JUNE 2022

The Office to Prevent and End Homelessness – now part of the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development – is committed to eliminating the disproportionality of people at-risk of or experiencing homelessness from communities of color and other marginalized populations by providing equitable paths to safe, stable, affordable housing.
 

PARTNERSHIP UPDATES

• Bi-Annual Continuum of Care (CoC) Meeting | July 14, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: The goal of the CoC Meeting is to connect partners in the Fairfax-Falls Church Community to build and strengthen common understanding of homeless system initiatives and performance outcomes. This meeting is intended to reach the broad audience of CoC members, which includes any organization (from frontline staff to leadership) or individual that is committed to preventing and ending homelessness in our community. This virtual meeting will provide an overview of the Continuum of Care, including a review of the Point-in-Time (PIT) Count and System Performance Measure dashboards as well as review the results of the Youth PIT Count, review the role of the CoC Committee as well as the role of the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness, provide an overview of several homeless services system initiatives, and a reflection on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To RSVP for the upcoming virtual Bi-Annual CoC Meeting, please use the Bi-Annual CoC Meeting Eventbrite Invitation.
   
• Apply for the Northern Virginia Supportive Housing Institute: CSH, the Housing Association for Nonprofit Developers, and the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services are excited to announce the first-ever Supportive Housing Institute in Northern Virginia. The Institute will help supportive housing partners learn how to navigate the complex process of developing housing with support services and reduce the time it takes to obtain funding for supportive housing by improving the planning, development, and initial project implementation process. The Institute will provide targeted training and technical assistance to both new and experienced development teams. Teams receive intensive training over 4 months including individualized technical assistance and support to assist in planning quality projects. The application deadline is June 30, 2022.
   
• Housing Supply Action Plan: The Biden-Harris administration released the Housing Supply Action Plan on May 16, 2022, to help close America’s housing supply gap in 5 years, which will mean more affordable rents and more attainable homeownership for Americans in every community. The Action Plan outlines a series of steps federal agencies either are taking or will take in the next year.
   
• The System Series: The National Alliance to End Homelessness released an updated SYSTEM (Strengthening Your System to Energize Momentum) Series designed to help communities more effectively end homelessness. This series includes updated information on emerging priorities and anticipated areas of focus in the 2022 CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity Program Competition.
   
• New Emergency Solutions Grant Onboarding Toolkits: Emergency Solutions Grants recipients and subrecipients have quickly scaled up rapid re-housing (RRH) efforts due to COVID-19. Each of the new Onboarding Toolkits available on the HUD Exchange provides a series of informational training videos and resources to orient and train new or transitioning staff who serve as Grant Administrators, Program Directors, RRH Supervisors, and RRH Case Managers. The Toolkits cover topics including strength-based strategies for client engagement, trauma-informed care, housing navigation, self-care, time management, and other important topics.
   
• HUD Announces Award of $8.9 Million in Federal Funding to Fairfax County:  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the award of $8.9 million in federal funding to Fairfax County to support the development and preservation of affordable housing as well as supportive programs and services to help individuals obtain housing and remain housed. The funding is provided through three separate programs, including the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnership program, and Emergency Solutions Grant program. 
   
• Continuum of Care (CoC) Committee: The CoC Committee, the governing body of the CoC, will meet on July 26, at 2:00 p.m., in Fairfax County’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Meeting materials will be made available at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/homeless/coccommittee.

Funding Information

• Family and Youth Services Bureau Funding Opportunities: In April 2022, the Family and Youth Services Bureau released four Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) to support youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability including:
   
  • FY 2022 Basic Center Program NOFO to provide emergency shelter and services to youth under 18 years of age who have left home without permission of their parents or guardians, been forced to leave home, or are experiencing homelessness for up to 21 days. Applications must be submitted by June 27, 2022.
     
  • FY 2022 Transitional Living Program NOFO to provide up to 22 months of housing and services for youth and young adults ages 16 to under 22. Applications must be submitted by June 21, 2022.
     
  • FY 2022 Maternity Group Home NOFO to provide up to 22 months of housing and services for pregnant and/or parenting youth and young adults ages 16 to under 22 and their dependent children. Applications must be submitted by June 27, 2022.
     
  • FY 2022 Street Outreach Program NOFO to provide street outreach services to youth experiencing homelessness or housing instability, who have left home, and are sleeping on the street or are at-risk of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking. Applications must be submitted by June 6, 2022. 

Data Spotlight

• 2022 Point-in-Time Count Results: The results of Fairfax County CoC’s 2022 Point-in-Time Count were released on May 10, 2022. Fairfax County, in coordination with the surrounding Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, conducted its 2022 Point-In-Time Count of individuals and families experiencing homelessness on January 26, 2022. This highly coordinated effort provides critical data on the number of Fairfax County residents living in shelters, in time-limited transitional housing programs as well as those unsheltered and living on the street in the Fairfax-Falls Church community. There were 1,191 people experiencing homelessness in Fairfax County on the night of the 2022 Point-in-Time Count. This is decrease of 3 percent (31 people) from the 2021 Point-in-Time Count, in which there were 1,222 people identified as experiencing homelessness. 

Training Opportunities

• 2022 National Conference on Ending Homelessness (Cost Associated)
  July 26-27, 2022
  (Registration closes July 8, 2022)
  The National Alliance to End Homelessness’s first in-person conference since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the 2022 National Conference on Ending Homelessness will be held in Washington, D.C. Registrants will have the opportunity to attend plenaries and workshops focused on long-standing and emerging issues in the homelessness field, including race equity, creative housing solutions, peer support, older adult homelessness, unsheltered homelessness, and much more. The 2022 National Conference on Ending Homelessness will bring together service providers, system leaders, advocates, people with lived experience of homelessness, and others to learn from each other, discuss best practices, and share new innovations in the field.