Fillable_Rating Factor 2_Soundness_All Applicants.pdf

Attachment: Sample Narrative Template Soundness of Approach (New and Renewal Applicants)

Applicant Legal Name______________________________

Are you a:

New Applicant

Renewal Applicant

Rating Factor 2 - Soundness of Approach: (New and Renewal Applicants) Maximum Points (45)

A narrative response is required for this rating factor from renewal and new applicants. To earn up to 45 points, provide a clear and comprehensive narrative detailing how your proposed program will address the needs identified in your community needs assessment. Your approach should align with the ROSS program’s purpose to promote resident self-sufficiency and empowerment. Focus on strategies that utilize partnerships, community assets, and resources to achieve measurable outcomes, guiding residents toward self-sufficiency. Ensure your narrative is unique and specific to your application; duplicate content across applications may result in a lower score.

Needs Assessment and Resident Response (up to 4 Points). You must provide a comprehensive overview of the projects and residents to be served, ensuring alignment between the needs assessment and the HUD- 52768 Form. Please include the following information:

• Project Identification: List each project by name and number where residents were surveyed. The project name and number must match what is in PIC. The project number must not contain any special characters or abbreviations.

• Number of Residents: For each project to be served, specify the total number of residents.

• Survey Participation: Indicate the number of residents surveyed in each project.

To receive four points, you must have surveyed a total of 20 percent of the residents in projects to be served.

You must also ensure that residents surveyed correspond directly to the project listed on the HUD-52768 Form.

Any missing or incorrect information will result in lower points for this criterion.

Use data to describe the results of the needs assessment (up to 6 Points). To earn up to six points, provide a clear summary of your community needs assessment findings, emphasizing the most frequently reported needs. Include numerical data, specifying the number and percentage of respondents for each identified need.

Similarly, describe the prevalent barriers such as lack of transportation or childcare, as evidenced by corresponding data. This quantitative approach must substantiate the selected areas of need on the HUD- 52768 Form and inform proposed strategies to address them. Discrepancies between identified survey findings and selected areas of need, or unclear or insufficient data, will result in a lower score for this criterion.

Describe how your ROSS program will align partners to address each of the selected area(s) of need (up to 10 Points). To earn up to ten points, provide a detailed strategy for addressing each area of need identified in your HUD-52768 Form. For each area of need, specify the partner organization responsible for delivering services, including the partner’s name and the specific services they will provide to address the area(s) of need, overcome resident barriers, and support self-sufficiency goals. Clearly define the ROSS service coordinator's role in coordinating the services, detailing how your ROSS service coordinator will engage with residents and partners to ensure that service delivery meets resident needs and improves outcomes. Comprehensively addressing each selected area of need with specific roles and strategies is essential. Failure to do so will result in a lower score for this criterion.

Describe how your ROSS program will remove barriers of residents (up to 5 points). To earn up to five points, clearly describe the primary barriers residents face achieving self-sufficiency and detail how your implementation of the ROSS program will address these challenges through service coordination and service delivery. Specify strategies for overcoming obstacles such as access to childcare, transportation, education, or employment opportunities. Failure to describe resident barriers and strategies to address them will result in a lower score for this criterion.

Describe how your ROSS program will track the outcomes of residents including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each of your selected areas of need (up to 6 points). To earn up to six points, detail your strategy for monitoring resident activities and outcomes within your ROSS program. Explain how you will collect information from residents and partners regarding services provided, specifying the systems and tools to be used for tracking this data. You must also describe the methods and systems you will employ to monitor and evaluate these KPIs effectively. If you currently lack a tracking system, outline the system you plan to implement and provide a timeline for its acquisition and deployment upon receiving the ROSS grant. Failure to describe how you will monitor and track resident activities, outcomes, and KPIs will result in a lower score for this criterion.

Describe how you will empower residents to move along the self-sufficiency continuum (up to 10 points).

To earn up to ten points, provide a detailed description of innovative strategies your ROSS program will implement to build residents’ capacities and empower them to achieve personal and professional goals, facilitating their progression along the self-sufficiency continuum. Clearly explain how these strategies will be tailored to meet the unique needs of your resident population and how they align with the ROSS program.

Failure to provide a detailed description of how you will empower residents will result in a lower score for this criterion.

Describe how the staffing at your agency, including your organization’s leadership, will support the ROSS- SC program (up to 4 points). To earn up to four points, provide the name of the departments and/or staff titles that will support the ROSS-SC program, and describe what actions they will take to provide support. Failure to describe what staff and how they will support the ROSS program will result in a lower score.