[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 32 (Friday, February 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8938-8940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2937]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Fund Availability Under the VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per 
Diem Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is announcing the 
availability of funds for applications for assistance under the Capital 
Grant component of VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program. 
This Notice contains information concerning the program, funding 
priorities, application process, and amount of funding available.

DATES: An original completed and collated capital grant application 
(plus three completed collated copies) for assistance under the VA's 
Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program must be received in the 
Grant and Per Diem Field Office, by 4:00 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, 
April 9, 2008. Applications may not be sent by facsimile (FAX). In the 
interest of fairness to all competing applicants, this deadline is firm 
as to date and hour, and VA will treat as ineligible for consideration 
any application that is received after the deadline. Applicants should 
take this practice into account and make early submission of their 
material to avoid any risk of loss of eligibility due to unanticipated 
delays or other delivery-related problems.
    For a Copy of the Application Package: Download directly from VA's 
Grant and Per Diem Program Web page at: http://www.va.gov/homeless/page.cfm?pg=3 or http://www.grants.gov/. Questions should be referred 
to the Grant and Per Diem Program at (toll-free) 1-877-332-0334. For 
information relating to VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem 
Program, see the Final Rule published in the Federal Register on 
September 26, 2003.
    Submission of Application: An original completed and collated grant 
application (plus three copies) and a cover letter clearly stating 
under which funding priority applicants (see funding priorities) wish 
to be considered must be submitted to the following address: VA 
Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Field Office, 10770 North 46th 
Street, Suite C-200, Tampa, Florida 33617. Applications must be 
received in the Grant and Per Diem Field office by the application 
deadline. Applications must arrive as a complete package. Materials 
arriving separately will not be included in the application package for 
consideration and may result in the application being rejected or not 
funded.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Chelsea Watson, VA Homeless 
Providers Grant and Per Diem Program, Department of Veterans Affairs, 
10770 North 46th Street, Suite C-200, Tampa, Florida 33617; or you may 
call (toll-free) at 1-877-332-0334 for further information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice announces the availability of 
capital funds for assistance under VA's Homeless Providers Grant and 
Per Diem Program for eligible entities to: (1) Expand existing 
transitional housing projects; or (2) develop new transitional housing 
programs. Supportive service centers will not be considered in this 
Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA). Funding applied for under the 
capital grant component may be used for: (1) Remodeling or alteration 
of existing buildings; (2) acquisition of buildings, acquisition and 
rehabilitation of buildings; (3) new construction; and (4) acquisition 
of vans (in connection with a new or existing Grant and Per Diem Grant 
project) for outreach to and transportation for homeless veterans. 
Funding applied for under this Notice is authorized by Public Law 109-
461, Sec.  703, the Veterans Benefit, Health Care and Information 
Technology Act of 2006, and by 38 U.S.C. 2011, 2012, 2061, 2064, and 
may be used as aid for supportive housing. Eligibility criteria may be 
found in the Final Rule published in the Federal Register on September 
26, 2003.
    Capital grant applicants may not receive assistance to replace 
funds provided by any State or local government to assist homeless 
persons. Note: Applicants considering the use of Low Income Housing Tax 
Credits (LIHTC) in conjunction with the capital grants in this NOFA 
should take into account that these tax credits are generally for 
permanent housing projects. Permanent housing is not an eligible 
activity under VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program. 
Other issues such as a reduction in the base of the tax credits, site 
control, leases for residents, and using the tax credits as a loan may 
be problematic to applicants even if transitional housing is provided 
and upon review and discovery may result in the application being 
denied.
    A proposal for an existing project that seeks to shift its focus by 
changing the population being served or the precise mix of services 
being offered is not eligible for consideration. No more than 25 
percent of housing and services available in projects funded through 
this grant program may be provided to clients who are not receiving 
those services as veterans.
    VA is pleased to issue this NOFA for the Homeless Providers Grant 
and Per Diem Program. The Department expects to award approximately $25 
million under the capital grant component.
    Funding available under this NOFA is being offered to help offset 
the capital expenses of existing state and local governments, Indian 
Tribal Governments, faith-based, and community-based organizations that 
are capable of creating and providing supported transitional housing 
for homeless veterans. The District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States, are 
considered eligible entities under the definition of ``State'' in the 
Final Rule, Sec. 61.1 Definitions.
    Per diem for these programs is requested in the grant application 
and may be paid at the time of grant project completion. It should be 
noted that VA per diem payment is limited to the applicant's cost of 
care per eligible veteran minus other sources of payments to the 
applicant for furnishing services to homeless veterans up to the per 
day rate VA pays for State Home Domiciliary care. Awardees will be 
required to support their request for per diem payment with adequate 
fiscal documentation as to program income and expenses.
    Interested organizations should know that the vast majority of 
homeless veterans in this country suffer from mental illness or 
substance abuse disorders or are dually diagnosed with both mental 
illness and substance abuse disorders. In addition, many homeless 
veterans have serious medical problems. The recent events associated 
with the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) coupled with the Nation's 
returning OEF/OIF veterans further emphasizes the need for 
collaboration with VA medical centers, VA community-based outpatient 
clinics or other health care

[[Page 8939]]

providers as well as with VA and other benefit providers as an 
important aspect of ensuring that homeless veterans have access to 
appropriate health care services. VA considers this program an 
important part of our effort to end chronic homelessness among all 
veterans.
    It is important to be aware that VA places great emphasis on 
responsibility and accountability. VA has procedures in place to verify 
the completion of the capital grant as well as monitor services 
provided to homeless veterans and outcomes associated with the services 
provided in grant and per diem-funded programs. Applicants should be 
aware of the following:
    All awardees that are conditionally selected in response to this 
NOFA must meet the Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection 
Association as it relates to their specific facility. Applicants should 
note that all facilities are to be sprinkled unless they are 
specifically exempted under the Life Safety Code and make consideration 
of this when submitting their capital grant applications. VA will 
conduct an inspection prior to awardees being able to submit request 
for per diem payment to ensure this requirement is met.
    Upon capital grant completion, each program seeking per diem will 
have a liaison appointed from a nearby VA medical facility to provide 
oversight and monitor services provided to homeless veterans in the per 
diem-funded program.
    Monitoring will include at a minimum an annual review of each per 
diem program's progress toward meeting internal goals and objectives in 
helping veterans attain housing stability, adequate income support, and 
self sufficiency as identified in each per diem program's original 
application. Monitoring will also include a review of the agency's 
income and expenses as they relate to this project to ensure per diem 
payment is accurate.
    Each per diem-funded program will participate in VA's national 
program monitoring and evaluation system administered by VA's Northeast 
Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC). NEPEC's monitoring procedures will 
be used to determine successful accomplishment of these housing 
outcomes for each per diem-funded program.
    Authority: Funding applied for under this Notice is authorized by 
Public Law 109-461, Sec.  703, the Veterans Benefit, Health Care and 
Information Technology Act of 2006, and by 38 U.S.C. 2011, 2012, 2061, 
2064, and may be used as aid for supportive housing. The program is 
implemented by the final rule codified at 38 CFR Part 61.0. The final 
rule was published in the Federal Register on September 26, 2003, the 
regulations can be found in their entirety in 38 CFR, Sec. 61.0 through 
61.82. Funds made available under this Notice are subject to the 
requirements of those regulations.
    Allocation: Approximately $25 million is available for the capital 
grant component. Capital grant awards will be limited to transitional 
housing projects, (service center programs will not be considered in 
this round). Vans must be directly connected to a new or existing Grant 
and Per Diem Grant project and will be limited to one per project 
number. Per diem payments to capital grant recipients are subject to 
the availability of funds and recipients maintaining the program for 
which the grant was awarded.
    Funding Priorities: VA is offering to eligible applicants funding 
priorities for transitional housing and services to; (1) Serve women, 
women with care of dependent children, (2) serve all veterans in the 
States of Vermont, Nebraska, and Alaska, (3) Indian Tribal Governments 
or non-profit agencies that will provide transitional housing and 
services on Indian Tribal Property. Finally, VA is encouraging 
interested state and local governments and faith-based and community-
based organizations to apply for funding under this NOFA. In this round 
of capital grant funding, VA expects to award funding to create 
approximately 1250 community-based supported housing beds.
    Funding priority 1. VA is offering the opportunity for providers 
who are willing to create new projects specifically for women and women 
with care of dependent children only, which are 30 beds or less. Of 
those eligible entities in the first funding priority, that are legally 
fundable, the highest scoring applicants will be funded first until 
approximately $3 million is awarded. Applicants not funded in this 
priority will be considered in the fourth funding priority. Should not 
enough eligible projects be funded under the first funding priority, 
funds not expended in this priority will fall to the fourth funding 
priority.
    Funding priority 2. VA is offering the opportunity for providers 
who are willing to create new or expand existing projects for homeless 
veterans in the States of Vermont, Nebraska, and Alaska. Applicants 
whose projects are physically located in these states will be 
considered in the second funding priority. Of those eligible entities 
in the second funding priority, that are legally fundable, the highest 
scoring applicants will be funded first until approximately $2 million 
is awarded. Applicants not funded in this priority will be placed in 
the fourth funding priority. Should not enough eligible projects be 
funded under the second funding priority, funds not expended in this 
priority will fall to the fourth funding priority.
    Funding priority 3. VA is offering the opportunity to Indian Tribal 
Governments or non-profit agencies that will provide transitional 
housing and services on Indian Tribal Property to apply for funding 
under this NOFA to create transitional housing and services for 
homeless veterans. Eligible entities that are Indian Tribal Governments 
or non-profit agencies willing to provide transitional housing and 
services on Indian Tribal Property will be considered in the third 
funding priority as applicable. Of those eligible entities in the third 
funding priority, that are legally fundable, the highest scoring 
applicants will be funded first until approximately $1 million is 
awarded. Applicants not funded in this priority will be placed in the 
fourth funding priority. Should not enough eligible projects be funded 
under the third funding priority, funds not expended in this priority 
will fall to the fourth funding priority. Note: Non-profit agencies who 
apply under this priority will be required to provide a letter of 
assurance from the Indian Tribal Government that if funded the 
provision of service will occur on Indian Tribal Property.
    Funding priority 4. VA is encouraging interested, State and local 
governments, Indian Tribal Governments, faith-based and community-based 
organizations, as well as eligible entities located in The District of 
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or 
possession of the United States, to apply for funding under this NOFA 
to create transitional housing and services for all homeless veterans. 
Eligible entities that are State and local governments, Indian Tribal 
Governments, faith-based, and community-based organizations, or any 
territory or possession of the United States, will be considered in the 
fourth funding priority as applicable. Of those eligible entities that 
are legally fundable, the highest-ranked applications for which funding 
is available, will be conditionally selected for eligibility to receive 
a capital grant in accordance with their ranked order until funding is 
expended (approximately $19 million).
    Methodology: VA will review all capital grant applications in 
response to this notice of funding availability as follows: VA will 
group the applicants

[[Page 8940]]

into the funding priorities categories as applicable. Applicants will 
then be ranked within their respective funding category based on score 
and any ranking criteria set forth in that funding category only if the 
applicant scores at least 600 cumulative points and receives points 
under the criteria in paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (i) of section 
61.13.
    The highest-ranked application for which funding is available, 
within the highest funding category, will be conditionally selected in 
accordance with their ranked order until VA reaches the projected 
amount of funding for each category. If funds are still available after 
selection of those applications in the highest priority group VA will 
continue to conditionally select applicants in lower priority 
categories in accordance with the selection method set forth in the 
final rule Sec. 61.14.
    Application Requirements: Applicants must include a cover letter 
clearly stating under which funding priority they wish to be 
considered. Non-profit agencies who apply under funding priority three 
are required to provide a letter of assurance from the Indian Tribal 
Government that if funded the provision of service will occur on Indian 
Tribal Property. The grant application requirements will be specified 
in the application package. Applicants should be careful to complete 
the proper application package. Submission of the incorrect or 
incomplete application package will result in the application being 
rejected at threshold. The packages include all required forms and 
certifications.
    Selections will be made based on criteria described in the 
application, Final Rule, and NOFA. Applicants who are conditionally 
selected will be notified of any additional information needed to 
confirm or clarify information provided in the application. Applicants 
will then be notified of the deadline to submit such information.
    If an applicant is unable to meet any conditions for grant award 
within the specified time frame, VA reserves the right to not award 
funds and to use the funds available for other grant and per diem 
applicants.

    Dated: February 8, 2008.
Gordon H. Mansfield,
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
 [FR Doc. E8-2937 Filed 2-14-08; 8:45 am]
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