03 Dec Funding Alert! Youth and Homelessness Systems Improvement Grant

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Attention nonprofit organizations and government entities addressing homelessness! The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is now accepting proposals for its Youth and Homelessness Systems Improvement (YHSI) Grant. The goal of the YHSI Grant Program is “to increase state and local capacity to better serve youth and create projects that are responsive to the needs of youth at-risk of or experiencing homelessness in the community.” Applications for this program are due February 15, 2024.

Who is eligible to apply?

This opportunity is for nonprofit organizations; city/township, state, or county governments; tribal governments; and tribally designed housing entities to improve youth homelessness response systems in communities. Because this grant opportunity focuses on systemic change, HUD is encouraging collaboration. For example, Continuum of Care (CoC) collaborations, governmental-nonprofit partnerships, and partnerships between various tribal nations could apply.

What are the program details?

The intended objectives of the YHSI Grant Program focus on improving or establishing youth homelessness response systems.

Applicants can submit projects that:

• Improve capacity of youth in the community
• Establish partnerships
• Improve the centralized or coordinated assessment system (i.e., coordinated entry systems)
• Improve data collection and use between systems that work with youth at-risk of and experiencing homelessness
• Assess, address, and improve equity in youth homeless response systems

There are four specific funding categories of eligible activities:

1. Planning and partnership activities include developing regional partnerships to identify and better understand the needs of youth at-risk of or experiencing homelessness, compensating Youth Action Board members, hosting local conferences, engaging and training youth with lived homelessness experience, developing regional or community-wide policies to aid in resolving youth homelessness, and youth homelessness mapping and planning. Planning and partnership activities grants have a maximum award of $400,000.
2. Data activities include upgrading homeless management information systems (HMIS) to improve data collection and reporting, recruiting new entities to HMIS, creating data matches between two different databases, as well as creating and implementing youth homelessness evaluation strategies. The maximum award for data activities grants is $300,000.
3. Coordinated Entry Systems (CES) activities include establishing or improving youth access points, policies, procedures, and assessment tools; creating a prioritization plan for homeless youth; implementing evaluation processes; and recruiting referral partner organizations. CES activities grants have a maximum award of $200,000.
4. Racial and gender equity activities include conducting community-wide equity and/or needs analyses, implementing policies and procedures associated with outcomes of a youth homelessness equity analysis; and developing an analysis for projects. These activities specifically refer to youth subpopulations including Black, Indigenous, other youth of color; LGBTQIA+; and pregnant/parenting youth. The maximum award for racial and gender equity activities grants is $200,000.

YHSI grants are for 30 months and with projects expected to begin on June 1, 2024. With an estimated funding pool of $50,000,000, HUD anticipates funding 35 total awards. There are scoring and funding incentives for applicants that cover more than one geographic region (e.g., an entire state).

Key application requirements are a narrative that includes your efforts to advance racial equity, a budget, a chart of project milestones and deliverables, and letters of commitment from all partners involved as well as an .

The program solicitation contains a complete list of allowable activities and project requirements for the different tracks, as well as other supported activities for all tracks. Proposals are due on Thursday, February 15, 2024, through Grants.gov.

What makes a project a good fit?

This opportunity is designed to build and improve youth homeless response systems. CoCs would be a good fit to apply due to the nature of their work; however, this opportunity is not restricted to CoCs. Nonprofit organizations or area governments with new or existing partnerships to improve youth homelessness should consider this grant. Applicants need to be aware they may not request funds to provide housing or housing services for homeless youth since this opportunity is focused on systemic change, not direct service.

HUD is seeking geographic diversity of awardees among their ten regions across the United States. They may have preference over lower-scoring applications from communities in different regions over higher-scoring applications from a concentrated region.

What if I am ready to apply? To move your project forward, take the following action steps as soon as possible:

• Review the full program solicitation for additional details and allowable activities for each project type.
• Watch HUD’s YHSI grants webinar. It is only 20 minutes and can increase your understanding of the opportunity.
• Talk with your local CoC or tribal government about possible alignment of this opportunity. Click here for a listing by state.
• Make sure your System for Award Management (SAM) registration is active and you have a Grants.gov profile. You can check your SAM status here: https://sam.gov/content/status-tracker.
• Confirm your organization’s unique entity identifier (UEI). The federal government recently transitioned to a new system for applicants utilizing a UEI instead of requiring a DUNS number. All agencies with existing SAM registration have been automatically assigned a UEI. New applicants will request a UEI as part of the SAM registration process. You can find more information about the UEI transition here.

What if I need help with this application?

Contact Assel Grant Services (AGS) today! Our team can help with all aspects of preparing the application and managing the grant if you are awarded. If you would like to discuss this possibility, please contact AGS as soon as possible. Julie Assel, GPC, President/CEO, will be happy to talk with you about this opportunity and provide you with a quote for grant services.

What if I am not ready to apply this year?

Start preparing for next year! Save a copy of the YHSI fact sheet to remind you of the program facts, application requirements, and due date from this year, then quarterly revisit the fact sheet. Once released, review the . Check out HUD’s other programs and funding opportunities available that might be a good fit.

How do I learn more about federal grant proposal writing, so my application is more likely to be successful?

AGS is excited to offer a Federal Grants Training Series in 2023! The series is designed to provide insight into federal agencies beyond the typical reading of the solicitation by program officers and provide details you need to be successful. AGS also offers several on demand webinars on a variety of topics to support the full grant cycle. Check out our website to learn more and sign up for our training newsletter.

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Competency #1: Knowledge of how to research, identify, and match funding resources to meet specific needs

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