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July 16. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this week continued preparations for the FY 2009 Homeless Assistance Grants competition with the publication of a Notice for Continuums of Care on electronic registration procedures and also outlining some important changes from previous competitions. This follows HUD’s December 29 publication, which was later amended on April 16, of its General Section providing policy requirements applicable to all HUD FY 2009 discretionary program applications. Still to come is the actual Homeless Assistance Grants Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) which HUD states will not be published before August 15. HUD will announce the release of this year’s NOFA via its Homeless Assistance listserv. To join HUD’s listserv, go to http://www.hud.gov/subscribe/mailinglist.cfm and click on Homeless Assistance Program. Again this year, HUD is using the e-snaps electronic registration and submission system rather than grants.gov for the Homeless Assistance Grants Program.
While some of the major Notice provisions are highlighted below, it is very important that all potential applicants read this week’s Notice in full.
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In an effort to streamline the renewal award process in 2009, HUD has modified the selection process. Eligible Supportive Housing Program (SHP) and Shelter Plus Care (S+C) renewal projects will be conditionally awarded as quickly as possible. New projects will be awarded after the project threshold review and the scoring of the CoC application have been completed. During a July 15 webcast on the Notice, HUD officials indicated that they expected that it would be sometime after the new year before the new project monies were awarded.
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In 2009, CoCs in hold harmless status (HHN) will not be able to reallocate funds to new projects. New project applications must be either new projects within FPRN (Final Pro Rata Need) for CoCs in PPRN or projects that will be funded with permanent housing bonus funds (described below).
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For 2009, the Samaritan Bonus Initiative will be replaced with a Permanent Housing Bonus. CoCs will be able to use funds for homeless disabled individuals and families or for chronically homeless individuals. As creating new permanent housing beds for chronically homeless individuals is still a HUD priority, HUD strongly encourages CoCs to use at least a portion of available bonus funds to create a project that will exclusively serve the chronically homeless.
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In order to be eligible to submit an application in the FY2009 Homeless Assistance competition, CoCs must register in the electronic database, e-snaps, prior to the beginning of the 2009 CoC competition. CoCs that applied for funds in 2008 will only need to update registration information in e-snaps. During the registration phase, CoCs will be asked to identify the CoC lead agency, contact information for lead agency staff, and the geography that the CoC is claiming. CoCs will also be required to attach their SHP and S+C grant inventory worksheets. CoCs will receive confirmation from HUD concerning claimed geography, PPRN and HHN Amounts.
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Through the CoC Registration process, CoCs will use the SHP and S+C grant inventory worksheets to establish those projects that are eligible for renewal in 2009. Projects will be considered eligible for renewal in the 2009 CoC competition if they expire in calendar year 2010 and if they meet all other HUD requirements in regards to performance and capacity.
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For grants originally awarded in 2002 or 2003 that have not yet been renewed, the funds associated with these grants will only be available for use through the end of Federal Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 respectively. After that date, these funds will automatically be 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 later. Read the Notice for more details.
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In 2009, CoCs that are in PPRN (preliminary pro rata need) status will be permitted to request one, two, or three years of funding for SHP renewal projects up to the maximum amount of available pro rata need. HUD reserves the right to not allow multi-year grant term requests for renewal projects in future competitions; therefore, CoCs may want to consider moving to one-year renewals to maximize funding.
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Beginning in 2009, applicants for the Shelter Plus Care program will only be permitted to apply for 100 percent of the FMR and will no longer be permitted to request any amount that is greater or less than the local Fair Market Rent (FMR)
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To ensure that the CoC system addresses the needs of homeless veterans, the Notice states that it is particularly important that CoCs involve veteran service organizations with specific experience in serving homeless veterans
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