TITLE
Title
DHHS-CONTINUUM OF CARE (COC) PROGRAM 2024 HUD PLANNING GRANT APPLICATION
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Cheri Neal, CoC Program Manager
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BACKGROUND
Background
Guilford County serves as the Collaborative Applicant for the Guilford County or NC-504 Continuum of Care (CoC), and in that role, prepares and submits the CoC Planning Grant as part of the Guilford CoC's collaborative application for the Continuum of Care Notice of Funding Opportunity (CoC NOFO).
The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; to provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, States, Indian Tribes or Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and local governments to quickly rehouse individuals and families experiencing homelessness, persons experiencing trauma or a lack of safety related to fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence and other similar threats; to promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families, and to optimize self-sufficiency among those experiencing homelessness Continuums of Care operate under authorization provided in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the federal CoC Program Rule. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regularly distributes funding for CoCs to provide services including funds to support collaborative planning and application preparation and submission activities that the Collaborative Applicant performs.
The 2024 CoC NOFO competition is currently active and collaborative applications must be completed by October 28 for community review prior to being formally submitted on October 30, 2024. NOFO grants have a twelve month term, but HUD has notified applicants that the 2024 NOFO will be a two-year competition with awards made in 2024 being eligible for automatic renewal on new twelve-month terms in 2025. The Guilford County CoC is eligible for up to $3.7 million in grant funds under the 2024 NOFO competition, including $2.6 million in renewal funds for existing programs awarded rants in prior years, $427,000 in CoC "Bonus" funds for any eligible program and $533,000 in Domestic Violence "bonus" funds for domestic violence-focused programs that CoCs compete for nation-wide, and $178,000 in CoC Planning funds.
Only the Collaborative Applicant is eligible to apply for CoC Planning funds, and Guilford County CoC policies and procedures result in automatic approval of the CoC Planning application so the County has been selected to apply for the funding. Staff have prepared the application and are requesting Board approval to apply for the grant. The full award amount of the grant is $177,898. A 25% match totaling $44,475 is required. The 2024 award amount reflects a $27,041 increase over the $150,857 award amount from the 2023 grant and the match amount is $6,671 more. Grant funds will be used for CoC staff salaries and benefits, primarily for the CoC Program Manager; consulting engagements to support the County's work as Collaborative Applicant and CoC Lead; and operating expenses such as supplies. The required in-kind match amounts will be provided by the County in the form of existing CoC program expenses including staff salaries and benefits as well as operating expenses such as supplies and other items. This use of these grant funds on these expenses is consistent with how funds from prior grant awards have been spent. The grant term is variable based on the needs of each awarded agency, but County staff anticipate requesting a term of October 1, 2025-September 30, 2026. If this grant is received, the County will automatically be eligible for another term at a to-be-announced amount in 2025 or expected grant term of October 2026-September 2027.
This application must be completed for community review by October 28 and the full collaborative application submitted by October 30, 2024. Award notifications should be issued by HUD in early 2025.
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BUDGET IMPACT
Budget Impact
NO ADDITIONAL COUNTY FUNDS REQUIRED
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REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Approve the CoC Planning Grant application request for $177,898 with associated County match of $44,475, anticipated to be received in October 2025.
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