Projects and initiatives
Continuum of Care
The Continuum of Care supports coordination of the countywide effort to prevent and end homelessness. This effort addresses homelessness at all levels. Continuum of Care committees include elected officials, housing and service providers, advocates, people who’ve experienced homelessness, and cross-sector partners.
Governing boards and committees
Hennepin County is proud to be the collaborative applicant on behalf of the Hennepin Continuum of Care. In this capacity, our responsibilities include:
- Preparing and submitting an annual collaborative application to HUD
- Submitting the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), Housing Inventory Count (HIC), Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, and System Performance Measurement (SPM) data
- Convening and providing staff support as needed for CoC boards and committees
The Hennepin CoC boards and committees contribute to the governance structure of the Hennepin CoC. The Executive Committee is the lead decision-making body. Several active and engaged CoC committees, subcommittees, and working groups in Hennepin County contribute to and lead efforts to prevent and end homelessness.
Full description of the CoC governance structure (PDF, 1MB)
Continuum of Care governance committees
Heading Home Hennepin Executive committee
- Act as champions for efforts to prevent and end homelessness, as evidenced through public advocacy, funding and external communications.
- Provide an enduring forum for broad-based, collaborative and strategic leadership on homelessness in Hennepin County
Previous meetings
Tuesday, June 16 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 31 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
Monday, December 8 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, September 18 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
- September meeting agenda (DOCX, 1MB)
- September meeting minutes (DOCX, 1MB)
- September meeting recording (YouTube)
Monday, June 30 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
- December agenda (DOCX, 1MB)
- December meeting minutes (DOCX, 1MB)
- December meeting recording (YouTube)
Previous meeting recordings
- September 2024 meeting recording (YouTube)
- June 2024 meeting recording (YouTube)
- March 2024 meeting recording (YouTube)
- December 2023 meeting recording (YouTube)
Contact
Email David at david.hewitt@hennepin.us.
HUD McKinney Vento CoC funding committee
- Monitors and evaluates performance of all projects funded by Continuum of Care, per HUD guidance
- Solicits new project applications (if new funds are available), and recommends the ranking of current projects submitted annually — HUD makes final funding allocations based on a competitive national application score and process, based on how our CoC is moving the gauge on HUD System Performance measures
Meetings
- First Monday of the month, 1–2:30 p.m.
- Attend virtually through Microsoft Teams
Contact
Email Laura at laura.derosier@hennepin.us.
Homeless prevention and rapid rehousing advisory committee
This committee helps the county develop and oversee homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services.
Meetings
- Third Tuesday of the month, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Meetings held virtually
Hennepin County coordinated entry leadership committee
- Informs policy and procedure development and revisions for the family Coordinated Entry System
- Provides guidance to help ensure consistent application of CES policies and procedures
Meetings
- First Tuesday of the month, 10 a.m. to noon
- Attend virtually through Microsoft Teams
Contact
Email: ces.hennepin@hennepin.us
Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG)
- A committee of community members, that draw from their own lived experiences to be voices for those that otherwise go unheard
- Work with government officials and grant administers to influence how money is spent and decisions are made
- Partner with neighbors and community members to educate and advocate for a better future where homelessness no longer exists in our community.
Hennepin County LEAG is not currently accepting applications for new members.
Meetings
- Second Monday of the month, 3:00–4:30 p.m.
- Meeting held virtually
Contact
Email Eric at eric.richert@hennepin.us
Grants to reduce homelessness
Hennepin County applies for federal funding on behalf of our partner nonprofits, to help their work to reduce homelessness.
- Federal money comes from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) McKinney Vento Continuum of Care
- Money goes for grants to local partners
- Partners help people find and stay in housing
- People served are single adults, families and youth who meet HUD’s criteria for homelessness
- The county and its partners compete nationally to receive the money
2026 Continuum of Care Competition and Youth Homeless Demonstration Program Grants NOFO
The 2026 Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition and Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP) Grants NOFO is HUD’s yearly funding opportunity to support local work to end homelessness.
Application documents
- FY2026 CoC and YHDP Program Grants NOFO (PDF, 4MB)
- FY2026 HUD NOFO overview presentation (PPTX, 1MB)
- Letter of intent to apply for renewal projects closed on July 26
- 2026 CoC NOFO overview and timeline (DOCX, 1MB)
- 2026 CoC ranking process, procedures and appeals (PDF, 1MB) were due on July 22
- 2026 CoC preliminary priority list (PDF, 1MB)
Policies and resources
- Advancing recovery by prohibiting illicit drug enablement (DOCX, 1MB)
- Service participation requirements (DOCX, 1MB)
- Sample service participation policy (DOCX, 1MB)
Questions
Laura DeRosier, Hennepin CoC coordinator
laura.derosier@hennepin.us
Youth Homelessness NOFO for FY2024 and FY2025
The Youth Homelessness NOFO for FY2024 and FY2025 combines Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (YHDP) and Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement Grants (YHSI) funding. YHDP funds direct housing and services for homeless youth, while YHSI funds system-level work including planning, coordination, and capacity-building.
As the collaborative applicant for the Hennepin Continuum of Care (CoC), Hennepin County will coordinate and submit a YHDP application. Community organizations are encouraged to explore applying for YHSI funds.
Hennepin CoC is accepting proposals for Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Voucher Supportive Services Only (SSO) projects that meet HUD and local requirements and serve people in Hennepin County. Projects must have an active Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hennepin County for FYI vouchers.
Application documents
- FY2024 and FY2025 YHDP Preliminary Priority List (PDF,1MB)
- Youth Homelessness NOFO for FY2024 and FY2025 (PDF, 4MB)
- FY2024 and FY2025 YHDP local funding competition kick-off (YouTube)
Tentative timeline
July 14 – NOFO overview recording posted to website
July 14 – Pre-application released
July 22 by 11:59 p.m. – Pre-application due to Hennepin County
July 27 – Notify selected applicants
TBD – Submit Project Applications in e-snaps
July 31 – Priority List posted
Aug 6 – Consolidated Application posted
Aug 10 – Consolidated Application and Priority List submitted to HUD
The following application documents will be added when available:
- FY2024 and FY2025 YHDP collaborative application questions
Questions
Laura DeRosier, Hennepin CoC coordinator
laura.derosier@hennepin.us
Data and research
Current data and trends
Hennepin County single adult homeless shelters dashboard
Annual Point in Time count
- Point-in-time count
Detailed evictions overview
Eviction dashboard
Evictions research
- Humphrey capstone presentation on evictions – May 2018 (PPTX, 4MB)
- Humphrey report on eviction and homelessness – May 2018 (PDF, 1MB)
- Carlson School presentation on model to predict evictions among county clients – April 2018 (PPTX, 3MB)
- Final report from Carlson School on predicting evictions among county clients – April 2018 (PDF, 1MB)
- Preserving Home: improving eviction prevention in Minnesota 2017 (PDF, 1MB)
Homeless response system research
- Investing in ending single adult homelessness - May 2023 (PDF, 3MB)
- "Missed Opportunities" in the Pathway from Referral to Housing (PDF, 2MB)
- Strategies to Improve Point-in-Time (PIT) Counts of Unsheltered Homelessness: An Evaluation of Hennepin County's Current approach and Summary of Lessons Learned from Other Communities (PDF, 1MB)
Family homelessness research
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