Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless (TJACH) is
soliciting proposals for the US Dept. of HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program
Competition. We are seeking proposals
from organizations interested in providing services for persons and families
experiencing homelessness in the City of Charlottesville and counties of
Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson.
Background
The CoC
Program provides funding for eligible organizations to provide housing and/or
supportive services for households experiencing homelessness. TJACH serves as
the community’s CoC Lead Agency, tasked with preparing a consolidated
application for funding on behalf of interested organizations. Therefore, TJACH
is issuing this RFP to receive proposals from organizations interested in
applying for renewal project funding and/or new project funding. After
receiving these proposals, the TJACH Governance Board’s Project Evaluation
Committee will review these proposals and select projects to include in our
consolidated application to HUD. The consolidated project is due to HUD by
September 30th. For more information, please read HUD’s FY2019 CoC
Program NOFA here: https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/5842/fy-2019-coc-program-nofa/
Funding Opportunities
DV Bonus Project: Funding is available for new projects to assist survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. $50,000 in funding is available for the following project types:
- Rapid Re-housing (PH-RRH) projects that demonstrate trauma-informed, victim-centered approaches.
- Joint Transitional Housing (TH) and Rapid Re-Housing (PH-RRH) component projects as defined in Section III.C.2.n of HUD’s FY2019 CoC Program NOFA that demonstrate trauma-informed, victim-centered approaches.
- Supportive Services Only (SSO) Projects for Coordinated Entry (SSO-CE) to implement policies, procedures, and practices that equip the CoC’s coordinated entry to better meet the needs of people experience homelessness who are survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking (e.g., to implement policies and procedures that are trauma-informed, client-centered or to better coordinate referrals between the CoC’s coordinated entry and the victim service providers coordinated entry system where they are different).
CoC Bonus Project: Funding is available for new projects
or an expansion of an existing renewal project to serve households experiencing
homelessness. $18,467 is available for the following activities for new or
expansion projects:
- Permanent housing-permanent supportive housing
(PH-PSH) projects that meet the requirements of Dedicated PLUS, as defined by
HUD, where 100 percent of the beds are dedicated to individuals and families
experiencing chronic homelessness, as defined in 24 CFR 578.3.
- Permanent housing-rapid rehousing (PH-RRH)
projects that will serve homeless individuals and families, including
unaccompanied youth;
- Dedicated HMIS project for the costs at 24 CFR
578.37(a)(2) that can only be carried out by the HMIS Lead (TJACH).
- Supportive services only (SSO-CE) project to
develop or operate a centralized or coordinated assessment system.
Matching
Funds Requirement: All new and renewal project applications require
matching funds at 25% of the requested amount. Matching funding must be used on
any of the eligible project types listed above. For more information on matching
requirements, please read the HUD CoC Program NOFA here: https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/5842/fy-2019-coc-program-nofa/
Proposal Process
For new organizations interested in applying for CoC Program
funding in partnership with TJACH, we are requesting the following information
be sent electronically in a Word or PDF file to anthony@tjach.org
by 5:00PM
on Thursday, August 8th:
New Project Proposal Questions:
- Project Description
- Provide a brief description of the proposed
project
- Experience
- Describe the experience of the applicant and
sub-recipients (if any) in working with the proposed population and in
providing housing similar to that proposed
- 15 points
- Describe experience with utilizing a Housing
First approach. Include 1) eligibility criteria; 2) process for accepting new
clients; 3) process and criteria for exiting clients. Must demonstrate there
are no preconditions to entry.
- 10 points
- Describe experience in effectively utilizing
federal grant funds including HUD grants and other public funding, including
timely drawdowns of existing grants, timely resolution of monitoring findings,
submission of required reporting on existing grants
- 5 points
- Design of Housing and Supportive Services
- Describe the extent to which the applicant 1)
demonstrates understanding of the needs of clients to be served; 2)
demonstrates that type and scale of the supportive services, regardless of
funding source, meets the needs of clients to be served; 4) demonstrates how
clients will be assisted in obtaining mainstream benefits; 5) establishes
performance measures for housing and income that are objective, measurable,
trackable, and meet or exceed those established by HUD or the CoC.
- 15 points
- Describe the plan to assist clients to rapidly
secure and maintain permanent housing that is safe, affordable, accessible, and
acceptable to their needs.
- 5 points
- Describe how clients will be assisted to
increase employment and/or income and to maximize their ability to live
independently.
- 5 points
- Timeliness
- Describe the plan for rapid implementation of
the program, documenting how the project will be ready to begin housing the
first program participants. Provide a brief schedule for proposed activities
for 60 days, 120 days, and 180 days after grand award.
- 10 points
- Attachments
- Please include a proposed project budget
including the required 25% matching funds and their source
- Please include current organizational budget
- Please include most recent fiscal audit
Proposals will be reviewed by the TJACH Governance Board’s
Project Evaluation Committee and selected proposals will be included in TJACH’s
consolidated application for funding. If you have any questions, please email
Anthony Haro at anthony@tjach.org.
Renewal Project Proposal Instructions:
For organizations interested in renewing existing CoC
Program Funded projects, please send an email to anthony@tjach.org by 5:00 PM on Thursday,
August 8th stating interest in renewing funding and please
include the following attachments:
- Current organizational budget
- Most recent fiscal audit
Project Evaluation and Ranking
New and renewal projects will be evaluated by TJACH’s
Project Evaluation Committee using objective scoring criteria. The project
score will determine the project’s ranking among other CoC projects, both new
and renewal. The Project Evaluation Committee’s recommended scores and project
ranking will be presented to the full board for review and approval before
being submitted to HUD. Projects will be evaluated based upon the following
criteria:
CoC Threshold Requirements (all must be met to be
considered for new or renewal funding):
- Participation in TJACH’s Coordinated Entry
System
- Housing First and/or Low Barrier Implementation
- Documented, secured minimum match of 25% of funding
requested
- Project has reasonable costs per permanent
housing exit
- Project is financially feasible
- Applicant is active CoC participant
- Application is complete and data are consistent
- Bed/unit utilization rate is at or above 90%
- Acceptable organizational audit/financial review
Renewal Project Criteria:
- Length of Stay
- RRH/PSH – On average, participants spend 30 days
from project entry to residential move-in
- Exits to Permanent Housing
- RRH – Minimum of 85% move to permanent housing
- PSH – Minimum of 85% remain in or move to
permanent housing
- Returns to Homelessness
- RRH/PSH – Maximum of 15% of participants return
to homelessness within 12 months of exit to permanent housing
- New or Increased Income and Earned Income
- RRH/PSH – Minimum of 8% of project stayers gain
or increase earned income
- RRH/PSH – Minimum of 10% of project stayers gain
or increase non-employment
- RRH/PSH – Minimum of 8% of project leavers gain
or increase earned income
- RRH/PSH – Minimum of 10% of project leavers gain
or increase non-employment
- Serve High Need Populations
- RRH – Assessment scores for 95% of participants
indicate RRH or more intensive intervention
- PSH – Assessment scores for participants
indicate PSH with 90% at top range of the By-Name List
- Project Effectiveness
- RRH/PSH – Project has reasonable costs per exit to
permanent housing
- CoC Monitoring
- RRH/PSH – Project had no findings on most recent
CoC Monitoring Report, and addressed previous recommendations
- Total Points Available: 120
New Project Criteria:
- Experience
- Describe the experience of the applicant and
sub-recipients (if any) in working with the proposed population and in
providing housing similar to that proposed
- Describe experience with utilizing a Housing
First approach. Include 1) eligibility criteria; 2) process for accepting new
clients; 3) process and criteria for exiting clients. Must demonstrate there
are no preconditions to entry.
- Describe experience in effectively utilizing
federal grant funds including HUD grants and other public funding, including
timely drawdowns of existing grants, timely resolution of monitoring findings,
submission of required reporting on existing grants
- Design of Housing and Supportive Services
- Describe the extent to which the applicant 1) demonstrates
understanding of the needs of clients to be served; 2) demonstrates that type
and scale of the supportive services, regardless of funding source, meets the
needs of clients to be served; 4) demonstrates how clients will be assisted in
obtaining mainstream benefits; 5) establishes performance measures for housing
and income that are objective, measurable, trackable, and meet or exceed those
established by HUD or the CoC.
- Describe the plan to assist clients to rapidly
secure and maintain permanent housing that is safe, affordable, accessible, and
acceptable to their needs.
- Describe how clients will be assisted to
increase employment and/or income and to maximize their ability to live
independently.
- Timeliness
- Describe the plan for rapid implementation of
the program, documenting how the project will be ready to begin housing the
first program participants. Provide a brief schedule for proposed activities
for 60 days, 120 days, and 180 days after grand award.
- Financial
- Proposed project is cost-effective when
projected costs per person served is compared to the CoC average within that
project type
- Organizations most recent audit:
- Found no exceptions to standard practices
- Documented match amount meets HUD requirements
(Match must be 25% of requested funds)
- Budgeted costs are reasonable, allocable, and
allowable
Total Points Available: 105