County commission agenda item matching detention pipeline keywords.

Meeting: Board of Commissioners Date: 2026-03-12 Agenda Item: PROPOSED RESOLUTION

PROPOSED RESOLUTION FOR A VITAL COMMUNITIES PROGRAM INITIATIVE IMPLEMENTED BY THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

WHEREAS, Cook County Bureau of Economic Development, through its Department of Planning and Development, has a long-standing partnership with the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County (the “Alliance”) to fund transitional housing facilities, wraparound services and homelessness prevention initiatives; and

WHEREAS, recognizing that preserving housing affordability and stability requires flexible strategies, the parties wish to establish a Problem-Solving Fund (PSF) to support direct assistance and staffing to provide creative, flexible and cost-effective solutions to quickly resolve a housing crisis; and

WHEREAS, the PSF will consist of the following components:

Homelessness Prevention resources for persons in danger of losing housing within weeks, including possible conflict mediation services, funds to pay rent or utilities, or a deposit for a new rental home; and

Shelter Diversion to help individuals and families seeking emergency shelter identify immediate alternative housing and connect them with social services and funding for transportation, vehicle repairs, etc. to the extent such assistance will help such persons to retain existing housing or obtain new housing; and

Rapid Resolution services to identify creative, flexible safe, and cost-effective solutions to quickly resolve a housing crisis via personal networks and safety net services. Such services may provide limited funds for security deposits, application fees, up to three (3) months’ rent, and similar interventions; and

WHEREAS, the City of Chicago periodically releases Tax Increment Financing (TIF) dollars to itself and affected taxing bodies including Cook County, and did so for its FY26 budget as approved by the City Council on December 20, 2025; and

WHEREAS, in its own Fiscal Year 2026 budget passed on November 20, 2025, Cook County allocated these TIF funds toward critical social services. For funds allocated to Bureau of Economic Development programs, the priority was on keeping residents stable through additional funding for food and housing support as areas particularly affected by major federal policy and funding shifts; and

WHEREAS, the PSF in partnership with the Alliance is intended to expand resources for homelessness in suburban Cook County via a “problem solving fund” to help quickly resolve a housing crisis.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby approves the issuance of an agreement between the Bureau of Economic Development and the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County using corporate funds from the above TIF resources in the amount of up to $3,411,300 to be allocated for Homelessness Prevention, Shelter Diversion, and Rapid Resolution services implement the Problem-Solving Fund described above and emergency shelter services as needed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the Bureau Chief of BED or its designee to enter into and modify the agreement and funding allocations based upon need and utilization; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that funding for the BED Programs shall be subject to availability and appropriation of funding by the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

Matched keywords: economic development.*(?:facility|warehouse|federal)

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