Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Program

Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Program

The Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Program is a competitive HUD funding program for coordinated local responses to homelessness. It pays for projects and systems that help people move from homelessness to stable housing, while also supporting the planning, data, and service coordination needed to make those projects work together.

This is not a national rent-assistance form for an individual household. HUD awards money to eligible organizations and public entities. A local Continuum of Care, usually working through a designated Collaborative Applicant, identifies priorities, reviews project proposals, ranks them, and submits a consolidated application. People who need help reach the locally funded programs through shelters, street outreach, coordinated entry, domestic-violence providers, housing agencies, and other community access points.

HUD reopened the FY 2026 competition on September 18, 2026, with a national application deadline of September 30, 2026, at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. That deadline has passed, and HUD’s competition page does not announce a later CA-600 deadline or a next national competition. The FY 2026 round is therefore closed. For the CA-600 area, HUD’s page says applicants had to apply through LAHSA as the Collaborative Applicant and that HUD would not accept direct applications from service providers. This page is a historical reference to the closed FY 2026 competition, not an invitation to submit an application now.

At a glance

HUD described the FY 2026 competition as making more than $4 billion available nationally. That total is not a promise that an individual applicant, community, or project will receive a particular sum. Project budgets depend on eligible activities, project type, renewal or new-project status, geographic area, the CoC allocation, local ranking, and HUD review. A local Collaborative Applicant may impose additional instructions about project budgets and ranking. The national funding total also combines many projects and communities; it should not be read as a typical award size or as money available to individual households.

What the FY 2026 competition funds

The underlying CoC program can support several connected parts of a homeless-response system. Eligible activities can include permanent housing, transitional housing, supportive services only, Homeless Management Information Systems, CoC planning, Unified Funding Agency costs, leasing, rental assistance, supportive services, operating costs, acquisition, rehabilitation, new construction, relocation, indirect costs, and project administration, subject to the NOFO and the CoC Program Rule.

The current competition places unusual emphasis on new projects. HUD’s FY 2026 factsheet describes a $1.3 billion set-aside for new projects, with priority for transitional housing and Supportive Services Only projects. The examples named by HUD include behavioral health care, job training, education, case management, childcare, and related services. That does not mean every new proposal is eligible for every activity. The proposed project still has to fit an eligible project type, meet the statutory and regulatory rules, and pass the threshold and merit review described in the NOFO.

The competition also includes funding for new projects serving people affected by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. HUD describes approximately $104 million for new domestic-violence bonus projects through the current materials. A survivor-serving organization should read the specific domestic-violence bonus provisions rather than assume that a general housing proposal will be treated as a bonus project.

For renewal projects, the local Grant Inventory Worksheet records grants that are eligible for renewal and calculates each project’s Annual Renewal Amount. The worksheet and the local CoC process therefore matter to an existing grantee even when the organization is not asking for a brand-new project. A renewal applicant should check its project information, budget lines, performance record, and local ranking instructions before completing the application.

Who can apply for a grant

The current NOFO says that an individual cannot apply. It lists eligible entity types that include State governments; county governments; city or township governments; special district governments; public and State controlled institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; and 501(c)(3) nonprofits other than institutions of higher education.

For-profit entities are not eligible to apply for these grants or to serve as grant subrecipients. A faith-based organization may apply on the same basis as another eligible organization, subject to the program’s civil-rights, religious-activity, and other applicable requirements. Eligibility also requires compliance with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and 24 CFR part 578. An eligible entity can still lose funding if the proposal fails a threshold requirement, contains an unresolved disqualifying issue, or proposes activities that the program does not allow.

Eligibility is only the first question. A local CoC must operate a collaborative process for developing its response to the NOFO. In the FY 2026 competition, Collaborative Applicants must rank project applications, with exceptions for CoC Planning and, when applicable, Unified Funding Agency Costs projects. A nonprofit that is eligible in isolation may therefore need to follow the local CoC notice, local application, ranking, and appeal rules before HUD can consider its project as part of the consolidated application.

The modified NOFO includes a process for certain project applicants in geographic areas where HUD determines that the CoC does not meet the federal Act or its implementing regulations. That process has separate application and scoring instructions in Appendix III. For CA-600, HUD’s competition page describes a court-ordered arrangement under which LAHSA submits the consolidated application and providers in the area apply through LAHSA. HUD says it will not accept direct applications from CA-600 service providers. These were rules for the closed FY 2026 competition. An organization considering a future application should check HUD’s then-current NOFO and its local Collaborative Applicant rather than assume those competition-specific procedures will carry forward unchanged.

Who receives the help

CoC-funded programs serve people and families experiencing homelessness, including people who need permanent housing, transitional housing, rental assistance, supportive services, or a combination of those supports. The FY 2026 NOFO also describes people experiencing trauma or a lack of safety related to fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, as well as homeless youth.

The service population is not the same as the grant applicant population. A person does not become a grant applicant by needing a shelter bed or housing referral. Local providers determine which programs they operate, what documentation they must collect, what eligibility definitions apply, and how referrals are prioritized. Some services may be available to people at imminent risk or in an unsafe housing situation, while a particular housing project may require the household to meet a narrower federal or local definition of homelessness.

The combined FY 2026 NOFO also includes the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program. YHDP projects serve youth age 24 or younger, including unaccompanied and pregnant or parenting youth, under the eligibility rules in the NOFO. Do not assume that every CoC-funded project serves every age group or offers the same service. Ask the local provider which project and access pathway match the household’s situation.

How an organization should apply

The application process has a federal layer and a local layer. Both matter.

1. Identify the local CoC and the applicant role. Find the CoC covering the project location and read its competition instructions. Confirm whether the organization is the project applicant, a subrecipient, a Collaborative Applicant, or a partner. Local deadlines can precede HUD’s consolidated-application deadline, and the local process can determine which projects reach HUD for consideration. The FY 2026 process is closed. A project that participated in that round should keep its submitted materials and communicate with its Collaborative Applicant about award notices, conditions, and closeout instructions.

2. Confirm eligibility and registration. The organization needs an active SAM.gov registration and a UEI at the time of application and throughout the award. It also needs an active e-snaps account. HUD warns that SAM.gov registration can take several weeks, so a new applicant should not wait until the final day.

3. Read the official package. Search Grants.gov for opportunity number CPD-2600-DC-0025 and review the official NOFO, instructions, forms, and any current modification. HUD posts the solicitation on Grants.gov, but the application is registered and submitted in e-snaps. The current HUD competition page is the best place to find the current NOFO and competition resources together.

4. Build the project application. The NOFO groups the required content into standard forms, assurances and certifications, a budget, narratives, and other attachments. Project applicants should be ready to explain the proposed activity, participants, housing or service model, operating plan, schedule, costs, outcomes, and organizational capacity. The application should use consistent figures and complete attachments in the formats that e-snaps requests.

5. Document match and compliance. CoC recipients generally must match grant funds, except leasing funds, with at least 25 percent in funds or in-kind contributions from other sources. Confirm the exact treatment for the project type and keep written evidence of the match. Also review civil-rights requirements, housing quality and habitability requirements, environmental requirements, financial controls, and any subrecipient eligibility documentation that applies. HUD has also published a waiver of 24 CFR 578.51(b) that can allow private nonprofit applicants, recipients, and subrecipients to administer rental assistance for projects funded under the FY 2026 NOFO. The waiver has eligibility conditions: for example, the organization must document a qualifying administrative or financial burden, or that it could not identify a State, local government, or public housing agency willing to administer the assistance. Applicants must notify HUD using the posted process, and recipients or subrecipients must notify the HUD field office at least two days before using the waiver and keep written supporting records. Read the waiver and FAQ before building the staffing and payment model around this option.

6. Complete the local review. During a competition, the Collaborative Applicant reviews project applications, ranks them as required, and assembles the CoC Application, CoC Priority Listing, and project applications into the consolidated application. Applicants should learn the local rules for rejection, reduction, ranking, notification, and appeal from their Collaborative Applicant. A technically complete project can still fail to reach HUD if it misses the local process. Since FY 2026 has closed, those submission steps cannot now be started for that round; organizations that applied should contact their local lead about the disposition of their application.

7. Check which deadline applies to the project location and stage. HUD’s FY 2026 application deadline was September 30, 2026, at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. HUD’s competition page identifies that as the deadline and says CA-600 applicants had to apply through LAHSA; it does not list the October extension described in older versions of this page. The national round has closed. HUD has not posted a deadline for the next national competition, so do not reuse FY 2026 dates or assume that application systems remain open for new submissions. Monitor HUD’s CoC competition page and local Collaborative Applicant for a future registration period, notice of funding opportunity, local calendar, and submission instructions.

HUD’s competition page says FY 2026 CoC registration has ended. A portal being accessible does not by itself reopen a closed competition or allow new project applicants to enter. The page gives September 30, 2026, as the FY 2026 submission deadline and provides no next national deadline. For a prospective applicant, the practical next step is to monitor HUD and the local CoC for a new competition notice, then follow that round’s registration and local application sequence. Existing FY 2026 applicants should rely on direct notices from HUD and their Collaborative Applicant for award processing or other post-submission requirements.

What a project applicant should prepare

An organization should prepare more than a polished narrative. Start with the project design and work outward:

• proof of the organization’s eligible legal status and current registrations;
• a clear description of the population to be served and the applicable CoC project component;
• a realistic unit, bed, service, staffing, and operating plan;
• a budget that ties each requested cost to an eligible activity;
• match commitments and documentation, with leasing treated according to the specific rule;
• information about the proposed subrecipient, if there is one;
• performance and outcome data for renewal projects;
• evidence of housing quality, habitability, environmental, and site readiness where relevant;
• standard forms, assurances, certifications, narratives, and attachments requested in e-snaps; and
• a plan for HMIS participation, reporting, financial controls, and participant protection.

The NOFO requires the application information and proposed activities to be consistent. A budget that describes one service model while the narrative describes another creates a review problem. The local CoC may also request materials that are not part of HUD’s national checklist, such as a local project summary, board authorization, match letter, or evidence of community need. Treat the local checklist as an additional requirement, not a replacement for the federal NOFO.

How an individual or family gets help

Someone facing homelessness should not search for a personal HUD CoC grant application. The practical entry point is local. Call 211 where available, contact a shelter or street-outreach team, ask a domestic-violence provider about a confidential housing pathway, or contact the local homeless-services lead and ask for coordinated entry. A housing authority, community action agency, hospital social worker, school liaison, or veteran-serving provider may also know the local access route.

When speaking with an intake worker, explain the current housing situation, household members, safety concerns, disability or health barriers, veteran status where relevant, and any immediate danger. If fleeing violence, ask how the provider protects confidential information before sharing details. Bring identification and other records if available, but do not assume that missing documents make it pointless to call. Ask what alternatives the local program accepts and what steps can be completed later.

Coordinated entry does not guarantee an immediate unit. Local systems may have more demand than available housing, and different projects have different eligibility rules and vacancies. A referral can lead to emergency shelter, outreach, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, mainstream benefits, or another local service. Keep contact information current, ask what happens next, and report changes in safety or housing status promptly.

Common mistakes

The most common error is treating a community competition as a consumer benefit portal. Other errors include waiting for HUD’s national deadline while ignoring the local CoC deadline, applying without an active SAM.gov or e-snaps account, using an old NOFO, failing to document match, submitting an incomplete attachment set, and assuming that an eligible organization can bypass local ranking in an ordinary case.

A person seeking housing can also lose time by contacting the federal grant office instead of a local access point. The federal program creates local capacity; it does not replace local intake. A nonprofit can lose time by writing a generic homelessness proposal without checking its CoC’s ranking priorities, project inventory, geographic coverage, or local submission rules.

Official links

• HUD CoC Program Competition page
• LAHSA FY 2026 CoC Program NOFO competition page
• Updated FY 2026 CoC Competition and YHDP Grants NOFO on Grants.gov
• HUD waiver for nonprofits to administer rental assistance
• FY 2026 CoC rental-assistance waiver FAQ
• e-snaps submission portal
• HUD Funding Opportunities

Use the HUD competition page and the official NOFO as the source of truth for any later amendment, portal notice, or deadline change. Use the local CoC and its designated Collaborative Applicant for the local deadline, ranking process, participant referrals, and service availability.