COVID Kills 2020 CoC Competition for Homeless $$

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

HUD has yet to drop this year's NoFA, and it's probably not going to.

It's now all but certain that SARS-CoV-2 has killed the 2020 CoC Program funding competition.

On May 15, 2020, the House narrowly passed the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) with Representative Maxine Waters' NAEH-supported provision to cancel the 2020 CoC Program NoFA and renew CoC's 2019 awards:  

Yesterday, more than two months after the House passed its fourth stimulus bill, the Senate dropped the bill for the HEALS Act.  According to the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Senate bill would require HUD to renew all projects with existing Homeless Assistance Grants expiring during calendar year 2021 for one 12-month period without additional competition.  (See NAHRO Monitor (paywall)). 

Despite the "stark disparities" between HEROES and HEALS, the difficulty facing HEALS in the Senate, and the odds against the House taking it up even if it does pass -- the two bodies appear to be  in agreement on canceling the 2020 CoC Program competition.  Given that HUD has yet to drop the 2020 NoFA and it's almost August, when under normal circumstances the competition would be in full and frantic swing, that provision of the HEALS bill means the competition's as good as canceled.

What this means for the newly-formed Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance is not entirely clear.  In the split with the Rural Oregon Contiuum of Care (ROCC), the Alliance took projects run by the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, Shangri-la, and the Center for Hope and Safety.  See here.  But, some of those funds were not spent and had to be reallocated.  Also, the Alliance (being new) did not have a 2019 planning grant.  HUD could, under the Senate's HEALS bill, award planning grants for 2020.  We'll just have to wait and see, assuming this provision makes it into the final stimulus bill and is signed into law.  This post will be updated as events unfold.

7/31/20 The ROCC newsletter contains this entry about the 2020 NoFA:

It was stated at the 7/24/20 COVID office hours that the GIW [Grant Inventory Worksheet] would be out sometime the following week. Typically, the NOFA follows 4-6 weeks after the GIW is released. It is not known if it will follow the same time frame this year, but it is worth preparing as this means the grant cycle is moving forward.  

ROCC appears to be assuming that the fact that the "grant cycle is moving forward" means there will be a funding competition.    

8/2/20  Pertinent parts of the Alliance's GIW.  Note the estimated annual renewal amount/demand is $769,919.  

12/28/20 Update:  yesterday, President Trump signed the 2021 Appropriations Act into law.  As expected, the Act provides a one-year renewal of Continuum of Care funding, without competition, for programs expiring in calendar year 2021.  Other details:  the Act provides $223M more in Homeless Assistance Grants than in FY 2020.  Of the total $3B allocated by the Act, not less than $2.569B is reserved for the Continuum of Care (CoC) and Rural Housing Stability Assistance programs, and $7 million for technical assistance for the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).  The CoC Program will see a $219M increase over FY 2020, while ESG remains flat.  The Act also includes language requiring HUD to award CoC grants based on CoCs' system performance and to prioritize funding for CoCs that strategically reallocate to high performing projects.