[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 84 (Wednesday, April 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23483-23486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9540]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5214-N-01]


Notice of Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Opportunity To Register and Other 
Important Information for Electronic Application Submission for 
Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs

AGENCY: Office of Community Planning and Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: For fiscal year (FY) 2008, HUD will require Continuums of Care 
to submit their applications electronically, using e-snaps, an 
electronic system separate from Grants.gov. This Notice provides 
detailed instructions on completing the Continuum of Care (CoC) 
registration process for e-snaps. This Notice also provides applicants 
important information, including definitions and the necessary CoC 
planning process, that CoC and project applicants should be familiar 
with prior to applying for FY2008 CoC Homeless Assistance funding. 
Finally, today's Notice provides information about the major changes 
that HUD will make to the FY2008 CoC Homeless Assistance competition.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The HUD Field Office serving your 
area. This information can be found at http://www.hud.gov/localoffices.cfm.

Full Text of Announcement

    HUD will make approximately $1.423 billion available through the 
FY2008 CoC Homeless Assistance NOFA. For FY2008, HUD is transitioning 
the CoC program from a paper process to an electronic process. Today's 
Notice provides detailed instructions on completing the CoC 
registration process for e-snaps, an electronic system separate from 
Grants.gov. The uniform resource identifier/locater (URL) for e-snaps 
is http://www.hud.gov/esnaps. Today's Notice also provides applicants 
important information, including necessary definitions and the CoC 
planning process, that CoC and project applicants should be familiar 
with prior to applying for FY2008 CoC Homeless Assistance funding and 
important information about the major changes that HUD will make to the 
FY2008 CoC Homeless Assistance competition. HUD anticipates publishing 
its FY2008 CoC NOFA in the Federal Register no earlier than July 1, 
2008.
    As noted herein, applicants for project funding will continue to be 
required to register with Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) and complete or 
renew their registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). 
For more information regarding registering with D&B and CCR, HUD 
encourages applicants to closely review HUD's March 10, 2008, FY2008 
Notice of Early Registration, (72 FR 12751) and HUD's FY2008 General 
Section, published March 19, 2008 (73 FR 14882).
    This Notice is divided into three sections. Section I describes the 
important overview information that CoCs and project applicants should 
be familiar with prior to applying for FY2008 Homeless Assistance 
funding. This includes pertinent definitions and the CoC planning 
process. Section II of this Notice provides detailed information on 
completing the CoC registration process in e-snaps. Finally, Section 
III provides information about the major changes that HUD will make to 
the FY2008 CoC Homeless Assistance competition. HUD hopes that this 
will assist CoCs in better planning their FY2008 CoC application.

I. Overview Information

A. Program Description

    Approximately $1.423 billion is available for funding through the 
FY2008 CoC Homeless Assistance Competition. The purpose of the CoC 
Homeless Assistance Program is to reduce the incidence of homelessness 
in CoC communities by assisting homeless individuals and families to 
move to self-sufficiency and permanent housing.

B. Definitions

    The only definitions contained in this Notice are those necessary 
for CoCs to understand in order to complete the FY2008 CoC registration 
process. A complete list of definitions will be provided in the FY2008 
CoC NOFA.

[[Page 23484]]

    1. Annual Renewal Amount. The maximum amount that a Supportive 
Housing Program (SHP) grant can receive on an annual basis when 
renewed. It includes funds for only those eligible activities 
(operating, supportive services, leasing, Homeless Management 
Information System (HMIS) and administration) that were funded in the 
original grant (or the original grant as amended), less the 
nonrenewable activities (acquisition, new construction, rehabilitation, 
and any administration costs related to these activities). It is used 
to calculate a CoC's Hold Harmless Need amount.
    To calculate the Annual Renewal Amount (ARA) for SHP grants, add up 
the amount of the renewable budget line items (i.e., operating, 
supportive services, leasing, HMIS, and administration) for all the 
years of the most recent grant, and divide by the number of years in 
the grant term. Any funding for acquisition, rehabilitation, new 
construction--and any administration costs related to those 
activities--is not renewable and therefore should not be calculated in 
the ARA. If the initial grant included these activities, administrative 
costs may only be calculated up to 5 percent of the total of leasing, 
operating, HMIS, and supportive services costs contained in the initial 
grant.
    For example, if the initial three-year grant was for $472,500 
($150,000 for new construction, $150,000 for operating costs, $150,000 
for supportive services, and $22,500 for administration), the new 
construction costs, and any administration costs associated with it, 
would not be eligible for renewal. Thus, the total renewable amount 
would be $315,000 ($150,000 for operating costs, $150,000 for 
supportive services, and $15,000 for administration) and the ARA is 
$105,000 ($315,000 divided by the three-year grant term).
    If the initial three-year grant was $315,000 and did not include 
acquisition, rehabilitation or new construction costs, ($150,000 for 
operating costs, $150,000 for supportive services, and $15,000 for 
administration), the ARA would be $105,000 ($315,000 divided by the 
three-year grant term).
    2. Continuum of Care. A collaborative funding and planning approach 
that helps communities plan for and provide, as necessary, a full range 
of emergency, transitional, and permanent housing and other service 
resources to address the various needs of homeless persons. HUD also 
refers to the group of stakeholders involved in the decision making 
processes as the ``Continuum of Care.''
    3. Continuum of Care Lead Agency. Agency or organization designated 
by the CoC primary decision making body to be the entity that submits 
the CoC application.
    4. Continuum of Care Lead Agency Contact. Person(s) with the 
authority to submit the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance 
Competition application on behalf of the CoC, usually the Executive 
Director or CEO of the CoC Lead Agency.
5. Continuum of Care Need Amounts
    a. Continuum of Care Preliminary Pro Rata Need (PPRN). Amount of 
funds a CoC could receive based upon the geography that HUD approves as 
belonging to that CoC. To determine the homeless assistance need of a 
particular jurisdiction, HUD will use nationally available data, 
including the following factors as used in the Emergency Shelter Grants 
(ESG) program formula: data on poverty, housing overcrowding, 
population, age of housing, and growth lag. Applying those factors to a 
particular jurisdiction provides an estimate of the relative need index 
for that jurisdiction compared to other jurisdictions applying for 
assistance under the FY2008 CoC NOFA. Each year HUD publishes the PPRN 
for each jurisdiction. A CoC's PPRN is determined by adding the 
published PPRN of each jurisdiction within the HUD-approved CoC. The 
list of geographic areas and CoC Names and Numbers can be found at 
http://www.hudhre.info or at http://www.hud.gov.
    b. Continuum of Care Hold Harmless Need (HHN). The amount of funds 
a CoC is eligible to receive where the ARA of all SHP grants expiring 
in that CoC during the period beginning January 1, 2009 and ending 
December 31, 2009 exceeds the PPRN for that CoC. The HHN is the amount 
needed to fund the expiring renewal grants for one year. To provide 
communities with maximum flexibility in addressing current needs, CoCs 
have the discretion to not fund or to reduce one or more SHP renewal 
project applications through the HHN Reallocation process and still 
receive the benefit of the hold harmless need amount if the CoC 
proposes to use that amount of reduced renewal funds for new permanent 
supportive housing or new dedicated HMIS SHP projects.
    c. Continuum of Care Final Pro Rata Need (FPRN). The higher amount 
of: (1) PPRN and (2) HHN.
    6. Continuum of Care Primary Decision Making Group. This group 
manages the overall planning effort for the CoC, including, but not 
limited to, the following types of activities: setting agendas for full 
Continuum of Care meetings, project monitoring, determining project 
priorities, and providing final approval for the CoC application 
submission. This body is also responsible for the implementation of the 
CoC's HMIS, either through direct oversight or through the designation 
of an HMIS implementing agency. This group may be the CoC Lead Agency 
or may authorize another entity to be the CoC Lead Agency under its 
direction.
    7. Continuum of Care Registration. A step in the electronic 
application process that requires a CoC to claim geography and appoint 
a CoC Lead Agency that will be responsible for the submission of the 
electronic application to HUD.

C. CoC Planning Process

    HUD will evaluate CoCs on the following criteria:
     CoC Housing, Services, and Structure;
     Homeless Needs and Data Collection;
     CoC Strategic Planning;
     CoC Performance; and
     Housing Emphasis.
    These criteria are not significantly changed from prior years. 
Therefore, CoCs are encouraged to continue planning for the FY2008 CoC 
Homeless Assistance competition in the same manner that they have in 
past years. This includes:
    1. Community-wide or region-wide participation. A CoC system is 
developed through a community-wide or region-wide process involving the 
coordination of nonprofit organizations (including those representing 
persons with disabilities), state and local government agencies, public 
housing agencies, community and faith-based organizations, other 
homeless providers, service providers, housing developers, private 
health care associations, law enforcement and corrections agencies, 
school systems, private funding providers, and homeless or formerly 
homeless persons to successfully address the complex and interrelated 
problems related to homelessness. As in the past, this year HUD 
emphasizes its determination to integrate and align plans including 
jurisdictional, state, and city ten-year plans (jurisdictional ten-year 
plans) encouraged by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and 
Consolidated Plans, into the CoC plans. These plans serve as a vehicle 
for a community to comprehensively identify each of its needs and to 
coordinate a plan for addressing them.

[[Page 23485]]

    A CoC should address the specific needs of each homeless 
subpopulation: those experiencing chronic homelessness, veterans, 
persons with serious mental illnesses, persons with substance abuse 
issues, persons with HIV/AIDS, persons with co-occurring diagnoses 
(these may include diagnoses of multiple physical disabilities or 
multiple mental disabilities or a combination of these two types), 
victims of domestic violence, youth, and any others. To ensure that the 
CoC system addresses the needs of homeless veterans, it is particularly 
important that CoCs involve veteran service organizations with specific 
experience in serving homeless veterans.
    2. CoC Geographic Area. In deciding what geographic area a CoC will 
cover as part of its CoC strategy, CoCs should be aware that a key 
factor in being awarded funding will be the strength of a CoC process 
when measured against the CoC rating factors described in the FY2008 
CoC NOFA. When a CoC determines what jurisdictions to include in its 
CoC strategy area, it should include only those jurisdictions that are 
fully involved in the development and implementation of the CoC 
strategy.
    The more jurisdictions a CoC includes in the CoC, the larger the 
pro rata need share that will be allocated to the strategy area. If a 
CoC is located in a rural county, it may wish to consider working with 
larger groups of contiguous counties to develop a region-wide or multi-
county CoC strategy covering the combined service areas of these 
counties. The areas covered by CoC strategies should not overlap.
    3. CoC Components. A CoC system typically consists of five basic 
elements, as follows:
    a. A system of outreach, engagement, and assessment for determining 
the needs and conditions of individuals or families who are homeless, 
and necessary support to identify, prioritize, and respond to persons 
who are chronically homeless;
    b. Emergency shelters with appropriate supportive services to help 
ensure that homeless individuals and families receive adequate 
emergency shelter and referral to necessary service providers or 
housing search counselors;
    c. Transitional housing with appropriate supportive services to 
help homeless individuals and families prepare to make the transition 
to permanent housing and independent living;
    d. Permanent housing, or permanent supportive housing, to help meet 
the long-term needs of homeless individuals and families; and,
    e. Prevention strategies, which play an integral role in a 
community's plan to eliminate homelessness by effectively intervening 
for persons at risk of homelessness or those being discharged from 
public systems--e.g., corrections, foster care, mental health, and 
other institutions--so that they do not enter the homeless system. By 
law, prevention activities are ineligible activities in the three 
programs included in this Notice but are eligible for funding under the 
Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program and many other programs.
    4. Once the CoC application has been submitted and scored, the CoC 
will receive its conditional award. This is the total amount of monies 
awarded to a CoC's eligible projects including new and renewal SHP and 
S+C projects, new SRO Moderate-Rehabilitation projects, Samaritan 
Housing Initiative and Rapid Re-Housing for Families Demonstration 
projects.

II. Completing the Registration Process for CoCs

A. Overview of Information Required for Registration

    Regardless of the CoC structure and planning process, the FY2008 
electronic registration/application process will require that each CoC 
select up to two persons, from the CoC Lead Agency, who are authorized 
to submit the CoC application and project applications to HUD, known as 
the CoC Lead Agency Contact(s). Before the CoC Lead Agency Contact(s) 
enters e-snaps (s)he should know the following information:
     The CoC's Lead Agency
     CoC contact person for receiving messages from HUD
     The CoC Name and Number
     The CoC's geographic areas

B. Submitting the Electronic Registration

    In order to be eligible to submit an application through e-snaps 
for the FY2008 Homeless Assistance competition, CoCs must register in 
the electronic database, e-snaps, prior to the beginning of the FY2008 
CoC competition. The CoC registration process will begin on or about 
May 1, 2008 and close at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on or about June 15, 
2008. HUD will notify potential applicants of the exact registration 
opening and closing dates via the HUD Homeless Assistance listserv and 
through its Web sites located at http://www.hud.gov and http://www.hudhre.info. During the registration phase, CoCs will be asked to 
identify the CoC lead agency, contact information for lead agency 
staff, and the geography that the CoC is claiming. This process will 
not be part of www.grants.gov. CoCs will receive confirmation from HUD 
concerning claimed geography, PPRN and HHN Amounts. The CoC Lead Agency 
Contact may access e-snaps beginning on or about May 1, 2008 at http://www.hud.gov/esnaps.
    HUD held a broadcast regarding the CoC registration process on 
April 22, 2008. This broadcast may be viewed at http://www.hud.gov/webcasts/archives/. On-line training for CoC Registration may be 
accessed at http://www.hudhre.info. To assist CoCs with the 
registration process, HUD has set up a Help Desk, which can be accessed 
toll free via phone at 1-877-6eSNAPS (1-877-637-6277) or via e-mail at 
[email protected].
    In addition, HUD has the HUD-defined CoC names and numbers as well 
as a list of each geographic area with its pro-rata need amount on 
http://www.hud.gov and http://www.hudhre.info/index.cfm?do=viewCoCGrantMaterials. Existing and proposed CoCs must 
register their HUD-defined CoC and claimed geography with HUD through 
e-snaps. If a CoC does not have a HUD-defined name it should contact 
the HUD Field Office serving its area.
    In the instance that one or more CoC planning bodies claim one or 
more of the same geographies, HUD shall determine which CoC has the 
best claim for the geography based upon past experience and the 
participation and desires of the predominant number of homeless service 
providers in the disputed geography. The HUD decision on allocating 
geography is final and competing CoCs shall be notified of HUD's 
determination prior to the release of the FY2008 CoC application.

III. Changes for FY2008 CoC NOFA

    The following is a list of major changes to the FY2008 CoC NOFA:
    1. CoCs and project applicants will be required to apply for the 
FY2008 CoC competition electronically through http://www.hud.gov/esnaps.
    2. CoCs will be required to register their CoCs in the new homeless 
electronic application system, e-snaps, prior to the beginning of the 
competition. For more information see Section II of this Notice.
    3. A CoC may create multiple Samaritan Housing Initiative projects 
as long as the total amount of funding requested for all initiative 
projects does not exceed 15 percent of the CoC's Preliminary Pro Rata 
Need.
    4. HUD will continue to score Homeless Assistance applications on a

[[Page 23486]]

100-point scale; however, the 40 Need points previously allocated to 
projects will be redistributed into the existing point structure. The 
exact redistribution of points will be announced in the FY2008 CoC 
NOFA. Need will continue to be accounted for through the formula that 
determines Preliminary Pro Rata Need or the Hold Harmless Need amounts 
for the CoC.
    5. As directed by Congress in the FY2008 HUD Appropriation 
(Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, H.R. 2764), HUD will implement 
a Rapid Re-Housing for Families Demonstration Program through the 
FY2008 CoC NOFA. This demonstration program will serve homeless 
households with dependent children.
    6. Safe Havens (SH) will no longer be given Transitional Housing 
(TH) or Permanent Housing (PH) classifications and grantees will have 
an opportunity through the FY2008 CoC NOFA to change the classification 
of their project without a grant amendment. Under the newly defined 
Safe Haven SHP program type, any chronically homeless person entering a 
Safe Haven will maintain his/her status as chronically homeless and 
will therefore be eligible to enter a funded Samaritan Housing 
Initiative project.
    7. HUD is aware that there has been some confusion over Shelter 
Plus Care (S+C) and new SRO grant amounts and is reminding grantees and 
applicants that S+C and new SRO grants may not exceed 100 percent of 
the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) 
and unit size.
    8. CoCs that are in ``Hold Harmless Need Status'' may now use the 
reallocation process to create new dedicated HMIS projects.
    9. HUD will allow only one applicant for HMIS dedicated grants 
within a CoC.
    10. HMIS funds contained in the Training and Technical Assistance 
line item of the HMIS budget may be used for travel, hotel, and per 
diem costs associated with the provision of technical assistance and 
training sessions by local HMIS staff; attendance at training sessions 
provided by local HMIS staff and/or outside trainers; attendance at 
HUD-sponsored HMIS training sessions or symposiums; attendance at HMIS 
vendor-sponsored user meetings; and attendance at other HMIS-related 
events as qualified and pre-approved by HUD Headquarters. Applicants 
may be asked to identify the number and type of HMIS training sessions 
for which they are requesting SHP funds during the technical submission 
process. Payments will be limited to the reasonableness of travel 
expenses as listed in 24 CFR Parts 84 and 85.

    Dated: April 25, 2008.
Nelson R. Breg[oacute]n,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development.
[FR Doc. E8-9540 Filed 4-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P