The FY 2017 Continuum of Care Program Competition is Now Open

On July 14, HUD announced the publication of the FY 2017 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), making available approximately $2 billion in FY 2017 for the CoC Program. The CoC Program is a HUD administered program designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goals of ending homelessness and provides funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, States, and local governments to quickly re-house individuals and families experiencing homelessness. As of July 18, the FY 2017 CoC Consolidated Application and project applications are available in e-snaps.

The submission deadline is Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 8:00 PM EDT.

Listed below are a number of highlights and special considerations for the FY 2017 competition. More information can be found on HUD’s FY 2017 CoC Program Competition: Funding Availability Page. 

• Tier 1 is 94 percent of the CoC’s Annual Renewal Demand (ARD) amount. HUD has posted the Estimated ARD Report, which includes each CoC’s Preliminary Pro Rata Need (PPRN), estimated ARD, CoC Planning, and Permanent Housing Bonus amounts.
• Tier 2 project-level scoring has been revised to include only three criteria – CoC Application score, ranked position of the project application in Tier 2, and the project application’s commitment to Housing First. The type of project has been removed.
• The amount available for the Permanent Housing Bonus is 6 percent of the CoC’s Final Pro Rata Need (FPRN).
• Renewal project applicants may submit their renewal project applications with no changes.
• Communities can now apply for a new type of project that combines the activities of a transitional housing project with those of a rapid re-housing project.
• HUD has made several changes to the eligibility requirements for permanent housing, permanent supportive housing, and rapid rehousing.
• The local ranking process continues to be crucial to making the CoC Program as effective as possible. HUD’s Optional Rating and Ranking Tool for the CoC Program Competition should help CoCs enhance their local competitions.
• System Performance Measurement information will be largely scored on data submitted by the CoC to the Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX). HUD’s new “CoC Competition Report” in the HDX for each CoC includes the majority of the data needed to complete the competition’s application.

NAHRO will provide a deeper analysis of the latest changes found in the FY 2017 CoC Program Competition in the forthcoming edition of the NAHRO Monitor (members only).