Memo on CPD Waivers Released

On December 30, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) issued a memo explaining the availability and extension of waivers of certain regulatory requirements associated with several CPD programs including the Continuum of Care (CoC), Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). The memo covers current grants and grants that have not yet been awarded. Waivers are to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to facilitate assistance to eligible communities and households economically impacted by COVID-19. The waivers are extensions of previous waivers HUD issued due to the pandemic, set to expire on December 31, 2021. Not all pandemic-related waivers have been extended. Recipients must opt-in to use or continue to use these waivers. The memo also announces a simplified notification process for program recipients to use this waiver flexibly to expedite the delivery of assistance.

The memo lists available waivers and describes the procedure for using available waivers of program requirements. Grantees must mail or email notification to the CPD Director of the HUD Field Office serving the grantee to use one of the listed waivers. The email notification must be sent two days before the grantee anticipates using waiver flexibility, and include the following details: requestor’s name, title, and contact information; date on which the grantee anticipates first use of the waiver flexibility; and a list of the waiver flexibilities the grantee will use. The memo can be found here.