CoC Builds Review and Selection Policy and Procedure
Approved by OPH Executive Committee, September 2024
Our Path Home, the Boise City/Ada County Continuum of Care (CoC) ID-500, is requesting project applications for up to $5,000,000 for the development, acquisition, or rehabilitation of new PSH units as part of the CoC Builds Competition.
CoC Builds
On July 19, 2024, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The CoC Builds NOFO targets efforts within CoC geographic areas to address and reduce persons experiencing homelessness by adding new units of permanent supportive housing (PSH) through new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation through one-time CoC Builds awards under the CoC Program.
Through the CoC Builds NOFO, HUD is encouraging CoCs to leverage funds provided for construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of new PSH units with other funding sources to maximize the amount of housing that can be directed to meet the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness. PSH is permanent housing in which supportive services are provided to assist individuals with a disability and families where at least one household member has a disability and is experiencing homelessness to live independently.
No more than 20 percent of each award may be used for other eligible CoC Program activities associated with the PSH project (e.g., supportive services, operating costs) – see Section IV.G.3 of this NOFO – and no more than 10 percent of each award may be used for project administration.
Only CoC-designated Collaborative Applicants can submit. The City of Boise serves as the Our Path Home designated Collaborative Applicant and is responsible for submitting the final CoC Builds application, as selected by Our Path Home. The final application must include a CoC letter of support signed by a designated representative of the Our Path Home Executive Committee. The designated representative cannot be an applicant in the local competition for CoC Builds funding.
In addition to this letter of support, the NOFO requires a narrative and number of attachments which the City of Boise will submit. The City of Boise will ensure the narrative application is limited to 25 pages, excluding forms, certifications, and attachments. The final application will include the following required attachments:
- SF-424: Application for Federal Assistance.
- HUD-424-B: Applicant and Recipient Assurances and Certifications.
- HUD-2880: Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report.
- SF-LLL: Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable).
- Detailed Budget Worksheet: Financial plan outline.
- HUD-2991: Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan.
Subscribe to HUD exchange and the Our Path Home newsletter for updates.
Review and Selection Policy
OPH will review all project applications submitted to info@ourpathhome.org by November 5, 2024. Applications must include a clear capital cost budget, align with HUD's goals, and meet eligibility and threshold criteria outlined below.
Eligible Activities:
- Must include capital costs for new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of PSH units.
- Up to 20% of the award can be used for other eligible CoC Program activities, such as supportive services and operating costs.
- Up to 10% of the award can be used for project administration.
Threshold Requirements
- Eligibility - Only eligible applicants under HUD's regulations will be reviewed.
- Certification - Compliance with federal regulations required.
- Resolution of Civil Rights Matters - Must resolve any outstanding civil rights issues before the deadline.
- Timely Submission - Applications must be on time.
- Leveraging Other Resources – Project demonstrates leverage beyond the required match. Sources and amounts of leveraged resources must be documented.
- Match Requirement - 25% of the total grant must be matched through cash or in-kind contributions (except leasing).
Review Committee
Applicants wishing to be selected need to provide an application narrative to info@ourpathhome.org by November 5. The email submission must include application is limited to 25 pages applicant self-attestation that the team can meet all threshold requirements.
The application narrative will be reviewed by a team selected by the FUND Committee. The review team will not include a voting member that is an applicant for the local competition for CoC Builds funding. The review team will, in addition to ensuring the application includes eligible activities and meets threshold requirements, use the below scoring matrix HUD encourages CoCs to use for review in the NOFO.
| Scoring Area | Max Points | Description |
Development Experience, Leveraging and Coordinating Resources. | 44 | Describe applicant team’s experience with at least four other projects that leverage resources for similarly scoped projects, specifically addressing any relevant rental housing management experience. Provide overall project costs and include any additional sources leveraged for the project. Describe project’s coordination of resources between applicant team/others, including specific dollar amounts and letters of commitment. |
Managing Homeless Projects & Unmet Housing Need. | 22 | Demonstrate applicant team expertise running programs serving people that have experienced homelessness. Include examples from real projects that include units/properties and delivery of support services including access to transportation. Describe the population served by the project, including a demonstration of the need based on data. Demonstrate use of CoC coordinated entry process to refer households to new PHS units. |
Implementation Schedule & Property Maintenance. | 17 | A complete implementation schedule to include all elements as outlined in the NOFO that includes property maintenance. |
Experience Promoting Racial Equity, Integrating People, and Training. | 17 | Demonstrate experience promoting racial equity. Include how the project solicits and applies input from program participants that will enable program participants to make meaningful choices about the program, supports that will allow them to fully participate in the community, and the employment/training opportunities that are relevant for them. |
Recommendation & Selection
The review team will use review matrix scores to inform a recommendation they will make to Our Path Home’s Executive Committee for selection. Scores should ground the recommendation, and review team deliberation if more than one application is submitted for review. However, the review team may make a recommendation that strays from the scoring at their discretion based upon their review of applications and informed sense of which project will have the most local impact for the CoC.
Our Path Home’s Executive Committee will consider the recommendation in their vote to select a single application that will be submitted by the designated applicant. Upon making a decision, the Our Path Home Executive Committee will provide the City of Boise with a letter of support for the project that includes:
- CoC Number and Name
- Applicant Organization Name
- Project Name
- Requested Funding Amount
Local Competition Timeline
July 14: HUD opened Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Our Path Home encourages applicants to read the NOFO in its entirety.
October 4: Announce Local CoC Builds Competition via email and publicly post how our CoC will review and select an application on Our Path Home’s CoC Builds webpage.
October 18: Letter of intent for project applicants are due by 5:00 PM MST via email to info@ourpathhome.org. Letter of intent must include members of the project application team and description of the project addressing all eligible activities to be included. CoC will confirm letter of intent receive and provide instructions for applicants to support CoC securing Certificate of Consistency with local jurisdiction Consolidated Plans for their project application by October 31, 2024.
November 5: Project applications are due by 5:00 PM MST via email to info@ourpathhome.org.
November 12: No later than November 12, the FUND Committee will review all project applications and make an application recommendation to the Our Path Home Executive Committee.
November 15: No later than November 15, the Our Path Home Executive Committee will vote on the application for the City of Boise to submit in response to the CoC Builds NOFO.
November 19: Target date by which the City of Boise will submit complete CoC Builds Application to HUD based on their recommendation to submit your application at least 48 hours before the deadline.
November 21: CoC Builds NOFO closes at 8:00 PM EDT.
Grievance and Appeals Process
The Our Path Home Executive Committee will consider any grievances.
Grievances must be submitted in writing to the CoC Lead Agency (the City of Boise) by emailing info@ourpathhome.org within 24 hours of the project applicants’ formal notification of the funding recommendation.
The grievance must include the nature of the grievance, including an explanation of how the organization perceived it was unfairly treated. The grievance should also include a reasonable and fair proposed solution to address the grievance.
The Our Path Home Executive Committee must provide a written response to the appeal within two business days, beginning on the first business day after the grievance was submitted.
Project applicants whose project was rejected may appeal the local CoC competition decision to HUD if the project applicant believes it was denied the opportunity to participate in the local CoC planning process in a reasonable manner by submitting a Solo Applicant project application directly to HUD prior to the application deadline. The CoC’s notification of rejection of the project in the local competition must be attached to the Solo Application. Additionally, for HUD to consider its solo application, a solo applicant must also meet all the requirements outlined in the NOFO.