Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Hud rapid rehousing and emergency solutions grantsrapid re-housing (rrh) is a rental assistance program funded through the department of housing and urban development (hud). No survivor should have to choose between homelessness or staying with an abusive partner. Rrh provides a tangible solution to address the reality survivors often face. Rental assistance is short-term, usually between six and twelve months, but is flexible and highly tailored to each survivor's needs. Rrh paired with domestic violence advocacy supports survivors in obtaining and maintaining housing stability. Pcadv is the applicant and passes through funding to programs to lessen the administrative burden of utilizing this money, primarily to support rural and under-resourced programs within the pa continuums of care's balance of state. The member programs that are a part of this project offer support through the lens of the domestic violence housing first philosophy, which focuses on first getting survivors into stable housing with ongoing support as they rebuild their lives. This support is provided without any prerequisites and services are specific to the needs of each individual survivor. Pcadv continues to identify other funding streams that support the overall goal of rrh and pairs with rrh to support the range of survivors' needs that contribute to housing and financial stability. Since its launch in 2018, pcadv's rapid rehousing program has grown to appx. $20 million annually in funds to support survivor housing, providing funding to 28 programs and fiscal support to 54 counties. Since fy21, more than 1,175 households have received safe housing supports through pcadv's rrh program. Pcadv pairs hud's emergency solutions grant (esg) program with rapid rehousing to meet critical needs in emergency shelter and homelessness prevention. In 2021, pcadv was awarded $6,248,163 in through esg's covid program which supported survivors and member programs through the beginning fy24. This project supported 1730 households and 2069 clients throughout the commonwealth.

Emergency solutions grantusing a dv housing first approach, pcadv and subrecipients used esg funds to ensure that survivors experiencing a housing crisis are quickly connected to permanent housing. This grant helped survivors obtain and retain safe and stable housing through rental assistance, security deposits, case management, and other supports. When survivors cannot maintain their housing, they are highly vulnerable to return to their abusers.when emergency shelter was needed to help survivors flee violence and obtain safe and stable housing, esg funds were used to provide essential services including case management, hotel nights, childcare, transportation, supplies, and to meet other essential service and operational needs.

Pcadv administered multiple pass-through funding streams to support statewide domestic violence and prevention initiatives, including cdc delta impact for prevention work, arp and arp mobile for domestic violence services, and bureau of child support enforcement funds. Additionally, we facilitated housing-focused funding through the richard king mellon foundation and phare, expanding safe housing options for survivors.