Housing Stability Council

December 16, 2016
2017 Mental Health Housing NOFA
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recommendations are modestly different. I have noted where OHCS’ recommendation differs from the
OHA recommendations and included an explanation below.
NOFA Options:
Feedback from all stakeholders, including OHA and OHCS, indicated that the Mental Health Housing
NOFA that was issued this past June was too limiting for applicants as it did not include the ability to
apply for additional funding from OHCS. Allowing a variety of funding combination option would
allow applicants to tailor their applications to the specific financial needs of the proposed project.
The consensus recommendations are to:
Issue a standalone Mental Health Housing NOFA that allows applicants to pair Mental Health
Housing funds with 9% LIHTCs and other gap funds, with 4% LIHTCs, or without other OHCS
funds. Applicants under the Mental Health Housing NOFA would indicate if they are
concurrently applying for any other OHCS resources.
Streamline and clarify the NOFA application, where possible.
These recommendations will lead to fewer barriers and stronger applicant participation.
Crisis Respite:
Stakeholder feedback indicated the Crisis Respite application did not fit well within the context of a
typical affordable housing application, as Crisis Respite is very different from a permanent housing
solution. Many of the typical affordable housing application criteria were confusing and made it
difficult to clearly articulate the proposed project.
The consensus recommendations are to:
Create a specific application for Crisis Respite within the larger Mental Health Housing NOFA
that addresses differences in the housing type and make them easier to participate as well as
review. This would include removal of rental rate language and affordability requirements
associated with permanent housing, and focusing on appropriate level of stay and temporary
housing revenue models.
OHA received stakeholder feedback on their definition of maximum stay, which as stated in the
previous NOFA is 30 days with the ability to extend if it is determined a longer stay is clinically
necessary. OHA is refining its recommendation to OHCS regarding the appropriate length of
stay. We anticipate having this information by the end of the year and will include it in the
NOFA application.
Funding Allocations:
Stakeholder feedback indicated the allocations for funding between the various types of housing and
geographic location were confusing to applicants and did little to entice applicants to apply for funding.
OHCS staff recommendation for allocating the remaining $16,238,421 in Mental Health Housing Funds
is as follows:
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