Posted October 27, 2022
Posted: October 6, 2022
Posted: August 17, 2022
SNAPS Special NOFO: Leveraging Health Care Resources
On June 22, 2022 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released theContinuum of Care Supplemental to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness (Special NOFO). This is a first-of-its-kind opportunity to address unsheltered homelessness and homeless encampments, and it includes funds set aside to address homelessness in rural communities.
To support communities in developing their plans to address rural and unsheltered homelessness, HUD is highlighting existing TA resources through a series of listserv messages. Today’s message focuses on leveraging health care resources.
Leveraging Health Care Resources
In their Integrate Health Care blog from August 2018, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) states that people experiencing homelessness often have serious and complex health challenges, including mental health problems and substance use disorders, chronic medical conditions like diabetes and hypertension, and infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, and tuberculosis. Further, research from the California Policy Lab finds that these health challenges are particularly severe for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Those experiencing unsheltered homelessness were 25 times as likely to report having all three of the following conditions concurrently when compared to their sheltered peers: physical health condition, mental health condition, and substance abuse condition. Ensuring access to quality health care must be a part of a community’s work to end homelessness.
Combining health care resources with safe, affordable, and accessible housing improves health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness, improves their quality of life, and has the added benefit of reducing costs in the healthcare system. Health care services are more effective when a patient is stably housed, and in turn, maintaining housing is more likely if proper health care services are delivered. This is why leveraging healthcare services to support people with histories of homelessness is so important.
The COVID-19 pandemic has allowed many communities to expand their partnerships with healthcare organizations, including public health. This collaboration has built a solid foundation to continue to grow these partnerships. Examples of organizations that can help you leverage healthcare resources include Health Care for the Homeless providers, mental health and recovery treatment programs, local hospitals, and state and local health departments. When determining which organizations you should engage, it is also important to include people with lived experience in discussions on what health care partnerships and resources are needed at the table.
Listed below are some tools and fact sheets that may be of assistance as you work to leverage health care resources in your homeless system.
Federal Health and Social Service Programs That Support People Experiencing Homelessness (USICH)
Homelessness & Health: What’s the Connection (NHCHC)
COVID-19 & the HCH Community: Needed Actions from Public Health and Emergency Response Systems (NHCHC)
Building connective tissue for effective housing-health initiatives (Brookings)
Homeless in the ED: Partnerships to Improve Care, Pt. 3 – YouTube (NHCHC)

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Posted: August 17, 2022
SNAPS Special NOFO: Addressing Equity
On June 22nd, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) releasedthe Continuum of Care Supplemental to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness (Special NOFO). This is a first-of-its-kind opportunity to address unsheltered homelessness and homeless encampments including funds set aside specifically to address homelessness in rural communities.
To support communities in developing their plans to address rural and unsheltered homelessness, HUD is highlighting existing Technical Assistance (TA) and other resources through a series of listserv messages. Today’s message focuses on Advancing Equity in homelessness response systems.
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, HUD remains focused on promoting equity and inclusion through the programs we fund to prevent and end homelessness. Black, Indigenous, and all people of color as well as individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ and individuals with disabilities are substantially overrepresented in the homeless population across the country. HUD’s efforts are aligned with the Administration’s Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government. As stated in the Executive Order, “because advancing equity requires a systematic approach to embedding fairness in decision-making processes, executive departments and agencies (agencies) must recognize and work to redress inequities in their policies and programs that serve as barriers to equal opportunity.”
Going forward, we encourage CoCs to pursue a vision and mission that explicitly embeds equity in the operation of your homelessness system. Understanding the disparities in outcomes of individuals and families that go through your homelessness system should inform changes in policies, assessment tools and process, and prioritization practices to create more equitable outcomes.
The SNAPS team looks forward to working with you all to continue addressing racism and disparities in our homelessness response system with the goal of ending homelessness for all.
Use the links below to review equity related resources:
- Disease Risks and Homelessness – HUD Exchange
- Racial Equity – HUD Exchange
- Rehousing Activation and Racial Equity (Part 1): Equity as a Foundation
- Data & Equity: Using the Data You Have
- Advancing Racial Equity through CE Assessment and Prioritization
- Equity Driven Changes to Coordinated Entry Prioritization
- Prevention to Promote Equity
- Increasing Equity through Procurement
- Racial Equity Tool
- Stella P

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We hope that you will want to continue receiving information from HUD.
We safeguard our lists and do not rent, sell, or permit the use of our lists by others, at any time, for any reason.
HUD COVID-19 Resources and Fact SheetsIf you wish to be added or removed from this mail list, please go here and follow the instructions to either subscribe or unsubscribe.
Posted: August 11, 2022
Special NOFO to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness: HUD Publishes Revised Detailed Instructions for CoC Application
Home / Program Offices / Community Planning and Development / Continuum of Care Program / Special CoC NOFO
CONTINUUM OF CARE SUPPLEMENTAL TO ADDRESS UNSHELTERED AND RURAL HOMELESSNESS (SPECIAL NOFO)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a first-of-its-kind package of resources to address unsheltered homelessness and homeless encampments, including funds set aside specifically to address homelessness in rural communities.
The $322 million available under this NOFO will enhance communities’ capacity to humanely and effectively address unsheltered homelessness by connecting vulnerable individuals and families to housing, healthcare, and supportive services. This Special NOFO strongly promotes partnerships with healthcare organizations, public housing authorities and mainstream housing providers, and people with lived expertise of homelessness.
Overview
Through this Special NOFO, HUD will award funding to communities to implement coordinated approaches — grounded in Housing First and public health principles — to reduce the prevalence of unsheltered homelessness, and improve services, health outcomes, and housing stability among highly vulnerable unsheltered individuals and families. HUD expects applicant communities to partner with health and housing agencies to leverage mainstream housing and healthcare resources.
Special CoC NOFO Available Funding Opportunities
CoCs will have the opportunity to submit projects for two funding opportunities through this Special NOFO: (1) Unsheltered Homelessness Set Aside and (2) Rural Set Aside. CoCs may apply for projects under one or both funding opportunities as follows:
- Unsheltered Homelessness Set Aside. Projects included in this funding opportunity may serve any geographic area within the CoC and must meet all eligibility and quality threshold requirements established in this Special NOFO. A CoC’s maximum award amount for this funding opportunity is described in Section III.J of the NOFO.
- Rural Set Aside. Projects included in this funding opportunity must serve geographic areas that meet the definition of “rural area” as defined in Section III.C.2.k of the NOFO and meet all eligibility and quality threshold requirements established in this Special NOFO. CoCs whose geographic areas do not include any rural areas are not eligible for funding under this funding opportunity. A CoC’s maximum award amount for this funding opportunity is described in Section III.J of the NOFO.
Applications for the Special NOFO are due to HUD on October 20, 2022.
I Want To
- Review NOFO Application Webinars
- Kick Off Webinar: Special NOFO to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness – June 28, 2022
- Rural Focus: Special NOFO to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness – June 29, 2022
- Ask a question: email SpecialCoCNOFO@hud.gov
Navigational Guides
- (coming soon)
Detailed Instructions
- CoC Application (revised August 10, 2022)
- CoC Planning
- UFA Costs
- Project Application
- Priority Listing (coming soon)
Technical Assistance Materials
The following technical assistance materials may be helpful to communities as they prepare to respond to HUD’s NOFO. The materials are organized by major policy areas addressed in the NOFO.
Please note these resources are prepared by technical assistance providers and intended only to provide information. The contents of these documents, except when based on statutory or regulatory authority or law, do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. These documents are intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
Unsheltered Homelessness
- Ending Homelessness for People Living in Encampments: Advancing the Dialogue (USICH)
- Effective Police-Mental Health Collaboration Responses to People Experiencing Homelessness (Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance)
- Sharing the Solutions: Police Partnerships, Homelessness, and Public Health (Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and The Center for Court Innovation)
- Federal Health and Social Service Programs That Support People Experiencing Homelessness (USICH)
- 7 Principles for Addressing Encampments (USICH)
Service Delivery in Rural Areas
- SNAPS In Focus: Partnering to End Homelessness in Rural America
- Balance of State Continuum of Care Toolkit (hudexchange.info)
- Ending Youth Homelessness: Spotlight Series: Overcoming Rural Specific Obstacles
- Rural Governance and Capacity Building (Presentation)
- Service Delivery in Rural Areas (Presentation)
- Federal Funding Tool for Addressing Homelessness in Rural Communities
- Strengthening Systems for Ending Rural Homelessness: Promising Practices and Considerations (USICH)
- Challenges and Strategies for Serving Unstably Housed Veterans in Rural Areas: Evidence from the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program (VA)
Stakeholder Engagement: Incorporating Those with Lived Experience/Expertise
- SNAPS In Focus: Integrating Persons with Lived Experience in our Efforts to Prevent and End Homelessness
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Engaging Individuals with Lived Expertise
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Guidance for Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining People With Lived Experience and Expertise of Homelessness
- Methods and Emerging Strategies to Engage People with Lived Experience: Improving Federal Research, Policy, and Practice (ASPE, HHS)
Leveraging Housing Resources
- Engaging PHAs
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Partnering with Local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs)
- CoC and PHA Collaboration: Strategies for CoCs to Start the Partnership Conversation
- The Business Case for Partnering with PHAs to Serve People Who are Homeless
- PHA 101 for CoCs(30-minute webinar)
- How PHAs Can Assist People Experiencing Homelessness (1.5-hour webinar)
- Recruiting landlords
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Landlord Engagement
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Landlord Engagement Spotlight: RentConnect in Miami-Dade County
- Housing Search Assistance Toolkit: Landlord Outreach and Recruitment Resources
- Rapid Rehousing Roundtable Discussion Series: Landlord Engagement and Unit Acquisition
- Leveraging other housing resources
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Long-Term Financing of Permanent Supportive Housing Projects
- COVID-19: Unit Acquisition Strategies and Examples to Support Housing Development
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Identifying Sources of Operating Funds to Support Affordable and Permanent Supportive Housing Projects
- HOME-ARP Webinar Series: Homeless System Overview
- HOME-ARP and Project Homekey Overview Webinar
Centering Equity
- BIPOC
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Staff Orientation to Racial Equity
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Part 1: Equity as the Foundation
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: 5 Tips to Approaching Rehousing with Racial Equity
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Increasing Equity in the Homeless Response System Through Expanding Procurement
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Equity Capacity Building: Hiring, Supervision, Training
- LGBTQ people
- People with disabilities
- Survivors of Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Serving Survivors through Coordinated Entry
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Special Population Rehousing Strategy: Family Violence
- Creating Permanent Supportive Housing to Meet the Needs of Survivors of Domestic Violence (National Alliance for Safe Housing, Downtown Women’s Center)
- Youth
Leveraging Healthcare Resources
- H2 Toolkit
- Health Care Resources
- State and Territory Profiles: Healthcare Resources
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Managed Care Resource Brief
- COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Long-Term Financing of Permanent Supportive Housing Projects
- Housing First and Harm Reduction
- Permanent Supportive Housing Evidence-Based Practices (EBP KIT) (SAMHSA)
- The Homeless and Housing Resource Center (HHRC)
- Housing and Services Resource Center
- Interim Guidance on People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness | COVID-19 | CDC
Content current as of August 11, 2022.
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