On October 25, HUD announced that the application deadline for the the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) has been extended to November 6 at 11:59 pm ET.

PRO Housing is a newly established program focused on supporting communities who are actively taking steps to remove barriers to affordable housing. The program is governed by statutes and regulations of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

For those interested in applying, please see the NOFO here.

For more information on the program please see here.

The second week of the NAHRO Day 3 webinar series will be on Thursday October 26 at 1:30pm ET, featuring a discussion on the current landscape of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program.

This week’s webinar, titled “Breaking Barriers to FSS,” explores the common obstacles in accessing the FSS program. Speakers will share their vision for a new FSS model, grounded in behavioral economics, in which families automatically enroll in the program.

The session is led by Compass Working Capital, an organization focused on ending asset poverty for families with low incomes and narrowing the racial and gender wealth divides. Since 2010, Compass has partnered with public housing agencies and other affordable housing providers to operate an asset-building model for the FSS program.

To register for the Day 3 webinar series, please see here.

Future Webinar Topics:
November 2: This USDA Program is for Rural and Urban Areas
November 9: Centering Impacted Communities in Advocacy
November 16: Building Resident and Owner Financial Resiliency

On October 12, HUD announced the availability of $212 million in Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program funding. Applications are due by February 12 at 11:59 pm ET.

Funding for the Section 811 program is available for program participants to expand the supply of affordable housing and supportive services for very-low and extremely-low-income persons with disabilities.

Capital Advance/Project Rental Assistance Contract Program

Among the total amount, $106 million is available for Section 811 Capital Advance/Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC) program. This part of the Section 811 program provides capital advances that can be used for the development or rehabilitation of supportive housing and project rental subsidies. Under the PRAC program, 21 awards will be made available.

Project Rental Assistance Program

Additionally, another $106 million of the total is available for Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA). This funding provides state housing and other agencies project rental assistance. This assistance is meant to cover the difference between tenant contributions of rent and the HUD-approved rental amount for tenants with disabilities. Under the PRA program, 13 awards will be made available.

Both programs within Section 811 have their own grant application.

To apply for the Section 811 PRAC program see here.

To apply for the Section 811 PRA program see here.

On September 27, HUD released a notice under public inspection that extends the compliance period under the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) final rule for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Project Based Voucher (PBV), and Moderate Rehabilitation programs until October 1, 2024.

The delay is meant to give Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) additional time to implement NSPIRE standards as required by HUD. In this time, PHAs will have more time to train staff, communicate with landlords, and gain more knowledge from HUD in transitioning to NSPIRE.

PHAs must notify HUD of their decision in whether they decide to continue using Housing Quality Standards (HQS) for inspections or transition to NSPIRE before the October 2024 deadline.

To notify HUD of either decision, PHAs must email NSPIREV_AlternateInspection@hud.gov and send a courtesy copy to their Field Office representative. Additionally, PHAs must list the date on which they plan to transition to and or implement NSPIRE.

The notice is expected to be published in Federal Register on September 28, 2023.

For more information, please see the full notice here.

On September 12, HUD issued Notice CPD–2023-08, which is meant to provide consistent methodology for conducting risk analyses for Community Planning and Development (CPD) formula and competitive grantees. The notice also establishes monitoring priorities within CPD’s Grants Management Process Reporting (GMP-R) system.

The notice supersedes Notice CPD-22-11, which implemented a risk analysis methodology that considered risk factors, sub factors, and symptomatic causes in program performance.

The new notice incorporates revisions to CPD’s risk analysis policies and procedures to provide greater flexibility towards CPD’s monitoring obligations. The revisions are intended to augment departmental policy to include:

• Developing risk-based rating systems to evaluate all program grantees;
• Rating and selecting grantees for monitoring;
• Identifying program risks and setting monitoring objectives; and
• Documenting the process and recording the rationale for choosing grantees to be monitored.

In addition, the notice highlights the role of CPD Field Offices in performing risk analysis and ratings for grantees/grants.

Programs assessed under this notice include:

• Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)
• HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
• Emergency Solutions Grants Program (ESG)
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program (HOPWA)
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program Competitive (HOPWA-C)
• Continuum of Care (CoC)
• Neighborhood Stabilization Programs (NSP 1, 2, and 3)
• Section 8 Single Room Occupancy Moderate Rehabilitation (SRO)
• Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR, including CDBG-NDR and CDBG-MIT funds)
• Community Development Block Grant-CARES Act (CDBG-CV)
• Emergency Solutions Grants Program-CARES Act (ESG-CV)
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program-CARES Act (HOPWA-CV)
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program Competitive-CARES Act (HOPWA-C-CV)
• Recovery Housing Program (RHP)
• Housing Trust Fund (HTF)

To view the full notice, see here.

On September 15, HUD released a notice under public inspection that extends the compliance date for HUD’s National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) final rule for Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs until October 1, 2024.

The notice is set to be officially published on September 18 and extends the compliance date for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Housing Trust Fund (HTF), Housing
Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA), Emergency Solution Grants (ESG) and
Continuum of Care (COC) programs.

According to HUD, they note that the basis for extending the deadline is due to the different implementation needs of various program participants. Additionally, some CPD programs such as the HTF and HOME programs are unable to update some of their standards and policies in accordance with the NSPIRE final rule until HUD publishes the lists of specific deficiencies. P

Participating jurisdictions and grantees of the the HTF and HOME programs should prepare for the compliance date by updating property standard regulatory citations and requirements in
written agreement templates. The templates should include State recipients, subrecipients, and project owners as required by law.

Program recipients including those of the CoC, ESG, and HOPWA programs that administer housing choice vouchers or project based vouchers may still use NSPIRE standards beginning October 1, 2023. Guidance for the following programs as they apply to NSPIRE standards is intended to be published by HUD soon.

For the full notice, see here.

On August 14, HUD announced that they will be launching a series of webinars to explain the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the newly established program Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing). The program focuses on supporting communities who are actively taking steps to remove barriers to affordable housing.

The first webinar will take place on August 17, 2023 at 3pm ET. It will provide an overview of data resources and tools for applicants.

The PRO Housing program is governed by statutes and regulations of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. For those interested in viewing the NOFO, a preview version can be found on the HUD website. The official publication is expected for early September 2023 with an application deadline of October 30, 2023, at 11:59 pm ET.

For more information on the program please see here.

Those interested in attending the webinar can register here.

On August 14, HUD announced the availability of approximately $73 million in HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) funding, with up to $10 million of the appropriated funds to be utilized for administrative and other expenses of PHAs. The vouchers are administered in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and enable homeless veterans and their families to access affordable housing with an array of supportive services.

Eligible PHAs who are interested in receiving HUD-VASH funding are expected to register via an interest form located on the HUD website. The deadline to fill out the form is Friday, September 15, 2023 by midnight of the PHA’s time zone.

HUD anticipates issuing guidance on the availability of funding and the application process by Fall 2023. Additionally, HUD anticipates that this funding will support approximately 7,500 new HUD-VASH vouchers.

To fill out the Registration of Interest form, please see here.

To view the full notice, please see here.

On July 26, HUD announced $370 million in Choice Implementation Grants set to be awarded to eight cities across the country. The new grantees join 44 other Choice Neighborhoods sites nationwide.

HUD Secretary Fudge visited Birmingham, Alabama, where she presented one of the eight grants in person. From August 1 through August 4 leadership from HUD will visit the remaining communities receiving awards.

The recipients include:

Lead Recipient / Co-Recipient (if applicable)	Amount
City of Tucson, AZ	$50,000,000
Housing Authority of the Birmingham District / City of Birmingham, AL	$50,000,000
Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta / City of Atlanta, GA	$40,000,000
Lake Charles Housing Authority / City of Lake Charles, LA	$40,000,000
Housing Authority of the City Pittsburgh / City of Pittsburgh, PA	$50,000,000
Miami-Dade County, FL	$40,000,000
Philadelphia Housing Authority / City of Philadelphia, PA	$50,000,000
Wilmington Housing Authority / City of Wilmington, DE	$50,000,000
Total Award Amount	$370,000,000

On July 27, HUD announced the launch of a new $85 million grant program Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing). The program is focused on supporting communities who are actively taking steps towards removing barriers to affordable housing. Funds from the PRO Housing program are governed by statutes and regulations of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

Currently, HUD has released a preview copy of the fiscal 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), with has an expected application deadline of October 30, 2023. HUD plans to make approximately 20 awards available ranging from $1 million to $10 million. The program would have a performance period of six years with an expected start date in January 2024 and end date in September of 2029.

The program is eligible to state governments, local governments (i.e., city and county governments), Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and multijurisdictional entities.

For more information on the program please see here.