The Division administers three housing programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Section 8 Rental Assistance; Community Development Block Grant (CDBG); and HOME Investment Partnerships. All three programs are designed primarily to benefit lower income persons and households, and most of the rules governing them are set by HUD. The programs help pay families' rent, create new affordable housing, and provide needed services.
The Division also oversees the Human Services Advisory Council, which serves as the County's comprehensive human services planning entity. The staff is responsible for the development and distribution of Support Grant Applications, proposal review, fund allocations, appeals processes, quarterly reporting, vouchering and monitoring of funded programs.
For more than twenty-five years, the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders have provided funding to the County’s various social service agencies that serve our County’s most vulnerable residents: the poor, the homeless, the disabled, immigrants, and other special populations. For at the past five years, the Freeholders have allocated just over $900,000 each year in these County Freeholder Support Grants.
The County Freeholders Support Grant Process is administered by the staff of the County Office of Human Services, who utilize the membership of the Middlesex County Human Services Advisory Council (HSAC) to devise the annual application process, review the applications, and make funding recommendations to the Freeholders. After the Freeholders approve the annual County Budget, including these support grants, County staff prepare the contracts, and conduct the fiscal and programmatic monitoring.
The HSAC takes very seriously the fact that the Freeholders entrust the Council with the facilitation of these public funds. To that end, the Council uses all methods available to ensure that the process is as objective, open and transparent as possible. These support grants, which on average are no more than 10% of a program’s overall budget, are meant to supply the funded programs with the flexibility to make their programs “whole” and best serve the County’s most vulnerable.
Click here for information on the
Commission on Child Abuse and Missing Children (CCAMC)
The Middlesex County Housing Continuum of Care Committee (MCHC³) is the primary vehicle for planning and coordinating the delivery of services to the homeless and collaborating with Coming Home of Middlesex County, Inc. to implement the Middlesex County Plan to End Homelessness. MCHC³’s membership comprises mainly homeless service, providers, advocates for the homeless and low income families and individuals.
Click here for Information on NJ HMFA's New Jersey's Hardest Hit Fund.
The Veterans Services Program provides assistance, information and referrals regarding eligibility for services and service related benefits to military veterans and their families. Division staff administers the Middlesex County Veterans Housing Assistance Program as well as the Veterans' Advisory Council.
Ending Homelessness In Middlesex County
The Middlesex County Plan to End Homelessness, Coming Home of Middlesex County, and the Housing First Fund are part of a multi-pronged approach to ending homelessness in Middlesex County.
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Middlesex County Plan To End HomelessnessClick here to download the Middlesex County Plan to End Homelessness.•
Coming Home Coming Home, Inc., is the not-for-profit organization that is taking the lead on ending homelessness in Middlesex County.
•Housing First Fund
The Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders has included funds in the capital budget, totaling $1,000,000 each year, to be used as seed or leveraging funds for housing for the homeless. Specifically, the purpose of this “Housing First” Fund is to assist in the creation of permanent affordable and accessible units which implement the Middlesex County 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. This could include, but is not limited to, the construction of new housing units, the rehabilitation of existing units, the acquisition of land or existing structures for the purposed construction or rehabilitating of units to be used as permanent housing for homeless individuals and/or families.Visit Coming Home to access the procedure for applying for Housing First funds.
2020 HUD Continuum of Care Application Process & Submission The Middlesex County Continuum of Care (CoC) has started the local application process in anticipation of the US Department of Urban Development’s (HUD) release of the 2020 Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) Continuum of Care application process for homeless assistance. The application deadline is Friday, June 26th by 2PM. The Technical Review Committee of the CoC will review applications for both new and renewing projects. A Technical Assistance Workshop will be a virtual meeting held on Thursday, May 7, 2019 at 11:00AM. You can join this meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone by clicking here:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/308571061 You can also dial in using your phone: 1-872-240-3412; Access Code: 308-571-061. New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/308571061 This workshop is MANDATORY for all new applicants and all agencies in attendance will receive additional points on their application score, so all renewal applicants are also encouraged to participate. The following documents provide more detail on the application and process: