Supporting Municipalities for Asylum Seeker Services Grants – Round II

$11M Available for Asylum Seekers in SMASS Round II

The sum of $11,000,000 is now available to municipalities in IL for SMASS Round II for grants and administrative expenses associated with the following five eligible services: Shelter and Transitional Housing Support, Food, Wraparound Services, Legal Assistance, Health & Wellness.

Press Release: Gov. Pritzker Announces Additional Funding to Municipalities to Support Asylum Seekers

TIMELINE

  • Request for Information Released: January 16, 2024
  • Response Deadline: On a rolling basis January 16-31, 2024 by 5 PM CST
  • Award Announcement: Between January 31, 2024 and February 15, 2024
  • Grant Term: January 16, 2024 – June 30, 2024
  • Pre-award allowable expenses can be retroactive to January 16, 2024

Definition of “Asylum Seeker”

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

The $11M will be restricted to the following services directly supporting asylum seekers

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.

Municipality staff’s time dedicated to coordinating direct service provision to asylum seekers 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.

Distribution of Funds

In partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is administering a Request for Information (RFI).

Eligibility of Applicants

Only municipal governments receiving or willing to receive asylum seekers are eligible to apply. For the purposes of SMASS funding, municipal governments are defined as any level of public government within the State of Illinois.

Lead Municipality Applicant: While grants will be made directly to lead applying municipalities, these funds may be made available to other municipalities and/or organizations (e.g., non-profit organizations, academic institutions, community health centers, etc.) that choose to apply as subgrantee partner(s) to the lead municipality.

  • Disbursement of funds to subgrantee partners will be at the discretion and responsibility of the lead municipality. Lead municipalities are not limited in the number of subgrantee partners with whom they can choose to apply.
  • In advance of the RFI submission, municipalities must notify any local “overlapping” unit of government (e.g., a county and a town within that county) to ensure that RFI responses for duplicative services are not submitted and that lead municipalities have buy-in from any other governmental bodies overseeing areas where asylum seekers will receive services.
  • If municipalities choose to apply in partnership, any municipality involved can choose to apply as the lead municipality. There will be no additional funding or administrative overhead provided for lead municipalities.

Grantees must be registered in the Illinois GATA Grantee Portal and must be GATA Pre-Qualified
Grantees must complete the FY24 ICQ (Accessed through the Grantee Portal)

 

Important Information

Grant Application: Open on a rolling basis

Submit RFI no later than 5 pm CST on January 31, 2024

RFI responses will be reviewed upon receipt and Lead Municipalities will be notified within 5 business days of submittal. The sooner municipalities respond the sooner they will be determined eligible and will have more time to work with the Caucus during Part 2 of the Evaluation Process.

SMASS II Process and Guidance

SMASS II evaluation will be a 2-part process.

Part 1
Request for Information: RFI responses will be accepted on a rolling basis through 5 pm on January 31, 2024. The brief, online RFI establishes municipal interest, eligibility, budget request, partner participation, service objectives and documentation of leadership support of respondent and respondent’s overlapping jurisdictions. Within 5 business days of receipt of the RFI, the Caucus will review and notify the municipality if it is eligible to participate in Part II of this process, and to be considered for funding.

Part 2
Proposal Completion: During Part II, the Caucus will work with eligible municipalities to refine work plans, measurable service outcomes, detailed budgets, and sub-recipient MOUs or Agreements. The Caucus will work with municipalities eligible for funding consideration during this process to complete various grant documents and ensure that terms and conditions for the grant awards can be met.

Ultimately, grant awards to eligible municipalities will be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to available funding, number of asylum seekers served, viability of proposed services and work plan, and the experience and capacity of both the Lead Municipality and its partners, if applicable, to carry out the plan.

After receipt of all RFI responses on January 31, 2024, award announcements will then be made on or before February 15, 2024. SMASS Round II funds must be spent by June 30, 2024 and can be used to reimburse eligible expenses beginning on January 16, 2024.

For more information, see the FAQ document

Information Session

Questions

Please direct Media inquiries to Rachel Otwell: rachel.otwell@illinois.gov.
Submit questions to MMC at idhsgrant@mayorscaucus.org.

Municipalities Receiving Funding – Round I

  • City of Chicago: $30.25 million
  • City of Elgin: $1.27 million
  • Lake County: $1 million
  • City of Urbana: $250,000
  • Village of Oak Park: $400,000