched an ERA Dashboard and Program Table to monitor which programs are adhering to the new Treasury guidelines and to provide an easily searchable (mobile friendly) database for renters to use to find emergency rental assistance programs.