TX-503 Austin/Travis County CoC Renewal Project Application FY24 CoC NOFO Competition

The Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care (CoC) is seeking applications for housing projects for inclusion in our Collaborative Application for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care program, also known as the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Each year the Austin/Travis County CoC competes with other CoC’s across the country to secure federal funds to help end homelessness through HUD’s CoC Program NOFO. All projects applying for renewal funding for the FY24 Continuum of Care (CoC) NOFO Competition must complete this application. All CoC grants listed on the Grant Inventory Worksheet (GIW) developed by HUD with an expiration in calendar year 2025 must submit renewal applications in order to retain funding. Failure to submit a renewal application may lead to a permanent loss of funding. ECHO recommends that applicants review the accompanying FY24 Renewal Projects Scoring Guide for reference of how answers will be reviewed and scored. As indicated by the FY24 Review, Scoring, and Ranking Policy, 35% of the scoring for Renewal Projects will be based upon the applicant’s answers to the Local Competition Application and e-snaps project application. Please note that this request for applications is based on the best information that is currently available, and ECHO staff may need to revise requirements described herein and/or request additional information based on additional guidance received from HUD and/or policy decisions made by Leadership Council. ECHO staff will disseminate all information about this funding opportunity as it becomes available.

Complete & submit the project application in e-snaps. Once the application is completed in e-snaps, applicants must save a copy of the e-snaps application and submit the copy of the HUD e-snaps application as an attachment in the FY24 NOFO Competition webpage. Attaching the e-snaps application in the FY24 NOFO Competition webpage will allow the IRT members to access the application materials and score applications electronically. Projects are expected to review all information entered in e-snaps before submitting and attaching the completed version in the FY24 NOFO Competition webpage. The version attached in the FY24 NOFO Competition webpage will be used to score project applications.

Describe any changes and/or amendments made to this project during the last 12 months. Examples include adjustments to budget, target population, service delivery, subrecipient/partner roles and responsibilities (500-word limit). (*If no changes and/or amendments were made during the last 12 months, please put “N/A” in the NARRATIVE BOX below.)

Please attach a copy of your agency’s most recent financial audit. For financial reporting purposes, every organization has a 12-month fiscal year. A fiscal year can coincide with the calendar year but may also be any 12-month period that is selected by the organization. Audits are performed during the organization’s fiscal year. The only exception to a 12-month audit occurs if the organization has changed its fiscal year during the audit period. This will require an audit for less than or more than 12 months for the year of change.

73.9% of the population experiencing homelessness in Austin/Travis County identifies as non-white (Asian, Black, Native/Indigenous, Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, and/or two or more races). What percentage of the applicant organization’s staff identifies as non-white? What percentage of the applicant organization’s board of directors identifies as non-white? What percentage of the applicant organization’s leadership (senior managers, directors/administrators, VP’s, Executives/C-Suite) identify as non-white?

Complete the following section with the same information entered in e-snaps. This section will be verified by ECHO staff for accuracy with project applications in e-snaps. Details provided below may be used by the IRT to supplement their knowledge of the programs. Please note: Applicants are unable to change the items in this section without a grant amendment unless otherwise allowed through the HUD FY24 NOFO Competition materials.

Black Americans are overrepresented in the total population experiencing homelessness in the United States relative to total population representation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and analysis of HMIS data, Black/African American residents account for 9 percent of Travis County’s total population, but 32 percent of the population experiencing homelessness in the same area. This is a dramatic overrepresentation and a key challenge facing our homelessness response system and the Austin/Travis County community generally. Provide a narrative describing how your project is addressing racial disparities in service delivery. (500-word limit).

Describe how your agency identifies areas for improvement and improves service delivery through feedback from past and current program participants*. Please provide specific examples of formally solicited suggestions made by clients that resulted in your program making specific changes to its operations to improve outcomes or practices based on participants’ feedback. Please describe your formal process for collecting client feedback, including the frequency with which it occurs, evidence of robust/concrete agency responses to that feedback, and methods by which persons with lived experience of homelessness are compensated for their participation and contributions to your agency’s improvement. Has your agency hired persons with lived experience of homelessness to work as full-time staff in its programs? (500-word limit). *For HMIS projects that do not provide direct services to clients, this includes clients whose data has been input into HMIS.

According to preliminary Needs & Gaps data, 30% of people experiencing homelessness reported being survivors of domestic violence. It is important that all programs providing services to those experiencing homelessness take this into account, not just Victim Service Providers (VSPs). For non-HMIS projects, provide a narrative describing how your project is delivering services to clients and operating through a trauma-informed lens, how your staff are trained to do so, and what improvements you have made in ensuring safety for survivors of domestic violence. For HMIS projects, provide a narrative describing how your project operates its database and trains the community to protect client safety and information privacy though data security standards and practices; how project staff are trained to do so and how they train others to do so; and what improvements you have made in ensuring safety for survivors of domestic violence. (500-word limit)