Continuum of Care

There several notable changes and themes included in the FY2026 NOFO from previous the previous CoC NOFO released in December 2025 and past years CoC NOFOs: 

• No cap on Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) 

• Permanent housing program renewals can utilize a year transition grant to move to a different program type 

• Increased emphasis on competition and project performance 

• Tier 1 funding is limited to 60% of the CoC’s Annual Renewal Demand (ARD), resulting in a larger portion of funding being evaluated through the national competition process than previous years. 

• Continued availability of CoC Bonus and DV Bonus funding opportunities. 

• Increased emphasis on self-sufficiency, employment income growth, and long-term housing stability outcomes. 

• Increased emphasis on behavioral health, substance use treatment, recovery, and community partnerships. 

• Stronger focus on Transitional Housing (TH), Supportive Service Only (SSO), and Street Outreach. 

• Continued importance of data quality, HMIS participation, coordinated entry participation, and measurable project outcomes. 

All renewal and prospective applicants are encouraged to carefully review the FY2026 NOFO and local competition materials. 

IMPROTANT UPDATE: The Application Submission Period Has Closed

The application deadline on July 15, 2026 at 5:00 pm CST has passed, and ECHO is no longer accepting submissions for this Local Competition

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the FY 2024 & FY 2025 YHDP NOFO on June 10, 2026. Nationally, HUD expects to select approximately 12 YHDP Community Recipients from the FY 2024 funds, and approximately 12 YHDP Community Recipients from the FY 2025 funds and approximately 120 total YHDP project awards.

YHDP projects fund direct housing and services for homeless youth. 

Application Process

ECHO will hold a local competition to review and rank projects submitted much like the annual CoC NOFO competition. Projects will need to follow local competition deadlines projects not the deadline for submission to HUD.

The Collaborative Application for the YHDP project(s) chosen for the priority listing by must be submitted by ECHO to HUD by August 10, 2026. The local competition deadline will be a date PRIOR to this.

What You Can Do Now

1) Read the FY 2024 & FY 2025 YHDP/YHSI NOFO carefully.

2) Ensure your SAM.gov registration is active

3) Ensure registration in e-snaps (All project applications will need to be entered into e-snaps.

4) Reach out to NOFO@austinecho.org with any questions (goodness of fit, project design, etc.). The ECHO NOFO team will work to get your question answered.

Important Update: We have updated the local application to accommodate minor changes. Please make sure that you use the posted local application below. 

General Instructions:

• Submit the completed application in PDF format using the following file-naming convention: FY24-25 YHDP NOFO-Applicant Name–Project Title–Project Type.
• Place all required attachments in one folder, compress the folder into a ZIP file, and attach it to the submission email.
• Submit both the PDF application and the ZIP folder containing all required attachments to NOFO@austinecho.org by the deadline July 24, 2026, at 5:00 pm CST