HUD has set aside a portion of the emergency and non-presidentially declared natural disaster set-aside for the purpose of providing assistance to public housing agencies (PHAS) to fund capital…

The Department of Housing and Urban Development Public and Indian Housing Office awarded the City of Benton Public Housing Authority $150,000 on August 3, 2026, under the Public Housing Capital Fund (CFDA 14.872) formula grant to address capital needs for safety and security emergencies in public housing.

The award funds one-time assistance for safety and security items that could not be absorbed within the authority's annual capital fund grant. HUD established this set-aside to provide public housing agencies nationwide with emergency support for safety and security measures, including those addressing crime and drug-related activity. The City of Benton Public Housing Authority, headquartered in Benton, Arkansas, operates public housing units serving low-income residents. Performance is scheduled through August 2, 2028, with work performed in Benton, Arkansas.

The Public Housing Capital Fund provides annual formula-based allocations to public housing agencies for capital and management activities, including modernization and development of public housing. HUD calculates allocations according to characteristics of each agency's public housing inventory, including unit counts, building age, and construction costs. The assistance type is a formula grant, not a discretionary award. Approximately 2,770 public housing agencies serving nearly one million units across all 50 states and territories are eligible. Funding is awarded through lottery due to high demand until available emergency and disaster safety and security set-aside funds are exhausted. The maximum grant award amount is $250,000. A public housing agency may receive only one safety and security grant application per federal fiscal year and is ineligible for funding if it has previously received safety and security support for the same development or developments.

Activities

Safety and security grant funding can only be used to cover eligible capital fund expenses that address threats to resident safety and security caused by a safety and security emergency. Developments that have already been funded previously with a safety and security grant are not eligible for additional funding. Safety and security grant funds may be used to install, repair, or replace capital needs items. (note: safety and security-eligible items must meet uniform physical condition standards (UPCS) and local code requirements for egress where necessary.) typical activities to be performed are security systems/cameras/digital video recorders, fencing, lighting systems, emergency alarm systems, window bars, deadbolt locks, doors, carbon monoxide detectors, and heat/smoke alarm/detectors. Typical ineligible activities are patrol cars, salaries including security staff, security patrol or local law enforcement contracts for additional security patrols, administrative costs, and operations costs.

Expected outcomes

The expected outcomes for public housing emergency/disaster safety & security capital funds are the expedited completion of the specific approved emergency/disaster safety & security project within one year. The measurable outcome of this grant is that HUD will be able to track the amount of dollars spent on emergency/disaster safety & security eligible activities based on the approved grant application.

Intended beneficiaries

The intended beneficiaries for public housing emergency/disaster safety & security capital funds are low-income public housing residents.

Subrecipient activities

The recipient does not intend to subaward funds.