Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program

NOFO Highlights HUD will select up to 50 communities to participate in the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) to develop and execute a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness. 8 of the 50 selected communities must be rural communities. [Section I.A.1] Only CoC Collaborative Applicants may apply to this NOFO [Section III.A] Applications are submitted through grants.gov, and are due by July 27, 2021 Communities represented by the CoC Collaborative Applicant must include a youth action board, the local or state public child welfare agency, and a broad array of other partners [V.A] The rating and ranking criteria included in this NOFO will be used to competitively select the communities [Section V.A] The selection of the selected communities will be announced in September 2021 Selected Communities will: Develop and implement a CCP to prevent and end youth homelessness [Section III.F.b] Apply for project funding up to an amount between $1 million and $15 million per community, based on each community's youth population size and poverty rate, for a total demonstration amount of approximately $145 million [Section II.C] Requests for funding for all project types allowed under the CoC Program to support homeless and at risk youth, as well as innovative project types that may require a waiver or exception of CoC Program or McKinney-Vento Act requirements [Appendix A ] Request funding for a 2-year grant term that will be eligible for renewal under the CoC Program, as long as the project meets statutory CoC Program requirements [Section II.D] Receive technical assistance to advise the development and implementation of the CCP [Section 1.A.1] Participate in an evaluation that will inform the federal strategy for preventing and ending youth homelessness [Section I.A and VI.C.] NOFO Priority The purpose of the YHDP is to implement projects that demonstrate how a comprehensive approach to serving homeless youth age 24 and under can dramatically reduce youth homelessness. The population to be served by this demonstration program is youth experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied and pregnant or parenting youth. In order to effectively implement a system that addresses the needs of youth experiencing homelessness, Continuums of Care (CoCs) must understand the subgroups of unaccompanied youth and incorporate those understandings into the YHDP CCP and awarded projects. This will require CoCs to use innovative practices to design better projects and strong comprehensive plans to prevent and end youth homelessness.