December 2016 NCHV Newsletter

NCHV eNewsletter
December 2016
REMINDER: GPD Providers, Help Us Support You
Provider survey on GPD from The Home Depot Foundation, NCHV, and Community Solutions
Dear GPD Providers, 
This short survey is being conducted jointly by The Home Depot Foundation, Community Solutions, and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. We know the GPD program is undergoing several changes, and we want to make sure you have all of the support you need to best serve veterans in your community with this important resource. We also want to learn more about your interest in and capacity to convert some existing GPD beds to permanent housing.  
Please take a few minutes to complete this survey to let us know what you need. You may want to have some of your recent GPD program data (bed counts and general outcomes) with you for this.
This survey is voluntary and should take less than 10 minutes. Any information you share will only be utilized by the partners listed above to inform our work on GPD and for follow-up to support you, so please tell us what you need!
Please complete this survey by 5:00 p.m. EST on January 8, 2017. 
FOR CURRENT GPD GRANTEES: GPD NOFA Published
GPD funding notice published Friday, Dec. 23, 2016
The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Grant and Per Diem Program (GPD) was published Friday, Dec. 23, and you can find it in that day's Federal Register or on the GPD website here. We will be sending additional information to you as it becomes available, so please be on the lookout for messages from NCHV and from the VA GPD Program Office.
To read NCHV's full message on the GPD NOFA from earlier this week, including steps you can take now and resources that are currently available as well as in the pipeline, click here.
Hill Watch: H.R. 6416 and the CR
What Congress’s last week of the year means for homeless veterans
Having finished their planned work two weeks ago, Congress has left town for the year. When they return in January it will be to open the 115th Congress, and with it will come a new blank slate of possibilities for helping homeless veterans. But right before they left town, Congress passed two bills of interest; H.R. 6416 and the continuing resolution (CR).
Very early in the morning on Dec. 10, the U.S. Senate passed, by unanimous consent, H.R. 6416, the “Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2016”. This bill contained several provisions related to veteran homelessness, some of the highlights of which included:
  • Permanently authorizing the use of VA homeless programs by veterans with “Other Than Honorable” discharges,
  • Updating VA’s definition of homelessness, to include the McKinney-Vento updates which allow individuals fleeing domestic violence to be considered homeless,
  • Authorizing a higher Per Diem rate to be paid to Transition in Place programs,
  • Creating a program to allow for follow-up case management for veterans who have successfully completed a GPD program,
  • Adding provisions designed to ease the transition for any GPD that wishes shift to units to permanent housing, and
  • Permanently authorizing the National Center for Homelessness Among Veterans.
NCHV is happy to announce that this bill was signed into law by the President last week. You can read the language of the law here, Title VII contains the homelessness provisions. To see NCHV’s full response to the passage of the bill, click here.
The CR was passed earlier on in the same legislative day as H.R. 6416, and narrowly averted a governmental shutdown that was almost triggered by a procedural fight over miners’ healthcare. The agreement that was reached funds the federal government at the level of the last fiscal year until it expires in April, 2017. The current plan is to have the new Congress and President tackle the funding provisions when they arrive in D.C. beginning in January.
It is important to note that the Department of Veteran’s Affairs is not covered by the CR. Legislation governing the funding levels for this fiscal year at VA was passed several months ago (as part of a previous CR), and therefore negates the need for a continuing resolution in the part of the federal government. You can read NCHV’s message on the VA funding by clicking here.
Guide to Service Funding in Supportive Housing 
From the Corporation for Supportive Housing and National Equity Fund
In November, the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and National Equity Fund released a Guide to Service Funding in Supportive Housing.
Owners, property managers, service providers, and government policy makers all recognize the value and stability that comes from providing services for residents in affordable and supportive housing. However, resources to cover the cost for these services are limited when developers and providers are planning and implementing housing developments.
Over the past year, CSH and National Equity Fund collaborated on exploring innovative resources to fund services in supportive and affordable housing. The Guide is the result of this partnership.
The recently released Guide is targeted for a cross section of stakeholders interested in developing and sustaining quality supportive and affordable housing with services. The Guide features new and updated resources and mechanisms to streamline funding of services linked to affordable and supportive housing.
Funding Opportunities
The Florence Hunt Maxwell Foundation's mission is to support charitable organizations that provide for the underserved and indigent community in the Atlanta metro region. Focus areas for the Foundation's grantmaking include education, health, and human services. The annual deadline for applications is March 1. For more information, click here.

The MUFG Union Bank Foundation invests in the communities where MUFG Union Bank and its businesses operate, for the benefit of low- and moderate-income communities. The Foundation focuses on the following areas: affordable housing, community economic development, education, environment, and human services. The Foundation accepts proposals throughout the year. MUFG Union Bank has a presence in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. For more information, click here. 
Labels: