Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program | FR 6200 N 35

Opportunity Information: Apply for FR 6200 N 35

The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is a competitive U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant initiative designed to help communities build a coordinated, system-level response to preventing and ending youth homelessness. Instead of funding isolated programs that operate independently, YHDP is meant to push communities to design a comprehensive “system of care” that connects housing, services, and institutional partners into a unified approach. HUD’s larger goal is to learn what works across different local contexts and use those lessons to shape national strategy on youth homelessness.

Under this opportunity, HUD planned to select up to 25 communities to participate in the demonstration, with a specific commitment that 8 of the 25 would be rural communities. Participation is structured around the local Continuum of Care (CoC) framework, meaning the applicant must be the CoC Collaborative Applicant for the community. In practice, this limits eligibility to the entity authorized to submit the CoC’s consolidated application, rather than individual service providers applying on their own. Applications were submitted through Grants.gov and were evaluated competitively using rating and ranking criteria set out in the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). HUD indicated selections would be announced in Spring 2019.

A central requirement is that the community’s CoC must demonstrate real partnership and shared planning across key youth-serving systems. At a minimum, the community must include a youth action board (so young people with lived experience have meaningful decision-making power), the local or state public child welfare agency, and a broad array of additional partners. The emphasis on these partnerships reflects HUD’s view that youth homelessness is not only a housing problem, but also a child welfare, education, justice, behavioral health, and workforce issue. The program also expects communities to actively engage both traditional partners (like homeless service providers and housing agencies) and non-traditional stakeholders (such as schools, juvenile justice, family services, health providers, and youth development organizations) that influence policy and access to resources.

Selected communities are expected to develop and carry out a Coordinated Community Plan (CCP) focused on preventing and ending youth homelessness. The plan is intended to be actionable and aligned with local conditions, including an understanding of who is experiencing homelessness and why. HUD specifically highlights the importance of addressing different subgroups of unaccompanied youth and the barriers they face, including pregnant and parenting youth, LGBTQ youth, and minor-age youth. Communities are expected to use this understanding to match young people to the right mix of housing and supportive services, recognizing that different youth need different interventions to achieve safe, stable housing.

On funding, communities could apply for project funding in an amount ranging from $1 million to $15 million per community, with the exact ceiling tied to factors such as youth population size and poverty rates. The overall demonstration total was up to $75 million. The grant term described is two years, with the expectation that projects meeting statutory CoC Program requirements could later be eligible for renewal under the CoC Program. Importantly, the NOFA allowed communities to request funding for the full set of project types permitted under the CoC Program to support homeless and at-risk youth, and it also opened the door to innovative project types that might require waivers of certain CoC Program or McKinney-Vento Act requirements (as referenced in the NOFA’s appendix). This flexibility is a core part of the “demonstration” concept, giving communities room to test approaches that may not fit neatly into standard program rules.

Beyond dollars, YHDP includes structured support and accountability. Selected communities receive a dedicated team of technical assistance providers to help with both planning and implementation, which is meant to strengthen local capacity and improve execution of the coordinated plan. Communities also must participate in an evaluation, with findings intended to inform federal policy and improve future efforts to prevent and end youth homelessness nationwide. In short, YHDP is not only a funding opportunity but also a learning initiative: HUD funds communities to implement coordinated, youth-centered systems, then studies results to identify scalable practices.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include that it is a discretionary grant under HUD, categorized under community development, with CFDA 14.276. The award ceiling listed is $15,000,000 and the expected number of awards is 25. Eligible applicant types shown in the listing include various levels of government and nonprofits, but the NOFA’s controlling rule is that only CoC Collaborative Applicants may apply for this particular competition. The listing also notes electronic submission requirements and deadline timing language (submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date), reflecting standard federal grant submission rules.

• The US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the community development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 14.276.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 14, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 15, 2019 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $15,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 25 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for FR 6200 N 35

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: