FY2014 Continuum of Care Announcement

PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF FY2014 CONTINUUM OF CARE

PROGRAM COMPETITION

The FY2014 Continuum of Care [CoC] Program Competition opened Tuesday, September 16, 2014. The deadline for submitting an application for funding is 7:59:59 p.m. Eastern standard time, October 30, 2014. It is important to note: due to funding limitations, there is no funding available for new programs. Applicants may only submit requests for funds to: renew existing eligible projects; reallocate funding from existing programs for programs serving designated populations; CoC planning projects, and; United Funding Agency (UFA) costs in HUD-designated communities.

In order to comply with Federal regulations, members of the public and social service agencies which belong to the Northern Panhandle Continuum of Care [NPCOC] are hereby notified of the release of the Notice of Funding Availability [NOFA] for the Continuum of Care Program Competition, Docket No. FR-5800-N-30; a full copy of the NOFA released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] is available at https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/nofa-for-fy2014-funds-in-the-fy2013-fy2013-coc-program-competition.pdf

The information contained in this notice was developed in order to comply with the guidance provided in the NOFA and was drawn from sections including: Local Competition Deadlines; CoC Transparency; CoC Program Implementation; Strategic Resource Allocation; Project Renewal Threshold and; Application and Submission Information: CoC Consolidated Application.

In order to conduct a collaborative process for the development of an application in accordance with 24CFR578.9, the NPCOC has established internal competition deadlines in order to submit a funding application to HUD by 7:59:59PM Eastern time on October 30, 2014, as detailed in portions of the NOFA concerning application submission and timely receipt requirements.

In order to ensure submission of the full application by this deadline, any potential project applicants must notify the NPCOC of their intention to submit a proposal for funding no later than October 1, 2014. All proposal submissions must be presented to the NPCOC for review no later than October 10, 2014.

The NPCOC will notify all applicants in writing no later than October 20, 2014 whether the application will be included as part of the NPCOC Consolidated Application submission. A full and complete application must be submitted for NPCOC review no later than October 27, 2014 on the e-snaps website according to the guidelines provided in the NOFA.

The NPCOC Ranking Process is included with this notification; all potential applicants should be aware of the process which will be used to evaluate and rank any applications for inclusion in the NPCOC Consolidated Application submission. It should be noted that emergency shelter programs are not an eligible component of the CoC Program Competition.

The NPCOC will mail written notification to all project applicants no later than October 20, 2014 whether the proposed applications will be included as part of the NPCOC Consolidated Application submission. Once completed, the NPCOC will make available for review all parts of the NPCOC Consolidated Application available to the community upon request. 

To be eligible for funding under this NOFA, project applicants must meet all statutory and regulatory requirements in the McKinney-Vento Act as modified by the HEARTH Act and the CoC Program interim rule (24CFR part 578). Project applicants can obtain a complete copy of the FY2014 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program NOFA, the CoC Program interim rule and other relevant documents on the OneCPD Resource Exchange at https://www.onecpd.info/ or by contacting the NOFA Information Center at 1-800-483-8929.

FY2014 NPCOC RANKING CRITERIA AND PROCESS

Projects submitted in response to the FY2014 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program NOFA will be evaluated and ranked as follows:

1. A neutral committee of three or more individuals will be appointed to rate and rank project submissions, confirm or deny the continuation of renewal projects and rank new project proposals. Committee members should be familiar with housing and homeless needs and be willing to review projects with the best interest of homeless persons in mind (Neutral means individuals who are not employees, staff or otherwise have a business or personal conflict of interest with the applicant organizations).

2. Rating and ranking will be done by the individuals appointed to the committee; the rating and ranking committee should select a lead facilitator. Final affirmation and ranking for projects must be put into writing and signed by members of the committee.

3. In accordance with existing NPCOC Memorandums of Understanding [MOU], priority will be given to projects which:

a. preserves or expands permanent supportive housing; or

b. utilizes and maintains capital based projects as a priority over leased units; or

c. preserves needed beds in the current inventory as a primary priority; or

d. leverages other funding creating maximum impact.

As outlined in the FY2014 Continuum of Care Program Competition Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) it is important to note: due to funding limitations, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will not consider requests for new funding outside of the reallocation process, CoC planning and United Funding Agency (UFA) costs.

4. Final ranked project submissions and rating and ranking materials will be reviewed for adherence to process and approved by the steering committee.

Project proposals will be evaluated in two categories, New/Expansion Projects and Renewal Projects.

5. The HUD Pro-Rata will be allocated as follows:

a. The Pro-rata identified for each county or sub-region will be reserved for projects from or benefiting those county jurisdictions or agreed sub-regions; with the exception that up to 15% will be reserved or designated for HMIS administration to meet HUD compliance.

b. Pro-rata balance between counties, or collaborative efforts in the best interest of all counties, must be at the agreement of each county included in the pro-rata sharing agreement, and be submitted in writing from each local county continuum affected.

6. Proposals for new and expansion or renewal (continuing) projects will be processed as follows:

a. Renewal projects will be accepted or rejected. Renewals will not be prioritized by the rating and ranking committee.

b. No new projects are being considered for funding by HUD during the FY2014 Continuum of Care Program Competition. When funding for New and Expansion projects is available, proposals will be ranked in order of responsiveness to the RFP, available HUD pro-rata fund limits and allocations in #5 above, and the criteria outlined below: (Administrative body is the lead administrative entity for each submitted project)

i. Administrative body shows demonstrated ability to comply with HUD and NPCOC requirements

ii. Administrative body shows demonstrated fiscal ability to support the proposed project with the addition of awarded CoC and other known leveraged funds

iii. The Administrative body has good experience working and complying with current and prior NPCOC or HUD funded projects (no adverse findings or performance)

iv. The Administrative body is a participating member of the Northern Panhandle Continuum of Care (Has been attending and otherwise active in the respective local continuum)

v. The project meets an identified homeless/housing population need for the jurisdiction or area applying on behalf of

vi. Administrative body is capable and willing to participant within HMIS requirements

7. Ranking

a. Each proposal will be assessed for meeting the requirements of the NOFA.

b. Each new and/or expansion project will be ranked according to submission requirements and the projects ability to meet the communities homeless needs.

i. Only one project per rank. No duplicate ranking.

c. Renewal Projects will be accepted or rejected and not ranked.

8. Protests

Following notification to proposers for full proposal, protests may be submitted to the NOCOC regarding the NOFA process and selection of project(s). 

Protests shall be in writing and emailed to NPCOC Co-chair Lisa Badia at lbadia@wheelinghomeless.org no later than October 24, 2014.

Protests shall state the reason for the protest, citing the law, rule, regulation, or practice on which the protest is based. The NPCOC shall respond in writing to the protestor within 72 hours of the end of the protest period. The response shall include the final decision on the protest and the basis for decision.

9. Disclaimer

The NPCOC Steering Committee reserves the right to change this process in the best interest of the continuum. Notice of changes will be provided to all organizations who have notified the continuum or their intent to submit a project application.

Timeline for FY2014 Continuum of Care NOFA Ranking Process:

Release of Public Solicitation for Project Applicants: September 24, 2014

Notice of Interest Due to NPCOC: October 1, 2014

All Proposed Submissions Due for NPCOC Review: October 10, 2014

Rating and Ranking Period: October 13-15, 2014

Notification of Ranking: October 20, 2014

Deadline to Protest Ranking: October 24, 2014

Deadline for Inclusion of Application and NPCOC Review: October 27, 2014

Esnaps Data Entry Due: October 30, 2014