The emergency solutions grant (ESG) authorizes the department of housing and urban development (HUD) to make grants to states, units of general-purpose local government, and territories for the…

The Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded County of Kern $398,675 under the Emergency Solutions Grant Program on December 11, 2025, to support homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing assistance, emergency shelter operations, street outreach, and essential services for homeless individuals and families throughout Kern County. The award period runs through December 10, 2027, with place of performance in Bakersfield, California. ESG funds support five program components: street outreach to engage unsheltered homeless individuals and families; emergency shelter rehabilitation, conversion, or operation; homelessness prevention services to help households avoid housing loss; rapid re-housing assistance including housing relocation and stabilization services and rental assistance to move homeless persons into permanent housing; and Homeless Management Information System administration. Recipients may also use funds for administrative activities. The program targets communities' ability to improve the number and quality of emergency shelter capacity, provide essential services to shelter residents, and rapidly reestablish permanent housing stability for individuals and families experiencing homelessness or housing crisis. County of Kern, the local government entity headquartered in Bakersfield, receives the award as a formula grant recipient eligible under 24 CFR 576.2 as an urban county.

Activities

ESG funds may be used for five program components: street outreach, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid RE-housing assistance, and homeless management information system (hmis). Funds can also be used for administrative activities. The five program components and the eligible activities that may be funded under each are set forth in 24 code of federal regulations (CFR) 576.101 through 576.107.

Expected outcomes

With ESG program funding, communities can engage homeless individuals and families living on the street, improve the number and quality of emergency shelters for homeless individuals/families, support the operation of emergency shelters, provide essential services to shelter residents, rapidly work to rehouse homeless individuals and families and prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless.

Intended beneficiaries

Eligible recipients of the ESG funds generally consist of metropolitan cities, urban counties, territories, and states, as defined in 24 CFR 576.2. The minimum eligibility criteria for ESG beneficiaries are as follows: for essential services related to street outreach, beneficiaries must meet the criteria under paragraph (1) (i) of the "homeless" definition under 576.2. For emergency shelter, beneficiaries must meet the "homeless" definition in 24 CFR 576.2. For essential services related to emergency shelter, beneficiaries must be "homeless" and staying in an emergency shelter (which could include a day shelter). For homelessness prevention assistance, beneficiaries must meet the requirements described in 24 CFR 576.103PAR. For rapid RE-housing assistance, beneficiaries must meet requirements described in 24 CFR 576.104. Further eligibility criteria may be established at the local level in accordance with 24 CFR 576.400(e).

Subrecipient activities

The subrecipient activities are unknown at the time of award.