(a) The Continuum of Care. Representatives from relevant organizations within a geographic area shall establish a Continuum of Care for the geographic area to carry out the duties of this part. Relevant organizations include nonprofit homeless assistance providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, and organizations that serve veterans and homeless and formerly homeless individuals.

(b) The board. The Continuum of Care must establish a board to act on behalf of the Continuum using the process established as a requirement by § 578.7(a)(3) and must comply with the conflict-of-interest requirements at § 578.95(b). The board must:

(1) Be representative of the relevant organizations and of projects serving homeless subpopulations; and

(2) Include at least one homeless or formerly homeless individual.

(c) Transition. Continuums of Care shall have 2 years after August 30, 2012 to comply with the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section.

(a) Operate the Continuum of Care. The Continuum of Care must:

(1) Hold meetings of the full membership, with published agendas, at least semi-annually;

(2) Make an invitation for new members to join publicly available within the geographic at least annually;

(3) Adopt and follow a written process to select a board to act on behalf of the Continuum of Care. The process must be reviewed, updated, and approved by the Continuum at least once every 5 years;

(4) Appoint additional committees, subcommittees, or workgroups;

(5) In consultation with the collaborative applicant and the HMIS Lead, develop, follow, and update annually a governance charter, which will include all procedures and policies needed to comply with subpart B of this part and with HMIS requirements as prescribed by HUD; and a code of conduct and recusal process for the board, its chair(s), and any person acting on behalf of the board;

(6) Consult with recipients and subrecipients to establish performance targets appropriate for population and program type, monitor recipient and subrecipient performance, evaluate outcomes, and take action against poor performers;

(7) Evaluate outcomes of projects funded under the Emergency Solutions Grants program and the Continuum of Care program, and report to HUD;

(8) In consultation with recipients of Emergency Solutions Grants program funds within the geographic area, establish and operate either a centralized or coordinated assessment system that provides an initial, comprehensive assessment of the needs of individuals and families for housing and services. The Continuum must develop a specific policy to guide the operation of the centralized or coordinated assessment system on how its system will address the needs of individuals and families who are fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, but who are seeking shelter or services from nonvictim service providers. This system must comply with any requirements established by HUD by Notice.

(9) In consultation with recipients of Emergency Solutions Grants program funds within the geographic area, establish and consistently follow written standards for providing Continuum of Care assistance. At a minimum, these written standards must include:

(i) Policies and procedures for evaluating individuals' and families' eligibility for assistance under this part;

(ii) Policies and procedures for determining and prioritizing which eligible individuals and families will receive transitional housing assistance (these policies must include the emergency transfer priority required under § 578.99(j)(8));

(iii) Policies and procedures for determining and prioritizing which eligible individuals and families will receive rapid rehousing assistance (these policies must include the emergency transfer priority required under § 578.99(j)(8));

(iv) Standards for determining what percentage or amount of rent each program participant must pay while receiving rapid rehousing assistance;

(v) Policies and procedures for determining and prioritizing which eligible individuals and families will receive permanent supportive housing assistance (these policies must include the emergency transfer priority required under § 578.99(j)(8)); and

(vi) Where the Continuum is designated a high-performing community, as described in subpart G of this part, policies and procedures set forth in 24 CFR 576.400(e)(3)(vi), (e)(3)(vii), (e)(3)(viii), and (e)(3)(ix).

(b) Designating and operating an HMIS. The Continuum of Care must:

(1) Designate a single Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the geographic area;

(2) Designate an eligible applicant to manage the Continuum's HMIS, which will be known as the HMIS Lead;

(3) Review, revise, and approve a privacy plan, security plan, and data quality plan for the HMIS.

(4) Ensure consistent participation of recipients and subrecipients in the HMIS; and

(5) Ensure the HMIS is administered in compliance with requirements prescribed by HUD.

(c) Continuum of Care planning. The Continuum must develop a plan that includes:

(1) Coordinating the implementation of a housing and service system within its geographic area that meets the needs of the homeless individuals (including unaccompanied youth) and families. At a minimum, such system encompasses the following:

(i) Outreach, engagement, and assessment;

(ii) Shelter, housing, and supportive services;

(iii) Prevention strategies.

(2) Planning for and conducting, at least biennially, a point-in-time count of homeless persons within the geographic area that meets the following requirements:

(i) Homeless persons who are living in a place not designed or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for humans must be counted as unsheltered homeless persons.

(ii) Persons living in emergency shelters and transitional housing projects must be counted as sheltered homeless persons.

(iii) Other requirements established by HUD by Notice.

(3) Conducting an annual gaps analysis of the homeless needs and services available within the geographic area;

(4) Providing information required to complete the Consolidated Plan(s) within the Continuum's geographic area;

(5) Consulting with State and local government Emergency Solutions Grants program recipients within the Continuum's geographic area on the plan for allocating Emergency Solutions Grants program funds and reporting on and evaluating the performance of Emergency Solutions Grants program recipients and subrecipients.

(d) VAWA emergency transfer plan. The Continuum of Care must develop the emergency transfer plan for the Continuum of Care that meets the requirements under § 578.99(j)(8).

(a) The Continuum must:

(1) Design, operate, and follow a collaborative process for the development of applications and approve the submission of applications in response to a NOFA published by HUD under § 578.19 of this subpart;

(2) Establish priorities for funding projects in the geographic area;

(3) Determine if one application for funding will be submitted for all projects within the geographic area or if more than one application will be submitted for the projects within the geographic area;

(i) If more than one application will be submitted, designate an eligible applicant to be the collaborative applicant that will collect and combine the required application information from all applicants and for all projects within the geographic area that the Continuum has selected funding. The collaborative applicant will also apply for Continuum of Care planning activities. If the Continuum is an eligible applicant, it may designate itself;

(ii) If only one application will be submitted, that applicant will be the collaborative applicant and will collect and combine the required application information from all projects within the geographic area that the Continuum has selected for funding and apply for Continuum of Care planning activities;

(b) The Continuum retains all of its responsibilities, even if it designates one or more eligible applicants other than itself to apply for funds on behalf of the Continuum. This includes approving the Continuum of Care application.

(a) Becoming a Unified Funding Agency. To become designated as the Unified Funding Agency (UFA) for a Continuum, a collaborative applicant must be selected by the Continuum to apply to HUD to be designated as the UFA for the Continuum.

(b) Criteria for designating a UFA. HUD will consider these criteria when deciding whether to designate a collaborative applicant a UFA:

(1) The Continuum of Care it represents meets the requirements in § 578.7;

(2) The collaborative applicant has financial management systems that meet the standards set forth in 2 CFR 200.302;

(3) The collaborative applicant demonstrates the ability to monitor subrecipients; and

(4) Such other criteria as HUD may establish by NOFA.

(c) Requirements. HUD-designated UFAs shall:

(1) Apply to HUD for funding for all of the projects within the geographic area and enter into a grant agreement with HUD for the entire geographic area.

(2) Enter into legally binding agreements with subrecipients, and receive and distribute funds to subrecipients for all projects within the geographic area.

(3) Require subrecipients to establish fiscal control and accounting procedures as necessary to assure the proper disbursal of and accounting for federal funds in accordance with the requirements of 2 CFR part 200, subpart D.

(4) Obtain approval of any proposed grant agreement amendments by the Continuum of Care before submitting a request for an amendment to HUD.

(a) If HUD finds that the Continuum of Care for a geographic area does not meet the requirements of the Act or its implementing regulations, or that there is no Continuum for a geographic area, HUD may take remedial action to ensure fair distribution of grant funds within the geographic area. Such measures may include:

(1) Designating a replacement Continuum of Care for the geographic area;

(2) Designating a replacement collaborative applicant for the Continuum's geographic area; and

(3) Accepting applications from other eligible applicants within the Continuum's geographic area.

(b) HUD must provide a 30-day prior written notice to the Continuum and its collaborative applicant and give them an opportunity to respond.