Statewide HPRP Program Public Comment Period

The following information was released Thursday, April 30, 2009 by the NC Office of Economic Recovery and Investment.

The following includes:

A copy of the Homelessness Prevention Fund substantial amendment to the consolidated plan
Additional information about N.C.’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP)
Information about the public hearing for the substantial amendment
Information on how to participate in the public hearing via conference call and website
Information on Q&A conference calls that will be held during the public comment period
Information about the dates of the public comment period where to find HUD’s detailed policies about the HPRP

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) includes formula funding for a new homelessness program, a program based on HUD identified best practices. The new program is called the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP). Seven N.C. entitlement communities received a direct allocation of the HPRP funds (and will conduct their own public comment process). The remainder of N.C. funds will be administered by the State.

Before the State can receive any of the allocated funds, the State must submit a plan to HUD. That plan, called a substantial amendment to the Consolidated Plan (substantial amendment), answers several questions about how the State plans to administer the funds and how communities can apply, as well as how sub-grantees (successful applicants to the State) will be monitored and general expectations for how funds will be spent.

The public comment phase for the State’s HPRP program is May 1 – May 13. View a copy of that substantial amendment. Please share with others who may be interested.

The substantial amendment is a brief document, and it won’t answer all of the questions you have about the HPRP program. In some cases, questions can’t be answered yet. HUD is still working on getting out some of their guidance. For example, as of now we still don’t know exactly what the reporting requirements are going to be.

However, there are some details, beyond what is in the substantial amendment, which will be helpful in your understanding of how the state’s program will work in N.C.

The vast majority of funds will be awarded through a competition. Nonprofits and local governments are the eligible applicants. An application could cover activities for only one county or for a region. It is highly preferable that only one application come from any given region/county.
Non-entitlement communities (those communities not receiving a direct HPRP allocation from HUD) submitting applications that meet a threshold score will receive preference over entitlement communities that submit applications. However, the State will accept applications from entitlement communities.
Many “typical” administrative functions are eligible program costs for the HPRP. These include writing checks to third party vendors on behalf of program participants, data entry, and housing quality inspections.
All State funded HPRP initiatives will be required to participate in the Carolina Homeless Information Network (CHIN). Applicants will be able to use program funds to cover data entry capacity.
The reporting and financial accountability requirements for these programs will be extremely high, as with all ARRA funds. Therefore, the Request for Applications (RFA) will have a strong emphasis on fiscal accountability and program outcome accountability. Successful applicants will receive regular, thorough monitoring.
Applications will need to show strong partnerships between HPRP and other ARRA funded and mainstream programs.

The Public Hearing is scheduled for Monday, May 4 at 10:00 AM. The hearing will be held at the offices of the Division of Community Assistance, located at 1307 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, NC 27605.

Individuals who are unable to attend the hearing in Raleigh may also participate via conference call, but please read the following two paragraphs very carefully. In order to minimize travel and increase participation while enabling callers to confirm their participation for probable points on Continuum of Care applications, the state is using a rigorous conference calling system. Furthermore, due to budget constraints, there will be a limit of 100 incoming calls able to access the conference call. Therefore, please consider having small groups of interested parties from your community meet together to call in from a single phone with speaker capacity.

The conference call in number is 1.800.868.1837 and the guest code is 47696487#. In addition, a power point will be available for persons on the conference call by accessing: https://www.accuconference.com/customer/join/. Once you reach that website you will need to enter your name and the participant code (47696487).

IF YOU INTEND TO PARTICIPATE VIA CONFERENCE, AND YOU WISH TO HAVE YOUR PARTICIPATION CONFIRMED FOR YOUR CONTINUUM OF CARE APPLICATION, you must sign onto the web site. In addition, part way through the public hearing a password will be announced. Conference call participants will need to email that password to Martha.are@nc.gov. Doing so will confirm your participation in the public hearing. Please be sure that your email includes your name, agency affiliation (if any) and city or county.

In addition to the public hearing, the State will host two Question and Answer conference calls. Interested parties can participate on Wednesday, May 6 at 2:30 P.M. and/or Friday, May 8 at 10:00 A.M. The call in number for the Question and Answer session is 1-888-296-6500, and the guest code is 804694. In addition, a power point will be available for persons on the conference call by accessing: https://data.saveonconferences.com/804694. Once you reach that website you will need to enter your name, your email address, the phone number from which you are calling, and the call in number (888-296-6500). The web site works much better using Explorer than it does with Netscape.

Additional information about HUD’s HPRP program, including published policies and frequently asked questions, can be found at http://www.hudhre.info/index.cfm?do=viewHPRP.

Between May 1 and May 13 the State will be accepting public comments via email at mailto:martha.are@nc.gov, via fax at 919-733-2422 or mail at Martha Are, OERI, MSC 20308, Raleigh, NC 27699-0308.

For additional information on this release, please contact:

Denise Neunaber

Phone: (919) 755-4393

Email:

Source: NC Office of Economic Recovery and Investment

Website: N/A