VA Announces $600 million NOFA

January 14, 2014
		ISSUES  |  POLICY  |  SOLUTIONS  |  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Emanuel Cavallaro
		Spotlight On... VA Announces $600 million NOFA Today the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for $600 million in homeless assistance grants for organizations that serve veteran families under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. SSVF is a housing first program designed to provide veteran families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless with permanent housing quickly, then health care and other services as needed. The funds will be split evenly between Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 and FY 2015, and subject to available appropriations. Read the NOFA

Hill Update Appropriations Chairs Release Omnibus Bill; Deadline to Avert Shutdown Pushed Back Last night, January 13, House and Senate Appropriation Committee Chairs Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) unveiled an omnibus funding package including fiscal year (FY) 2014 funding for all federal programs and agencies. The bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, was negotiated by Rep. Rogers and Sen. Mikulski working within the $1.012 trillion discretionary spending cap and guidelines set by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) in the Bipartisan Budget Act of December 2013. The bill repeals the Murray-Ryan provision to cut cost of living adjustments for disabled military retirees and survivors.

Last week, House Appropriations Committee Chair Harold Rogers filed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to allow Congress three extra days (until January 18) to pass the omnibus spending measure, in order to ensure the government continues running beyond January 15 when the current stopgap funding measure expires. The omnibus appropriations bill is expected to pass through the House and Senate and be signed into law by this Saturday's deadline.
One of the key provisions of the legislation is language that would allow nonprofits to administer rental assistance through FY 2014 (retroactive to FY 2012 funds). The legislation of course includes funding for numerous federal programs impacting homeless and at-risk people, including:

• $2.105 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program, representing a $176 million increase over FY 2013 levels;
• Including at least $250 million for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program;
• $19.1 billion for HUD's Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA), representing a $1.412 billion increase over FY 2013 levels;
• Including $75 million for new joint Department of Housing and Urban Development - Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers;
• $4.4 billion for HUD's Public Housing Operating Fund, representing a $346 million increase over FY 2013 levels;
• $114.141 million for Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) programs within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), representing a $4.141 million increase over FY 2013 levels;
• $64.794 million for the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program within HHS, representing a $2.794 million increase over FY 2013 levels;
• $74.562 million for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) homeless services programs within HHS, representing an $8.562 million increase over FY 2013 levels;
• $38.109 million for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) within the Department of Labor, representing a $2.109 million increase over FY 2013 levels; and
• $1.39 billion for programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs specifically targeted to eliminate homelessness among veterans, representing a $38 million increase over FY 2013 levels;
• Including $278 million for the case management portion of the HUD-VASH vouchers.

*Please note that the FY 2013 funding levels referenced above indicate post-sequestration levels.
Congress Departs for Recess
Once the omnibus bill has been approved in both chambers, Congress is expected to depart for recess for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Congress is expected to reconvene on Monday, January 27.

Conference Registration Cancellation Deadline Tomorrow

Deadlines are fast approaching for cancelling your registration for the Alliance's 2014 National Conference on Ending Family and Youth Homelessness, which will take place at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel in New Orleans this February 18 to 19. If you need to cancel your registration, we urge you to do so as soon as possible in order to avoid an additional processing fee.

Should you cancel your registration by the first deadline, which is tomorrow, Wednesday, January 15, the Alliance will deduct a $25 cancellation fee from your refund. Should you cancel your registration after January 15 but before the last deadline of Friday, February 14, the Alliance will deduct a $100 processing fee in addition to the $25 cancellation fee from your refund. After February 14, the Alliance will no longer grant refunds.

Please send your cancellations by email to Alliance Development Associate, Jennifer Olney, by fax to 202-638-4664, or by mail to National Alliance to End Homelessness, 1518 K Street, NW, Suite 410, Washington, DC 20005.

Register for the conference

Solutions Brief: Alameda County Social Services Agency and EveryOne Home

The Alliance has published a new solutions brief, "Alameda County Social Services Agency and EveryOne Home: Partnering to End Family Homelessness." This brief highlights two successful collaborations between EveryOne Home and Alameda County Social Services Agency. It describes an initiative that combined the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund and the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP) program, and a demonstration pilot that uses federal child welfare resources and the expertise of local homeless service organizations to meet the housing needs of child welfare-involved families.

Read the solutions brief

Last Week on Ending Homelessness Today

Advocacy Accomplishments in 2013 (Against the Odds)
By Julie Klein

Last year brought significant challenges for homeless advocates, not the least of which included the across the board spending cuts under sequestration and a 16-day partial shutdown of the federal government. In this post we take a look at all that homeless advocates accomplished in the face of these challenges.
It's January. You know what that means
By Sam Batko
With the start of the new year comes yet another Point-in-Time Count (PIT Count). January is when volunteers across the country set out on one night to count all the people experiencing homelessness in their communities. This month the Alliance will be highlighting the national PIT Count on our blog. In this post, we cover the basics.
How Visible is Poverty in the U.S.?
By David Levine
In this guest post, author David Levine offers a personal reflection on his visit to an economically depressed area of Detroit and what the experience taught him about the nature of poverty in the U.S.

More on the blog

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