Youth Homelessness NOFO for FY2024 and FY2025

The Youth Homelessness Notice of Funding Opportunity is administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Community Planning and Development office. The program represents a consolidated federal effort combining the Youth Homelessness System Improvement grants and the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program into a single funding opportunity. The intent is to support communities in addressing youth homelessness through both systemic improvements and direct housing and service interventions. Congress authorized these funds through recent appropriations acts, emphasizing a comprehensive approach to reducing homelessness among individuals aged twenty four and under. The program is competitive and targets communities capable of implementing coordinated, data driven responses to homelessness. The primary purpose of the funding is to demonstrate how a coordinated and comprehensive system can significantly reduce youth homelessness. The program is divided into two major components. The system improvement grants focus on planning, coordination, and capacity building to strengthen local response systems. The demonstration program provides funding for housing and supportive service projects that directly assist homeless youth. Communities may apply for one or both components, but those applying for both must demonstrate the ability to simultaneously build infrastructure and deliver services. The program emphasizes outcomes such as preventing homelessness, promoting self sufficiency, expanding service capacity, and addressing trauma and safety concerns among vulnerable youth populations. Funding under this opportunity totals approximately one hundred ninety three million dollars and is distributed across multiple grant categories and fiscal years. The system improvement grants are generally awarded at approximately one million dollars per community and are non renewable with a thirty month period of performance. The demonstration program provides awards ranging from five hundred thousand dollars to fifteen million dollars for community recipients, with projects typically operating for twenty four to thirty months and eligible for renewal under certain conditions. Funding supports activities such as transitional housing, supportive services, coordinated entry systems, planning, and data management systems. Certain activities, including housing under system improvement grants and prohibited drug related activities, are explicitly restricted. Eligibility for the program is broad and includes state, county, and local governments, tribal governments and organizations, public institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations with federal tax exempt status. Faith based organizations may apply under the same conditions as other applicants but must comply with federal nondiscrimination and funding use requirements. Individuals are not eligible to apply. Applicants must meet general federal eligibility standards, including compliance with civil rights laws and federal registration requirements such as maintaining active accounts in SAM and the application portal system. Communities must also define the geographic area they intend to serve and may include multi jurisdictional or statewide applications. The application process is conducted through a federal electronic system and requires completion of standard federal forms, submission of detailed budgets, and comprehensive narrative responses. Applicants must provide documentation such as assurances, certifications, and disclosure forms, along with detailed project plans and supporting attachments. For demonstration program applicants, a priority listing of proposed projects is required. Applications are reviewed through a multi stage process including threshold eligibility screening, merit based evaluation, and risk assessment. Evaluation criteria include youth leadership, community connections, system planning, and project quality, with additional preference points available for specific policy priorities. The application deadline is August tenth, two thousand twenty six at eleven fifty nine pm Eastern Time. Awards are anticipated to be announced in mid September two thousand twenty six, with project implementation expected to begin in October of that year and continue through early two thousand twenty nine depending on the grant type. Technical assistance is provided to selected communities, and recipients are required to participate in evaluation activities and reporting requirements. While the notice does not explicitly state recurrence, the program builds on prior funding rounds, suggesting potential future opportunities contingent on federal appropriations.