The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced that it will provide more than $3.1 billion in competitive funding [1] to homeless services organizations across the country for supportive services and housing programs for people experiencing homelessness.
HUD’s latest round of funding makes available the largest amount of funding under the Department’s Continuum of Care program [2] competition in history, reflecting the Biden Administration’s continued commitment to tackle the nation’s homelessness crisis with the urgency it requires.
“As our nation faces a worsening housing crisis, it is imperative that we continue to invest in communities’ efforts to connect people experiencing homelessness to stable homes,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge [3]. “These resources make critical investments in evidence-based and person-centered solutions, as well as the people and organizations who work hard every day to deliver them to vulnerable individuals, families, and youth.”
The Fiscal Year 2023 competitive funding will be awarded through HUD’s Continuum of Care Program, the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs serving people experiencing homelessness. Nearly 400 Continuum of Care communities apply for the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) each year. HUD funds approximately 7,000 homeless services projects annually through the Continuum of Care Program, to nonprofit providers, States, Indian Tribes or Tribally Designated Housing Entities and local governments.
As with prior NOFOs, Continuums of Care will have the opportunity to renew existing projects, apply for new projects, and to reallocate resources from lower performing projects to better serve people experiencing homelessness. However, this year’s NOFO includes some new activities to address homelessness in rural communities and to ensure compliance with the S.3623–The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization Act of 2022 [4].
HUD’s latest NOFO contains explicit funding for:
- Survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking;
- Youth, and
- People experiencing the unique challenges of homelessness in rural areas.
The NOFO will provide at least $52 million for new rapid re-housing, supportive services, and other activities critical to assist survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Approximately $147 million is available for the competitive and non-competitive renewal and replacement of expiring Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) grants [5].
Specifically through its latest round of funding, HUD is seeking projects that:
- End homelessness for all persons experiencing homelessness;
- Place emphasis on racial equity and anti-discrimination polices for LGTBQ+ individuals;
- Use a Housing First approach;
- Reduce unsheltered homelessness and reduce the criminalization of homelessness;
- Improve system performance;
- Partner with housing agencies to leverage access to mainstream housing programs;
- Partner with health agencies to coordinate health and supportive services, including to prevent and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks;
- Advance racial equity and addressing racial disparities in homelessness;
- Engage people with lived experience of homelessness in decision-making; and
- Support local engagement to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Click here [1] for more information on HUD’s latest NOFO.