Public Comment: LA BOSCOC New and Renewal Project Scoring Tools - FY 2020

Overview

Purpose

The LA BOSCOC is seeking public feedback on its draft New Project Scoring Tool and Renewal Project Scoring Tool for the upcoming Funding Year 2020 (FY 2020) Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Local Competition.

The FY 2020 CoC Program Local Competition will be used to select and rank new and renewal projects to submit to the FY 2020 CoC Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

Note that these drafts are based on the LA BOSCOC’s best projections about the FY 2020 CoC Program NOFA and will not be finalized until the NOFA is released. These drafts will be adjusted as needed to ensure projects are scored in concert with the NOFA and competitive at the national level.

CoC Program Funding

The CoC Program is the single largest competitive grant in the federal government. Last year, it funded more than $2.2 billion nationwide into projects dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness.

The LA BOSCOC anticipates being eligible to apply for more than $20 million in FY 2020, including approximately $1.5 million in new funding.

For new projects, the CoC Program will primarily fund housing and supportive services for people experiencing literal homelessness or fleeing domestic violence. The CoC Program does not fund emergency shelter.

Changelog

Overview

The following is a condensed list of the most significant changes from last year (FY 2019). It is not intended to be a full list of changes. CoC staff encourage you to read the Tool(s) in their entirety as appropriate.

Changes to Both Tools

• “Evidence-based approach” language removed from the Definitions section and from all questions; in questions where a data-driven approach is appropriate, more specific data questions have been added, while in others, specific requests for data have been removed entirely

• The New Project Supplement and Renewal Project Supplement have been removed; applicants will no longer be required to submit anything other than their project applications to the LA BOSCOC

• Added a threshold criterion, “Equal Access,” which explicitly states that all projects must comply with HUD’s Equal Access in Accordance with Gender Identity Final Rule (2012) and Equal Access to Housing Final Rule (2012); while some of this was previously included in the “Eligible Populations” threshold criterion, the “Equal Access” criterion is both more comprehensive and more clearly signals the CoC’s commitment to serving all people according to their gender, regardless of their gender, and without separating families

• Clarified that domestic violence service providers are required to use an HMIS-comparable database, not “projects that serve people fleeing domestic violence”

• The “Low Barrier” threshold criterion has been replaced by the “Housing First” threshold criterion; this reflects (1) the CoC’s commitment to the Housing First model and (2) the LA BOSCOC’s expectation that the low barrier model from the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA will be reverted to the Housing First model from the FY 2018 CoC Program NOFA

• Projects no longer receive points for targeting specific subpopulations (i.e. youth, veterans, people experiencing chronic homelessness); by placing general population projects on an equal footing with target population projects, the LA BOSCOC hopes to generate more umbrella projects that can react to evolving needs within its geography

• Questions about monitoring now include LA BOSCOC findings as well as HUD and OIG Audit findings

• Bonus points are now awarded for organizations that send at least one staff member to attend at least one CoC-sponsored training in the last year; the CoC expects to make a free, CoC-sponsored case management training available in May 2020

• Bonus points for “Staff Sustainability” have been removed due to liability concerns

New Project Scoring Tool Changes

• Under “Community Need,” projects are no longer asked to project their outcomes (projects share and are assessed by HUD on common outcomes including exits to permanent housing, increases in income, etc.)

• Multiple narratives now more clearly stress that projects must have a clear, well-developed plan to increase participant income

• “Outreach” has been removed, as asking projects to project their participant in their Region’s outreach network during the project application phase is beyond what many applicants could reasonably project

• “Homeless Services Experience” has been rewritten to put first-time applicants on more even footing with existing recipients

• “Point in Time Count” and “Housing Inventory Chart” have been removed to put first-time applicants on more even footing with existing recipients

• Full points for hiring an outreach worker now requires 1.0 FTE (up from 0.5 FTE)

Renewal Project Scoring Tool Changes

• Scoring thresholds for “Percentage of Participants Exiting to or Maintaining Permanent Housing” and “Percentage of Participants Exiting to Shelter/Streets/Unknown” have been raised due to renewal projects almost universally clearing the scoring thresholds in FY 2019

• Project type-specific criteria that were forecasted in FY 2019 will be included in FY 2020

• “APR Timeliness” simplified

• “Funding Request Timeliness” removed

• “Monitoring Results” is now worth 6 points (up from 2) and has two scoring thresholds (up from one)

Accessing the documents

Click here to download the New Project Scoring Tool.

Click here to download the Renewal Project Scoring Tool.

How to provide public comment

Please submit public comments by email to Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager, at glevine@lhc.la.gov.

Public comments will be accepted through 4 PM on March 6, 2020.

Now Available: Technical Assistance Opportunity (FY 2020 CoC Program Funding)

Overview

The LA BOSCOC has released a Technical Assistance Opportunity (TAO) for the upcoming Funding Year 2020 (FY 2020) Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition.

The CoC Program is the single largest source of funding in the Louisiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (LA BOSCOC) for projects providing housing and services to people experiencing homelessness. Under the FY 2020 CoC Program NOFA, the LA BOSCOC expects to receive more than $20 million, including approximately $1.5 million for new projects (including expansions of existing projects).

The CoC has released this TAO to assist organizations in creating high quality project applications for the FY 2020 CoC Program NOFA, including organizations that have never applied or received CoC Program funding.

The CoC strongly encourages any organization that is considering applying for CoC Program funding to receive technical assistance through this TAO.

TAO details and how to apply

Click here to download the TAO, which includes information about funding availability, technical assistance availability, and how to apply for technical assistance.

Public Comment: FY 2019 CoC Consolidated Application

Overview

The LA BOSCOC is seeking public comment on its Consolidated Application to the Funding Year 2019 (FY 2019) Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition.

The CoC Consolidated Application contains two parts:

• The CoC Application, which includes narratives and other information about the CoC;

• The CoC Priority Listing, which includes ranking and funding information about projects being submitted to the Competition.

Accessing the documents

The CoC Consolidated Application can be accessed as follows:

• CoC Application

• CoC Priority Listing

How to provide public comment

Please submit public comments by email to Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager.

Public comments will be accepted through 2 PM on Tuesday, September 24.

FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition - New and Renewal Projects Selected

Overview

The LA BOSCOC has selected all new and renewal projects to be included in its consolidated application to HUD’s FY 2019 CoC Program Competition.

The Scoring Committee met on Wednesday, September 4, to score, rank, and select projects. This process was conducted according to the Project Rating, Ranking, and Selection Process as approved by the Board. The Scoring Committee submitted its unanimous recommendation for project ranking and selection to the Board that day.

The Board voted by email on Thursday, September 5 on the Scoring Committee’s project ranking and selection. The Board voted unanimously to accept the Scoring Committee’s project ranking and selection as written.

New project funding

Eight projects were submitted for consideration. Three were selected. They were (in alphabetical order):

• The Education and Treatment Council’s “Rapid Re-Housing” project, which on an annual basis will provide short- to medium-term rental assistance and supportive services via the Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) project type to at least 54 youth (aged 24 and under) and people living in youth-headed households in the Lake Charles Region;

• The Haven’s “DV-RRH” project, which on an annual basis will provide short- to medium-term rental assistance and supportive services via the RRH project type to at least 50 people fleeing domestic violence in the Houma Region;

• Youth Oasis’s “TH-RRH” project, which on an annual basis will provide both transitional housing and short- to medium-term rental assistance and supportive services via the innovative new Joint Transitional-Rapid Re-Housing (TH-RRH) project type to 20 youth and people living in youth-headed households in the Baton Rouge Region.

On behalf of the Scoring Committee, CoC staff would like to extend their deep appreciation to all eight project applicants. The CoC Program project application process can be challenging, and we are profoundly grateful to have so many organizations in our CoC with the interest, investment, and dedication to ending homelessness required to engage that process.

Renewal project funding

All projects that requested renewal funding were selected to receive full funding for those requests.

Project feedback

As in previous years and once time allows, CoC staff will provide each applicant with a comprehensive breakdown and assessment of each of their new and renewal projects’ scores.

CoC staff hope that applicants whose new projects were not selected for inclusion will use these assessments to refine their project applications for resubmission in future years.

Project ranking

The LA BOSCOC’s project ranking for the FY 2019 CoC Program Competition can be found here.

Revised FY 2019 CoC Program Request for Proposals

Overview

The LA BOSCOC has issued a revised Request for Proposals (RFP) for the FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition.

The RFP was revised due to a change in the amount of reallocation funds available. This change reduced the amount of funding available through the General Funding Pool for the Baton Rouge Region. For more information, refer to RFP, section F.I., “General Funding.”

Click here to view the revised RFP.

LA BOSCOC Board Outcomes - July 31, 2019

Overview

The Board met by email to discuss Options Foundation’s Good Standing status and its interaction with the Louisiana Housing Corporation’s Options Villa CoC Program project.

Attendance

VOTING ATTENDANCE [LISTED AS NAME, ORGANIZATION, (SEAT), (ROLE IF ANY)]

• All Board members

NON-VOTING ATTENDANCE [LISTED AS NAME, ORGANIZATION, (ROLE IF ANY)]

• Gordon Levine, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Continuum of Care Manager)

Topics

Options Foundation and Options Villa CoC Program Funding

After CoC staff determined that Options Foundation was not in Good Standing and would therefore not be eligible to receive funding under the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA, Options Foundation submitted an appeal to the Board. The Board reviewed Options Foundation’s appeal on June 11 and voted to uphold the original decision.

On July 31, on advice from CoC staff, the Board reviewed language in the Governance Charter related to Good Standing. Per the Governance Charter, only the “applicant” (i.e. direct recipient) must meet the Good Standing requirement to apply for CoC Program funding.

Insofar as the Louisiana Housing Corporation is the direct recipient for the Options Villa project and Options Foundation is the subrecipient, the Louisiana Housing Corporation remains eligible to apply for the Options Villa project under the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA, and Options Villa’s Good Standing status does not interact with that eligibility.

Note: this will impact the amount of funding available in the FY 2010 CoC Program Local Competition’s General Funding Pool.

Local Q&As and Technical Assistance - FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition

Overview

CoC staff will be holding local Q&A and Technical Assistance sessions in each of the LA BOSCOC’s Regions.

Anyone interested in submitting a new or renewal project to the FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition is very welcome to attend.

CoC staff will not be making formal presentations during these sessions, so please come prepared with your questions, comments, and thoughts.

Topics that might be covered include but are not limited to:

• What does a sustainable budget for a Rapid Re-Housing project in my Region look like?

• How much detail is HUD/the CoC looking for in [question]?

• What does the change from Housing First to Low Barrier mean for my project?

• What are the added challenges involved in a Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Re-Housing project, and how do I address them?

• What kind of data can I use to support an “evidence-based approach?”

• …and anything else you come up with!

Meetings by Region

Meetings are scheduled as follows.

Baton Rouge

• When: July 25, 1 PM to 3 PM

• Where: The Louisiana Housing Corporation — Board Room (2415 Quail Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70808)

Houma

• When: July 25, 12 PM to 2 PM

• Where: First United Methodist Church — Fellowship Hall (6109 Highway 311 Houma, LA 70360)

• Lunch is provided!

Lake Charles

• When: July 30, 10 AM to noon

• Where: Epps Branch Library (1320 N. Simmons Street Lake Charles, LA 70601)

Natchitoches/Sabine

No meeting has been scheduled; to request a meeting, please email Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager, at glevine@lhc.la.gov

Plaquemines/St. Bernard

No meeting has been scheduled; to request a meeting, please email Gail Gowland, Plaquemines/St. Bernard Board Member, at gail.gowland@stbernardbwp.org or Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager, at glevine@lhc.la.gov

LA BOSCOC Board Outcomes - July 16, 2019

Overview

The Board met by conference call to review and approve the FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition documents.

Attendance

Voting attendance [listed as Name, Organization, (Seat), (Role if any)]

• Winona Connor, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Louisiana Housing Corporation) (Chair)

• Laura Hasenstein, Louisiana Department of Health (Louisiana Department of Health)

• Addie Duval, Start Corporation (Baton Rouge Region)

• Brooke Guidry, Start Corporation (Houma Region)

• Tarek Polite, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (Lake Charles Region)

• Gail Gowland, St. Bernard Battered Women’s Program (Plaquemines/St. Bernard Region)

Non-voting attendance [listed as Name, Organization, (Role if any)]

• Gordon Levine, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Continuum of Care Manager)

• Aundrea Braniff, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Coordinated Entry Specialist)

Topics

FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition documents

The Board voted unanimously to approve the following documents:

Timeline and Critical Dates

• Approved as written.

Rating, Ranking, and Selection Policy

• Approved as written.

Request for Proposals

• Approved as written.

New Project Scoring Tool

• Approved with the following changes:

  • Bonus points for Reallocation increased from 6 to 10 to create a greater incentive for older projects to reallocate;

  • Bonus points under Staff Sustainability for “paying staff a living wage” increased from 2 to 3 to signify the importance of retaining high quality staff;

  • Metric under Staff Sustainability for “paying staff a living wage” changed from $15.00/hour to the living wage for a given project’s primary parish or metropolitan service area as determined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

Renewal Project Scoring Tool

• Approved with the following changes:

  • Bonus points under Staff Sustainability for “paying staff a living wage” increased from 2 to 3 to signify the importance of retaining high quality staff;

  • Metric under Staff Sustainability for “paying staff a living wage” changed from $15.00/hour to the living wage for a given project’s primary parish or metropolitan service area as determined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition Now Open

Overview

The Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC), on behalf of the Louisiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (LA BOSCOC), has opened its Funding Year 2019 Continuum of Care Program (FY 2019 CoC Program) Local Competition.

Through this Local Competition, the LA BOSCOC will award approximately $18 million to organizations that provide housing and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness, including people fleeing domestic violence.

More than $1 million of the funding awarded will be for new projects. The LA BOSCOC welcomes ‘first time’ applications from organizations that do not currently receive funding from the CoC Program or HUD.

How to apply

For more information, including how to apply, eligible activities, and grant application training opportunities that will be available over the next few weeks, please refer to the LA BOSCOC’s FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition page: https://laboscoc.org/fy19-coc-program-competition

The Local Competition closes August 27, 2019.

About the LA BOSCOC

The LA BOSCOC is Louisiana’s statewide coalition of people and organizations dedicated to ending homelessness. It serves more than 20 counties and includes the cities of Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and Houma. LHC serves as the LA BOSCOC’s collaborative applicant (“lead agency”).

Public Comment Period - FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition

Overview

The Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC), as the Collaborative Applicant (or “lead agency”) of the Louisiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (LA BOSCOC), has released its Request for Proposals and associated documents for the FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition for public comment.

Public comments will be accepted through 4 PM on Monday, July 15, 2019.

All public comments will be submitted to the LA BOSCOC Board for consideration.

Documents

The following documents have been released for public comment as part of the FY 2019 CoC Program Local Competition:

Request for Proposals (RFP)

Timeline and Critical Dates

Project Rating, Ranking, and Selection

New Project Scoring Tool

Renewal Project Scoring Tool

How to submit public comments

You can submit public comments one of two ways:

1. Public comments can be emailed to Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager, at glevine@lhc.la.gov. If possible, please submit comments on the documents themselves using Microsoft Word’s “Track Changes” and “New Comment” functions.

2. Public comments can be submitted anonymously via Google Forms using this form: https://forms.gle/DitUSuAsY44jPCeLA

3. Public comments can be submitted publicly to the CoC using the LA BOSCOC’s Slack platform. For a free invitation to the Slack platform, please email Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager, at glevine@lhc.la.gov.

Disclaimers

All Local Competition documents are subject to change at the discretion of the LA BOSCOC Board until their final versions are published.

HUD has not yet published their Renewal Project Application Detailed Instructions or New Project Application Detailed Instructions. While it is unlikely that these documents will change the scoring elements in the Local Competition Scoring Tools, it is possible these documents will affect how points awe awarded within those elements.

LHC strongly encourages applicants who review the public comment versions of Local Competition documents to re-read the final published versions to ensure they are aware of any changes.

LA BOSCOC Board Outcomes - June 11, 2019

Overview

The Board met by conference call for its regular bimonthly (every other month) meeting.

Attendance

VOTING ATTENDANCE [LISTED AS NAME, ORGANIZATION (SEAT) (ROLE, IF ANY)]

• Winona Connor, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Louisiana Housing Corporation) (Chair)

• Laura Hasenstein, Louisiana Department of Health (Louisiana Department of Health)

• Eric Gammons, Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless (HMIS Lead)

• Antiqua Hunter, Louisiana Department of Education (Louisiana Department of Education)

• Addie Duval, Start Corporation (Baton Rouge Region)

• Tarek Polite, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (Lake Charles Region)

• Gail Gowland, St. Bernard Battered Women’s Program (Plaquemines/St. Bernard Region)

NON-VOTING ATTENDANCE (LISTED AS NAME, ORGANIZATION, (ROLE, IF ANY)]

• Gordon Levine, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Continuum of Care Manager)

• Terry Hale, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Board Secretary)

CoC Manager Report

The CoC Manager provided an overview that included the following items:

• The Point in Time (PIT) Count;

• The CoC’s System Performance Measures (an overview of project outcomes at the CoC level);

• The CoC does not expect to merge with any other CoCs during calendar year 2019;

• LHC intends to hire an additional CoC Coordinator in the near future; LHC intends for that person to be based in Lake Charles to provide localized support to the Lake Charles and Natchitoches/Sabine Regions.

CoC Program Local Competition

The CoC Manager briefed the Board on LHC’s plans for the Funding Year 2019 (FY 2019) CoC Program Local Competition. Highlights included:

• Several projects have reallocated; as a result, there will be additional new project funding available;

• LHC anticipates that new project funding will be as follows (subject to the actual funding made available by HUD):

  • ~$450,000 available to all Regions for projects that exclusively serve people fleeing domestic violence;

  • ~$400,000 prioritized to Baton Rouge for new rapid re-housing (RRH), permanent supportive housing (PSH), and joint component transitional housing/rapid re-housing (TH-RRH) projects;

  • ~200,000 prioritized to Lake Charles for new RRH, PSH, and TH-RRH projects;

  • LHC will apply for ~$700,000 in new project funding to create Coordinated Entry Access Points in the Houma, Natchitoches/Sabine, and Plaquemines/St. Bernard Regions; to fund the Access Point at the One Stop Homeless Services Center in Baton Rouge; and to fund 1.0 FTEs of a Coordinated Entry Navigator through St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge;

• NOTE: prioritized funding is restricted to Baton Rouge and Lake Charles only insofar as projects that propose to serve those Regions score at least 70 points on their application; if no such projects exist, or if any money remains after such projects are funded, those prioritized funds become available to all projects in all Regions;

• The Scoring Tools and Detailed Instructions will have similar content and substance to last year, but their texts have been drastically simplified (shortened by ~50%).

Vice Chair

The Board was scheduled to elect a new Vice Chair; however, given that many of the Regional seats were not present during that point of the meeting, this election was tabled and scheduled to be held via email.

Board Seat for the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence

The Board voted unanimously to add a designated seat to the Board for the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. This seat will remain in place until the next LA BOSCOC General Meeting, at which time the general membership will need to ratify the seat as part of the LA BOSCOC Governance Charter.

Early Outcomes from Coordinated Entry

The Board discussed early outcomes data for the Coordinated Entry Policies and Procedures v2.0 (CES P&P). Early data indicates that the new mechanisms (30 day wait, Diversion and Intervention required) are working: a comprehensive survey of every person who visited a Coordinated Entry Access Point during April 2019 indicated that nearly half returned to housing with friends, family, or on their own.

The CoC Manager cautioned not to overextend this data, as it requires additional details (breakdowns by subpopulation, especially chronically homeless, youth, and DV) and more data points to be truly predictive.

The Board voted unanimously to recommend to the Coordinated Entry Committee that the Committee consider revising the CES P&P to empower the Board to grant exemptions to portions of the CES P&P for CoC Program projects funded before 2015. The Board voted unanimously to recommend to the Coordinated Entry Committee that the Committee consider not revising the CES P&P to create other ‘loopholes’ for target populations until LHC has aggregated more data.

Options Foundation Waiver of Good Standing

The Board voted to deny Options Foundation’s request for a waiver of the Good Standing requirement for the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA. The vote roll recorded 1 vote to approve, 3 votes to deny, and 1 abstaining.

Next Board Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held in Baton Rouge and via conference call on Tuesday, August 6, from 1 PM to 3 PM. More information can be found on the LA BOSCOC Events page.

Coordinated Entry (One Stop) RFP - Webinar

Overview

The Louisiana Housing Corporation hosted a webinar to present information about the Coordinated Entry (One Stop) Request for Proposals and to answer questions about it.

The webinar was recorded and can be viewed here.

The webinar’s PowerPoint can be downloaded here.

The RFP can be downloaded here.

LA BOSCOC Board Outcomes - April 1, 2019

Overview

The Board met in person to discuss a variety of issues on April 1, 2019.

Attendance

VOTING ATTENDANCE [LISTED AS NAME, ORGANIZATION (SEAT) (ROLE, IF ANY)]

• Winona Connor, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Louisiana Housing Corporation) (Chair)

• Eric Gammons, Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless (HMIS Lead)

• Antiqua Hunter, Louisiana Department of Education (Louisiana Department of Education)

• Addie Duval, Start Corporation (Baton Rouge Region)

• Brooke Guidry, Start Corporation (Houma Region)

• Tarek Polite, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (Lake Charles Region)

• Gail Gowland, St. Bernard Battered Women’s Program (Plaquemines/St. Bernard Region)

NON-VOTING ATTENDANCE (LISTED AS NAME, ORGANIZATION, (ROLE, IF ANY)]

• Aundrea Braniff, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Acting Secretary)

• Gordon Levine, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Continuum of Care Manager)

• More than a dozen members of the CoC sat in on the meeting; roll was not taken

PIT Count

The CoC Manager provided an overview of the Point in Time (PIT) Count, both the January 2019 count and the LA BOSCOC’s PIT Count in general.

Strengths highlighted included:

• Baton Rouge’s count is improving its methodology every year;

• Lake Charles implemented an innovative single night shelter option to collected sheltered data;

• Starting next year, each Region will have a CoC Program-funded Coordinated Entry Access Point to help develop the PIT Count capacity.

Vulnerabilities highlighted included:

• Natchitoches/Sabine continues to conduct no count;

• Plaquemines/St. Bernard continues to conduct no unsheltered count;

• Lake Charles needs to conduct a more comprehensive unsheltered count;

• No Region is conducting an effective rural count;

• Planning needs to start earlier (September/October rather than December/January) to build capacity;

• Baton Rouge count needs to identify a new PIT Captain for January 2020, as the previous PIT Captain (Joe Keegan) is retiring).

Coordinated Entry

The CoC Manager provided an overview of the Coordinated Entry System (CES) after its first 12 months of operation.

The key finding is that while the CES is ensuring the CoC is serving people in order of their level of need, the CoC’s ratio of referrals to successful intakes is very low (approximately 10%). This is primarily due to poor or incomplete contact information collected by Coordinated Entry Access Points and outreach workers, particularly regarding people experiencing chronic homelessness.

As a remedy, the Board unanimously authorized funding from the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA for a Coordinated Entry Navigator, whose job will be to (1) establish and record the required documentation for people experiencing homelessness who are high on the LA BOSCOC’s Prioritization List and (2) ensuring contact information is correct and current. The authorized funding is up to $80,000 and will be drawn from the Baton Rouge Region’s annual allocation.

Scoring Committee

Historically, the LA BOSCOC’s project applications to the CoC Program NOFA have been scored by members of the Governor’s Council on Homelessness using exclusively information present in those project applications.

The Board voted unanimously to include a mechanism in the LA BOSCOC’s project application scoring process by which Scoring Committee members could ask clarifying questions of the project application’s organization and adjust the project’s score as appropriate.

Board Meeting Frequency

The Board voted unanimously to meet on a bimonthly basis. (Previously, the Board was convened approximately quarterly on an ad hoc basis and in response to specific needs.)

Next Board Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held in person in Baton Rouge with a dial-in option. Some portion of the Board meeting will be open to the public. The Board has not yet set a date for this meeting; however, it will be scheduled for early June.

FY 2018 CoC Program Funding Awards

Overview

The LA BOSCOC is pleased to announce new and renewal funding for Continuum of Care (CoC) Program projects for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.

The full list of projects can be found here under LA-509: https://www.hudexchange.info/onecpd/assets/File/2018-louisiana-coc-grants.pdf

Congratulations to every organization that received funding! This funding recognizes that you submitted competitive grants to fund necessary, exceptional projects. The LA BOSCOC looks forward to working with all of you this coming year and in years to come!

Project Awards by Type

Renewal Projects

All renewal projects submitted received full funding.

In addition, those projects that provide housing tied to fair market rent values received small increases (above what was requested) to compensate for changing fair market rent values.

In total, the LA BOSCOC received $16,786,308.

New Projects

All new projects submitted under the Permanent Housing Bonus received full or nearly full funding. One of two projects submitted under the Domestic Violence Bonus received full funding.

In total, the LA BOSCOC received $1,093,851 in new funding (excluding planning project funding).

Those projects are:

DV Coordinated Entry Access Point - St. Bernard/Plaquemines

Organization: St. Bernard Battered Women’s Place
Funding Amount: $100,000
Project Type: Coordinated Entry
Service Area: Plaquemines/St. Bernard Region
Project Description: Funding for Coordinated Entry activities, including access, intake, assessment, and diversion, for people fleeing domestic violence in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish.

HMIS Expansion

Organization: Louisiana Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $77,178
Project Type: HMIS
Service Area: LA BOSCOC
Project Description: Additional funding for the LA BOSCOC’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), the statewide database of information and services for people experiencing homelessness. This expansion project primarily funds another full time staff person to provide monitoring and technical assistance to the LA BOSCOC’s growing roster of HMIS-compliant organizations.

HP Serve RRH for Individual Youth

Organization: Empower 225 (formerly HP Serve)
Funding Amount: $231,470
Project Type: Rapid Re-housing
Service Area: Baton Rouge Region
Project Description: This project provides short- to medium-term scattered site rental assistance to 12 single-person households of youth experiencing homelessness aged 18-24. It also funds 20 hours/week of street outreach to better identify youth experiencing homelessness and to connect them with resources, including diversion case management.

Louisiana Housing Corporation-RRH Expansion

Organization: Louisiana Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $242,787
Project Type: Rapid Re-housing
Service Area: Baton Rouge Region
Project Description: This project provides short- to medium-term scattered site rental assistance (estimated at 9-12 months of assistance for each household) to 5 single-person households and 3 families of people experiencing homelessness, focusing on families, people with mental illness, and people experiencing chronic homelessness. It also funds 40 hours/week of street outreach to connect the project’s target population with resources, including diversion case management.

Partners in Health & Housing for Baton Rouge

Organization: Start Corporation
Funding Amount: $297,588
Project Type: Permanent Supportive Housing
Service Area: Baton Rouge Region
Project Description: This project provides open-ended, scattered site permanent supportive housing to 20 single-person households of people living with severe and persistent mental illness who are experiencing chronic homelessness. It also funds 20 hours/week of street outreach to connect the project’s target population with resources, including diversion case management.

TPCG Rapid Re-housing

Organization: Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government
Funding Amount: $144,828
Project Type: Rapid Re-housing
Service Area: Houma Region
Project Description: This project provides open-ended, scattered site permanent supportive housing to 5 single-person households 8 families of people experiencing homelessness. It also funds 20 hours/week of street outreach to connect the project’s target population with resources, including diversion case management.

LA BOSCOC Board Outcomes - 12/19/18

Overview

The Board met by phone to discuss several issues related to the LA BOSCOC governance structure and to funding in 2019.

Attendance

Voting Attendance [listed as Name, Organization (Seat) (Role, if any)]

• Winona Connor, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Louisiana Housing Corporation) (Chair)

• Michell Brown, Louisiana Department of Health (Louisiana Department of Health) (Vice Chair)

• Eric Gammons, Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless (HMIS Lead)

• Antiqua Hunter, Louisiana Department of Education (Louisiana Department of Education)

• Addie Duval, Start Corporation (Baton Rouge Region)

• Brooke Guidry, Start Corporation (Houma Region)

• Tarek Polite, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (Lake Charles Region)

• Gail Gowland, St. Bernard Battered Women’s Program (Plaquemines/St. Bernard Region)

Non-Voting Attendance (listed as Name, Organization, (Role, if any)]

• Gay Owens, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Recording Secretary)

• Gordon Levine, Louisiana Housing Corporation (Continuum of Care Manager)

HMIS NOFA

HUD recently released a Homeless Management System (HMIS) Capacity Building Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA): https://www.hudexchange.info/news/hmis-capacity-building-project-nofa/

This NOFA will provide one-time funding to CoCs to improve their HMIS capacity and/or to consolidate their HMIS operations with other CoCs. This funding is specifically targeted to CoCs that HUD identified as having HMIS systems in need of improvement (and at CoCs they intend to consolidate with).

The Louisiana Housing Corporation, as the Collaborative Applicant for the LA BOSCOC, intends to apply for funding under this NOFA to consolidate its HMIS operations with the Monroe and Alexandria CoCs, both of which HUD identified as target CoCs for this funding.

If funding is received, the Louisiana Housing Corporation will become the HMIS Lead for the Monroe and Alexandria CoCs as well as the LA BOSCOC, and the Monroe and Alexandria CoCs will begin HMIS operations under the LA BOSCOC’s existing structure. The Louisiana Housing Corporation also intends to use some funding provided under this grant to improve its existing structure, including via technical assistance and system work in ServicePoint.

As part of the submission process for this NOFA, the CoC General Membership will need to approve the consolidation. Look for that vote to be held via email in early January 2019.

Possible CoC Mergers

The LA BOSCOC continues to pursue mergers with other interested CoCs in Louisiana. While the LA BOSCOC has nothing to announce at this time, it is optimistic that it will merge with another CoC in 2019, much as it did with the Houma CoC in 2018, the Baton Rouge CoC in 2016, and the Southwest CoC (Lake Charles) in 2015.

If another CoC decides it would like to merge with the LA BOSCOC, the CoC General Membership will need to approve the merger. The LA BOSCOC expects that if a merger will occur in 2019, the vote will be held via email in the first quarter of 2019.

Coordinated Entry Funding Through the 2019 CoC Program NOFA

Under the Funding Year 2019 Continuum of Care Program Notice of Funding Availability (FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA), which the LA BOSCOC expects HUD to release in mid-2019, the LA BOSCOC anticipates receiving approximately $1.05 million in new funding.

As in 2018, the LA BOSCOC expects to prioritize this funding by Region based on their level of need (i.e. Point in Time Count data), with each Region receiving priority for, at minimum, $150,000. Priority funding will be available to each Region’s high-scoring new projects first. Any funding not claimed by high-scoring new projects will then be awarded to projects irrespective of their Region.

For the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA, for those Regions that do not currently have a CoC Program-funded Coordinated Entry project, the LA BOSCOC will instead guarantee $150,000 to those Regions exclusively to fund a new Coordinated Entry Access Point in each Region. (This amount will replace the $150,000 that is competitively available.)

This applies to the following Regions: Houma, Natchitoches/Sabine, and Plaquemines/St. Bernard.

In early 2019, the Louisiana Housing Corporation will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify one organization in each Region that will receive these funds and operate the new Coordinated Entry Access Point. Selected organizations will be eligible to receive Coordinated Entry funds as sub-recipients of a new Coordinated Entry project that the Louisiana Housing Corporation will submit under the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA.

The Board voted unanimously to proceed with this plan.

Additional Coordinated Entry Funding Discussions

Several members of the Board have created a working group to explore dedicating additional funding from the FY 2019 CoC Program NOFA to expanding Coordinated Entry operations across the LA BOSCOC, including a dedicated call-in number for Coordinated Entry.

CoC Board Officer Structure

Currently, the Board Chair is always the executive director of the Louisiana Housing Authority, and the Board Vice Chair is chosen by the Chair.

The Board discussed changing the above structure to a structure whereby the Board would elect its Chair and Vice Chair.

In a straw poll, the Board voted unanimously in favor of switching to an election-based structure.

As the Board officer structure is written into the LA BOSCOC Governance Charter, the CoC Manager will propose amending the Governance Charter to change the Board officer structure at the next meeting of the CoC General Membership.

Upcoming CoC General Membership Meeting

The LA BOSCOC will likely host its next CoC General Membership meeting on April 1, 2019, in Baton Rouge. Mark your calendars! More details as the date approaches.

CoC Program Consolidated Application and Priority List - Completed

Overview

The LA BOSCOC has published its completed Consolidated Application and Project Priority List for the FY 2018 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

Documents

The Consolidated Application can be downloaded here: https://laboscoc.org/s/9tpy0mv9m9jccn4ittdjxrxniexc56

The Project Priority List can be downloaded here: https://laboscoc.org/s/5g1mcserpmrpob15w92ef4geh85z96

LA BOSCOC Board Outcomes: 9/14/18

Overview

The Board voted by email on 9/14/18 to approve the completed Consolidated Application and Priority List for the FY 2018 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

Attendance

• Michell Brown, Louisiana Department of Health (Vice Chair)

• Antiqua Hunter, Louisiana Department of Education

• Eric Gammons, HMIS Lead

• Addie Duval, Baton Rouge

• Brooke Guidry, Houma

• Tarek Polite, Lake Charles

• Gail Gowland, Plaquemines/St. Bernard

Consolidated Application and Priority List

The Board voted 7-0 to approve the Consolidated Application and Priority List for submission to HUD.

The Consolidated Application can be downloaded here: https://laboscoc.org/s/9tpy0mv9m9jccn4ittdjxrxniexc56

The Project Priority List can be downloaded here: https://laboscoc.org/s/5g1mcserpmrpob15w92ef4geh85z96

CoC Program Consolidated Application and Project Priority List Published

Overview

The LA BOSCOC has published its Consolidated Application and Project Priority List for the FY 2018 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

The LA BOSCOC will accept public comments on the Consolidated Application and Project Priority List through 12 PM CST (noon) on Friday, September 14.

You can submit comments to Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager, at 225-242-1388 or glevine@lhc.la.gov.

Documents

The Consolidated Application can be downloaded here: https://laboscoc.org/s/y61ocr9qbgbxbpv1zzuwmtxrnyt0dh

The Project Priority List can be downloaded here: https://laboscoc.org/s/jxdnh32yer2jhslebyox68ltvxa8c3

CoC Program Project Ranking

Overview

The LA BOSCOC has released its Project Ranking for the FY 2018 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).

The NOFA requires each CoC to rank its projects in order of funding priority and separate them into two Tiers: Tier 1 and Tier 2. HUD prioritizes funding to all Tier 1 projects nationwide before funding Tier 2 projects.

For more information about the LA BOSCOC’s scoring, rating, and ranking methodology, please refer to the Project Rating, Ranking, and Selection policy here: https://laboscoc.org/fy18-coc-program-competition

Information about Project Performance

Following the end of the FY 2018 CoC Program Competition, CoC staff will provide feedback for all new and renewal projects that met all LA BOSCOC Threshold Criteria in the following ways:

• During the LA BOSCOC General Meeting on October 9, 2018, CoC staff will give ‘big picture’ feedback: areas where projects generally performed well or need improvement and changes that CoC staff intend to implement in subsequent years to improve the scoring process;

• Following the LA BOSCOC General Meeting, the LA BOSCOC will release scoring sheets for each project that was scored, including information about how each project scored compared to other comparable projects in the CoC;

• CoC staff will schedule site visits to discuss scoring and performance with any projects/agencies that submitted an application and that are interested in further information, including how to improve their performance in subsequent years. CoC staff plan to schedule these site visits between October 2018 and February 2019 and estimates each visit will last approximately 2 hours.

Documents

The LA BOSCOC’s Project Ranking for the FY 2018 CoC Program NOFA can be found here: https://laboscoc.org/fy18-coc-program-competition

LA BOSCOC Board Outcomes - 7/11/18

Overview

The Board met by phone on 7/11/18 to review and approve the Request for Proposals (RFP) and scoring tools for the Funding Year 2018 (FY18) Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition. It also voted to approve an HMIS-comparable database for projects that serve victims of domestic violence and to approve opening a limited set of HMIS data to the other CoCs in the State of Louisiana.

Attendance

• Nicole Sweazy, Louisiana Housing Corporation
• Eric Gammons, HMIS Lead
• Homeless Experience Representative
• Brooke Guidry, Houma
• Tarek Polite, Lake Charles
• Gail Gowland, Plaquemines/St. Bernard
• Randy Nichols, Membership and Rules Committee (non-voting)
• Gordon Levine, Continuum of Care Manager (non-voting)
• Clay Boykin, HMIS Specialist (non-voting)

FY18 CoC Program Competition

The Board voted to approve the RFP and all other documents posted here: https://laboscoc.org/fy18-coc-program-competition

The Board also voted to approve up to $100,000 in funding for a Coordinated Entry (SSO-CES) project hosted by St. Bernard Battered Women's Program, which for the last year has served as the sole Coordinated Entry access point in the Plaquemines/St. Bernard Region and the sole Coordinated Entry access point operated by a domestic violence (DV) service provider. These funds will be made available from the LA BOSCOC's total DV Bonus amount of $466,959, and any funds not claimed by this project will be added to the LA BOSCOC's competitive DV Funding Pool of $366,959 as described on Page 5 of the RFP.

HMIS-Comparable Database for DV Providers

DV service providers funded by the CoC Program, the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Program, and by certain other funding sources are required to use an HMIS-comparable database instead of HMIS (ServicePoint).

The Board has approved the Domestic Violence Service Providers Working Group's proposal that the LA BOSCOC require that DV service providers use EmpowerDB as their HMIS-comparable database. This requirement will go into effect January 1, 2019, and will be retroactive for all participant data collected during contract periods beginning before January 1, 2019 and extending into January 1, 2019.

The LA BOSCOC will release a formal policy to this effect once the language has been vetted by the chairs of the HMIS Committee and Domestic Violence Service Providers Working Group.

You can find more information about EmpowerDB here: https://www.empowerdb.com/

HMIS Data Visibility

The Board has voted to make certain HMIS data elements visible to all other CoCs in the State of Louisiana.

This change was proposed during the most recent statewide Homelessness Working Group meeting. Currently, a given participant's data is only visible to organizations within the CoC where they presented for services. If a participant traveled to another part of the State, they would be required to provide their information again, and the new CoC would be unable to view the housing and services that participant had previously received. 

The representatives of each CoC that was present at the Homelessness Working Group meeting agreed to propose to their Boards that the following data elements from their CoC's participants be made visible to other Louisiana CoCs:

• Participants' first and last name
• Last four digits of participants' social security number
• Entry and exit dates for participants' HMIS service transactions

All participant data will continue to be protected by HMIS releases of information and confidentiality agreements, which are implemented statewide by the Louisiana Services Network Data Consortium and are identical for all Louisiana CoCs.