On November 22, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published the FY 2013 – FY 2014 CoC Program Competition Notice of Funding Available (NOFA). The CoC Application submission deadline is 7:59:59 PM Eastern Time on Monday, February 3, 2014. This CoC application will apply to both FY 2013 and FY 2014 fiscal year appropriations.
The FY2013-FY2014 NOFA clearly lays out HUD’s homeless policy and program priorities, including an emphasis on ending chronic homelessness by increasing Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) beds, prioritizing the chronically homeless for PSH beds when vacancies become available through turnover, and incorporating a Housing First approach in the design of a PSH project. CoCs will be able to apply for new projects created through reallocation for PSH that propose to exclusively serve the chronically homeless –which includes individuals and households with children as defined in 25 CFR 578.3—as part of its comprehensive strategy to end chronic homelessness. For information on creating quality supportive housing, visit CSH’s Dimensions of Quality Supportive Housing resource page.
Other HUD priorities include strategic resource allocation and program evaluation, ending family homelessness through Rapid Re-Housing, and building partnerships between CoCs and Public Housing Authorities (information on unique PHA programs and initiatives can be found at www.csh.org/phatoolkit.)
The scoring criteria in the NOFA are closely linked to these priorities, which were developed in consultation with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) and are intended to help CoCs think and act more strategically in meeting the goals of Opening Doors.
