Lesson 3: Project Types

Section 1: Definitions

There are different project types that can be applied for including:

• Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)- Projects that provide indefinite leasing or rental assistance paired with services to help people with disabilities experiencing homelessness achieve stability that is community-based housing without a designated length of stay. To be permanent housing, the program participant must be the tenant on a lease for a term of at least one year, which is renewable for terms that are a minimum of one month long and is terminable only for cause. PSH means permanent housing in which supportive services are provided to assist homeless persons with a disability to live independently. PSH and Housing First are complementary for ending chronic homelessness and helping people with disabilities maintain stable housing.

• Rapid Rehousing (RRH)- Projects that emphasizes housing search and relocation services and short- and medium-term rental assistance to move those experiencing homelessness as rapid as possible into permanent housing. The three core components of RRH utilizing a progressive engagement approach: (1) Housing identification, (2) Financial assistance (security deposit, move-in assistance, and rent assistance for three to six months), and (3) Housing stability case management through which people are connected to jobs, services and the supported needed to successfully maintain their housing. Rapid Rehousing targets homeless individuals and families (assessed through the VI-SPDAT or if the person is fleeing from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking providers will utilize the Homeless Prevention Assessment) who could quickly and successfully transition out of homelessness with the provision of immediate and limited assistance. Housing First is an approach that minimizes the amount of time an individual or family spends experiencing homelessness and rapidly helps them stabilize their own housing. In and of itself, Rapid Rehousing is not designed to comprehensively address all of a participant’s service needs or their poverty. Instead, Rapid Rehousing solves the immediate crisis of homelessness, while connecting families or individuals with appropriate community resources to address other service needs.

• Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Rehousing (Joint TH-RRH)- Projects that include two existing program components, TH and RRH, in a single project to serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Projects must provide both components, including units supported by the TH components and tenant-based rental assistance and services provided through the RRH component, to all program participants for up to 24 months as needed by the program participants. Projects should utilize a Housing First approach to target and prioritize people experiencing homelessness with higher needs. The Joint TH‐RRH model incorporates participant‐choice, in both finding permanent housing and in determining when to exit crisis housing. This means the participant decides when they are ready to move on to the RRH part of the model, not the program. This includes participants who may decide to skip the TH part of the model altogether and go directly into RRH. By combining TH and RRH, individuals and families experiencing homelessness have access to low-barrier, temporary housing, and the financial support necessary to help them quickly move into and maintain permanent housing. These projects incorporate Housing First by having low barriers and allowing client choice in housing identification.

• Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)- A local information technology system used to collect client-level data and data on the provision of housing and services to homeless individuals and families and persons at risk of homelessness. Each Continuum of Care (CoC) is responsible for selecting an HMIS software solution that complies with HUD's data collection, management, and reporting standards. The HMIS Lead is the entity designated by the CoC to operate the HMIS on its behalf (Institute for Community Alliances, ICA).

• Supportive Services Only- Coordinated Entry (SSO-CE)- A process developed to ensure that all people experiencing a housing crisis have fair and equal access and are quickly identified, assessed for, referred, and connected to housing and assistance based on their strengths and needs. HUD noted qualities of an effective Coordinated Entry process include prioritization, low-barrier, Housing First, person-centered, fair & equal access, emergency services, standardized access & assessment, inclusive, referrals, outreach, ongoing local planning & community partner consultation, leveraging local attributes & capacity, safety planning, using HMIS & other systems, and providing full coverage across the CoC. The Coordinated Entry Lead is the entity designated by the CoC to operate the Coordinated Entry System on its behalf (Institute for Community Alliances, ICA).

New Projects also have the opportunity to apply for Domestic Violence (DV) specific programming including RRH and Joint TH-RRH projects. These specific projects must serve survivors of DV only.

The CoC has worked on creating a sustainability plan for projects just starting to ensure projects are strong and supported. Renewal projects include 1st Year, 2nd Year, and 3rd Year and Older.

• 1st-Year Renewals- This includes projects without a contract or full year of operational experience. These specified projects will not need to do a local competition application process. However, they will need to submit any performance or data quality information provided during operational experience, if applicable. These projects will be asked to complete an e-snaps application, which is the federal grant system for HUD. CoC staff will provide assistance in this process. These projects will automatically be placed at the bottom of Tier 1 to ensure renewal funding.

• 2nd-Year Renewals- This includes projects with one full year of operational experience and have completed their first full Annual Performance Report (APR). These specified projects will complete local competition applications, an e-snaps application, and performance measures information. The performance measures will be informational only and not scored. These projects will be pro-rated and placed in Tier 1 according to score or at the bottom to ensure renewal funding.

• 3rd-Year and Older Renewals- This includes projects that have completed their second-year renewal. These specified projects will complete a full local competition application and e-snaps application. These projects will be reviewed as all other renewals are and rated by the local competition ranking process. This means projects could fall in Tier 1 or 2, depending upon score.