[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 169 (Wednesday, September 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45461-45466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21211]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5327-N-01]


Notice of Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 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: This notice provides instructions to potential Continuums of 
Care (CoCs) applying for the approximately $1.43 billion of funding 
under HUD's Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Competition in FY 
2009. The CoC competition uses an electronic system outside of 
Grants.gov for CoC registration, as well as for submission of the CoC 
application, called e-snaps. Notification of the availability of the 
2009 CoC application will be released via HUD's Homeless Assistance 
listserv. To join HUD's listserv, go to http://www.hud.gov/subscribe/mailinglist.cfm and click on ``Homeless Assistance Program.''
    This notice provides information to help applicants better 
understand the CoC registration and electronic application submission 
process through e-snaps, which is located at http://www.hud.gov/esnaps. 
Applicants for project funding are also required to register with Dun 
and Bradstreet, if they have not already done so, and complete or renew 
their registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). More 
information on this can be found in the General Section to HUD's FY 
2009 NOFAs for Discretionary Programs published in the Federal Register 
December 29, 2008 (73 FR 79548), as amended April 16, 2009 (73 FR 
17685). In an effort to streamline the renewal award process in 2009, 
HUD has modified the selection process. Eligible Supportive Housing 
Program (SHP) and Shelter Plus Care (S+C) renewal projects will be 
conditionally awarded as quickly as possible. New projects will be 
awarded after the project threshold review and the scoring of the CoC 
application have been completed. A project application must be 
submitted for each project that is eligible for renewal in the 2009 
competition, in order for it to be considered for funding,
    Projects are considered eligible for renewal in the 2009 
competition if they expire in Calendar Year 2010 and have met all of 
the performance and capacity requirements that will be outlined in the 
2009 CoC Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). HUD reserves the right 
to not renew grants where the grantee has exhibited serious capacity 
issues in prior grants, including performance and financial problems, 
or unresolved monitoring findings for which there is no evidence that 
the grantee is working toward appropriate resolution. CoCs and project 
applicants should read all sections of this notice, as well as the 
upcoming 2009 NOFA, to help identify these types of issues and work 
with their local field office to resolve the issues prior to the 2009 
CoC Application due date. Grantees and project sponsors are responsible 
for keeping grant files and for knowing the beginning and ending dates 
of their grants. If a grantee fails to apply for a renewal project in 
the appropriate year, the project will not be eligible for renewal in 
the next funding competition. Please Note: Under the 2002 and 2003 
Appropriation Acts, funds for all grants awarded in those years will be 
available for use until September 30, 2009, and September 30, 2010, 
respectively. Projects that were awarded in 2002 and expire in 2009 
were required to apply for renewal in the 2008 competition and, 
therefore, will not be eligible for renewal in the 2009 competition. 
Although the terms of all grants awarded in 2002 and 2003 should have 
expired before September 30, 2009, and September 30, 2010, 
respectively, HUD has discovered that, due to delays in signing the 
grant agreements or extensions, some grants have an expiration date in 
2010 or later. Funds will not be available for expenditure after 
September 30, 2009, and September 30, 2010, respectively, for these 
grants. Recipients may not accelerate their spending rate. Field 
offices will monitor draws for affected grants, to ensure that funds 
will be drawn only to reimburse the affected recipients for actual 
costs incurred in accordance with the project budget on, or before, 
funds are no longer available. Notwithstanding the expiration date of 
your SHP or S+C grant, if the grant was awarded in 2002 or 2003, but 
has an expiration date of 2010 or later, the applicant must apply for 
renewal in 2009.
    As stated previously, HUD will rate new project applications 
separately from renewal project submissions. The determination of 
leveraging and housing emphasis scores in Exhibit 1 will be calculated 
only with data from new project applications. For more information on 
this and other significant changes to the 2009 CoC competition, please 
see Section III of this notice. HUD advises potential applicants to 
read this notice in its entirety and complete the training offered at 
http://www.hudhre.info.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: CoCs may contact the HUD Field Office 
serving their area, at the telephone number shown in the General 
Section. In addition, applicants are strongly encouraged to send 
questions regarding this notice to the e-snaps Virtual Help Desk at 
http://www.hudhre.info/helpdesk.

Full Text of Announcement

    This notice is divided into three sections. Section I describes 
important information that CoCs and project applicants should be 
familiar with prior to applying for 2009 Homeless Assistance funding. 
This includes pertinent definitions and an overview of the necessary 
CoC planning process. Section II 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 2009 CoC Homeless Assistance competition. HUD hopes that this will 
assist CoCs in better planning their 2009 CoC application.

I. Overview Information

A. Program Description

    Approximately $1.43 billion is available for funding through the 
FY2009 CoC Homeless Assistance Competition. Carried over or recaptured 
funds from previous fiscal years, if available, may be added to this 
amount.
    The purpose of the CoC Homeless Assistance Program is to reduce the 
incidence of homelessness in CoC communities by assisting homeless 
individuals and families move to self-sufficiency and permanent 
housing.
    The 2009 CoC NOFA will be published separately in the Federal 
Register no earlier than August 15, 2009.

[[Page 45462]]

B. Definitions

    The definitions contained in this notice are only those that are 
necessary for CoCs to understand in order complete the 2009 CoC 
registration process. A complete list of definitions will be provided 
in the 2009 CoC NOFA.
    1. Annual Renewal Amount. This is the maximum amount that an 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, and rehabilitation). 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 ARA. If the initial grant included these activities, administrative 
costs must be recalculated and must not exceed 5 percent of the total 
of leasing, operating, HMIS, and supportive services costs contained in 
the initial grant.
    For example, if the initial 3-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 3-year grant term).
    If the initial 3-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 3-
year grant term).
    2. Continuum of Care. This is 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 service providers involved in the decision-
making processes as the ``Continuum of Care.''
    3. Continuum of Care Lead Agency. This is the agency or 
organization designated by the CoC primary decision-making body to be 
the entity that submits the CoC application. The CoC lead agency should 
be responsible for the coordination and oversight of the CoC planning 
efforts, and has the authority to certify and submit the CoC homeless 
assistance funding application. A state governmental entity is the only 
acceptable organization that may serve as the Lead Agency for multiple 
CoCs, due to the level of involvement and possible conflict of interest 
that comes with serving multiple CoCs. Under no other circumstance 
should one entity be identified as the Lead Agency for multiple CoCs.
    4. Continuum of Care Lead Agency Contact. This is the person(s) 
with the authority to submit the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance 
Grants Competition application on behalf of the CoC, usually the 
Executive Director or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CoC Lead 
Agency.
    5. Continuum of Care Need Amounts.
    a. Continuum of Care Preliminary Pro Rata Need (PPRN). This is the 
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 2009 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.
    b. Continuum of Care Hold Harmless Need (HHN). This is the amount 
of funds a CoC is eligible to receive where the total ARA of all SHP 
grants expiring in that CoC during the period beginning January 1, 
2010, and ending December 31, 2010, exceeds the PPRN for that CoC. The 
HHN is the amount needed to fund the expiring renewal grants for one 
year.
    c. Continuum of Care Final Pro Rata Need (FPRN). This is the higher 
amount of: (1) The PPRN or (2) the HHN. In the case of CoCs that are 
eligible and approved by HUD for CoC Hold Harmless Merger, the FPRN 
will be based on the summation of the FPRN of each merging CoC. For 
more information, see Section I.B.5.d.
    d. Continuum of Care Hold Harmless Merger. This is a process where 
two or more CoCs that registered separately in the 2008 competition, at 
least one of which has a 2009 FPRN based on the HHN and another of 
which has a 2009 FPRN based on the PPRN, register together in the 2009 
competition. Under this process, HUD will calculate the newly merged 
CoC's FPRN based on the higher FPRN for each CoC. This calculation is 
completed during CoC registration. The newly merged CoC may use this 
process for calculating FPRN for the 2009 competition only.
    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. The initial step in the 
electronic application process 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. This process establishes the 
CoC's FPRN amount, as well as the bonus amounts that CoCs are eligible 
to request.
    8. Funding Category. A funding category is a project submission 
category subject to NOFA selection priorities. There are four funding 
categories in the 2009 competition:
    (1) The Shelter Plus Care Renewal Funding Category includes 
eligible S+C renewal projects.
    (2) The Supportive Housing Program Renewal Funding Category 
includes eligible SHP renewals approved by the CoC.
    (3) The Permanent Housing Bonus Funding Category covers one or more 
new SHP, S+C, and Section 8 SRO projects that, in total, may be no more 
than 15 percent of a CoC's Preliminary Pro Rata Need.

[[Page 45463]]

    (4) The FPRN Funding Category covers new SHP, Section 8 SRO, and 
S+C projects submitted by CoCs that are in PPRN status and that have 
funds available in their FPRN. A CoC in PPRN status will only be able 
to submit new projects equal to the difference between the renewal 
amounts claimed in the SHP renewal funding category (2) above and these 
CoCs' FPRN.
    Projects that are submitted in the Permanent Housing Bonus and FPRN 
Funding Categories that exceed the limits of the funding category in 
part will be reduced by HUD and projects that are totally outside the 
funding category limit will be automatically rejected.
    9. Grant Inventory Worksheet. This is an inventory of all grants 
that are eligible for renewal in a particular year. In 2009, CoCs will 
be responsible for attaching the SHP and S+C grant inventory worksheets 
into e-snaps during the CoC registration process. HUD will use the 
grant inventories to determine the renewal projects that are eligible 
for award and the funding amount that they are eligible to receive. 
Therefore, CoCs must work with their local HUD field office to ensure 
that all eligible projects are included on these lists. For SHP 
projects, the correct annual renewal amounts must be recorded. For S+C, 
the correct total number of units must be included. CoCs will be asked 
to provide, at a minimum, the following information for each of its 
renewal projects:

<bullet> Name of Project
<bullet> Project Number
<bullet> Grant Term
<bullet> Expiration Date
<bullet> Component Type
<bullet> Previously approved budget amounts by activity/Unit 
Distribution (S+C)
<bullet> Annual Renewal Amount (SHP)/Total Number of Units (S+C)

C. CoC Planning Process

    HUD will evaluate CoCs on the following criteria:

<bullet> CoC Housing, Services, and Structure;
<bullet> Homeless Needs and Data Collection;
<bullet> CoC Strategic Planning;
<bullet> CoC Performance; and
<bullet> Housing Emphasis.

    There are several significant changes to these evaluation criteria 
from prior years. These changes are outlined in this Notice and will be 
discussed in detail in the 2009 NOFA. CoCs are encouraged to continue 
planning for the 2009 CoC Homeless Assistance competition in the same 
manner that they have in past years. This includes:
    1. A CoC planning 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 10-year 
plans (jurisdictional 10-year plans) encouraged by the U.S. Interagency 
Council on Homelessness, as well as, Consolidated Plans, into the CoC 
plans. These plans serve as a vehicle for a community to 
comprehensively identify all of its needs and to coordinate a plan for 
addressing them.
    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.
    Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Congress 
designated $1.5 billion for HUD's Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-
housing Program (HPRP). Through this new program, funds for prevention 
activities and rapid re-housing of individuals and families have been 
made available to eligible grantees, including states, territories, 
metropolitan cities, and urban counties. HPRP Grantees are required to 
coordinate with CoCs in the development of HPRP program and activities, 
including HMIS. CoCs will be required to describe the level of 
coordination between HPRP grantees and CoC leadership and/or members.
    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 2009 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 regional or multi-
county CoC strategy covering the combined service areas of these 
counties. The boundaries of identified CoC areas may not overlap.
    HUD has determined that the merger of one or more existing CoCs 
into a new larger CoC can result in improved coordination of services, 
effective HMIS implementation, more efficient resource allocation and 
planning, and improved competitiveness for new resources. Merging 
smaller CoCs into a larger CoC also reduces the administrative burden 
of applying for funding at the local level and reviewing funding 
applications at the national level. HUD strongly encourages CoCs to 
merge where it is appropriate.
    In recognition of these advantages, HUD has adopted a new CoC Hold 
Harmless Merger policy for calculating Final Pro Rata Need (FPRN) that 
ensures CoCs will not lose FPRN by merging. Please note, where two or 
more CoCs that are in the same need status (i.e., both in Hold Harmless 
Need status or both in Preliminary Pro Rata Need status) decide to 
merge, their FPRN will be calculated on the sum of the FPRN for all.
    The new CoC Hold Harmless Merger procedure is applicable only when 
two or more CoCs registered in 2008 and whose 2009 FPRN separate 
calculation results in at least one CoC's FPRN being based upon 
Preliminary Pro Rata Need (PPRN) and at least one CoCs FPRN being based 
upon Hold Harmless Need (HHN). The following tables illustrate how FPRN 
would be calculated for four CoCs merging before and after the 
introduction of the new CoC Hold Harmless Merger policy. The new 
calculation method would provide the newly merged CoCs with additional 
funds in their FPRN to create new projects.

[[Page 45464]]



     Table A--CoC Consolidation WITHOUT Hold Harmless Merger Concept
  [FPRN = the greater of: (1) the CoC's combined PPRN or (2) the CoC's
                              combined HHN]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               2009
                                             2009 Hold      Preliminary
          Individual continuums            harmless need   program rata
                                              amount        need amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.......................................        $100,000        $150,000
II......................................          50,000         200,000
III.....................................         350,000         150,000
IV......................................         750,000         250,000
                                         -------------------------------
    Merged CoC Total (I-II-III-IV)......       1,250,000         750,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 1: Total all of the original CoC's 2009 HHN Amounts.
Step 2: Total all of the original CoC's 2009 PPRN Amounts.
Step 3: The higher amount from Step 1 and Step 2 becomes the FPRN for
 the Merged CoC.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                          Table B--CoC Consolidation WITH Hold Harmless Merger Concept
                                    [FPRN = the combined CoC's FPRN amounts]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       2009
                                                                                    Preliminary   2009 Final pro
             Individual continuums               2009 Hold harmless need amount    pro rata need     rata need
                                                                                      amount          amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.............................................  $100,000........................        $150,000        $150,000
II............................................  50,000..........................         200,000         200,000
III...........................................  350,000.........................         150,000         350,000
IV............................................  750,000.........................         250,000         750,000
                                               -----------------------------------------------------------------
    Merged CoC Total..........................  1,250,000.......................         750,000       1,450,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 1: Identify the original CoC's FPRN (the greater of PPRN or HHN).
Step 2: Total the original CoC's FPRNs.
Step 3: The total of the original CoC's FPRNs becomes the FPRN for the Merged CoC.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To determine whether CoCs may benefit from merging under this 
option, HUD will make available a Worksheet and Guidance on CoC Hold 
Harmless Merger eligibility and procedures. This guidance will be 
posted at http://www.hudhre.info.
    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, the new Homelessness 
Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, and other programs.
    4. CoC Lead Person. Regardless of the CoC structure and planning 
process, the 2009 electronic registration/application process will 
require that each CoC select two persons from the CoC Lead Agency who 
are authorized to submit the CoC application and the project 
applications to HUD.
    5. CoC Award. In recognition of the need to announce and process 
renewal awards as quickly as possible to avoid hardship to grantees, 
HUD will implement a modified selection process. Under the modified 
selection process, the CoC will receive its renewal funding for all 
eligible renewal projects shortly after the CoC application has been 
submitted to HUD in a two-step process. CoC scores will determine the 
new project applications to be selected for award. The sum of funds 
awarded to a CoC renewal and new projects is the total amount of monies 
awarded to a CoC's eligible projects.

II. Completing the Registration Process for CoCS

    In order to be eligible to submit an application in the FY 2009 
Homeless Assistance competition, CoCs must register in the electronic 
database, e-snaps, prior to the beginning of the 2009 CoC competition. 
CoCs that applied for funds in 2008 will merely have to update 
registration information in e-snaps. The CoC registration process will 
begin no earlier than July 21, 2009, and close no earlier than August 
31, 2009, at 4 p.m. ET. HUD will notify potential applicants of the 
exact registration opening and closing dates via the HUD Homeless 
Assistance listserv and through its websites 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. CoCs 
will also be required to attach

[[Page 45465]]

their SHP and S+C grant inventory worksheets. This process will not be 
part of www.Grants.gov. CoCs will receive confirmation from HUD 
concerning claimed geography, and PPRN and HHN amounts.
    Through the CoC Registration process, CoCs will use the SHP and S+C 
grant inventory worksheets to establish those projects that are 
eligible for renewal in 2009. Projects will be considered eligible for 
renewal in the 2009 CoC competition if they expire in Calendar Year 
2010 and if they meet all other HUD requirements regarding performance 
and capacity. It will be at HUD's discretion to award or not award any 
renewal project that has any significant capacity issues related to 
performance and/or financial problems or has unresolved monitoring 
findings.
    In 2009, CoCs will be required to verify that all renewals are 
correctly included on the grant inventory worksheet, and will be 
required to add missing projects as needed. In 2009, it will be 
critical for CoCs to pay close attention to any grants that were 
originally awarded in 2002 or 2003 that have not yet been renewed. As 
stated previously, the funds associated with these grants will be 
available only for use through the end of Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 
2009 and 2010, respectively. After that date, these funds will 
automatically be returned to the U.S. Treasury and will no longer be 
available for expenditure, even if the end date established in the 
grant agreement is later. More specific instructions will be provided 
to local HUD field offices for the following situations:
    <bullet> 2002 grant expires in 2009 but did not renew in 2008 
competition and did not extend into 2010 or later--The grant will not 
be renewed.
    <bullet> 2002 grant expires in, or has been extended to, 2010 or 
beyond-Renewal must be requested in 2009. To be eligible for renewal in 
this year's competition, recipient must operate the grant into 2010 
using their own funds, until the renewal grant agreement is signed. 
Renewal grant agreements must be signed no later than March 31, 2010, 
or the renewal award will be deselected. The renewal grant will 
authorize reimbursement of the recipient's expenditures for eligible 
costs incurred between September 30, 2009, and the date the renewal 
grant agreement is signed. The Operating Start Date in LOCCS for each 
of these renewal grant agreements will be adjusted to October 1, 2009.
    <bullet> 2003 grant expires in, or has been extended to, 2010 or 
beyond-Renewal must be requested in 2009. Renewal grant agreements must 
be signed no later than September 30, 2010 or the renewal award will be 
deselected. The Operating Start Date in LOCCS for each of these renewal 
grant agreements will be adjusted to October 1, 2010.
    It is imperative that grantees adhere to the time limitation on the 
funds contained in the law. No extensions will be approved beyond the 
statutory availability of the funds for the grant.
    In 2009, CoCs that are in PPRN status will be permitted to request 
one, 2, or 3 years of funding for SHP renewal projects, up to the 
maximum amount of available pro rata need. HUD reserves the right to 
not allow multi-year grant term requests for renewal projects in future 
competitions; therefore, CoCs may want to consider moving to one-year 
renewals, to maximize funding.
    HUD will hold a satellite broadcast regarding the CoC registration 
process on July 15, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. This 
broadcast may be viewed at http://www.hud.gov/webcasts. This broadcast 
will also be archived on this website. On-line training for CoC 
Registration may be accessed at http://www.hudhre.info.
    HUD will post the HUD-defined CoC names and numbers as well as a 
list of each geographical area with its Preliminary 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, as well as 
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. If a CoC omits geography, HUD will not add it back 
in.

III. Changes for 2009 CoC NOFA

    The following is a list of major changes to the 2009 CoC NOFA:
    1. In an effort to streamline the renewal award process in 2009, 
HUD has modified the selection process so that eligible SHP and S+C 
renewal projects will be awarded as quickly as possible. New projects 
will be awarded, after the completion of project threshold review and 
the scoring of the project and the CoC applications. A project 
application will be required for new and renewal projects. However, for 
renewal projects, applicants will only be verifying basic project and 
budget information, selecting grant term request, and certifying 
request of renewal.
    2. In 2009, CoCs in HHN status will not be able to reallocate funds 
to new projects. New project applications to be submitted must be 
either new projects within FPRN for CoCs in PPRN status or projects 
that will be funded with permanent housing bonus funds. HUD reserves 
the right to allow HHN Reallocation in future competitions (see Section 
I.B.5.d of this notice for a detailed explanation).
    3. HUD has determined that the merger of one or more existing CoCs 
into a new merged, larger CoC can result in effective and efficient 
planning, program delivery, HMIS implementation, and CoC 
competitiveness. In recognition of these advantages, HUD has adopted a 
new CoC Hold Harmless Merger policy for calculating FPRN that ensures 
CoCs will not lose FPRN by merging (see Section I.B.5.d of this 
notice).
    4. The Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan is a 
statutory form that must be submitted as part of the application. 
Previously, project applicants were responsible for submitting the 
associated Consolidated Plan certification along with their project 
application. New this year, CoCs will be responsible for attaching the 
certification for all projects, new and renewal, that are requesting 
funding to the CoC portion of the application. CoCs will attach a 
signed form for each jurisdiction that includes the list of all 
associated new and renewal projects.
    5. HUD encourages all projects to utilize Neighborhood 
Stabilization Program (NSP) and any HUD-managed American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) programs, i.e., Community Development Block 
Grant-Recovery (CDBG-R), Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP), NSP1, 
NSP2, etc., as a source of leveraging. CoCs that identify coordination 
with NSP and any HUD-managed ARRA programs may receive extra points 
during the CoC application review process.
    6. As part of the CoC application, CoCs will be required to address 
how they are participating in the new HPRP, as indicated in the 
substantial amendment to the Consolidated Plan.
    7. As a reminder, HUD will assess, as part of the project review 
process, applicant eligibility, capacity, and quality. This review also 
considers an applicant's spending history on current homeless 
assistance grants, if

[[Page 45466]]

applicable. HUD expects that grantees should be making draw-downs at 
least quarterly. HUD will be looking at this for both new project 
applications and as a condition of renewal awards.
    8. Also as a reminder, up to 8 percent of an S+C grant may be used 
for eligible incurred administrative costs associated with 
administration of housing assistance. These funds must be drawn down at 
least quarterly. Draws must be for eligible expenses already incurred 
in the period immediately preceding the draw or to be incurred during 
the period immediately following the draw. HUD will recapture all 
unspent funds at the end of the grant term. If administrative costs 
exceed 8 percent, recipients must pay for these costs from another 
source.
    9. Beginning in 2009, applicants for the S+C program will be 
permitted to apply only for 100 percent of the Fair Market Rent (FMR) 
and will no longer be permitted to request any amount that is greater 
or less than the local FMR.
    10. The calculation of housing emphasis and leveraging for the CoC 
score will be calculated using only new project requests.
    11. For 2009, the Samaritan Bonus Initiative will be replaced with 
a Permanent Housing Bonus. CoCs will be able to use funds for homeless 
disabled individuals and families or for chronically homeless 
individuals. As creating new permanent housing beds for chronically 
homeless individuals is still a HUD priority, HUD strongly encourages 
CoCs to use at least a portion of available bonus funds to create a 
project that will exclusively serve the chronically homeless.

    Dated: August 20, 2009.
Mercedes M[aacute]rquez,
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development.
[FR Doc. E9-21211 Filed 9-1-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P