Changes to the Detroit Continuum of Care program will impact the process of applying for LIHTC projects that require CoC approval during MSHDA’s April 2016 round for credits. If you are intending on submitting to MSHDA in the April 2016 round for credits in the Detroit CoC for projects that require CoC approval (i.e., projects that will serve the homeless and/or include PSH), please review this message carefully.

In the past, MSHDA has required the CoC to sign-off on the project’s Addendum III and to provide a letter of support from the CoC. The application package to MSHDA has typically also required a copy of CoC meeting minutes at which the project’s development team made a presentation on the project to the CoC. Historically, to meet these obligations a developer would meet with HAND staff where the project would be discussed and the needed documents signed.

Due to changes in the Detroit CoC governance structure, starting with the October 2015 application round, it has been the Continuum of Care that will need to approve the project, and the Chair of the CoC Board that will need to sign-off on it. Because the Continuum of Care is the network of providers in Detroit, going forward having a meeting solely with HAND staff to discuss the project will longer be sufficient to meet the requirement of “making a presentation to the CoC”.

To that end, organizations that are intending to apply for the April 2016 round for tax credit projects that require CoC approval should plan on attending the CoC meetings that will occur in early 2016. These meetings are currently scheduled as follows:

  • Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 1:30 – 3PM (Location: 16130 Northland Dr, Southfield, MI)
  • Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 1:30 – 3PM (Location: 16130 Northland Dr, Southfield, MI)

The Detroit CoC is currently scheduled to meet every-other month. Therefore in order to meet an April 1, 2016 application deadline, a presentation would need to be made to the CoC in early 2016 at one of these meetings. HAND staff will play a role in facilitating this process, including facilitating getting the signature from the CoC Board Chair once the CoC approves the project.

Next Steps

If you think you will be presenting at the January 19, 2016 meeting, please contact me at Amanda@handetroit.org by January 4th so that we may plan the agenda accordingly. When presenting the project to the CoC, here are key pieces of information to present:

  • Location of project
  • Number of units, and how many will be PSH
  • Unit size/mix
  • Estimated timeframe for when project would start leasing up
  • Target population (i.e., singles, families, other special populations such as chronically homeless, etc)
  • Who will be providing services to the project
  • How will services be funded
  • How will the project take referrals from the community’s coordinated assessment system (i.e., the HARA – which is Southwest Counseling Solutions)