EOHLC SHPF RFI.pdf

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HOUSING

AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

100 CAMBRIDGE STREET

BOSTON, MA 02108

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

FOR

Implementation of The Supportive Housing Pool Fund

ISSUED DATE: JANUARY 24, 2025

PROJECT NAME: The Supportive Housing Pool Fund

COMMBUYS BID #: BD-25-1076-OCDDE-OCD01-112361

AGENCY #: EOHLC2025-46

DIVISION: EXECUTIVE OFFICE

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. RESPONDENTS TO THIS RFI ARE INVITED TO RESPOND TO ANY OR ALL OF

THE QUESTIONS IN THIS DOCUMENT. RESPONSES TO THIS RFI SHALL SERVE SOLELY TO ASSIST THE COMMONWEALTH IN UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT STATE OF THE MARKETPLACE WITH REGARDS TO THE SOLICITED INFORMATION OR TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POSSIBLE SOLICITATION FOR A REQUEST FOR RESPONSE (RFR)OR OTHER PROCUREMENT IN THE FUTURE. THIS RFI DOES NOT IN ANY

WAY OBLIGATE THE COMMONWEALTH TO ISSUE OR AMEND A SOLICITATION OR TO INCLUDE ANY OF THE RFI PROVISIONS OR RESPONSES IN ANY SOLICITATION. RESPONDING TO THIS RFI IS ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY AND WILL IN NO WAY AFFECT THE COMMONWEALTH’S

CONSIDERATION OF ANY PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO ANY SUBSEQUENT SOLICITATION, NOR WILL IT SERVE AS AN ADVANTAGE OR DISADVANTAGE TO THE RESPONDENT IN THE COURSE OF ANY RFR OR RFQ THAT MAY BE SUBSEQUENTLY ISSUED OR AMENDED.

Please Note: This is a single document associated with a complete procurement that can be found on www.COMMBUYS.com.

All respondents are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all information and requirements for the entire RFI, which are all incorporated therein. Respondents may also contact the Operational Services Division (OSD) Help Desk at

OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov or the OSD Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The Helpline is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal, state and Suffolk County holidays.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1. OVERVIEW

SECTION 2. QUESTIONS

SECTION 3. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

SECTION 4. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

ATTACHMENT A. RESPONSE FORM

mailto:OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov

ATTACHMENT B. SUPPORTIVE HOUSING BUDGET FORM AND IDENTIFIED

SUPPORTIVE SERVICES AND OPERATING COSTS

ATTACHMENT C: ACTS OF 2024, CHAPTER 150, AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE

AFFORDABLE HOMES ACT, SUPPORTIVE HOUSING POOL FUND

SECTION 1. OVERVIEW

On Aug. 6, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act into law. The historic legislation authorizes $5.16 billion in spending over the next five years along with nearly 50 policy initiatives to counter rising housing costs caused by high demand and limited supply.

The bill includes unprecedented authorizations in modernizing the state’s public housing system, boosts programs that support first-time homebuyers and homeownership, and provides resources to build more housing for low to moderate-income residents. It also includes many policy changes that will unlock housing production in our state, such as allowing accessory dwelling units, support for the conversion of vacant commercial space to housing and support for sustainable and green housing initiatives.

One of the policy initiatives within this bill is the creation of the Supportive Housing Pool Fund (SHPF);

the first flexible funding pool created by State legislation to advance the creation of new supportive housing at a statewide level. The SHPF will serve as a new competitive funding source to provide critical assistance for supportive housing by funding staffing, case management, service coordination, and other tenancy-related services.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to receive input from a variety of stakeholders regarding implementation of the SHPF that has been put forward into law through passage of the Affordable Homes Act (AHA).

EOHLC is seeking to create an SHPF to support the production of permanent supportive housing1. As outlined in the Affordable Homes Act, “The fund shall be administered by the executive office directly or through contracts with 1 or more of the following administering agencies: (i) the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, established in chapter 40H; (ii) the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund, established in section 35 of chapter 405 of the acts of; or (iii) the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, established in chapter 708 of the acts of 1966; provided, that an administering agency may directly offer financial assistance for the purposes pursuant to this section or may enter into subcontracts with non-profit organizations established pursuant to chapter 180 for those purposes; and provided further, that the administering agency may establish additional program requirements through regulations or policy guidelines. There shall be credited to the fund: (i) revenue from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated for the fund; (ii) any gifts, grants, private contributions, repayment of loans, fees and charges imposed relative to the making of loans, grants, subsidies, credit enhancements and other financial assistance; (iii) any investment income earned on the

1 Per the Act of 2024, Chapter 140,“Permanent supportive housing is defined as rental housing that includes supportive services for individuals and families who may be homeless or chronically homeless, individuals and families with behavioral health needs or substance addiction needs, survivors of domestic violence, survivors of human trafficking, survivors of sexual violence, individuals and families at risk of entering or transitioning out of the foster care system, youth and young adults, seniors and veterans or other individuals with similar needs, as determined by the executive office fund’s assets; and (iv) any other sources. Money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.”

Funds expended shall be in the form of grants, loans or other financial assistance to projects and organizations that shall provide stable housing options and supportive services to residents of supportive housing, which may include, but shall not be limited to, staffing, case management, service coordination or other tenancy-related services provided by a project sponsor or through a third party, or other services or activities that the executive office has determined are essential to the day-to-day operation of supportive housing.

Responses to this RFI will help EOHLC to determine supportive housing funding needs and inform the structure of the SHPF and help identify potential services and solutions. EOHLC may elect to modify or expand the scope and structure of the SHPF as needed to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state statutes, regulations, and policies.

SECTION 2. QUESTIONS

EOHLC welcomes responses to this RFI that address the questions included below. Please answer as many of the questions as you are interested in. If a question doesn’t apply to you, feel free to skip it or answer “Don’t Know.”

Respondents should enter their answers on the Attachment A to this RFI (Response Form) and submit it per the instructions in section 3 of this RFI. If you need more space to write any of your answers, you can send a separate Word document. You are welcome to provide feedback on any or all of the RFI topics.

EOHLC also reserves the right to request additional information from respondents as needed.

Topic 1: Organization and Population Served

1. What organization do you represent?

2. Which category best describes your organization?

• Direct care service provider

• Community Development Corporation (CDC)

• Housing developer (private or nonprofit)

• Property management company

• Shelter provider

• Housing finance agency

• Municipality or government organization

• Bank or lender

• Foundation or philanthropic

• Advocacy organization

• Healthcare entity

• Other (please describe)

3. Which population(s) does your organization serve? (Check all that apply)

• Individuals experiencing homelessness or chronic homelessness

• Families experiencing homelessness or chronic homelessness

• Individuals and families at risk of entering or exiting the foster care system

• Seniors

• Persons with disabilities or those requiring physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral support services

• Persons with substance use disorder

• Survivors of domestic violence

• Survivors of human trafficking

• Survivors of sexual violence

• Youth and young adults

• Veterans

• Other (please describe)

4. What is your organization’s background as it relates to supporting the above population(s) within supportive housing? Describe the type(s) of supportive services you provide for each of the populations served by your organization in supportive housing.

Topic 2. Existing Operating and Supportive Services Funding

1. Attachment B (Tab 2) includes a list of identified supportive services costs. Are there any additional supportive services that you utilize not captured on this list?

2. Attachment B (Tab 1) includes a list of identified operating costs. Are there any additional operating costs you incur not captured on this list?

3. How do you track which service costs your service funds are being spent on?

• For example, if your client is enrolled in MassHealth Community Support

Program for Homeless Individuals (CSP-HI) for case management or Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) enhanced vouchers, how is that being tracked for a specific service or operating cost (aka how are you tracking sources and uses)?

4. Are you leveraging Medicaid-reimbursable services (e.g. CSP-HI, Group Adult Foster Care (GAFC), etc.) for supportive services?

• If yes, what specific services?

• What percentage of people in your portfolio are you able to claim billing to support?

• For new projects, how do you project out the role of Medicaid-reimbursable services when submitting an operating and services plan?

5. If yes to question 4, what are the existing barriers to billing MassHealth and how does this impact the percentage of clients you are able to claim billing for? Do you bill directly through

MassHealth or through an intermediary? What percentage of total supportive services costs are covered through MassHealth reimbursement?

6. Are there services that are provided by external agencies to your clients?

• How does service provision and payment/cost reimbursement for these services work?

• What are the successes and challenges of these partnerships?

7. Are there services that could be provided by external agencies, or costs that could be covered by external agencies, but there is a barrier or drawback to partnering?

8. Is there anything else you would like to share regarding operating and supportive services funding?

Topic 3. Development, Private Market Units, and Tenant Selection Processes

1. For new projects, how do you structure, identify, and/or build in assumptions on potential sources for your proposed services costs/budgets when requesting project funding from EOHLC’s Division of Housing Development? What works well and what are the challenges with the current process?

2. For respondents that have previously developed supportive housing, have any of your earlier projects dealt with operating and service gaps? Did this occur before or after your project closed? How did you mitigate those gaps?

3. For respondents that have not previously developed and/or funded supportive housing, are there particular gaps or barriers that discouraged you? What resources, tools, or partnerships would you need to develop supportive housing?

4. How is your tenant selection process informed by your potential sources of capital, operating, and service funding? (Note: if any of your potential sources of funding impose household eligibility criteria for housing and/or services, please identify the particular sources and the eligibility criteria below).

• a. Capital:

• b. Operating:

• c. Services:

5. How could the Commonwealth better support providers as it relates to developing their operating and supportive services budgets?

Topic 4: SHPF Implementation

1. Are there specific populations needing supportive housing that the Commonwealth should prioritize when considering applicants for the pool? Please share any rationale and relevant data to demonstrate prioritized need for a specific population.

2. When would it be most beneficial for your organization to seek funding from the SHPF?

For example, would your organization prefer to seek funding from the SHPF at the same time as completing or in advance of a OneStop application?

3. The SHPF will require applicants seeking funding to maximize and/or exhaust all existing funding sources for operating and supportive services. How do you envision demonstrating these efforts to the Commonwealth and what are the challenges in doing so?

4. Similar models implemented in other states, often referred to as “flexible funding pools,” are designed to incentivize philanthropic, healthcare, and other private entities to contribute funding. How do you envision non-government entities being a funding source for the SHPF? What considerations should EOHLC take into account when considering the role of non-government funding sources?

5. Are there any best practices the Commonwealth should consider from national examples of flexible funding pools?

SECTION 3. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

EOHLC is issuing this RFI only to collect information. The RFI does not obligate EOHLC to take any action based on information received or to issue a procurement or contract, or to include any of the RFI provisions or responses in a subsequent procurement. No information received in response to this RFI is binding on the Commonwealth or any of its contracted vendors or agencies. Responding to this RFI is voluntary and will not affect consideration of any proposal submitted in response to any subsequent procurement. Nothing in this RFI and no action taken during the review process shall be interpreted as a commitment on the part of EOHLC or its contracted vendors or agencies to enter into a contract with any respondent, or to conduct any procurement.

All costs incurred in responding to this RFI, or in support of activities associated with this RFI, shall be the sole responsibility of the respondent.

Receipt of RFI responses may not be acknowledged. EOHLC cannot return any part of the response after it is submitted.

Response Submission Calendar

Respondents must submit their responses via COMMBUYS.

Procurement Step Due Dates Time COMMBUYS post 2/6/2025 Bidder questions due (optional) N/A Department question responses (optional) N/A Prebid conference (optional) N/A RFI response due (est.) 2/21/2025 4:00 PM Notice of apparent successful bidder(s) posted N/A Contract award N/A

SECTION 4. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

4.1. Electronic Distribution

This RFI has been distributed electronically using the Commonwealth Procurement Access and Solicitation System (COMMBUYS). COMMBUYS is an electronic mechanism used for advertising and distributing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s procurements and related files. No individual may alter (manually or electronically) the RFI or its components except those portions intended to collect the respondent’s response. Interested parties may access COMMBUYS at the following address: http://www.commbuys.com. Questions specific to COMMBUYS should be made to the COMMBUYS Help Desk at commbuys@mass.gov.

http://www.commbuys.com/ mailto:commbuys@mass.gov

4.2. RFI Amendments

Interested parties are solely responsible for checking COMMBUYS for any addenda or modifications that are subsequently made to this RFI. The Commonwealth and its subdivisions accept no liability and will provide no accommodation to interested parties who fail to check for amended RFIs.

4.3 Use of RFI Information

EOHLC reserves the right to accept or reject, in part or in full, any information contained in or submitted in response to this RFI. The RFI is not binding on EOHLC and shall not obligate EOHLC to issue a procurement that incorporates any RFI provisions or responses. Responding to this RFI is entirely voluntary, will in no way affect EOHLC’s consideration of any proposal submitted in response to any subsequent procurement, grants, and/or awards, and will not serve as an advantage or disadvantage to the respondent in the course of any procurement that may be issued. Responses to this RFI become the property of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and are public records under the Massachusetts Freedom of Information Law, M.G.L. c. 66, § 10 and c. 4, § 7, cl. 26, regarding public access to such documents. However, information provided to EOHLC in response to this RFI and identified by the respondent as trade secrets or commercial or financial information shall be kept confidential and shall be exempt from disclosure as a public record (see M.G.L. c. 4, § 7, cl. 26). This exemption may not apply to information submitted in response to any subsequent procurement.

4.4 Additional Terms

EOHLC notes that any services or solutions resulting from any subsequent procurement and/or contract that EOHLC may elect to issue must be provided in a non-discriminatory manner, and in conformance with all applicable state and federal regulations, administrative guidance, policies, and other requirements that EOHLC may provide. All services must also comply with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) policies and standards, or any successor standards thereto, which can be found here:

https://www.mass.gov/handbook/enterprise-information-security-policies-and-standards. It is also anticipated that any Bidder(s) who may be selected pursuant to completion of an appropriate solicitation and/or contractual process will also be required to enter into a contract with EOHLC which will include compliance with the Commonwealth’s Standard Contract Form and Instructions and Certifications, the applicable Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, and EOHLC’s contract documents, and applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to M.G.L. c. 66A, M.G.L.

c. 93H, and M.G.L. c. 93I. Please note that EOHLC shall maintain sole and exclusive ownership rights to all program data assembled, created, or used in the performance of the selected Bidder(s)’ work. For the avoidance of doubt, the Bidder(s) shall have no rights in or to the EOHLC program data other than the limited, revocable right to use such data solely as required for the vendor to meet its obligations under contract with EOHLC.

Content submitted in response to this RFI must be suitable for public viewing. EOHLC reserves the right to edit or delete any inappropriate content.

Respondents should not display the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Seal in their response or subsequent marketing materials if they are awarded a contract pursuant to a subsequent procurement and/or contract, because use of the coat of arms and the Great Seal of the Commonwealth for advertising or commercial purposes is prohibited by law.

https://www.mass.gov/handbook/enterprise-information-security-policies-and-standards https://www.macomptroller.org/wp-content/uploads/form_standard-contract.docx https://www.macomptroller.org/wp-content/uploads/instructions_standard-contract-form.pdf https://www.macomptroller.org/wp-content/uploads/instructions_standard-contract-form.pdf https://www.macomptroller.org/wp-content/uploads/form_commonwealth-terms-and-conditions.pdf

Respondents with disabilities or hardships that seek reasonable accommodation, which may include the receipt of RFI information in an alternative format, must communicate such requests in writing to EOHLC. Requests for accommodation will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. EOHLC reserves the right to reject unreasonable requests.

For reasonable accommodations regarding this Request for Information, please contact 617-573-1102.

Please contact the Massachusetts Executive office of Housing and Livable Communities at (617) 5731100 for free language assistance.

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Entre em contato com o Escritório Executivo de Habitação e Comunidades Habitáveis (Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC)) de Massachusetts no número (617) 573-1100 para obter assistência gratuita com o idioma.

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公室(The Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC)),联络方式(617) 573-1100。

Свяжитесь с сотрудником Исполнительное управление жилищного строительства и пригодных для жизни сообществ (Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC)) Массачусетс на предмет оказания бесплатной помощи по переводу на иностранный язык. ((617) 573-1100)

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