core program updates 2015

Madison County Community Development

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORE PROGRAM UPDATES 2015

BACKGROUND

The Madison County Community Development Department manages several programs which serve as the “core” functions of the office.

MCCD is the conduit for the County’s federal and state grant programs via the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Energy and various programs via administered funding with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

New this year, we have challenged each of the functional managers with responsibilities over each of their divisions to come up with new and innovative ideas, with respect to the management and delivery of their program’s services. These new programs are as follows:

Homelessness and Continuum of Care (COC): (Primary funding via US Department of Housing and Urban Development)

This year we will host a Poverty Summit that will focus on the problem of poverty in the region and to look at ways poverty can be addressed and alleviated.

We will also be pursuing a VISTA grant funded position to aid in office and program management.

This year, the COC will be looking into forming a 501 3C, to allow more flexibility and the ability to secure public and private funding.

Parks Enhancement Programs (PEP): (Primary funding via the Metro East Parks and Recreation District Sales Tax Formula)

In addition to expanding awareness and marketing of the PEP program, this division will look at developing a “PEP Project of the Year” award, focusing on successful PEP projects throughout the County.

This division will also investigate the development of an environmental services management RFP to standardize this requirement under the HUD guidelines of the CDBG component.

Weatherization and Energy Efficiency Programs: (Primary funding via the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, US Department of Energy, US Department of Health and Human Services and state administered funding via the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity

This division will investigate the development of an “in-house” furnace installation crew, eliminating the requirement of contracting that service out.

MADISON COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 2015 UPDATE

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We will also increase training and equipment needs for the crews in the field, as well as seeking out private corporate partners to help fund and supplement the program’s operation and service delivery requirements.

We will also begin integrating additional LIHEAP functions into this division that will allow for more cross training among staff and support requirements.

HOME Programs: (Primary funding via the US Department of Housing and Urban Development)

This program will look at shifting this division’s traditional focus from the larger scale housing development to small tenant based rental assisted units.

The division will also investigate the creation of emergency service grants for short term rental assistance. Trends show an increased need for short term help for housing and rental assistance (Housing Authority waiting lists are long and demand is strong) and about 10 percent of our allocation will be directed towards this new program.

We also intend to focus on owner occupied rehab for seniors, as a pilot program and will continue to mature our new single family infill housing development component and will be seeking partners in this effort.

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Programs and Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) Programs: (Primary funding via administered funds through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity)

This division intends to spearhead the development of an inter-divisional coordination point with the creation of a centralized intake system that will provide a single point of entry for services within the department.

The division will also undertake the development of a county-wide needs assessment to help map future needs for the entire county with the use of our Community Collaboration network.

LEAD Program: (Primary funding through the US Department of Health and Human Services)

This program will expand its visibility in the coming year through the development of partnerships with the County Health Department and our health care provider network. They will also take part in the centralized point of entry.

This division will expand awareness into the County’s network of early childhood centers and provide information into the library systems in the County.

The department will also update and revise its communications pieces.


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Finance and Human Resources Division: (Primary funding across all grant platforms)

This new division will continue consolidation of the financial functions and mature the department’s HR systems by coordinating training for staff on proper HR protocols and procedures.

The department will also transition the old timesheet system to an Excel based tracking and also expand the use of the “Out of Office” time manager system from the old paper based systems.

The division will also undertake the digitization of contracts and documents and help to properly manage the records of the department.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Programs: (Primary funding through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development)

This division will continue to market the benefits of the program and to develop a system to integrate CDBG projects into the County’s GIS based system using HUD’s tracking and information database.

This division will also lead the effort to integrate the tracking of Weatherization and Energy Efficiency projects throughout the County.

We will also track all of the infrastructure improvements funded via our programs.

Additional plans call for the tracking of demolitions, HOME projects and usage patterns for the LIHEAP program.

This year, we moved from paper based CDBG Consolidated Plan surveys to an automated system and combined this survey with the survey required by CSBG.

ECONOMIC OR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IMPACT

MCCD staff will continue to strive for the development of new and innovative projects and the management team will meet regularly to track progress of these new programs and strive to innovate all existing programs to maximize service delivery in light of declining budgets and needs to continually collaborate with our partners.

Frank Miles M.P.AExecutive Director


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core program updates 2015

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