Scope of Work:

In order to ensure that all households impacted by Sandy have access to the services they need to recover, the State of New Jersey recently signed a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) with HUD. A copy of the VCA may be requested directly from DCA. The VCA includes provisions related to outreach and housing program design. In the VCA, the State and HUD agreed that it was important to couple affordable housing development endeavors with housing counseling.

DCA has determined that the most effective way to undertake these housing counseling efforts is through a network of community-based nonprofit and public organizations. The State will select the nonprofit and public agencies via this application process. This Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) describes the scope of work anticipated for the housing counseling and the process by which proposals will be reviewed and funded.

The scope of work includes housing counseling and support in order to direct sandy impacted renters and homeowners to available services. As a part of the scope of work, the nonprofit or public organizations selected under this NOFA will also assist applicants to the LMI Homeowner and TBRA programs to complete initial program applications. Please note that the outreach and marketing tasks envisioned under the VCA are covered under a separate solicitation and are not included in this NOFA.

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Available Funding:

$2,000,000 available annually for the delivery of all housing counseling services across all nine counties. The grants awarded to nonprofits and public agencies under this NOFA will be for one year with up to five (5) optional one-year extensions until the CDBG-DR program closes no later than 2019. Each option year will be separately negotiated with winning awardees. All housing counseling services delivered under this NOFA will be provided at no cost to the household.

Eligible Applicants:

All entities applying under this NOFA must be a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization or public agency, including but not limited to: HUD-certified housing counseling agencies; community based development organizations (CBDOs); community development corporations (CDCs); community development financial institutions (CDFIs); community housing development organizations (CHDOs); educational institutions; long term recovery groups; and local public housing and community development agencies. For-profit companies will not be considered, although nonprofit or public applicants may choose to include subcontractors on their team, if those subcontractors are appropriately procured following state and federal procurement laws.

Eligible Service Areas:

Although some CDBG-DR programs are open to residents in other counties, the vast majority of the housing assistance is focused on the nine New Jersey counties deemed most impacted by Superstorm Sandy, per FEMA, namely: Atlantic; Bergen; Cape May; Essex; Hudson; Middlesex; Monmouth; Ocean; and Union.

Proposal Instructions:

Complete proposals may be emailed to: Sandhya.verma@dca.state.nj.us or mailed to: NJ Department of Community Affairs, Attn: Sandy Recovery Division 101 South Broad Street. PO Box 823. Trenton, NJ 08625. Late applications will not be accepted and will be returned to the applicant. DCA will email an acknowledgement receipt for all proposals received prior to the due date and time. Please plan to submit early in order to ensure you receive your acknowledgement before the due date.

Proposals shall not exceed 25 pages in length and should be organized as indicated above. Proposals must be complete and briefly contain the information outlined above. DCA reserves the right to request applicants to submit any minor missing information after the due date.

 
Each applicant must also fill out and send in the Cover Sheet found at attachment A with its application to DCA.

See related link above for information regarding the program and the proposal instructions.

Deadline for Submission:

By noon on Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Contact Information:

Questions regarding this NOFA or the application process may be submitted to Sandhya.verma@dca.state.nj.us by no later than noon Friday, September 12, 2014.