CARES Act CDBG-CV Action Plan

CARES Act & CDBG-CV Overview

On March 27, 2020, the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The $2 trillion aid package provides financial aid to families and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Funding was provided to multiple Federal Agencies and programs, including HUD and three of the Consolidated Plan Programs. ESG, HOPWA and CDBG all received CARES-Act funding or ESG-CV, HOPWA-CV and CDBG-CV funding. First round of CARES Act funding for South Carolina State Consolidated Plan programs included $8,745,852 for ESG-CV and $337,889 for HOPWA-CV. The second round of ESG CV, or ESG-CV2, provided an additional $18,346,815, bringing total ESG-CV funding to $27,092,667. An additional reallocation of ESG-CV funding in 2022 increases total ESG-CV funding to $27,499,388.18. Three allocations of CDBG-CV (CDBG-CV1, CV2 and CV3) were also announced for total CDBG-CV funding of $39,499,819.

CDBG-CV Action Plan

CDBG-CV1 funding is being used to assist non-Entitlement local governments with community response to the coronavirus pandemic through funding for critically needed public services and public facility improvements. CDBG-CV can be used for public services as a primary component because, unlike regular CDBG, the CARES Act eliminated the public services cap. Only 15% of regular CDBG funding received in any year can be used for public services, whereas there is no cap on CDBG-CV funding for public services.

Some of the CDBG-CV2 and CV3 funding was used for the SC Stay Short-term Housing Assistance Program, which provided up to six months of short-term housing assistance to LMI families throughout the state, who had been financially impacted by the pandemic and were unable to meet rent or mortgage obligations. This was possible due to several CARES Act provisions that a) eliminated the regular CDBG cap on public service, which included short-term housing assistance, b) extended the maximum amount of time that “subsistence payments” could be made from three months, applicable to the regular CDBG Program, to six months and c) gave HUD the authority to provide additional waivers. One of these HUD waivers under the CARES Act for CDBG-CV allowed amounts in excess of the first CDBG-CV allocation, or CDBG-CV1, to be used in both entitlement and non-entitlement areas of the state and to involve activities carried out directly by the State or through contractors. SC Stay was administered by SC Housing.

Subsequent to initial funding for the SC Stay Program, significant other federal resources for funding were received, demand and need for CDBG-CV short-term housing assistance was significantly less than anticipated, and approximately $12 million is being reprogrammed to a new DIRECT Public Services Program under the current, November 2022 substantial amendment to the 2020 Annual Action Plan for the CARES Act.

The original November 2021 Plan is being amended again to establish the new DIRECT Public Services Program under which the State will act directly through subrecipients to fund eligible public services activities that will address food insecurity and other persistent needs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Please click the links below to the download the April 2021 Substantial Amendment to the 2020 Action Plan for CDBG-CV, the prior November 2021 Substantial Amendment and the CDBG-CV Program Description.

Prior Amendments:

Citizen Participation

The State of South Carolina has prepared another substantial amendment to the 2020 Annual Action Plan for the CARES Act for funding received for CDBG-CV and reallocated ESG-CV funds. The State is making the draft substantial amendment available for public review for 7 days, from November 7 through November 13, 2022. The original CDBG-CV Amendment was also available for at least 5 days from November 12 through November 18, 2020. The State also held a virtual public hearing on November 16, 2020 at 2pm.

Public comment and review are encouraged during the comment period. Written comments can be submitted to lross@SCCommerce.com or to Liese Ross, SC Department of Commerce, Grants Administration, 1201 Main Street, Suite 1600, Columbia, South Carolina, 29201, or call (803) 734-0429 / TTY 711.