HUD Announces $1.83 billion Available for Continuum of Care Program








September 16, 2014    
ISSUES  |  POLICY  |  SOLUTIONS  |  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Emanuel Cavallaro


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HUD Announces $1.83 billion Available for Continuum of Care Program


The Department of Housing and Urban Development today released the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for $1.83 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2014 funds for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program, which funds efforts by nonprofits and state and local governments to end homelessness. The funds are being made available under the FY 2013 - FY 2014 CoC Program Competition. The submission deadline is Thursday, Oct. 30 by 7:59:59 p.m. ET. HUD is advising all applicants to review the FY 2014 CoC Program Funding Notice before beginning the application process.
HUD plans to post a pre-recorded webcast covering key changes in the FY 2014 CoC Funding Notice requirements to the Webcast Archives page of the HUD website, and will send out a listserv message once the broadcast is available for viewing.





Congress Expected to Pass Continuing Resolution This Week
On Tuesday, September 9, Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced a continuing resolution (CR), or stopgap funding measure, to continue funding government programs, including HUD's low-income housing and homelessness programs, at FY 2014 levels through the beginning of FY 2015, until December 11. Congress must pass a CR before October 1, the start of the next fiscal year, to avoid a government shutdown. Representative Rogers' CR is expected pass through both chambers of Congress this week. After the November elections, Congress must either finalize FY 2015 funding levels or pass another CR to fund the government past December 11.
Senate Committee to Mark Up Runaway and Homeless Youth Act Reauthorization
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, this Thursday, Sept. 18. This bill, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in July, would reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHYA) Act, which expired Sept. 30, 2013.
From 2012 to 2013, the nation's median income remained around $52,000, and real median income held steady at about $66,000 for family households and $31,000 for nonfamily households. A six year comparison, however, showed an 8 percent decline in real median income since 2007, the year before the Great Recession.
The figures released today are based on pre-tax cash income and do not include non-cash benefits such as those from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The Census Bureau will publish poverty estimates based on the Supplemental Poverty Measure, an economic indicator that accounts for these benefits, in October.
On Friday, Sept. 19, at 1:30 pm ET, the Alliance's Homelessness Research Institute will host a webinar on effective strategies for including youth in the upcoming 2015 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The webinar, "Prepare for the 2015 Point-in-Time Count: Enumerating Unsheltered Youth," will cover everything from useful planning tactics, guidance from HUD on conducting reliable unsheltered counts of homeless youth, to PIT Count implementation. During the webinar, leaders from communities that span urban, suburban, and rural areas will share their most effective PIT Count strategies.
An Introduction to SSVF and Overview of Compliance and Reporting
On Thursday, Sept. 25, at 10 a.m. ET, the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans will host a webinar designed to help SSVF grantees develop appropriate program design. The webinar, "An Introduction to SSVF and Overview of Compliance and Reporting," will also provide grantees and potential SSVF applicants with background information on program goals, resources, and expectations. To participate in the webinar, you must first enroll in MyVeHU Campus.
In this post, we take a look at the findings from a report recently released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University, "Housing America's Older Adults." The growth of America's older adult population is expected to outpace the supply of accessible, affordable housing, which could force many older adults into homelessness.
Youth Homelessness is More Than 'Adult Homelessness, Junior'
By Mindy Mitchell and Emanuel Cavallaro
An important component of the Housing First approach, rapid re-housing, has yet to be applied to the problem of homeless youth on a national scale. If it can work for everyone else, why can't it work for homeless youth? In this post, we discuss the factors that homeless youth providers must consider when providing rapid re-housing.
Dear Advocates: Here is How You Can Make a Difference This November
By Emanuel Cavallaro
During the midterm elections this November, homeless advocates have a great deal at stake. In this post, we introduce our readers to the "Voterization" effort by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) to encourage advocacy organizations to engage renters and other low-income people in the voting process.

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