HUD Announces Service Coordinator CARES Act Allocation

Posted on July 15, 2020 by Bobbie Guidry

The U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department (HUD) released a memo last week outlining plans to allocate the $10 million in Service Coordinator funding approved by the CARES Act at the end of March. The funds will support approximately 1,600 properties with grant-funded Service Coordinator programs. The agency said they plan to issue guidance for budget-funded Service Coordination and other COVID-related expenses soon.  

Grantees with an approved 2020 Service Coordinator grant extension will receive a one-time grant supplement; the amount will be directly proportionate to each grantee’s approved 2020 budget, resulting in an estimated 9% of each program operating budget. 

Properties will be required to use the supplemental funds to cover increased expenditures supporting program activities at properties impact by COVID-19 between March 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Because the CARES Act funds were enacted to prevent, prepare for, or respond to COVID-19, housing providers will have to individually respond to a HUD-prepared Notice of Award to accept the funds based on anticipated eligible cost increases during the 2020 performance year. 

Housing providers can also decline the supplemental funds if they do not anticipate increased costs due to COVID-19, or may amend the amount they accepted at a later date. In the next 30 days, HUD will issue more information about eligible costs and other required documentation. HUD does not expect CARES Act reporting requirements to be triggered by the Service Coordinator supplementals. 

While the supplement will provide much-needed relief to senior housing communities with grant-based Service Coordinators, LeadingAge has urged the agency to also allocate funds for Service Coordinators funded by property budgets. Grant-funded Service Coordinators are estimated to make up only one-third of the service coordinators in the HUD-assisted senior housing portfolio.