On November 8, HUD announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $50 million in Youth Homelessness System Improvement (YHSI) grant funding. Details of the NOFO are as follows:
- Eligible applicants include HAs; city, county, and state governments; tribal governments and organizations; and tax-exempt non-profits (including faith-based organizations).
- The application deadline is February 15, 2024.
- Individual awards will fall between $200,000 and $2 million.
- The maximum period of performance is 30 months.
- Included in the NOFO’s rating factors are whether the application adopts a ‘regional approach,’ defined as serving two or more Continua of Care (CoCs) or serving a rural area outside of a CoC geography.
As the program title suggests, the YHSI program seeks to address systems-level challenges to housing youth. Examples of eligible activities provided in the NOFO include:
- Developing the capacity of homeless and unstably-housed youth, including creating Youth Action Boards and improving outreach to homeless youth.
- Establishing partnerships among organizations serving youth who are homeless or unstably housed.
- Improving Coordinated Entry Systems (CES) to better serve youth.
- Enhancing data collection and sharing among organizations serving homeless youth.
In the press release announcing the YHSI funding opportunity, the Department described other efforts it is undertaking to address homelessness nationwide. These include a letter to HA Executive Directors from Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard Monocchio outlining Departmental resources and streamlining efforts to support HAs in addressing homelessness. Further, HUD will provide additional technical assistance to entities that recently received funding to address rural and unsheltered homelessness.