fy2012-coc-nofa-final.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5600-N-41]

Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the

Continuum of Care Program Competition

OVERVIEW INFORMATION

A. Federal Agency Name: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of

Community Planning and Development.

B. Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Funding Availability for the Continuum of Care

(CoC) Program.

C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement.

D. Funding Opportunity Number: The funding opportunity number is FR-5600-N-41. The

OMB Approval number is 2506-0112, expires 11/30/2015.

E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 14.267.

F. Deadline: The application deadline for submitting applications to HUD is 7:59:59 p.m.

eastern time, January 18, 2013. Applicants will be required to complete and submit their applications in e-snaps at www.hud.gov/esnaps. See Section IV of this NOFA for application submission and timely receipt requirements.

G. For Further Information: HUD staff will be available to provide general clarification on the content of this NOFA. HUD staff cannot assist applicants prepare their applications to submit for funding.

1. Local HUD CPD Field Office. Questions regarding specific program requirements should be directed to the local HUD CPD Field Office, a directory of which can be found at www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/about/staff/fodirectors/index.cfm.

2. Training and Resources. CoCs and project applicants that need assistance completing the applications in e-snaps or understanding the program requirements under the CoC program may access the CoC interim regulations, training materials, and program resources via the HUD

Homelessness Resource Exchange (HRE) at http://hudhre.info/.

3. The HUD HRE Virtual Help Desk (VHD). CoCs, Collaborative Applicants, and project applicants that require information and technical support concerning this NOFA and the applications in e-snaps may submit an electronic inquiry via the HUD HRE VHD at http://www.hudhre.info/helpdesk. The VHD is accessible 24 hours each day. Starting on the day prior to the application deadline, the VHD will respond only to emergency technical support questions up to the deadline of 7:59:59 p.m. eastern time.

H. General Section Questions. Questions regarding the General Section should be directed to the Office of Strategic Planning and Management, Grants Management and Oversight Division http://www.hud.gov/esnaps http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/about/staff/fodirectors/index.cfm http://hudhre.info/ http://www.hudhre.info/helpdesk at (202) 708-0667 (this is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access these numbers via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay Services at (800)

877-8339.

Additional Overview Information

1. Available Funds. Approximately $1.61 billion is available for the CoC Program. HUD may add to this amount any available funds that have been carried over or recaptured from previous fiscal years.

2. Eligible Applicants.

a. CoC Consolidated Applications. CoCs for which a FY2012 CoC Registration was approved by HUD during the FY2012 CoC Registration process must designate a Collaborative

Applicant to submit the CoC Consolidated Application on behalf of the CoC. Collaborative

Applicants will not be able to access the CoC Consolidated Application in e-snaps if the CoC does not have an approved Registration.

b. Amendments to Registration. If a geographic area that includes projects eligible to apply for renewal during the FY2012 CoC Program Competition was not claimed by a CoC with an approved Registration, a contiguous CoC or the Balance of State CoC may contact HUD in writing to request that its Registration and Grants Inventory Worksheet (GIW) be amended to include the unclaimed geographic area and the renewal projects. In addition, in the event a CoC with an approved FY2012 CoC Registration failed to include a project on the CoC’s Grant

Inventory Worksheet, that CoC may contact HUD in writing to request that the CoC’s

Registration be amended.

c. Project Applicants. Eligible project applicants for the CoC Program are identified in Section

III.A.

3. Eligible Costs. 24 CFR 578.37 through 578.63 identify the eligible costs for which funding can be requested for the CoC Program. HUD will reject all requests for funds for ineligible costs.

4. Match. 24 CFR 578.73 provides the information regarding match.

5. Requirements. The following requirements apply to funding available under this NOFA:

a. DUNS number and SAM. Project applicants are required to register with Dun and Bradstreet to obtain a DATA Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, if they have not already done so, and complete or renew their registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). In

July 2012, the CCR converted to the System for Award Management (SAM) found at www.SAM.gov. The new SAM website incorporates requirements for Central Contractor

Registration (CCR). HUD will not enter into a grant agreement with an entity that does not have a

DUNS Number or an active SAM.

b. Major natural disaster areas. A CoC with one or more projects directly impacted by a major disaster, as declared by President Obama under Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Act, shall receive at least the minimum score for the performance section of its CoC application. See

Section V.A.1 under the full text of this NOFA.

6. Local Competition Deadlines. 24 CFR 578.9 requires CoCs to design, operate, and follow a collaborative process for the development of an application in response to a NOFA issued by

HUD. As part of this collaborative process, CoCs should implement internal competition deadlines to ensure transparency and fairness at the local level. The implementation of deadlines that meet the standards outlined below will be considered as part of scoring criteria as detailed in

Section V.A.3.c.

a. Project Applications. All project applications were required to be submitted to the CoC no later than 30 days before the application deadline.

b. CoC Notification to Project Applicants. The CoC notified all project applicants no later than

15 days before the application deadline regarding whether their project applications would be included as part of the CoC Consolidated Application submission. Any project applicants that submitted projects that were rejected by the CoC must have been notified in writing, outside of e-snaps, with an explanation for the decision to reject the project(s). CoCs that fail to provide such notices will not receive the maximum number of points available in Section V.A.3.c.

7. CoC Transparency. In order to receive the maximum number of points available in

Section V.A.3.c, each CoC must have in place a process to make all parts of the CoC

Consolidated Application available to its community for inspection (e.g., by request or by posting on the local CoC website) and to notify community members and key stakeholders that the application is available. The process must be conducted in a manner that is effective for persons with disabilities and persons with limited English proficiency.

FULL TEXT OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description.

Program Description: The CoC Program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; to provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, States, and local governments to quickly re-house homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; to promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and to optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

A. Authority: The CoC Program is authorized by subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento

Homeless Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 11381–11389) (the “Act”). The FY2012 funds for the CoC Program were authorized by the Consolidated and Further Continuing

Appropriations Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-55) (the “HUD Appropriations Act”).

B. Summary of the Application Process: The FY2012 CoC Program Competition is the first funding competition to be administered under the CoC Program interim rule. While the process is similar to past Homeless Assistance Grants competitions, the content and steps differ in key ways. Applicants should review and follow the steps as outlined below to ensure that applications are complete and submitted timely.

1. Collaborative Applicants must have completed CoC Registration in accordance with the

Notice of Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Opportunity to Register and Other Important Information for

Electronic Application Submission for Continuum of Care Program Competition (FY2012 CoC

Registration Notice) published on August 30, 2012.

2. Applicants should read this NOFA in its entirety. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the requirements for the CoC Program and competition, a review of the CoC

NOFA should be completed in conjunction with a thorough review of the CoC Program interim rule. This NOFA frequently makes reference to citations from 24 CFR part 578, which is the

CoC Program interim rule (published on July 31, 2012 at 77 FR 45421).

3. Applicants should review the General Section of the NOFA, published on September 19, 2011.

4. The Collaborative Applicant is responsible for submitting the CoC Consolidated Application in e-snaps on behalf of the CoC. The CoC Consolidated Application is made up of the following three parts:

a. The CoC Application, known as the Exhibit 1 in past competitions. The Collaborative

Applicant will provide information about the CoC planning body, governance structure, overall performance, and the strategic planning process. This part of the application is scored and will determine the order in which CoCs are funded. For more information on the CoC Application, see Section IV.B.1.a of this NOFA.

b. The Project Application, known as Exhibit 2 in past competitions, is completed by the project applicants for new, including requests for CoC planning funds, and renewal project requests.

The project applicant will provide a description of the proposed new or renewal project including the details as to who the project will serve, the type of housing that will be provided and what budget activities are being requested. The project applicant will provide a description of the activities of the planning activities that will be carried out with grant funds. For more information on the Project Application, see Section IV.B.1.b of this NOFA.

c. The Priority Listings contain four separate forms that list the new, renewal, CoC planning, and UFA costs projects the CoC intends to submit applications. The Priority Listings rank the projects in order of priority and also list any projects rejected by the CoC. This part of the CoC

Consolidated Application cannot be completed until all Project Applications have been submitted. For more information on the Priority Listings, see Section IV.B.1.c.

5. Based on the criteria established in this NOFA, CoCs will establish priorities for funding of projects in the geographic area that will guide the prioritization of new and renewal projects for submission to HUD.

6. Project applications submitted to the CoC for inclusion on the Priority Listings as part of the

CoC Consolidated Application must be reviewed and either accepted or rejected by the CoC. All projects approved by the CoC must also be prioritized in a two-tiered approach described in

Section I.C.16. of this NOFA. The purpose of this two-tiered approach is for the CoCs to clearly http://www.hudhre.info/documents/FY2012CoCCompetitionRegistrationNotice.pdf http://www.hudhre.info/documents/FY2012CoCCompetitionRegistrationNotice.pdf indicate to HUD which projects are prioritized for funding in the event that the national total annual renewal demand exceeds the $1.61 billion available through this NOFA.

7. HUD will conduct a threshold review of prioritized projects for all CoCs that submit applications by the application deadline.

8. HUD intends to announce conditional funding for Tier 1 renewal projects within 45 days of the application deadline of the CoC Program Competition.

9. CoC Applications will be scored by HUD in accordance with the criteria set forth in Section

V of this NOFA. HUD will announce any additional Conditional Awards (new projects and

Tier 2 renewals) after scoring is complete, depending on availability of funding.

C. Changes and Highlights for FY2012: This list includes major changes included in the

FY2012 CoC Program Competition NOFA in comparison to the FY2011 Homeless Assistance

Grants NOFA.

1. Awards made under the Supportive Housing Program (SHP) and Shelter Plus Care Program

(S+C) are renewable under the CoC Program Competition as set forth in 24 CFR 578.33 to continue ongoing leasing, operating, supportive services, rental assistance, HMIS, and project administration costs. See Section II.I.2.a. for more information.

2. Applicants that were eligible under the SHP and S+C programs but are no longer eligible under the CoC Program, will continue to be eligible for the renewal of leasing, operating, supportive services, rental assistance, HMIS, and project administration costs under 24 CFR

578.33(d)(1), so long as the recipient does not change the project. See Section II.I.2.a. for more information.

3. S+C rental assistance funds are included in the CoC’s annual renewal demand. See Section

I.D.3.a for more information.

4. Project applicants that were approved by HUD during the FY2012 CoC Registration process to change a project budget line item from leasing to rental assistance must provide a commitment letter from an entity eligible to administer rental assistance (a State, unit of general local government, or a public housing agency). Project applicants are encouraged to have the commitment letter by the application deadline and will be required to provide it to the local HUD

CPD field office after announcement of the award and before the grant agreement is signed. If the applicant is unable to provide a commitment the applicant must agree to change the project back to leasing and comply with all of the requirements of leasing under the CoC Program or the grant will not be renewed.

5. Applicants may request funding for a 1-year grant term. The exception is that new projects requesting funds for acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction are only eligible for a minimum of 3-year grant terms. Where a project application includes a request for funding for acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction and a 1-year grant term is selected in e-snaps, HUD will automatically increase the grant term, if awarded, to 3 years, provided that the grant would still be feasible (e.g., would have enough funding for 1 unit of housing.- Although the grant term may be increased, the funding request will remain the same. See section II.I.2.b for more information on grant terms.

6. HUD will limit renewal grants to 1 year of funding. Renewal project applications that request multiple years of funding will be reduced to 1-year grant amounts. See Section II.I.2.b for more information on grant terms.

7. A renewal project’s demonstrated ability to drawdown and spend grant funds timely will be a factor in evaluating performance of each grant. Per 24 CFR 578.85, recipients will be required to draw project funds, at a minimum, on a quarterly basis if funded in the FY2012 CoC Program

Competition. Any substantial performance issue, such as significant delays in drawing down funds, outstanding monitoring findings, or not serving or just beginning to serve program participants may result in a project not being funded in the FY2012 CoC Program Competition.

See Section III.E.2.f. for more information about threshold requirements for renewal projects requesting funding in the FY2012 CoC Program competition.

8. CoCs may use the reallocation process to shift funds from existing renewal projects to new project applications without decreasing the CoC’s annual renewal demand. The funds may be reallocated to develop new permanent supportive housing projects, new rapid re-housing projects, or new Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) projects. CoCs will be required to identify, in the CoC Application whether or not they intend to use the reallocation process. CoCs that indicate they will be using the reallocation process will be required to identify all projects being reduced or eliminated along with the new projects being created through reallocation. HUD strongly encourages CoCs to take advantage of this option. For more information about reallocation see Section I.D.3.d.

9. Additionally, CoCs may choose to reallocate all or a portion of one or more renewal

Supportive Service Only (SSO) projects to create one new SSO project dedicated to the establishment and operation of a centralized or coordinated assessment system if one does not already exist in the CoC. For more information about centralized or coordinated assessment system requirements, see 24 CFR 578.7(a)(8). For more information about reallocation see

Section I.D.3.d of this NOFA.

10. HUD will prioritize funding for CoCs serving communities that are identified as “Extreme

High Needs”. To ensure HUD is targeting its resources, the Department will designate 25 CoCs as “Extreme High Needs” based on the following criteria in the geographic area: (1) number of homeless persons; (2) unemployment; (3) the ratio of unsheltered to sheltered homeless persons;

(4) foreclosures; (5) Preliminary Pro Rata Need (PPRN); and (6) the number of chronically homeless persons. For more information about this selection priority see Section V.B.1.b.

11. This year HUD is giving priority to the creation of new permanent supportive housing projects serving chronically homeless individuals and families, with priority on serving those with the longest histories of homelessness. CoCs may submit project applications for new permanent housing projects to serve chronically homeless individuals and families, which will be known as Permanent Housing Bonus projects. No CoC may request more than 10 percent of their

PPRN for Permanent Housing Bonus projects. Eligible costs are limited to project administration, case management, and new construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, leasing, rental assistance, or operating costs. See Section II.I.3 of this NOFA for the limitation imposed on the percentage of the grant that may be used for case management. When HUD selects projects in accordance with Section V.B.1.b of this NOFA, Permanent Housing Bonus projects in CoCs with a score of 97 or above will be conditionally awarded funding before other types of new projects. For more information about the Permanent Housing Bonus projects, see Sections

I.D.3.b and II.I.3 of this NOFA. For more information about the selection priorities that will determine the order in which HUD will fund projects, see Section V.B.1.b of this NOFA.

12. In accordance with Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End

Homelessness (FSP), HUD’s priority is to end chronic homelessness by the end of 2015. In order to reach this national goal, HUD strongly encourages CoCs to include this priority as part of their local planning process and HUD must prioritize funding targeted to this population. In the

FY2012 CoC Program competition, HUD’s priority is the development of new permanent supportive housing projects that propose to serve 100 percent chronic homeless individuals and families, particularly those who have the longest history of homelessness.

13. CoCs were required to submit their FY2012 Housing Inventory Count (HIC) Data and Point-in-Time Data directly into the HUD Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX) website. The FY2012 submission deadline was April 30, 2012. CoCs that did not meet the established deadline will not receive the maximum number of points available as described in Sections V.A.3.e and

V.A.6.a of this NOFA.

14. In order to receive the maximum number of points available as described in Section V.A.3.c.

of this NOFA, CoCs must (1) establish a deadline for project applications to be submitted to the

CoC that is no later than 30 days before the application deadline and (2) notify, in writing, outside of e-snaps, all project applicants who submitted their project applications to the CoC by the CoC-established deadline whether their project application(s) will be accepted (and ranked on the Priority Listings) or rejected by the CoC within 15 days of the application deadline.

Where a project is being rejected, the CoC must also indicate the reasons for the rejection. Per

24 CFR 578.35(b), project applicants that believe they were not allowed to participate in a fair and open process and that were rejected by the CoC may appeal the rejection directly with HUD by submitting as a Solo Application prior to the application deadline.

15. HUD has revised the requirements detailed in Section IV.l of the FY2012 CoC Registration

Notice. Because it is possible that the national total of the Annual Renewal Demand (ARD) amounts (see Section I.D.3.a for more information) submitted by CoCs in the FY2012 CoC

Registration exceeds the $1.61 billion available under this NOFA, CoCs will be required to rank all projects applying for grant funds that it does not reject, new and renewal, in e-snaps.

16. As described in Section I.C.15 above, it is possible that the total renewal demand for projects submitted in the FY2012 CoC Program Competition will exceed the $1.61 billion available under this NOFA. To ensure that CoCs have the opportunity to prioritize their projects locally in the event that HUD is not able to fund all renewals, HUD is requiring that CoCs rank projects within 2 tiers in FY2012.

The tiers are financial thresholds. Tier 1 is equal to the CoC’s Annual Renewal Demand

(ARD) approved in the Registration process, less 3.5 percent. The national total for Tier 1 is

$1.61 Billion, the amount available under this NOFA before any available carryover or recaptured funds are added. Tier 2 is the amount between a CoC’s Tier 1 and the CoC’s FPRN and any approved amounts for CoC planning and the PH Bonus. Appendix A provides the exact amount available for Tier 1 projects and FPRN for each CoC.

CoCs must list all projects that they approved to submit project applications to HUD, in the order of priority to the CoC, on the Priority Listings. CoCs should place all new and renewal project applications the CoC determines are high priority, high performing, and meet the needs and gaps as identified by the CoC in Tier 1. The exact dollar amount in Tier 1 for each CoC is listed in Column C of Appendix A. HUD will select projects in Tier 1 as described in Section

V.B.1.b. This means that lower ranked projects may be selected for funding above higher ranked projects, consistent with HUD’s selection priorities. HUD will select all projects in Tier 1 before selecting any projects in Tier 2. Additionally, awards for all renewal projects ranked in Tier 1 will be announced first.

Tier 2 is the amount between a CoC’s Tier 1 and the CoC’s FPRN in addition to any amounts approved for CoC planning and the PH Bonus. The exact FPRN for each CoC is listed in Column D of Appendix A. CoCs will continue the priority ranking from Tier 1 (e.g., if a CoC has 15 projects in Tier 1, then the priority ranking for Tier 2 will begin with 16). CoCs should place projects that meet the needs and gaps of the CoC, but may be lower performing or of a lower priority to the CoC in Tier 2. HUD will only select projects from Tier 2 after all projects from Tier 1 have been selected. Then, HUD will select projects in Tier 2 as described in Section

V.B.1.b. This means that lower ranked projects may be selected for funding above higher ranked projects, consistent with HUD’s selection priorities. All projects ranked in Tier 2 will be announced second, including any renewals placed in Tier 2.

Projects placed fully outside of the CoC’s maximum award amount will be reviewed by

HUD only in accordance with 24 CFR 578.35 (Appeal).

17. In FY2012, the CoC Priority Listings will be a separate submission from the CoC

Application; however, they are required to be submitted as part of the CoC Consolidated

Application, which will not be considered complete unless the CoC Application, the Priority

Listings, and the associated Project Applications are submitted by the application deadline. For more information about what constitutes a complete CoC Consolidated Application see Section

IV.B.1 of this NOFA.

18. Only one CoC project application for CoC planning costs can be submitted per CoC. Only one project application for UFA costs can be submitted by HUD-approved UFAs. The planning and UFA applications must be submitted by the Collaborative Applicant.

19. The Act requires that CoCs consult with State and local government Emergency Solutions

Grant (ESG) recipients within the geographic area on the plan for allocating ESG funds and reporting on and evaluating the performance of ESG recipients and subrecipients. Each CoC will be required to describe how it is coordinating, or if this is not already occurring, how coordination with ESG recipients will occur and what processes are required to be in place at the

CoC level to ensure this requirement is met. See Section V.A for more information about scoring criteria related to coordinating with ESG recipients.

20. The Act requires that all communities have an HMIS that has the capacity to collect unduplicated counts of individuals and families experiencing homelessness and provide information to project subrecipients and applicants for needs analysis and funding priorities.

Additionally, all CoC and ESG recipients must participate in the local HMIS. For many communities, the inclusion of ESG recipients and subrecipients in HMIS will mean an increase in users that the HMIS must be able to accommodate. The HMIS Lead should continue to consider any unique needs that the HMIS may be required to address in order to accommodate these emergency shelter, street outreach, and homelessness prevention programs.

21. CoCs may request, in the CoC Application, up to 10 percent of the funding awarded under this NOFA to serve families with children and youth defined as homeless under other federal statutes (paragraph 3 of the definition of homeless found in24 CFR 578.3). CoCs are limited to using only up to 10 percent of the total amount awarded to the CoC to serve this population, and must determine which projects will be permitted to use some or all of their funding for this purpose. The only project types that can serve this population are transitional housing and supportive services only. For more information on this limitation, see 24 CFR 578.89 and

Sections V.A.1.j and V.A.2.l of this NOFA.

22. HUD continues to encourage each CoC, in collaboration with the HMIS Lead, to assess the adequacy of current funding and staffing for the HMIS. This strategic review should include a process for estimating costs associated with such items as:

a. Increased participation of service providers in HMIS, either through direct data entry or by contributing data to the HMIS, including user licenses, software support, training, data quality analysis, etc.;

b. Enhancements to current HMIS software;

c. Compliance with HMIS Data Standards; and

d. Assessing HMIS software functionality for capacity to generate data for HUD reporting

(APR, AHAR, Pulse, HPRP, etc).

23. The Act and CoC Program interim rule have a focus on performance and outcomes, including measures that were not reviewed by HUD under previous competitions. HUD encourages CoCs to begin to strategize how the outcomes related to these new performance measures will be collected at the local level. HUD strongly encourages communities to consider

HMIS capacity in collecting the information necessary to report on the defined selection criteria that will be applied in future competitions. See Section V.A.1. of this NOFA for details regarding performance reporting for this competition.

D. Definitions and Concepts. The definitions and concepts contained in this section include terms that are important for all applicants to understand in order to complete all parts of the

FY2012 CoC Program Consolidated Application.

1. Definitions from 24 CFR 578.3. The following terms are defined in 24 CFR 578.3.

Applicants must refer to the CoC Program Interim Rule for the definitions contained in this section.

a. Annual Renewal Amount (ARA)

b. Applicant

c. Centralized or Coordinated Assessment System.

d. Chronically Homeless

e. Collaborative Applicant

f. Continuum of Care

g. Consolidated Plan

h. Homeless

i. Permanent Housing

j. Permanent Supportive Housing

k. Private Nonprofit Organization

l. Program Participant

m. Project

n. Subrecipient

o. Transitional Housing.

p. Unified Funding Agency

2. CoC Program NOFA Definitions. The following terms are not found in 24 CFR part 578, but are used in the FY 2012 CoC Program NOFA to define concepts that pertain specifically to the CoC Program application process.

a. Consolidated Plan Certification. The statutory form in which a state or local official certifies that the proposed activities or projects are consistent with the jurisdiction’s Consolidated Plan and, if the applicant is a state or unit of local government, that the jurisdiction is following its

Consolidated Plan.

b. Housing Inventory. A complete listing of the community’s HUD and non-HUD funded beds dedicated to homeless persons.

c. Project Applicant. An applicant designated by the CoC to apply for CoC Program funds to carry out activities related to a specific project(s) as defined in part 24 CFR 578.3. This includes

Collaborative Applicants that apply for planning funds.

d. Rapid Re-housing. A type of permanent housing meeting the requirements of 24 CFR 578.37

(a)(1)(ii).

3. Concepts. The concepts contained in this section are important for all applicants to understand in order to complete all parts of the FY2012 CoC Program Consolidated Application.

These concepts are used throughout this NOFA:

a. Annual Renewal Demand (ARD). (24 CFR 578.17(b)(2)) is the total amount of all the

CoC’s projects that will be eligible for renewal in the FY2012 CoC Program Competition. It is the sum of the annual renewal amounts of all projects within the CoC’s geographic area eligible to apply for renewal in the FY2012 CoC Program competition, before any adjustments to leasing, rental assistance, and operating line items based on FMR changes.

b. Permanent Housing Bonus. CoCs may submit project applications for Permanent Housing

Bonus projects, which are new permanent supportive housing projects that serve chronically homeless individuals and families, with priority on serving those with the longest histories of homelessness, in an amount up to 10 percent of the CoC’s PPRN. The 10 percent cap for each

CoC was displayed during the CoC Registration process in e-snaps. Projects that meet the eligibility and project quality thresholds in CoCs with a minimum score of 97 points will be conditionally awarded before other types of new projects as established in Section V.B.1.b of this NOFA. See Section II.I.3 of this NOFA for more information.

c. Preliminary Pro Rata Need (PPRN). The amount of funds a CoC could receive based upon the geographic areas HUD approves as included in the CoC. To determine the homeless assistance need of a particular jurisdiction, HUD will use the formula set forth in the CoC Program interim rule at

§578.17(a). Each year, HUD publishes the PPRN for each jurisdiction. A CoC’s PPRN is determined by adding the published PPRN of each jurisdiction within the HUD-approved CoC.

d. Reallocation. Reallocation is when a CoC shifts funds in whole or part from existing renewal projects to create one or more permanent supportive housing projects, rapid re-housing projects, or dedicated HMIS projects without decreasing the CoC’s annual renewal demand.

Even if the CoC does not receive the minimum score of 97 to have new projects funded (see

Section V.B.2.d of this NOFA), the new projects created by reallocation will be conditionally funded before other types of new projects (see V.B.1.b for more information) so long as they meet the eligibility and project quality thresholds established by HUD. New projects created by reallocation that do not meet the eligibility and project quality thresholds established by HUD will be rejected.

II. Continuum of Care Program Requirements. The CoC Program interim rule at 24 CFR part 578 details the requirements that grants awarded under this competition must comply with.

Regulatory citations are provided below so that applicants can refer to specific areas of the CoC

Program interim rule for details related to:

A. Establishing and Operating the CoC. 24 CFR 578.5 and 24 CFR 578.7 detail the requirements for establishment of the CoC and its operations.

B. CoC Geographic Area. 24 CFR 578.5 requires representatives from relevant organizations within a geographic area to establish a Continuum of Care to carry out the duties within the geographic area. The boundaries of identified CoC areas may not overlap and any overlapping geographies are considered Competing Continuums of Care. HUD will follow the process detailed in 24 CFR 578.35(d) to determine which Continuum will be funded in the case of CoC geographic areas that overlap in whole or in part. See section V.A.8 for more information about how projects in Competing CoCs will be awarded funding.

C. Planning Duties of the CoC. Planning duties for CoCs are detailed in 24 CFR 578.7.

D. Centralized or Coordinated Assessment System. The definition of Centralized or

Coordinated Assessment can be found at 24 CFR 578.3. 24 CFR 578.7(a)(8) details responsibilities of the CoC with regard to establishing and operating such a system. CoCs without a centralized or coordinated assessment system may use reallocation to reduce or eliminate one or more renewal SSOs in order to create one new SSO project to fund the costs of operating a centralized or coordinated assessment system. CoCs may use planning costs to design and plan for the implementation of a centralized or coordinated assessment system. CoCs may also use available PPRN funds to create a centralized or coordinated assessment system.

E. CoC Program Components. 24 CFR 578.37 provides that CoC funds may be used for projects under five program components: permanent housing, transitional housing, supportive services only, HMIS, and in some cases, homelessness prevention. Homelessness prevention is an additional component to be included in future CoC competitions through the implementation of High Performing Communities (HPC), since only designated HPCs may carry out homelessness prevention activities through the CoC program. Therefore, the four components that will be funded in the FY2012 CoC Program Competition are:

1. Permanent Housing;

2. Transitional Housing;

3. Supportive Services Only; and

4. HMIS

The components are fully described in 24 CFR 578.37 of the CoC Program interim rule.

F. High Performing Communities. While the Act provides that HUD will designate no more than 10 HPCs in each of the first two years of the program, and, at 24 CFR 578.65, the rule establishes standards for qualifying as an HPC, the requirement to use HMIS data to qualify as an HPC and the requirements for applying to be an HPC make it impossible for HUD to designate any HPCs in the FY2012 CoC Program Competition due to the lack of data responsive to the statutory selection criteria. The Act requires that HUD review at least 2 years of community data for some of the selection criteria to determine whether a CoC is designated as an

HPC. While communities may have data that could be used to make the determination, there is a lack of consistency amongst the communities as to the type and quality of the data collected.

Additionally, the HMIS rule, as well as the data and technical standards that are needed to ensure data reliability are not yet in place, and all projects necessary for these calculations are not yet included in HMIS. For example, to produce reliable data on mean length of homelessness, data from emergency shelters must be included in the HMIS for the time period specified. ESG recipients were first required to contribute data to HMIS by the ESG Program interim rule effective January 4, 2012, which was implemented with the second allocation of ESG funds.

Implementation of the rule did not begin until the second allocation of FY2011 funds.

Therefore, HUD will not designate any HPCs in the FY2012 CoC Program Competition.

G. Collaborative Applicant. HUD may only review FY2012 CoC Consolidated Applications submitted from the Collaborative Applicant that has been designated by the CoC to submit the

CoC Consolidated Application on behalf of the CoC. The Collaborative Applicant will compile all parts of the CoC Consolidated Application, including the CoC Application, the Priority

Listings, and all project applications the CoC has designated for funding within the geographic area. Additionally, as set forth in 24 CFR 578.3, the Collaborative Applicant is the only entity that can apply for CoC planning costs from HUD on behalf of the CoC that the Collaborative

Applicant represents.

H. CoC Maximum Award. The process for determining a CoC’s maximum award amount is detailed in 24 CFR 578.17(b). This process requires that HUD adjust leasing, operating, and rental assistance budget line items based on changes to the Fair Market Rents (FMR). All adjustments will be made prior to award announcement.

These adjustments will be made as follows:

1. Funds awarded for rental assistance in all projects will be adjusted by applying the Fair

Market Rent (FMR) in effect at the time of award, including in the cases where the FMR for a specific area has decreased from the previous year.

2. Funds awarded for operating and leasing in permanent housing projects will be increased based on the average increase in FMR amounts within the CoC’s geographic area, weighted for population density. Because leasing and operating costs do not decrease relative to rent amounts for specific units (e.g., operating costs for 10 units that have rents of $500 are likely the same as for 10 units that have rents that are $450) adjustments to leasing and operating line items will not include decreases if FMRs decrease in the geographic area. The operating and/or leasing budget line items in these projects will remain the same as in the most recent grant agreement or grant agreement amendment.

II. Award Information

1. Amount Allocated. Approximately $1.61 billion is available for funding. Carried over or recaptured funds from previous fiscal years, if available, may be added to this amount.

2. Distribution of Funds. The distribution of funds will depend largely on locally determined priorities, overall demand, and renewal eligibility.

a. Renewals. Awards made under the SHP and S+C are eligible for renewal if they are currently operating and have a signed grant agreement with HUD that will expire during the period beginning January 1, 2013 and ending December 31, 2013. These projects are renewable under the CoC Program Competition as set forth in 24 CFR 578.33 of the interim rule to continue ongoing leasing, operating, supportive services, rental assistance, HMIS, and project administration costs.

Applicants that were eligible under the SHP and S+C programs but are no longer eligible under the CoC Program, will continue to be eligible for renewal of leasing, operating, supportive service, rental assistance, HMIS and project administration costs under 24 CFR 578.33(d)(1), so long as their project continues to serve the same population and the same number of persons or units in the same type of housing as identified in their most recently amended grant agreement signed before August 30, 2012. No new Safe Haven projects will be funded; however, existing

Safe Haven projects may be renewed to continue to carry out activities that are eligible costs under Subpart D of the CoC Program Interim Rule.

b. Grant terms. The initial grant term for new project applications may be 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, or 15 years. However, the following exceptions apply:

(1) Any new project application that includes leasing – either leasing alone or leasing costs plus other costs (e.g. supportive services, HMIS, etc.) - can only request up to a 3-year grant term with funding for 3 years.

(2) Any of the following new projects can request 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, or 5-year grant terms with funding for the same number of years: operating costs, supportive services only, HMIS, and project administration.

(3) Any new project applications that requests new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation must request a minimum of a 3-year grant term and can request up to a 5-year grant terms.

(4) Any new projects requesting project-based rental assistance or sponsor-based rental assistance, or operating costs may request up to a 15-year grant term; however, the project applicants may only request up to 5 years of funds. Funding for the remainder of the term is subject to availability and applicants will have to apply for additional funds at such time and in such manner as HUD may require.

(5) If an applicant requests funds for new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation in addition to requesting funds for operating, supportive services, or HMIS, the funding will be for the 3 years requested, and the grant term will be 3 years plus the time necessary to acquire the property, complete construction, and begin operating the project. HUD will require recordation of a HUD-approved use and repayment covenant (a form may be obtained from the field office) for all grants of funds for new constructions, acquisition, and rehabilitation. (24 CFR 578.81)

(6) All renewal project applications, including rental assistance, are limited to 1-year grant terms and 1-year of funding.

3. Permanent Housing Bonus. For FY2012, CoCs may submit project applications to create one or more Permanent Housing Bonus projects, which are new permanent supportive housing projects that serve chronically homeless individuals and families, with priority on serving those with the longest histories of homelessness. Projects may limit admission to, or provide a preference for, subpopulations of homeless persons and families who need the specialized supportive services that are provided in the housing. While the housing may offer services for a particular type of disability, no otherwise eligible individual with a disability, who may benefit from the services provided, may be excluded on the grounds that they do not have a particular disability pursuant to 24 CFR 578.93(b)(7). Demonstrating progress in reducing chronic homelessness will continue to be a scored item in the CoC Application.

Each CoC may submit one or more new project applications for Permanent Housing

Bonus projects, which are new permanent supportive housing projects that serve chronically homeless individuals and families, with priority on serving those with the longest histories of homelessness, the sum of which must not exceed the 10 percent cap of the PPRN displayed during CoC Registration in e-snaps. No more than 20 percent of the total of the grant’s eligible project costs for each grant (grant total minus project administration costs up to 10 percent) may be used for case management. HUD will not fund supportive services other than case management for the Permanent Housing Bonus projects. The remaining 80 percent of the grant’s eligible project costs must be used for eligible housing costs (i.e., new construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, leasing, rental assistance, or operating costs).

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Project Applicants. (24 CFR 578.15) Eligible project applicants for the CoC

Program Competition are nonprofit organizations, States, local governments, and instrumentalities of State and local governments, and public housing agencies, as such term is defined in 24 CFR 5.100, without limitation or exclusion. For-profit entities are not eligible to apply for grants or to be subrecipients of grant funds.

B. Renewal Projects. Awards made under the SHP and S+C programs are eligible for renewal if they are currently in operation and have a signed grant agreement with HUD which will expire during the period beginning January 1, 2013 and ending December 31, 2013. HUD will not select renewal projects for an award unless the grant agreement has been signed by both HUD and the recipient, and the project meets one of the following additional eligibility requirements:

1. Any SHP or S+C grant awarded in a preceding competition that expires in Calendar Year

(CY) 2013 (the period beginning on January 1, 2013 and ending on December 31, 2013). This includes projects funded under the Rapid Re-housing Demonstration Program that are expiring in

CY2013.

2. Any S+C grant awarded prior to FY2002 for which funding is expected to run out in

CY2013, and which has never applied for renewal funding.

3. Any SHP or S+C grant originally awarded in the FY2006 competition and, notwithstanding the expiration date, that has funds expiring in CY2013 or later and has not been renewed in a previous competition. Funds for these grants will no longer be available after September 30, 2013. The Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS) requires that all draws for the grants awarded in the FY2006 competition be made no later than September 26, 2013. Funds from these expiring grants will be recaptured and returned to the U.S. Treasury and will no longer be available for expenditure, even if the end date established in the grant agreement is beyond

September 30, 2013. Recipients may not accelerate their spending rate to spend down funds by

September 27, 2013. Field offices will monitor draws for affected grants to ensure that funds will be drawn only to reimburse the affected recipients for actual costs incurred in accordance with the project budget on, or before, the LOCCS availability of funds deadline. Grants awarded in the FY2006 CoC Competition are not eligible for renewal in the FY2012 Competition if they expired, or are expiring, in CY2012 (time period beginning January 1, 2012 and ending

December 31, 2012), and were not renewed in a previous competition, or were not approved for extension into CY2013 or later.

4. Renewing project applicants can request only 1 year of funding.

5. The total request for each renewing project cannot exceed the Annual Renewal Amount approved by HUD for that project. Because funds for acquisition, new construction, and rehabilitation cannot be renewed, grants being renewed whose original expiring award included those funds may only renew leasing, supportive services, rental assistance, operating, and HMIS, costs and cannot exceed up to 10 percent in administrative costs. For information on Annual

Renewal Amount, see Section I.D.1.a of this NOFA.

6. HUD will recapture grant funds remaining unspent at the end of the previous grant period when it renews a grant.

7. HUD encourages the consolidation of appropriate renewal grants when the grants are with the same recipient, have the same component and expire in the same year. However, projects that have not yet been consolidated must submit separate project applications for individual renewal grants. Where a recipient wants to consolidate renewal grants, this action can be accomplished by the field office at the point of renewal grant agreement execution.

8. Applicants renewing rental assistance (S+C) for the first time that request more units than approved in the original application must have provided their local HUD field office with copies of all executed leases at the time of Grant Inventory Worksheet (GIW) submission to support the higher number of units requested in the application. HUD will consider the number of documented units under lease at the time of GIW submission the maximum number of units eligible for renewal in the FY2012 CoC Program Competition.

C. New Projects. The initial grant term for new project applications may be 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, or 15 years. However, the following exceptions apply:

1. Any new project application that includes leasing costs – either leasing alone or leasing costs plus other costs (e.g., supportive services, HMIS, etc) - can only request up to a 3-year grant term with funding for 3 years.

2. Any of the following new projects can request 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, or 5-year grant terms with funding for the same number of years: operating costs, supportive services only, HMIS, and project administration.

3. Any new project applications that requests new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation must request a minimum of a 3-year grant term and can request up to a 5-year grant term.

4. Any new project application requesting project-based rental assistance, sponsor-based rental assistance, or operating costs may request up to a 15-year grant term; however, they may only request up to 5 years of funds. Funding for the remainder of the term is subject to availability and applicants will have to apply for additional funds at such time and in such manner as HUD may require.

5. If an applicant also requests funds for new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation, in addition to requesting funds for operating, supportive services, or HMIS, the funding will be for the 3 years requested, and the grant term will be 3 years plus the time necessary to acquire the property, complete construction, and begin operating the project. HUD will require recordation of a HUD-approved use and repayment covenant (a form may be obtained from the field office) for all grants of funds for new construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation. (24 CFR 578.81).

6. In order to expend funds within statutorily required deadlines, applicants funded for sponsor-based and project-based rental assistance must execute the grant award and begin providing rental assistance within 2 years.