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Continuum of Care (CoC) Program

The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH Act) amended the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Among the changes, the HEARTH Act consolidates the three separate McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs (Supportive Housing program, Shelter Plus Care program, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation SRO program) into a single grant program known as the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program. The HEARTH Act also codifies into law the Continuum of Care and the year-round planning requirements that have long been encouraged as part of HUD's annual, competitive application for funding to assist homeless persons.

The CoC Program is designed to assist individuals (including unaccompanied youth) and families experiencing homelessness and to provide the services needed to help such individuals move into transitional and permanent housing, with the goal of long-term stability. More broadly, the program is designed to promote community-wide planning and strategic use of resources to address homelessness; improve coordination and integration with mainstream resources and other programs targeted to people experiencing homelessness; improve data collection and performance measurement; and allow each community to tailor its program to the particular strengths and challenges within that community.

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Tools and TA Resources

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