Funding Availability: Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (YHDP)

The CoC has released the Request for Proposals for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program. The RFP makes available $2,304,742 for the two-year grant period July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2022, with eligibility for annual renewals following the initial grant term.

Applicants must attend a mandatory training and bidders’ conference March 16, 12:30 – 3:30 pm. Proposals are due April 15, 2020.

The RFP packet is available here.

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CoC Board of Directors Meeting – 12/6, 9 am

The CoC Board of Directors is meeting tomorrow, December 6, 9 – 11 am, at the Union Station 2nd floor conference room, 55 Frank B. Murray St., Springfield.

Our agenda:

  1. Review minutes of the September 27, 2019 Board meeting
  2.  Brief Updates/News
    • Progress on Veteran and Chronic Homelessness
    • Participation in Built for Zero/Institute for Healthcare Improvement strategy session (and waiting to identify next steps)
    • 413Cares
    • Shelter news –FOH-Sheriff partnership; Brighter Futures Youth Shelter
    • New program: Womanshelter’s Coordinated Entry Project
    • News from the Western Mass Network to End Homelessness
  3.  Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP)
    • Summary of Planning Process, Stakeholder Planning Group, Youth Action Board
    • Items for Review and Approval:
      • Vision & guiding principles
      • Decision-making structure
    • Action Item: Approval of submission of draft (due by 12/29) – For a preview, you can look at pages 11-14 of the attached powerpoint. But you don’t need to!—we will go over during the meeting.

CoC Board of Directors Meeting

The CoC’s Quarterly Board meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, September 27, 2019, 9-11 am, at Springfield’s Union Station, 2nd floor conference room. The meeting is open to the public.

The meeting agenda:

  1. Review minutes of the June 21, 2019 Board meeting
  2. CoC Competition – Application summary. To view the draft application, go to: https://springfieldhampdencoc.wordpress.com/2019/09/24/fy19-coc-application-for-public-review-and-comment/ Action Item: Vote to authorize application submission.
  3. CoC-ESG Written Standards – Action Item: Vote on proposed amandment to CoC-ESG Written Standards 9 24 2019 (see proposed new language on page 4 in red)
  4. Launch of DV Coordinated Entry Project
  5. Youth Homelessness
    • Big news! Selected as a Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) site!
    • Foster Care/Homelessness project

FY19 CoC Application for Public Review and Comment

The CoC’s FY19 application is due to HUD on September 30, 2019. The full application is posted here for public review and comment. Please direct any comments to gmccafferty@springfieldcityhall.com.

CoC Application:

Project applications, in ranked order:

  1. HMIS  $61,992
  2. DV Coordinated Entry $230,263
  3. CSO-FOH Coordinated Assessment $243,000
  4. Viability Next Step $529,169
  5. CHD Family PSH $575,592
  6. RVCC CoC Program $310,661
  7. VOC Scattered Site Family Supportive Housing $127,271
  8. MHA Consolidated S+C $641,696
  9. Catholic Charities RRH $445,652
  10. CSO-FOH PSH $241,806
  11. Gandara SHINE RRH $385,379
  12. Way Finders Turning Point $65,112
  13. SMOC Bowdoin Tranquility $61,373
  14. MHA PSH Expansion $100,381
  15. YWCA DV RRH $377,989

Projects 1-11 are rnked in Tier 1. Projects 12-15 are ranked in Tier 2.

Unranked projects:

 

FY19 CoC Renewals and New Projects

The CoC Application Review and Ranking Committee has met and made its determinations for which applications should be included in our CoC’s FY19 application, the ranking of the applications, and the amount allowed for each application. The list is below.

All renewal projects are included, although a number have had grant amounts reduced, usually by small percentages. One bonus project is included, which is an expansion of MHA’s permanent supportive housing project. One DV bonus project is included, which is the YWCA’s DV rapid rehousing project. One proposed expansion project, for Gandara’s rapid rehousing program, was not selected.

Tier 1

  • HMIS, $61,992
  • DV Coordinated Entry, $230,263
  • FOH Coordinated Entry, $243,000
  • Viability Next Step, $529,169
  • CHD Family PSH, $575,592
  • RVCC CoC Program, $310,661
  • VOC Family PSH, $127,271
  • MHA Consolidated S+C, $641,696
  • Catholic Charities RRH, $445,652
  • CSO-FOH PSH, $241,806
  • Gandara SHINE RRH, $385,379

Tier 2

  • Way Finders Turning Point, $65,112
  • SMOC Bowdoin-Tranquility, $61,373
  • MHA PSH Expansion (bonus), $100,381
  • YWCA DV-RRH (bonus), $377,989

 

RFP Q & A for the FY2019 CoC Competition

The Springfield-Hampden County CoC held a bidders’ conference this morning for the FY2019 CoC Competition. The questions asked, and responses to the questions, are below.

MATCH

Q. If a Rapid Rehousing provider requires participants to pay money into a saving account as a program requirement, can these funds count as match?

A. Funds can only be used as match if they pay for items that are allowable expenses under the CoC Program grant. 

Q. If more than one CoC program provider uses the same agency services for match (for example, employment services), can the CoC set a standard rate for the value of those services?

A. This question applies to use of third-party in-kind services as match. In the current grant year, there are no subrecipients using third-party in-kind services for match, so there are no common services to compare costs for across CoC programs.

When using third-party in-kind services as match, the services to be provided must be documented by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the recipient or subrecipient and the third party that will provide the services. Services provided  must be valued at rates consistent with those ordinarily paid for similar work in the recipient‘s or subrecipient‘s organization. If the recipient or subrecipient does not have employees performing similar work, the rates must be consistent with those ordinarily paid by other employers for similar work in the same labor market.  The MOU must establish the unconditional commitment, except for selection to receive a grant, by the third party to provide the services, the specific service to be provided, the profession of the persons providing the service, and the hourly cost of the service to be provided. During the term of the grant, the recipient or subrecipient must keep and make available, for inspection, records documenting the service hours provided.

RENEWAL

Q. Do renewal applicants just need to update and resubmit information in esnaps?

A. That is all that is required in esnaps. Be aware that there are additional documents which must be submitted to the City of Springfield Office of Housing prior to the RFP deadline—these are in addition to the esnaps submission, and are described in the Request for Proposals.

NEW/EXPANSION PROJECTS

Q. If an existing grant recipient wants to add more units, should they submit a new application for those units?

A. If an existing program wants to add more units of the same type as the current program, they should submit an application for an Expansion If the new program is different from the existing program, they should submit a New project application.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BONUS

Q. Can domestic violence bonus projects serve victims of sexual assault or sex trafficking?

A. These projects may serve victims of sexual assault or sex trafficking, as long as, at the time of entry to the program, the participant is fleeing or attempting to flee sexual assault or sex trafficking. Note that all persons served by Domestic Violence Bonus Projects must qualify under section (4) of the homeless definition, which requires that they be fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking (which HUD has clarified may include sexual assault or sex trafficking).

JOINT TRANSITIONAL HOUSING AND RAPID REHOUSING

Q. Does the Springfield-Hampden County CoC have any existing Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Rehousing Programs?

A. No.

Request for Proposals (RFP) for Springfield-Hampden County CoC Competition released

The Springfield-Hampden County Continuum of Care has opened the local competition for projects to be included in the CoC’s application to HUD.

Click the link below for the Request for Proposals, including more information about eligible projects and how to apply:

FY2019 Springfield-Hampden County CoC Competition RFP

New, expansion and renewal applications are due no later than August 30, 2019 at 4 pm.

FY19 CoC NOFA now available

HUD has released the FY19 CoC Program Notice of Funding Availability. This is the document that sets the timeframes and guidelines for the CoC application. Now that it is out, the CoC will create the guidelines for the local competition for programs. Our full application is due to HUD September 30, 2019, so we will start and complete our local competition in the upcoming three-month period.

This competition includes:

  • Bonus Project availability, with new guidelines
  • Bonus Domestic Violence Project Availability

Stay tuned for more information!