Continuum of Care

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development makes Continuum of Care funds available to communities through a grant process.  Continuum of Care funds serve as a catalyst for our community to create a systematic response to ending homelessness and drive policy for our Coalition of service providers.  ECHO serves as the lead agency for the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care, and coordinates the Continuum of Care local funding competition.

CoC Program Overview CoC Program Policies & Documents 

2019 CoC Competition 2018 CoC Competition 

HUD mandates that a Continuum of Care is responsible for:

• • • Promoting community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness;
    • Providing funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness;
    • Promoting access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Oversight of the Continuum of Care Program Grant

The Membership Council provides oversight for the CoC program grant and serves as the HUD required CoC governing body. Our Membership Council has designated the following entities to lead CoC initiatives:

Lead Agency

As the Lead Agency, ECHO is designated to carry out the planning and system operation activities of the CoC, including fiscal and compliance activities. ECHO uses HUD guidance to coordinate a local competition for CoC funds that are granted to providers in our community. Other responsibilities of the CoC Lead agency include management of the annual HUD application; coordination of other funding opportunities; project and system monitoring; meeting management; planning and coordinated the PIT Count; consulting with ESG recipients; establishing a Coordinated Entry system; developing written standards for providing assistance; and participating in the development of consolidated plans (Austin, Travis County).

CoC Collaborative Applicant

As the Collaborative Applicant, ECHO is designated by the CoC Board (Membership Council) to be the entity responsible for coordinating and submitting the collaborative application to HUD for CoC-funding awarded to local homeless assistance programs. ECHO is also responsible for evaluating outcomes of awarded programs.

CoC HMIS Lead

As the designated HMIS Lead, ECHO manages the Continuum’s data in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). The HMIS Lead responsibilities include administering the CoC plans for privacy, security, and data quality, as well as submitting HUD-required reports on behalf of our community. Data entered into HMIS allows our community to understand the services provided by partnering agencies and measure the performance of the entire system.

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