This weekly update is targeted towards the SSVF Grantees and shared with valuable partners for awareness.             

      

ANNOUNCEMENT: SSVF Public Health Expiration 

REMINDER: SSVF NOFA for FY24 Publication CLOSES TODAY, 4pm EST  

REGISTER: SSVF Data Office Hours February 17, 2023, 12pm EST  

REGISTER: SSVF Webinar Series- SSVF Recoupment Process- February 23, 2023, 12pm EST 

REMINDER: SSVF HMIS Data Quality Report Updates 

 

  

ANNOUNCEMENT: SSVF Public Health Expiration    

On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced its intent to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations on May 11, 2023, related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These emergency declarations have been in place since January 31, 2020, and gave the federal government flexibility to waive or modify certain requirements in a range of areas, including SSVF. Additionally, Congress also enacted legislation- including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that provided additional flexibilities tied to one or more of these emergency declarations, and as such, they too are scheduled to expire when the emergency period expires. 

 

Furthermore, the previously provided guidance that grantees would have a 90-day grace period after the public health emergency has ended was incorrect. VA does not have authority to provide grace periods, and the public health emergency flexibilities afforded to SSVF will expire on May 11, 2023.  

  

The SSVF Program Office is currently reviewing how the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency will impact program operations, is actively developing mitigation strategies, and will provide additional information as soon as it is available.   

  

  

REMINDER: SSVF NOFA for FY24 Publication: CLOSES TODAY, 4pm EST 

SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION NOW!   

   

The SSVF Program Office and VA are pleased to announce the newest Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published in the Federal Register.  This NOFA for supportive services grants provides funding opportunities to new and existing applicants nationwide.  This NOFA is competitive, and applicants are urged to closely review the NOFA and associated training available on the SSVF website located under the tab: News and Events.  Please share this information with interested partners.    

     

Applicants are required to apply online via SSVF's grants management system, UDPaaS.  VA will use the application scoring criteria as described in 38 CFR 62.21, 62.22, and 62.24 and 62.25 for renewal applicants.  Awards are for services to begin October 1, 2023.        

Please note: All submissions must be completed by the hard deadline date of: February 10, 2023, 4pm EST. Late submissions will not be accepted.    

  

Please contact ssvf@va.gov if you have questions.     

    

 

REGISTER: SSVF Data Office Hours February 17, 2023, 12pm EST 

 

The SSVF Program Office continues to host monthly SSVF Data Office Hours for SSVF Grantees and their community partners.  Our technical assistance partners with Abt Associates will continue to provide “deep dive” education and conduct live Q & A about SSVF data requirements.  These Office Hours are a great opportunity for SSVF grantees to grow their data entry and data quality skills and improve local processes.   

Please register using the following link: Webinar Registration - Zoom   

 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. 

 

 

REGISTER: SSVF Webinar Series- SSVF Recoupment Process- February 23, 2023, 12pm EST 

  

The SSVF Program Office is hosting this webinar to discuss the SSVF Recoupment process.  This webinar event is primarily for fiscal, accounting or senior administrative staff working with SSVF grants and will review the process and procedures of the recoupment procedures that occurs as result of the Financial and Operational Fitness Audit (FOFA).   
 
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Management and Fiscal Staff, required attendance by one senior or fiscal staff member per SSVF grantee. 

  

Please register using the following link: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J5cUn7knSJuAy-6Kj47RAA 

  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.  

   

 

REMINDER: SSVF HMIS Data Quality Report Updates   

The SSVF Program Office and our HMIS TA providers would like to remind grantees of the monthly data quality report changes taking place, starting in February.  These updates are specific to AMI and TFA checks.  Should you have any questions or concerns about this information please contact: ssvfhmis@abtassoc.com.  More detail and technical requirements may be found in this document located on the SSVF website: Data Quality Summary Documentation.    

AMI DQ checks (#8 on the DQ Summary report after a successful upload) have been removed   

TFA DQ checks (#57-60 on the DQ Summary report after a successful upload) have been revised as follows:   

All households are counted in uploaded file (i.e.: sum of count of distinct household ID from Enrollment.csv)   

All TFA Amounts in the file are summed (i.e.: sum of TFA Amounts with Type Provided=152 from Services.csv)   

Divide the TFA Amount Sum by the HHID Count for an average TFA per HH   

If that average TFA per HH (by project type) is lower or higher than the amounts below there will be flags on the report   

HP TFA Low -$1,100   

HP TFA High - $12,000   

RRH TFA Low - $700   

RRH TFA High - $11,000   

DQ Scores will be calculated based on total Households with any TFA Type Provided = ‘152’ divided by all households in program   

This means if you are flagged as High or Low, all HH will need to be reviewed to determine which HH is contributing to the high or low average   

We can generally assume that a “LOW” flag means there are a lot of HH in the file without any TFA recorded, or that the amounts that are recorded are unusually low for financial assistance   

We can generally assume that a “HIGH” flag means there is an unusually high amount on average of TFA provided, and that is often caused by data entry errors (i.e.: typing in “20,000” when you meant “2,000”)   

 

 

With Regards,

SSVF Program Office

 

Website: www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf

 

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