The YHDP award funding will be allocated to high priority housing projects through a local funding process in 2023. Projects selected in this process will receive two-year grants, with the possibility to renew those grants through the community’s annual CoC Program application process.

To further the goals and objectives of this plan and support long-term housing stability for YYA, the YAB and the YHDP Planning Group identified the following project priorities for YHDP funding.

• ⇒ Rapid Rehousing (RRH) for Young Adults (18-24)
• ⇒ Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Rehousing (TH-RRH) for Young Adults (18-24)
• Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) for Young Adults (18-24)
• ⇒ Diversion for Youth & Young Adults
• ⇒ Access Point for Youth & Young Adults

Eligible applicants are nonprofit organizations, states, local governments, and instrumentalities of state and local governments. For-profit organizations are not eligible.

These factors are required, but not scored. If the project indicates No for any threshold criteria, it is not eligible for CoC or YHDP funding.

1. 1. Services Standards: Applicant has submitted a completed A Way Home for Tulsa Services Standards Fidelity Self-assessment and Action Plan.
2. 2. HMIS Implementation: Projects are required to participate in the local HMIS database. If the project is operated by a victim services provider, the provider must use a comparable database that complies with the federal HMIS data and technical standards. 
3. 3. Coordinated Entry: Agency will comply with YHDP requirements to participate in Coordinated Entry and in compliance with the local CoC’s Coordinated Entry standards.
4. 4. Eligible Applicant: Applicants and subrecipients (if any) are eligible to receive CoC funding. Includes nonprofit organizations, states, local governments, and instrumentalities of state and local governments.
   1. ⇒ Applicant has active SAM Registration
   2. ⇒ Applicant has a valid Unique Identifier (UEI)
   3. ⇒ Applicant has no Outstanding Delinquent Federal Debuts
   4. ⇒ Applicant has no Debarments and/or Suspensions
5. 5. Eligible New Project Type: The proposed project is an eligible new project type authorized by the Fiscal Year 2022 CoC YHDP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and Youth Action Board project type.
   1. ⇒ Authorized project types include: Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), Rapid Re-Housing (RRH), Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Re-Housing (TH-RRH), Supportive Services Only for Coordinated Entry (CE),  or other Supportive Services Only, serving eligible populations.
6. 6. HUD Threshold: Projects will be reviewed for compliance with the eligibility requirements of the CoC Interim Rule and Subsequent Notices; Projects meet the threshold requirements outlined in the 2022 YHDP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO pp. 16-18).
7. 7. HUD Policies: Projects are required to have policies that are compliant with HUD CoC and YHDP Program requirements regarding:
   1. ⇒ Termination of services Policy, Grievance Policy and Procedures, Equal Access Rule, Non-Discrimination Policy, Fair Housing requirements, Violence Against Women Act protections, Educational Services, Confidentiality Policy
8. 8. Board Requirements: Agencies must have at least 1 person with lived experience on their board.

Rapid rehousing projects support young adults to identify and secure rental housing in the community. Rapid rehousing provides rental assistance, housing search and location support, and case management. RRH projects that can serve YYA for up to 24 months or 36 months, with HUD approval. Length of time in the program may vary but should be targeted to the individual needs of the young adult participants. The goal of rapid rehousing is long-term housing stability, which requires connections to a rich array of services and resources in the community to support young adults in their personal, health and wellness, education, employment, and community goals.

A joint transitional housing-rapid rehousing project combines transitional housing and rapid rehousing components (see “Rapid Rehousing for Young Adults (18-24),”) and supports into one project. In transitional housing (TH), young adults typically live in temporary housing that is leased or owned by the project, and have access to case management, support, and resources for stability and well-being.

Transitional housing may be located in a single building, or in multiple or scattered sites within the community; and participants have an occupancy agreement. In a Joint TH-RRH project, length of participation in the transitional housing component must be determined by the young adult, who is also able to decide when they are ready to enter into permanent housing through the RRH component.

The TH component will have flexibilities to ensure immediate access to housing to stabilize during emergencies and will serve primarily as crisis housing with a typical time frame of 3-6 months. TH will be a service-rich environment with access to financial literacy, employment, education and other support. Programs may provide resources and services on-site or off-site.

When a young adult determines that they are ready to transition to their own housing in the community, the joint TH-RRH project must provide the full scope of rapid rehousing assistance described above under “Rapid Rehousing for Young Adults (18-24).”

Young adults may choose to remain in the TH component before locating and securing a unit with rapid rehousing assistance, or they may choose to bypass the TH component and participate in the RRH component from the beginning. This project type provides flexibility and participant choice within a single project, to ensure continuity of support. The total length of time allowed in both the TH and RRH components combined is 36 months, with HUD approval.

Permanent Supportive Housing projects support young adults to identify and secure rental housing in the community. Permanent supportive housing provides ongoing rental subsidy and case management and is not time limited. PSH is designed to provide intensive supports and affordable housing to persons with a disabling condition and should be targeted to the individual needs of the young adult participants. Services are designed for young adults with various challenges such as mental health, physical health, substance use disorders, HIV/AIDS who identify needed comprehensive supportive services. PSH participants pay no more than 30% of their income toward rent. The goal of permanent supportive housing is to provide the time and flexibility to stabilize in permanent housing and achieve long-term housing stability. Permanent supportive housing will include connections to a rich array of services and resources in the community to support young adults in their personal, health and wellness, education, employment, and community goals.

Diversion programs will help youth avoid literal homelessness by providing problem solving services that focus on housing crisis resolution and housing stabilization. The goal is to connect or assist youth in retaining safe and stable housing. Diversion programs will provide support to connect youth experiencing housing instability and crisis to permanent housing quickly or self-resolve existing barriers to stable housing. Diversion programs can include services and flexible fund assistance that aim to divert youth into supportive environments, which may include reunification with their chosen family, host homes, short-term shallow subsidies and connections to services including mental health counseling, transportation and food assistance.

Diversion programs will include extended availability beyond 9-5 hours and coverage throughout the geography of AWH4T, in other words the entire city of Tulsa and surrounding county. They will also have strategies and staff to assist all youth subpopulations.

Youth experiencing homelessness in Tulsa will have seamless access to resources to meet their housing and service needs. Three core program elements of the access point model will be:

• ⇒ Street Outreach
• ⇒ Youth Navigation
• ⇒ Drop-in Center

Street Outreach and Youth Navigation both seek to assist youth in accessing safe, temporary housing with the goal of permanent housing, including reunification with their chosen family. Staff will also assist in connecting youth to other basic needs such as food, transportation and health care. Staff will build trusting relationships and develop rapport with youth. Street outreach will engage youth experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Youth navigators may be placed at a location such as a shelter, local jail or school or connected to a system such as child welfare to assist those without a housing plan, ideally the housing plan is developed before youth leave the system or location.

Drop-in Centers are physical spaces designed to cover basic needs assistance, connection to community resources including housing and diversion programs. Services are designed to be housing focused.

All Access Point elements will include extended availability beyond 9-5 hours and coverage throughout the geography of AWH4T, in other words the entire city of Tulsa and surrounding county. They will also have strategies and staff to assist all youth subpopulations.

• ⇒ Services and design are tailored to the unique experiences and barriers of young adults.
• ⇒ Young adult leadership is centered in design and implementation.
• ⇒ Hiring prioritizes peer support, including young adults with experience of homelessness/housing insecurity.
• ⇒ Case management and services are client-centered and strengths-based.
• ⇒ Project staff support participants with respect, authenticity, and a focus on relationship building.
• ⇒ Staff to participant ratio is low.
• ⇒ Staff receive ongoing training and support to best support young adult participants.
• ⇒ Resources and strategies are in place for landlord identification, engagement, and mediation for housing programs.
• ⇒ Design and implementation align with Housing First principles.
• ⇒ Design and implementation align with Positive Youth Development principles.
• ⇒ Project design and services are trauma-informed, which is supported by ongoing staff training.
• ⇒ Project actively recruits and hires staff who are youth with lived experience of homelessness.

AWH4T is a Housing First community, and ensures all providers are committed to this approach. This includes the right to housing without preconditions and that all people deserve housing. This means there are no sobriety or treatment preconditions, no mandated services, and no requirements around education, income, or employment to access housing. Throughout the AWH4T community, we are committed to reducing barriers in all types of housing including permanent housing, transitional housing, and shelter. Additionally, terminations from programs are rare.

Programs funded through YHDP must not require any additional eligibility criteria outside of HUD requirements; they must provide services that focus on quickly engaging YYA in services that are person-centered and focused on offering housing options that meet their immediate and long-term needs. The AWH4T community will offer a diverse range of immediate crisis housing and permanent housing to ensure youth have low barrier options that ensure they are progressing toward permanent housing when immediate permanent housing entry is not preferred by youth or not available.

AWH4T is committed to youth choice. Youth choice means youth are able to make their own decisions about their lives and the services they need. At the individual level, this includes decisions about shelter and housing options, services, child welfare case planning, family engagement and more. The local Coordinated Entry System will incorporate youth choice by allowing youth to make informed decisions based on program information and select options that meet their preferences and needs. In addition, housing programs will ensure that youth can determine the location of housing units when possible.

AWH4T’s Coordinated Entry System (CES) is intended to increase and streamline access to housing and services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, match appropriate levels of housing and services based on their needs, and prioritize individuals and families with severe service needs for the most intensive interventions. Our CES has the following goals, that the process will:

• 
  • be easy for the individual or family and provide quick and seamless entry into homelessness services
  • ensure individuals and families will be referred to the most appropriate resource(s) for their individual situation
  • prevent duplication of services
  • reduce length of homelessness
  • improve communication among agencies

AWH4T’s CES continues to evolve through data analysis and community input. The AWH4T CES Lead will ensure that the CES is evaluated at regular intervals and is youth appropriate. To bolster youth leadership within the CES and to monitor this progress, as of March 2023, a YAB representative is included in the membership of the AWH4T CES Task Group, which meets quarterly to address changes to and maintenance of Tulsa’s CES process.