DR4499 COVID 19 update 9/27/21 -  NCS
FEMA continues to provide reimbursement under Public Assistance (PA) to eligible applicants for COVID-specific NCS. This funding is available for COVID-specific NCS to meet immediate threats to public health and safety due directly to the COVID-19 pandemic, as stipulated in FEMA guidance. FEMA will provide ample notice (not less than 60-days) to PA applicants once an end date for availability of COVID-specific NCS funding has been determined. As of the date this document was published, FEMA will provide 100 percent cost share for COVID-specific NCS until December 31, 2021 as provided by the President’s Memorandum on Maximizing Assistance to Respond to COVID-19.

What does transitioning an individual from FEMA Public Assistance (PA) funded COVID-specific NCS mean?
Transitioning an individual from FEMA PA funded COVID-specific NCS is the process of exiting people experiencing homelessness from the COVID-specific NCS to, whenever possible, stable housing.

As noted in the Federal Funding Priority Order for Non-Congregate Shelter During COVID-19, communities needed to develop transition plans for housing or otherwise sheltering individuals experiencing homelessness being sheltered in FEMA PA funded COVID-specific NCS. Communities need to have and implement a strategy so that people experiencing homelessness remain sheltered or are stably housed. This strategy should ensure that exits to unsheltered homelessness are avoided whenever possible and, ideally, all households are stably housed. Now is the time to implement those plans.

NCS Model Transitions Document:   
HQ has let us know that in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, FEMA and HUD collaborated to provide information about funding alternatives for organizations providing assistance to people experiencing homelessness, including those sheltering in non-congregate shelter (NCS) specific to the COVID-19 declared disaster incidents. The purpose of the Model Transitions Document is to supplement information for communities regarding strategies and funding sources so individuals and families experiencing homelessness and currently being sheltered in COVID-specific NCS can avoid returning to homelessness and, instead, be stably housed when they leave NCS. HUD has posted the Model Transition Document attached and here, and FEMA will be issuing an Advisory announcing the coordination and resources to the public, including a link to the document on HUD’s website. On September 9, 2021 FEMA supported a HUD and USICH hosted a nation-wide webinar to speak to general eligibility of the Public Assistance program and hear HUD and USICH speak to their resources shared in the HUD/FEMA Non Congregate Sheltering (NCS) Model Transitions Document. Over 260 individuals from State and Local Governments attended the session. The webinar featured presentations from Indianapolis, Indiana and New Haven, Connecticut about innovative ways those communities are transitioning people experiencing homelessness from NCS to more sustainable housing options, mainly due to COVID-19.  The webinar was recorded and can be viewed here. If you have additional questions, please contact David Grecco, Chief, Policy Branch at David.grecco@fema.dhs.gov. Please note that there are no policy changes regarding COVID NCS; the criteria and requirements remain the same.

Thank you for all your continued efforts in helping the nation before, during and after disasters. As new information becomes available, we will do our best to make this information as accessible as possible. For more information, please contact your PA lead or FEMA-R10-PA-Policy-COVID19@fema.dhs.gov.