Advocate for Income

What is the Emergency Food and Shelter Program?

The Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) is a federal initiative that meets the needs of the nation’s hungry and homeless, along with those at risk of becoming homeless due to emergency and/or economic downturn.  Federal funds are used to supplement the work of local agencies providing food, shelter, and utility assistance.   EFSP is governed by a National Board comprising representatives from six agencies designated by Congress, and is chaired by a representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  The members of the EFSP National Board are:

How Are the Funds Administered?

EFSP ensures local decision-making because local boards, similar in composition to the National Board, determine which service providers in their communities receive funds.  Specifically, once the federal government has allocated the EFSP funds for a particular year, local Boards similar in composition to the National Board: (1) advertise the availability of funds, (2) establish priorities among community needs, (3) allocate funds to emergency food and shelter agencies, and (4) help monitor program compliance.  Local agencies that qualify for awards, known as “Local Recipient Organizations,” use EFSP funds for served meals or groceries, lodging in a mass shelter or hotel, or one month’s rent, mortgage, or utility payment in a given year.

EFSP: Making a Difference

Since its inception in 1983, EFSP has distributed more than $2.9 billion to more than 2,500 cities and counties nationwide. With the participation of nearly 12,000 local nonprofit, faith-based, and government agencies, it is an extraordinary example of a public/private partnership tailored to the most pressing needs of communities and families. EFSP distributes funds to the neediest areas of the country quickly, utilizing only a small percentage of the funds for administrative costs. In FY 2006, with funding of only $151 million, EFSP provided:

- 4.3 million meals
- 285,000 nights of shelter
- 88,411 utility payments
- 64,586 rent and mortgage payments

United Way and EFSP

United Way of America is the Secretariat and Fiscal Agent to the Board, which relieves FEMA of the majority of the administrative burden.  In this capacity, United Way of America maintains a staff of 10 dedicated individuals with responsibility for administering the program.  In fact, no money from the EFSP grant goes towards the salary of a full-time employee at FEMA.

Additionally, EFSP is an example of United Way’s efforts to advance the common good.  For United Way this means the creation of opportunities, the prevention of problems, and helping everyone in the community reach his or her full potential.  In essence, we all win when a child succeeds in school, when a neighborhood turns around, when workers have good jobs, and when families have good health, shelter and nutrition.

What Is the Status of EFSP?

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 provides $153 million for EFSP in FY 2008.  United Way urges Congress and the Administration to increase federal support for EFSP to ensure that this limited but critical assistance is available for those families who need it most.  We also encourage Congress and the Administration to keep EFSP within FEMA, where it has worked quickly and effectively as a prevention and emergency intervention program for the past 24 years.
For more information, please contact Steve Taylor, Vice President and Counsel for Public Policy, at 703.683.7817, steve.taylor@uwa.unitedway.org or Patrick I. Jackson, Manager, Public Policy, at 703.836.7112, Ext. 496,  patrick.jackson@uwa.unitedway.org.