From HUD: "The CoC Program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; to provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, States, and local governments to quickly re-house homeless individuals, families, persons fleeing domestic violence, and youth while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness; to promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and to optimize self-sufficiency among those experiencing homelessness."
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CoC Funding Process
From HUD: "The CoC Program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; to provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, States, and local governments to quickly re-house homeless individuals, families, persons fleeing domestic violence, and youth while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness; to promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and to optimize self-sufficiency among those experiencing homelessness."
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Introduction to Project Rating and Ranking
Per HUD's regulations and guidance, each year the CO BoS CoC convenes a Project Ranking Committee responsible for identifying rating criteria for new and existing projects. "The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is an essential resource in helping HUD meet the national goals of preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. CoCs should use objective, performance based scoring criteria and selection priorities that are approved by the CoC to determine the extent to which each project addresses HUD’s policy priorities. CoCs should reallocate funds to new projects whenever reallocation would improve outcomes and reduce homelessness, and consider how much each project spends to serve and house an individual or family as compared to other projects serving similar populations."
If you're interested in learning more or potentially joining the Project Rating and Ranking process, please send an email by clicking here.
Rating and Ranking Process
Each year new and existing projects go through a CoC-wide process to rate and rank projects along the guidelines of the CoC Interim Rule and the CoC Program NOFA for that year. Each CoC across the country participates in a "Project Rating and Ranking" process to meet HUD's guidelines around how to rate and rank new projects and renewal project funding.
The Balance of State Continuum of Care establishes a Project Rating and Ranking Committee each year to accomplish this task.(Documented as the "Project Ranking Sub-Committee" of the Funging Strategies Committee in the BoS CoC Policies & Procedures document.) According to the Governance Charter, the Project Ranking Sub-Committee is responsible for the following:
- 4a. Project Ranking Sub-Committee The Project Ranking Committee is responsible for developing and presenting Ranking Criteria to the CoC Governing Board for review and approval each year. The criteria are designed to utilize a non-biased process based on HUD and CoC priorities and applicant quality. This process will be both for new projects and renewal projects.
- Purpose and Responsibilities:
- The Committee will be composed of 4 CoC-funded providers and 4 non CoC-funded members who are familiar with the CoC projects and process and are community stakeholders.
- In order to best serve our community members through provision of effective projects and capturing the maximum funds available, the ranking committee will present to the BoS Governing Board what perceived or official changes to HUD priorities are.
- After the BoS Governing Board determines the priorities for the project ranking, the project ranking committee is responsible for developing a timeline they will follow. This timeline will be approved by the Governing Board by a ⅔ vote.
- The Project Ranking Committee will develop a tool to score new and renewal projects, which will be approved by the Governing Board by a ⅔ vote.
- This tool MUST include a fair and equitable way of ranking new projects, renewal projects and have an appeals process.
- Once this tool is approved, applicants will submit all relevant data and documents by the time period indicated on the ranking timeline that is approved by the board.
- The Project Ranking Committee will then score projects, and submit a list with scores to ALL project applicants for review. A project applicant that disagrees with their ranking has the opportunity to refute their score and go through an appeals process. At that time, the project ranking committee will provide the applicant with the scoring tool used, and allow them to score their own project. If the applicant finds that their scoring was incorrect, they may submit to the entire Governing Board to review.
- After all applicants review their scores, the Governing Board will approve project ranking, by a ⅔ majority vote. After a project ranking passes, the Collaborative Applicant is responsible for submitting this ranking to HUD.
- Purpose and Responsibilities:
New Project Funding
Those considering applying for new project funds should first work to understand the time and commitment these funds require. To that end we have put together the following list of HUD resources to help guide new project applicants in the process. While the Collaborative Application is a good resource for information on applying for new projects, unfortunately we do not have the capacity to go through the process with each interested applicant. In order to better understand what it means to apply for and run a new CoC-funded project it would be best to first study this useful list of resources from HUD!
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