Shelter and Services Program (SSP) FY2024 Funding

On April 12, 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the availability of FY2024 Shelter and Services Program (SSP) grant funding. The SSP funds nonfederal entities providing food, shelter, transportation, and supportive services to noncitizen migrants released from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody.

Authority, Funding, and Allowable Activities

The DHS Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-47, Div. C, Title II) directed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to transfer $650 million of its FY2024 appropriation to FEMA for the SSP. The funding is

to support sheltering and related activities provided by non-Federal entities, in support of relieving overcrowding in [CBP] short-term holding facilities.

In FY2024, funding for the SSP is separated into two funding opportunities, totaling $640.9 million. The remaining $9.1 million is for FEMA's administrative costs.

The eligible activities and services that applicants, including local or state governments, Indian tribes, or nonprofit organizations, may receive SSP funding for must be provided for noncitizen migrants following their release from DHS, and must fall into one of the following categories:

• Primary Services, including
• Shelter (e.g., hotel/motel room costs, utilities, housekeeping)
• Food (e.g., food items, food banks, contracted meals, cookware, dishes and utensils)
• Transportation (e.g., from a DHS facility to a shelter, shelter to shelter, onward destination transportation)
• Acute medical care (e.g., basic first aid and supplies, health screenings, over-the-counter medication)
• Personal hygiene supplies (e.g., toiletries, diapers and wipes)
• Labor for Primary Services (e.g., staff time)
• Secondary Services, including
• Renovations or modifications to existing facilities not to exceed $250,000 (e.g., repairs, improvements to expand capacity and services, and address safety concerns; SSP funding cannot be used for costs associated with new construction or the purchase of real estate)
• Clothing (e.g., clothing, shoes, backpacks)
• Translation Services (e.g., contracts and external support)
• Outreach information (e.g., communications development and distribution, printing services)
• Labor for Secondary Services (e.g., staff time)
• Management and Administration expenses, including grant management, recordkeeping, and director/manager-level staff time (up to 5% of the award).

SSP Grant Applications

The two FY2024 funding opportunities are the SSP-Allocated (SSP-A) and SSP-Competitive (SSP-C), which have different applicant eligibility and application review and award processes, but share the same objectives and priorities, allowable activities, period of performance, etc.

SSP-A

Funding

FEMA will award $300 million in SSP-A funding to eligible nonfederal entities in two rounds:

• Round 1 made $275 million available to be distributed through allocations as of April 12, 2024 (application deadline: April 26, 2024); and
• Round 2 will make $25 million in reserve funding available before the end of FY2024 (eligible applicants and deadline TBD).

Applicant Eligibility

Only those nonfederal entities listed in the FY2024 SSP-A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) as receiving an award allocation are eligible to submit Round 1 applications. Allocations were based on CBP operational information, and release and destination data from July 1 to December 31, 2023.

Application Review and Selection

FEMA will review applications for eligibility and compliance with the funding opportunity requirements and programmatic criteria.

SSP-C

Funding

FEMA will award $340.9 million in SSP-C funding to eligible nonfederal entities in a single round through a competitive application process (application deadline: June 13, 2024).

Applicant Eligibility

Eligible applicants include

• local governments;
• Indian tribes;
• nonprofit organizations;
• state governments (including the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, "and any agency or instrumentality thereof exclusive of local governments").

Entities that were allocated SSP-A funding can also apply for SSP-C funding.

Application Review and Selection

FEMA and CBP will pre-score and rank complete applications based on weighted evaluation criteria (below). A panel of FEMA and CBP subject matter experts will conduct a Technical Review to evaluate applications for eligibility and compliance with the funding opportunity requirements and programmatic criteria. A final ranking of applications will be created and used to make funding recommendations to the DHS Secretary, who will make the final funding determinations and has discretion to consider other information.

Eligible Clients

SSP funding only covers eligible activities and services provided to noncitizen migrants released from DHS custody. Noncitizen migrants are given proof of release forms upon processing. FY2024 SSP recipients must collect and submit Alien Registration Numbers (A-Numbers), names, DHS release dates, and service dates, to FEMA to ensure SSP funds are properly used.

Period of Performance

FY2024 SSP recipients have 36 months (October 1, 2023-September 30, 2026) to complete their proposed projects.

Payment

FY2024 SSP recipients may receive payment as reimbursement or funding in advance.

Awards are expected to be announced in August/September, and funding is expected to be allocated by September 30, 2024.

SSP Program Changes from FY2023 to FY2024

The FY2024 SSP implementation makes several changes since the FY2023 implementation, including

• Providing two funding opportunities (i.e., allocations and a competitive process; the FY2023 SSP only had allocations);
• Removing the requirement that services be provided to noncitizen migrants within 45 days of their release from DHS;
• Removing the funding caps for hotel/motel service and onward destination travel (in FY2023, there was a 10% funding cap on each);
• Decreasing the charter bus/group transportation recommended capacity to a minimum average of 66% (in FY2023, the capacity was a minimum of 75%); and
• Establishing an acceptable error rate (less than 5%) for A-Number reporting.

Resources

• DHS/FEMA FY2024 SSP-A and SSP-C NOFOs
• SSP-A and SSP-C Fact Sheets
• SSP-A and SSP-C Frequently Asked Questions
• FEMA's "Shelter and Services Program" web page