FY 2023 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants
The Choice Neighborhoods program leverages significant public and private dollars to support locally driven strategies that address struggling neighborhoods with severely distressed public housing and/or HUD-assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. Local leaders, residents, and other stakeholders, such as public housing authorities, cities, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits, and private developers, come together to create and implement a plan that revitalizes distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood. The program helps communities transform neighborhoods by redeveloping severely distressed public and/or HUD-assisted housing and catalyzing critical improvements in the neighborhood. To this end, Choice Neighborhoods is focused on three core goals:
- Housing: Replace severely distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood;
- People: Improve outcomes of households living in the target housing related to income and employment, health, and education; and
- Neighborhood: Create the conditions necessary for public and private investment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families’ choices about their community. To achieve these core goals, successful applicants under this NOFO have in place a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy, or “Transformation Plan.” This Transformation Plan is the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and/or assisted housing units, while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and creating positive outcomes for families.
Experience shows that to successfully develop and implement the Transformation Plan, broad civic engagement is needed. Successful applicants need to work with public and private agencies, organizations (including philanthropic and civic organizations), banks and financial institutions, and individuals to gather and leverage the financial and human capital resources needed to support the sustainability of the plan. These efforts should build community support for and involvement in the development and implementation of the plan.
Changes from Previous NOFO
This NOFO has two deadline dates: one for new Implementation Grants and one for Supplemental Grants.
The application due date for a new Implementation Grant is 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time on February 13, 2024. Any application received after the February 13th deadline that is not applying for the Supplemental Grant funding is automatically ineligible.
The pool of eligible applicants for a Supplemental Grant is limited to those previously awarded CN Implementation Grant recipients as stated in the Appendix. The due date for a Supplemental Grant application is 11:59:59 pm Eastern time on March 4, 2024.
Highlights of significant changes:
In the Need rating factors, the Immediate Project Capital Needs rating factor has been removed.
HUD anticipates awarding up to $10,000,000 for prior CN Implementation Grantees that meet certain criteria to apply for a Supplemental Grant. The Supplemental Grant application has a different due date than the Implementation Grant Application.
Added requirement that applicants provide an Advancing Racial Equity narrative (see Section III.F).
Added requirement that applicants provide an Affirmative Marketing narrative (see Section III.F).
Added criteria in the Capacity rating factors on whether applicants have experience promoting racial equity and resources to support underserved communities.
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) is no longer a threshold requirement. However, submission of a narrative regarding AFFH remains an application requirement (see section IV.G).
Added requirement to complete the Federal Assistance Assurances, which is part of the applicant's sam.gov registration.
Submission of the form HUD-424B is a requirement for all applications.
Updated section VI.B. to include compliance with: HUD Secretary Fudge April 12, 2022, memorandum; equity requirements; and waste, fraud, and abuse requirements. Additionally, this section clarifies requirements related to nondiscrimination and equal opportunity. The related NOFO supplemental document is updated and posted on HUD’s Funding Opportunity web page.
Federal Relay Service – The Federal Relay Service contract expired in February 2022. HUD no longer uses the service. The NOFO is updated to include the use of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) relay services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have speech or communication disabilities. HUD welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as individuals with speech or communication disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible telephone call, please visit https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.
Program Office: Public and Indian Housing
Funding Opportunity Title: FY 2023 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants
Funding Opportunity Number: FR-6700-N-34
Assistance Listing Number: 14.889
Due Date for new Implementation Applications: 2/13/2024
Due Date for Supplemental Applications: 03/04/2024