November 29, 2022
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Update Issued January 20, 2023: Deadline Extended for Comment on Funding Opportunity for Independent Living Letters of Support (FOFILLS) Request for Applications (RFA)
Update Issued December 13, 2022: FOFILLS Update: Public Comment Period extended through January 31 | Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (ny.gov)
Issued November 29, 2022
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
I am very pleased to announce that the draft OPWDD Funding Opportunity for Independent Living Letters of Support (FOFILLS) is now available for public comment. This funding round is being offered in response to many families and providers seeking an opportunity to be innovative in their approaches to integrated, community-based housing and to explore opportunities outside of established traditional paths. As this is a brand-new opportunity for our community and a new process for interested parties, we are seeking your review and input into the concept and the process.
Attached to this memo you will find a draft Request for Applications for the FOFILLS program. We are seeking public comment on this draft to help us refine our concept and process. This is not an actual opportunity to apply for support.
The public comment period will be open for 30 days, closing on December 29, 2022, and comments should be submitted to [email protected] for review and consideration. After comments have been compiled, OPWDD will be releasing a response to public comments and an explanation of what changes we plan to make in response to the comments received.
This funding opportunity, referenced in the Administrative Memorandum ADM 2022-03, is a new process for reviewing long term funding requests under the OPWDD Housing Subsidy program for housing proposals that do not include State or New York City capital funding. It is expected that the final application for these funds will be released in the late spring of 2023 (see timeline summary).
The FOFILLS application will be used to request groups of housing subsidies funded by the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities whose living arrangement would be inclusive of four (4) or more individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities where the proposed project is the development of an apartment complex, apartment style living, large single family home, or a group of collocated houses by an OPWDD approved provider. A family or group of families/people with intellectual/developmental disabilities can apply only if they are affiliated with an OPWDD approved provider.
Although this funding has broad applicability, it cannot be used for the following:
Use of OPWDD’s housing subsidies through this program cannot be used to supplant existing funding for housing units with other rental subsidy funding, such as Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) units or HUD Section 8 funded units.
This application cannot be used to request Housing Subsidies for proposed projects that receive any other form of state or federal supportive housing capital subsidy such as those funded by NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). There will be two funding rounds through our Integrated Supportive Housing program (ISH) in the next year to support these projects (see timeline summary below).
Timeline Summary
Following is the general timeline for funding applications moving forward:
Late Spring each year – FOFILLS application for projects not seeking HCR or other state/federal capital funding.
Early Summer each year – ISH application for capital requests or housing subsidy only, to align with HCR’s Fall RFP. Support letters can also be used for HCR’s 4% as of right projects and NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) projects.
Early Winter each year –ISH Application – subsidy only, to align with HCR’s Spring RFP. Support letters can also be used for HCR’s 4% as of right projects and NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) projects.
I look forward to receiving your feedback as we work to finalize this new funding opportunity.
Sincerely,
Kerri E. Neifeld
Commissioner