Homeless or at risk of losing your home: the ESG Programme

ESG is a Department of the Family programme financed with federal funds, whose main objective is to support people and families who are homeless or at risk of losing their home, promoting housing stability and the transition to permanent housing. It does not deliver services directly: it works in partnership with subrecipient entities across Puerto Rico. The services the programme itself lists are street outreach, emergency shelters in their operational expenses, rapid rehousing, and homelessness prevention. The portal also publishes a directory of subrecipient entities by region.

The programme states that eligible people and families must be homeless or at risk of losing their home under HUD’s definition, and that eligibility is determined by categories of homelessness. Category 1, literally homeless, applies to someone lacking a fixed, regular and adequate place to spend the night, and meeting one of three criteria suffices: having as their primary nighttime residence a public or private place not fit for human habitation; living in a public or private shelter designated for temporary placement, including emergency shelter, transitional housing and hotels or motels paid for by charitable organisations or by federal, state or local programmes; or leaving an institution where they lived for 90 days or less, having been in an emergency shelter or unfit place immediately before entering. Category 2, imminent risk, requires losing the residence within the next 14 days from the application date, that no other housing alternative has been identified or that resources or support networks are lacking, and additionally an annual income below 30% of the area median income. And Category 4 covers someone fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, who has no other residence and lacks resources or support networks.

• Being homeless or at risk of losing your home under HUD’s definition, and meeting the criteria of one of the homelessness categories.Verified against the official source
• For the imminent risk category: losing the residence within the next 14 days from the application date, and having an annual income below 30% of the area median income.Verified against the official source
• There is no age limit. The programme states cases are handled according to need.Verified against the official source

• The programme does not publish a document list for the participant on its portal. Entry is through the Coordinated Entry System, which attends at the moment of the call.

1. 1

   Step 1: Call: you are attended on the call, not given an appointment

   The programme says it expressly about the Coordinated Entry System: the modality used is that you are attended at the moment of the call. It is not a form you submit and wait on. If the situation is a matter of days, that is the route.

2. 2

   Step 2: Check which category you fall into before calling

   Not to rule yourself out, but to tell your situation in the terms the person on the other end will apply. If you sleep somewhere unfit for human habitation, in a shelter, or you recently left an institution where you spent 90 days or less, you are Category 1. If you will lose your housing in the next 14 days and your annual income is below 30% of the area median, you are Category 2. If you are fleeing domestic or dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, you are Category 4.

3. 3

   Step 3: If you are fleeing violence, ask about prevention

   There is a nuance worth knowing. The programme states that meeting Category 4 alone is not enough for Rapid Rehousing assistance: for that you must meet Category 4 and also live in an emergency shelter or another place in the homeless definition. But someone who meets Category 4 and does not meet that definition may apply for assistance under Prevention. In other words: the door exists, it is a different one.

4. 4

   Step 4: If yours is utility arrears, there are rules

   ESG utility assistance covers arrears, not next month’s payment. Payments must not exceed 24 months, including up to 6 months of water or electricity owed. But note three exclusions: if you live in a relative’s home and pay no rent, you do not qualify for that assistance; if you live in public housing, neither; and if you are a Section 8 beneficiary, you do not qualify for the programme.

5. 5

   Step 5: Find the entity for your region

   ESG does not deliver services directly: it works with subrecipient entities across the Island, and the portal publishes an updated directory by region. For any programme question, the email is programaesg@familia.pr.gov.

Through the Coordinated Entry System, which attends at the moment of the call, and through the programme’s subrecipient entities, whose directory by region is at esgweb.familia.pr.gov. The programme’s email is programaesg@familia.pr.gov. If you are in immediate danger, 9-1-1.

• Waiting for an appointment: the Coordinated Entry System attends at the moment of the call.
• Asking for mortgage help, which the programme expressly does not cover.
• Applying for utility assistance while living in a relative’s home rent-free, or in public housing.
• Applying while holding Section 8, which does not qualify for the programme.
• Believing that fleeing violence without being in a shelter closes the door, when the Prevention route exists.
• Ruling yourself out on age: the programme has no age limit.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de la Familia

  Familia

  esgweb.familia.pr.gov

• ESG Programme — directory of subrecipient entities

  Departamento de la Familia

  esgweb.familia.pr.gov

• ESG Programme — frequently asked questions

  Departamento de la Familia

  esgweb.familia.pr.gov