(a) Contract Award Funding Limits. The funding will be established by Allocation Formula as described in this section.     
      (b) HHSP funds will be awarded upon appropriation from the legislature, and will be made available to any of those municipalities subject to the requirements of this rule and be distributed in accordance with the formula set forth in subsection (c) of this section relating to Formula.     
      (c) General Population Formula. Funds made available under HHSP for the general population shall be distributed in accordance with an Allocation Formula that is calculated each year that takes into account the proportion of the following factors:      
        (1) population of the municipality, as determined by the most recent available 1 Year American Community Survey (ACS) data;       
        (2) poverty, defined as persons in the municipality's population with incomes at or below the poverty threshold, as determined by the most recent available 1 Year ACS data;       
        (3) population of Homeless persons, as determined by the most recent publicly available Point-In-Time Counts submitted to HUD by the CoCs in Texas or by the Texas Homeless Network;       
        (4) population of Homeless veterans, as determined by the most recent publicly available Point-In-Time Counts submitted to HUD by the CoCs in Texas or by the Texas Homeless Network;       
        (5) population of Homeless Unaccompanied Youth, Parenting Youth, and Children of Parenting Youth, as determined by the most recent publicly available Point-In-Time Counts submitted to HUD by the CoCs in Texas or by the Texas Homeless Network;       
        (6) population of persons with disabilities, defined as that percentage of the municipality's population composed of persons with disabilities, as determined by the most recent available 1 Year ACS data; and       
        (7) incidents of family violence, as determined by reports from local police departments.       
      (d) The factors enumerated shall be used to calculate distribution percentages for each municipal area based on the following formula:      
        (1) thirty percent weight for population;       
        (2) thirty percent weight for poverty populations;       
        (3) twenty percent weight for the Homeless population;       
        (4) five percent weight for population of Homeless Veterans;       
        (5) five percent weight for population of Homeless Unaccompanied Youth, Parenting Youth, and Children of Parenting Youth;       
        (6) five percent weight for population of persons with disabilities; and       
        (7) five percent weight for instances of family violence.       
      (e) Youth Population Formula. Funds made available to HHSP for youth shall be distributed in accordance with an Allocation Formula that is calculated each year that takes into account the proportion of the following factors:      
        (1) population of the municipality, as determined by the most recent available 1 Year American Community Survey (ACS) data;       
        (2) poverty, defined as persons in the municipality's population with incomes at or below the poverty threshold, as determined by the most recent available 1 Year ACS data;       
        (3) population of Homeless Unaccompanied Youth, Parenting Youth, and Children of Parenting Youth, as determined by the most recent publicly available Point-In-Time Counts submitted to HUD by the CoCs in Texas;       
        (4) population of persons with disabilities, defined as that percentage of the municipality's population composed of persons with disabilities, as determined by the most recent available 1 Year ACS data; and       
        (5) incidents of family violence, as determined by reports from local police departments.       
      (f) The factors enumerated shall be used to calculate distribution percentages for each municipal area based on the following formula:      
        (1) thirty percent weight for population;       
        (2) thirty percent weight for poverty populations;       
        (3) thirty percent weight for population of Homeless Unaccompanied Youth, Parenting Youth, and Children of Parenting Youth;       
        (4) five percent weight for population of persons with disabilities; and       
        (5) five percent weight for instances of family violence.       
      (g) Prior to month nine of the Contract, the HHSP Subrecipient may choose to voluntarily deobligate up to 15% of the total amount of funds in the Contract if the HHSP Subrecipient anticipates that it will not expend all the funds. The Department reserves the right to refuse any returned funds prior to the end of the Contract Term. The Department may reallocate the voluntary deobligated funds to existing HHSP Subrecipients with the highest expenditure rates based on percent of funds expended. The eligible HHSP Subrecipients may be required to complete a Previous Participation Review, as outlined in §1.302 of this title (relating to Previous Participation Reviews for Department Program Awards Not Covered by §1.301 of this Subchapter), and any reallocated funds in excess of 25% of the original Contract award will require a complete Previous Participation Review.     
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §7.23 adopted to be effective February 27, 2024, 49 TexReg 1049