FY25 Funding for Asylum Seekers/New Arrivals and People Experiencing Homelessness

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is administering $9,524,000 in state funding for fiscal year 2025, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to support municipalities statewide outside of Chicago in providing support services to individuals experiencing homelessness and/or receiving asylum seekers/new arrivals. SMASS FY25 will fund expenses associated with the following five eligible services: Shelter and Transitional Housing Support, Food, Wraparound Services, Legal Assistance, Health & Wellness.

This grant program is part of a joint planning effort by Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County.

Definition of “Asylum Seeker” also referred to as New Arrival

The definition of “asylum seeker” for the purposes of this funding opportunity is as follows. (This eligibility definition may differ in other contexts.)

“Asylum seeker” is defined as “an individual who crossed the Mexico/U.S. border on or after August 1, 2022, with the intent to stay permanently, and who does not possess any permanent or interim U.S. legal status (which does not include being in parole status), such as legal permanent residency, a student or work visa, etc.”

Use of Funds

All SMASS grant funds must be obligated and expended within the state of Illinois fiscal year 2025: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025.

Available funding is restricted to the following services directly supporting people experiencing homelessness and/or new arrivals:

Shelter & Transitional Housing Support:

• Safe and stable temporary housing options for asylum seekers, including emergency shelter and transitional housing. [Note—funds can be used towards shelter operating expenses and/or minor capital repairs necessary to make shelters operational]
• *Short-term rental assistance.
• Case management services to secure more permanent housing.

Food: Healthy and nutritious food options [Note—funds can be used for direct provision of food services and/or to obtain cold storage units (e.g., refrigerators) to increase availability of fresh produce and protein]

Wraparound Services: Case management services and connection to support that increase self-sufficiency, including addressing urgent client needs, non-legal immigration support and referrals, early childhood education and school enrollment, ESL and adult education, informational workshops, interpretations and translations services, transportation, and health and wellness services, etc., assistance in screening for eligibility, and applying for eligible public benefits.

Legal Assistance:

• Provide legal training, workshops, services, and/or representation.
• Services to help asylum seekers navigate the complex legal processes related to their asylum applications and other legal needs.
• Assist with the cost of applications for asylum seekers.

Health and Wellness: Access to physical, behavioral, and/or mental healthcare, and crisis services to address the trauma and stress often experienced by asylum seekers.

The lead applicant’s staff time dedicated to coordinating direct service provision to people experiencing homelessness and/or new arrivals can be considered eligible expenses and included in budget requests. These expenses are expected to be kept to the minimum amount necessary to support operations, and priority will be given to funding for direct services.

*Rental Assistance Guidance:

• Required: Funds can only be used to offset costs for rent in State fiscal year 2025.
• Required: Can only be used to directly fund rental costs (i.e., other moving-related costs like security deposits are not eligible).
• Recommended: Pair with wraparound services to enable long term housing stability (e.g., workforce development, ESL, etc.), whether funded through SMASS or through other funding.
• Recommended: Prioritize for and, if possible, limit to, those who have not previously received rental assistance.

At least 51% of the requested funding needs to be used to serve new arrivals.

Distribution of Funds

In partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is administering a grant application.