WASHINGTON, DC. This Special Edition of e-news highlights today's announcement by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of $1.2 billion in competitive homeless assistance funds. Applications are due May 25, 2006. Below are highlighted changes and developments for 2006 which include, but are not limited to, those noted here. The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) itself, the on-line Questions and Answers document, and the upcoming Webcast are key resources to review thoroughly for details. A total of 39 programs and $2.2 billion in resources, including HUD's mainstream housing programs, are included in the NOFA issued today.

Ending Chronic Homelessness. HUD's notice underscores the Administration's commitment to end chronic homelessness, noting, "President Bush has set a national goal to end chronic homelessness. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson has embraced this goal and has pledged that HUD's grant programs will be used to support the President's goal and better meet the needs of chronically homeless individuals." According to the Notice, applicants are encouraged to target assistance to chronically homeless persons by undertaking activities that will result in creation of permanent and permanent supportive housing, as well as services, including the use of one-stop assistance centers or service coordinators to ensure that persons experiencing chronic homelessness have access to a variety of social services. 10 percent of the overall funding will be awarded to projects that predominantly serve persons experiencing chronic homelessness, meaning that at least 70 percent of those served meet HUD's definition of chronic homelessness.

Further, HUD states that "CoCs and their projects that sustain current successful interventions and advance the goals of ending chronic homelessness will be scored higher." Of the 60 points HUD will award for Continuum of Care elements, up to 18 points will be awarded for progress in reducing homelessness, including chronic homelessness, with performance scoring based in part on an increase in permanent housing targeted to chronically homeless persons and progress made toward eliminating chronic homelessness. Up to 10 points will be awarded for "a performance-based 10- year strategy for ending chronic homelessness that establishes specific action steps" with measurable objectives.

Aligning 10-Year Plans and the Continuum of Care. HUD's NOFA stresses its expectation of integration of planning processes that target homelessness: "This NOFA emphasizes HUD's determination to integrate and align plans, including U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness-sponsored jurisdictional state and city ten-year plans (jurisdictional ten-year plans) and Consolidated Plans, into the CoC plans."

Focus on Housing. Overall, HUD will award not less than 30 percent of funds to new and renewal Supportive Housing Program projects for permanent housing or Safe Havens, new Shelter Plus Care projects, and SRO projects. HUD will award up to 12 points on a sliding scale for showing an emphasis on housing activities.

Samaritan Housing Initiative. Formerly referred to as the Permanent Housing Bonus, this special incentive to promote permanent supportive housing for persons who are chronically homeless is provided to Continuum of Care systems that place an eligible, new permanent housing project in the number one priority position on the priority list. If the number one priority project qualifies as an eligible, new permanent housing project exclusively serving chronically homeless persons, then the full amount of that project's eligible housing activities, up to a maximum 15 percent of the Continuum of Care's preliminary pro rata need or $6 million (whichever is less), will be added to the pro rata need amount for the Continuum.

The only eligible activities that will be counted toward this bonus are housing activities and for the Supportive Housing Program (SHP), case management, and administration costs. Applicants may use no more than 20 percent of this bonus for case management costs. Important details are included in the full NOFA. For the SHP program, housing activities are acquisition, new construction, rehabilitation, leasing of housing and operating costs when used in connection with housing. S+C and SRO rental assistance are defined as housing activities and are eligible under the incentive as well. HMIS costs will be excluded from this calculation.

Participant Eligibility for Permanent Housing. The only persons who may be served by permanent housing projects (both new and renewal) are those who come from the streets, emergency shelters, or transitional housing who originally came from the streets or emergency shelter. As participants leave currently operating projects, participants who meet this new eligibility standard must replace them.

Continuum of Care Hold Harmless Amount. In CoCs where the total of the one-year amount of all SHP projects eligible for renewal is larger than the preliminary pro rata need amount, the Continuum will receive the higher amount, now known as the hold harmless amount.

Application Streamlining. The HUD application has been streamlined by eliminating many previously required narratives and replacing them with tables that will reduce the time applicants need to complete the application package. Further, portions of the past application that pertain to conditional awards or renewals have been moved to the HUD web site.

General NOFA Materials. On January 20, 2006, HUD published the General Section of the FY 2006 SuperNOFA for its annual multi-program competition. The January Notice provided prospective applicants for HUD competitive funding with the opportunity to become familiar with the General Section in advance of publication of the FY 2006 SuperNOFA program sections and to register on- line for programs requiring electronic submission. Early publication of the General Section was intended to give prospective applicants additional time to become familiar with provisions in the General Section which constitute part of almost every HUD application.

Electronic Applications. Electronic applications and resources from mainstream programs were also a focus of the January Notice. While HUD's homeless programs will be the only HUD competitive programs that retain paper applications for FY 2006, HUD expects electronic submission for FY 2007 homeless applications. Federal grant-making agencies are pledging to make 75 percent of funding opportunities available on the electronic Grants.gov in FY 2006 (see Federal Register Notice of December 9, 2005). Applicants for HUD's homeless programs will benefit from becoming familiar with the electronic requirements so they do not limit their ability to secure funding from sources other than HUD in FY 2006. Applicants are also urged to consult new HUD resources on electronic registration and grant opportunities found at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants