The Emergency Food and Shelter Program

CRS Report for Congress
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program
Libby Perl
Analyst in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division
Summary
The Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program allocates funds to local
communities to fund homeless programs including soup kitchens, food banks, shelters,
and homeless prevention services. The EFS program is part of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), and after Hurricane Katrina struck, some questions
arose about the use of EFS program funds for Presidentially-declared disasters. This
report describes how the EFS program operates through its National Board, local boards,
and local recipient organizations. It further discusses the use of EFS program funds
during disasters, and recent attempts to move the program from FEMA to the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Introduction
The Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) program, the oldest federal program serving
the homeless, was established in March 1983. The program was first funded through an
emergency jobs appropriation bill (P.L. 98-8) in which Congress allocated $50 million to
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide emergency food and¹
shelter to needy individuals. The program funds soup kitchens, food banks, and shelters,
and also provides homeless prevention services. Local communities largely determine
how funds will be used.
The EFS program was not initially authorized, but continued to exist due to annual
appropriations until 1987, when the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (P.L.²
100-77) authorized it through FY1988. Congress has since reauthorized the program
three times, first in 1988 for FY1989-FY1990 (P.L. 100-628), again in 1990, for FY1991-
FY1992 (P.L. 101-645), and then in 1992 for FY1993-FY1994 (P.L. 102-550). The
program has not been reauthorized since 1994, but Congress has continued to fund it each
year in annual appropriations bills. In FY2006, Congress funded the EFS program at
$151.5 million (P.L. 109-90).

¹ P.L. 98-8 also appropriated $50 million to the states for food storage and distribution costs.
² The Emergency Food and Shelter Program is codified at 42 U.S.C. §§11331-11352 (2002).
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

The National Board
Although funds for the EFS program are appropriated to FEMA, a National Board
was established to carry out the program, including the distribution of funds to local
jurisdictions.³ The Board consists of designees from six charitable organizations —
United Way of America, Salvation Army, National Council of Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A., Catholic Charities USA, United Jewish Communities, and the American Red
Cross — and is chaired by a representative from FEMA. The EFS program’s authorizing
statute gives the National Board a great deal of discretion, and itself contains only
minimal requirements. In addition to establishing the National Board, the statute requires
the Board to be audited annually, release an annual report to Congress, disburse funds
within three months of receipt, and establish its own written guidelines. The statute states
that the written guidelines must include methods to identify local jurisdictions with the
highest need, methods to determine the amount of funding to give to each local
jurisdiction, and eligible program costs, reporting requirements, and a requirement that
homeless individuals be members of local boards.⁴ These guidelines are published in the
Federal Register.⁵
Identifying Eligible Local Jurisdictions
The National Board distributes funds directly to eligible local jurisdictions, which
then determine how to allocate the funds among local service providers. Local
jurisdictions must fulfill two requirements to be considered eligible. First, they must
either be cities of 50,000 or more or counties (typically local jurisdictions are counties).
Second, they must have the highest need for emergency food and shelter as determined
by unemployment and poverty rates. Specifically, the National Board uses three measures
to determine which local jurisdictions have the highest need: those with 13,000 or more
residents unemployed and an unemployment rate of at least 4.7%; those with between 300
and 12,999 residents unemployed and an unemployment rate of at least 6.7%; or those
with 300 or more unemployed and a poverty rate of at least 11%.⁶
Once the National Board determines which local jurisdictions are eligible to receive
funds, it calculates the amount of funds each will receive by dividing the amount of
available funds by the number of unemployed within all eligible local jurisdictions
combined to arrive at a per capita rate of funding per unemployed person. It then
distributes the funds by multiplying the per capita rate by the number of unemployed
persons in each eligible local jurisdiction.

³ The National Board has been a part of the EFS program since it originated in 1983, and its
composition has remained the same.
⁴ 42 U.S.C. §11346.
⁵ The guidelines were last updated in 1999, and can be found in volume 64, pages 22912-22947.
The National Board publishes a manual of its guidelines annually and makes it available to local
boards and recipient organizations.
⁶ The formulas published in the Federal Register are outdated. The current formulas can be found
at the National Board’s website [http://www.efsp.unitedway.org].

Local jurisdictions that do not qualify for funding under one of the three measures
of unemployment and poverty (sometimes referred to as direct funding) may still receive
funds through a state set-aside process. The National Board reserves a portion of
appropriated funds so that states may either fund local jurisdictions that otherwise do not
qualify for funds, or provide additional funds to jurisdictions that have already qualified.
In determining the portion of state set-aside funds to allocate from the total, the National
Board uses its discretion, although it attempts to minimize fluctuations in funding from
year to year and maintain a constant ratio of per capita state set-aside funding to per capita
direct funding.⁷ The state set-aside allows states to address pockets of homelessness or
poverty, help areas that undergo economic changes like plant closings, or assist
communities where levels of unemployment or poverty do not quite rise to the required
threshold. Each state has a set-aside committee that develops its own criteria to determine
which local jurisdictions will receive set-aside funds, however the committees must give
priority to those jurisdictions that did not receive funding based on unemployment and
poverty measures. The National Board allocates the state set-aside funds based on a ratio
of each state’s average number of unemployed individuals in unfunded jurisdictions to the
average number of unemployed in unfunded jurisdictions nationwide.
In FY2006, Congress appropriated $151.5 million to the EFS program. Of this, just
over $138 million was distributed to eligible local jurisdictions according to measures of
unemployment and poverty, and approximately $11.8 million was distributed as state set-
aside funding. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and four territories
received funds totaling $150,040,072. (See Table 1.) Very little EFS program funding
is used for administrative expenses. By statute, no more than 5% of the total⁸
appropriation may be used for administrative purposes. Local jurisdictions may use up
to 2% of their funds, and state set-aside committees 0.5% of state set-aside funds toward⁹
the 5% total. The National Board uses no more than 1% of funds for administrative
expenses.¹⁰ In the FY2006 appropriation for the program (P.L. 109-90), Congress
directed that no more than 3.5% of the total award go to pay administrative expenses. On
average, no more than 2.5% of the total award is used for these expenses.¹¹
Local Boards and Distribution of Funds
Local boards determine which organizations within each jurisdiction will receive
funds. Once the National Board identifies local jurisdictions that qualify for funds, it
directs the United Way in each jurisdiction to convene a local board if one does not
already exist. Local boards are comprised of representatives from the same six charitable
organizations that make up the National Board. Instead of a FEMA representative,
however, the head of the local government entity, or a designee, serves at the local level,

⁷ Conversation with Sharon M. Bailey, Vice President, Emergency Food and Shelter Program
National Board, September 28, 2005.
⁸ 42 U.S.C. §11344.
⁹ Federal Register, vol. 64, p. 22922.
¹⁰ Conversation with Sharon M. Bailey.
¹¹ National Board website.

and the chairperson of the board is elected.¹² In addition, each local board must include
a member who is homeless or formerly homeless, and if the jurisdiction is located within
an Indian reservation, the board must invite a Native American to serve. Boards are
encouraged to expand membership with representatives from minority populations,
private non-profits, or government organizations.¹³
When local boards receive their share of funds from the National Board, they invite
local service providers — nonprofits and government agencies — to apply for funds. The
local boards select grantees, called local recipient organizations (LROs), based on the
“demonstrated ability of an organization to provide food, shelter assistance or both.”¹⁴
Funds are distributed twice per year, the first payment is automatic, and the second occurs
after LROs clear an audit procedure.¹⁵ The local boards are responsible for monitoring
LROs, establishing an appeals process for applicants denied funding, and reporting to the
National Board on allocations and expenditures. Eligible expenses for which LROs may
use funds include items for food pantries like groceries, food vouchers, and transportation
expenses related to the delivery of food; items for mass shelters like hot meals,
transportation of clients to shelters or food service providers, and toiletries; payments to
prevent homelessness like utility assistance, hotel or motel lodging, rental or mortgage
assistance and first month’s rent; and LRO program expenses like building maintenance
or repair, and equipment purchases up to $300.
LROs may apply to local boards for variances in their budgets or waivers to use
funds in a way not addressed in the guidelines, but which is in line with the program’s
intent. If a local board determines that the way it has allocated funds in its local
jurisdiction is not meeting the actual need for services, or if any LRO is not using its grant
effectively, the local board may reprocess and reallocate funds among other LROs.¹⁶
Recent Issues
The EFS Program and Presidentially-Declared Disasters. According to
the National Board’s guidelines, although EFS program funds are targeted to special
emergency needs, the term applies to “economic, not disaster related, emergencies.”
When Congress created the program in 1983, the country was in the midst of a recession¹⁷
and high unemployment, so it gave jurisdiction to FEMA, the nation’s emergency
response agency, so that funds would be delivered quickly and efficiently.¹⁸ EFS funds
are not distributed in a manner that is responsive to Presidentially-declared disasters, and

¹² 42 U.S.C. §11332.
¹³ Federal Register, vol. 64, p. 22914.
¹⁴ Ibid., p. 22915.
¹⁵ Ibid., p. 22919.
¹⁶ Ibid., pp. 22915-22916.
¹⁷ Keith Bea, “The Emergency Food and Shelter Program,” CRS Report, April 10, 1986.
Archived, available upon request.
¹⁸ Edward P. Boland, Remarks in the House. Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 129, pp.
H812-813, Mar. 3, 1983.

LROs may not use funds to purchase supplies in anticipation of a natural disaster.¹⁹
However, there is no prohibition on using funds to provide services to those displaced by
disaster as long as the services fall within the parameters of the program. In fact, there
is past precedent for focusing EFS program funds on those individuals affected by
disaster. After the Los Angeles riots in 1992, the Los Angeles area’s local board issued
special instructions to its LROs to provide help to those who needed it as a result of the
riots. The National Board also fast tracked the Los Angeles board’s second annual
payment. Finally, local boards, supported by the National Board, issued to Congress and
the White House “an urgent appeal to supplement this current year’s allocation of the
Emergency Food and Shelter Program in light of the increasing need both before and
following the riots.”²⁰ Congress did not supplement the EFS Program funds, however.
Location of the EFS Program. Beginning in FY2003 and continuing through
FY2005, the President’s budget request proposed moving the EFS program from FEMA
to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to consolidate
homeless programs. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees specifically
chose to keep the program within FEMA. In its FY2004 report for the Veterans Affairs,
HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill (S.Rept. 108-143), the Senate
Appropriations Committee explicitly stated that it was not including the President’s
proposal to transfer the program to HUD in its bill. And Senator Robert Byrd, in a
hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Homeland Security
appropriations for FY2004, noted that the EFS program had been “well run” and “well
managed by FEMA.” In its report for FY2005 (S.Rept. 108-280), the Senate
Appropriations Committee stated that the program is appropriately run within FEMA, and
that it would not move it to HUD as the President requested. The President’s FY2006
budget request left the EFS program within the Department of Homeland Security’s
Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response, also known as FEMA.
Table 1. Emergency Food and Shelter Program Grant Allocations
to States and Territories, FY2003-FY2006
^S^t^{ate or T}^erritory^FY2003^FY2004^FY2005^FY2006
^A^l^abam^a^$2,495,215^$2,233,087^$2,308,283^$2,142,102
^A^l^as^k^a^$309,260^$391,950^$398,787^$376,723
^A^m^eri^can^S^a^m^o^a^$161,422^$159,043^$159,043^$157,453
^A^rⁱ^z^on^a^$2,872,716^$2,958,182^$2,668,814^$2,588,501
^A^r^k^aⁿ^s^as^$1,315,066^$1,219,666^$1,389,454^$1,351,977
^C^a^lⁱ^f^ornⁱ^a^$22,134,169^$21,^639,052^$21,165,103^$19,935,251
^C^o^l^o^rado^$2,036,337^$2,^485,981^$2,488,562^$2,493,502
^C^oⁿⁿ^ectⁱ^c^u^t^$1,221,553^$1,^523,396^$1,671,457^$1,586,072
^D^e^l^a^w^a^re^$291,115^$292,673^$298,652^$318,216
^Dⁱ^s^t^ri^ct^of^C^o^l^u^m^bⁱ^a^$385,842^$365,325^$396,222^$485,196
^F^l^ori^d^a^$8,286,940^$7,^708,570^$7,206,467^$7,172,435
^G^e^orgⁱ^a^$3,348,748^$3,^587,748^$3,112,516^$3,903,602
^G^u^am^$153,735^$151,470^$151,470^$149,955

¹⁹ Federal Register, vol. 64, p. 22921.
²⁰ Mark Talisman, Testimony before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
“Reauthorization of the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program and the
Interagency Council on the Homeless,” S.Hrg. 102-676, p. 11, May 14, 1992.

^S^t^{ate or T}^erritory^FY2003^FY2004^FY2005^FY2006
^H^a^w^aⁱⁱ^$564,339^$271,932^$305,473^$250,000
^Idah^o^$628,077^$624,432^$546,304^$506,892
^Illin^ois^$7,522,743^$7,^500,328^$7,434,738^$7,322,269
^In^di^an^a^$2,793,466^$2,499,885^$2,683,723^$2,834,171
^Iow^a^$856,293^$973,091^$1,023,491^$1,243,427
^K^aⁿ^s^as^$1,055,005^$1,140,037^$1,168,604^$1,409,798
^K^eⁿ^t^u^c^k^y^$2,176,424^$1,903,387^$1,989,768^$1,856,886
^L^o^uⁱ^sⁱ^an^a^$2,600,279^$2,293,708^$2,372,522^$2,311,248
^Maiⁿ^e^$558,643^$558,615^$605,339^$613,671
^Mary^l^aⁿ^d^$2,369,849^$1,^896,808^$2,052,058^$2,070,127
^Mas^s^ach^u^s^et^t^s^$2,888,695^$3,364,650^$3,387,218^$3,051,053
^Mi^chⁱ^g^an^$6,155,037^$5,763,163^$6,578,020^$7,134,055
^Miⁿⁿ^e^s^o^t^a^$1,897,090^$1,895,371^$2,138,653^$2,023,275
^Mi^s^sⁱ^s^sⁱ^ppi^$1,692,911^$1,588,799^$1,367,369^$1,775,542
^Mi^s^s^o^u^rⁱ^$2,779,030^$2,698,161^$2,757,606^$3,169,054
^Mon^t^an^a^$406,919^$354,194^$387,046^$390,013
^N^e^bras^k^a^$486,975^$503,313^$538,899^$592,729
^N^e^v^a^da^$1,246,454^$1,018,196^$979,674^$904,169
^N^e^w^H^a^m^p^s^hⁱ^r^e^$505,540^$511,809^$394,002^$346,656
^N^e^w^Jers^ey^$3,908,424^$4,^380,208^$3,975,034^$3,398,589
^N^e^w^Mexⁱ^co^$973,556^$906,223^$1,014,041^$1,031,400
^N^e^w^Y^o^rk^$10,014,366^$10,273,739^$10,575,458^$9,491,104
^N^o^{. Mari}^an^{a Is}^l^aⁿ^d^s^$99,928^$98,455^$98,455^$97,470
^N^o^rt^h^C^a^rolⁱⁿ^a^$5,320,344^$4,819,027^$4,640,307^$4,258,640
^N^o^rt^h^D^a^k^o^t^a^$258,284^$250,000^$250,000^$250,000
^O^hⁱ^o^$5,734,330^$5,884,457^$6,157,197^$6,791,164
^O^k^l^a^h^o^m^a^$1,444,552^$1,480,385^$1,622,097^$1,480,793
^O^r^eg^on^$2,803,647^$2,571,031^$2,658,207^$2,516,462
^Penⁿ^s^y^l^v^aⁿⁱ^a^$6,205,010^$6,322,321^$5,685,709^$6,110,157
^Pu^ert^o^Rⁱ^co^$2,870,459^$2,630,809^$2,532,125^$2,488,959
^R^h^{ode Is}^l^aⁿ^d^$428,821^$492,501^$497,851^$457,721
^S^o^u^t^h^C^a^rolⁱⁿ^a^$2,311,781^$2,207,589^$2,493,358^$2,759,892
^S^o^u^t^h^D^a^k^o^t^a^$261,297^$250,000^$250,000^$250,000
^T^eⁿⁿ^e^s^s^e^e^$2,813,914^$2,508,371^$2,849,659^$3,155,932
^T^e^x^a^s^$12,317,346^$12,918,899^$12,909,084^$12,526,537
^U^t^ah^$1,180,789^$1,245,303^$1,111,546^$1,150,485
^V^e^rm^on^t^$261,712^$250,000^$250,000^$250,000
^Vⁱ^rgⁱⁿ^Is^l^aⁿ^d^s^$215,229^$212,058^$212,058^$209,937
^Vⁱ^rgⁱⁿⁱ^a^$2,341,660^$2,109,872^$2,047,970^$1,965,809
^Was^hⁱⁿ^g^t^on^$4,402,318^$4,^118,539^$4,082,342^$3,666,596
^Wes^t^Vⁱ^rgⁱⁿⁱ^a^$873,094^$862,309^$800,895^$745,137
^Wi^s^c^on^sⁱⁿ^$2,556,812^$2,613,979^$2,555,892^$2,271,668
^Wy^omⁱⁿ^g^$258,249^$250,000^$250,000^$250,000
^T^o^tal^s^$154,051,809^$151,732,097^$151,644,622^$150,040,472
^Source:^t^h^{e Em}^erg^eⁿ^c^y^F^{ood an}^{d S}^h^el^t^e^{r Prog}^ram^N^a^tⁱ^oⁿ^a^l^Board,^com^pⁱ^l^e^d^by^C^oⁿ^g^r^es^sⁱ^on^al^R^e^s^earch
^Serv^ice.