Hey everyone. I’ve been experimenting with Claude lately (Anthropic’s new Fable 5 model) and used it to put together an FY2026 CoC NOFO prep package. Figured it might save somebody time this season, so I’m sharing it here as-is. It’s a jumping-off point, not a finished product. Use it, adapt it, or ignore it. Everything is free to download: no sign-up, no email gate.
Why this year is different
HUD published the FY2026 CoC NOFO on June 1: about $4.04 billion, applications due August 26. It is the biggest rewrite of the competition in over a decade. Tier 1 dropped from 90 percent of annual renewal demand to 60 percent, which puts roughly four times as much renewal money up for competition on score. Housing First alignment is no longer scored. New scored criteria cover treatment and recovery services, employment income, encampment reduction, and exits to unsubsidized housing. If your CoC has run the same NOFO playbook for years, this is the year that playbook stops working.
Update, July 1: On June 29 a federal judge ruled HUD’s FY2025 version of these rules unlawful and vacated them. The FY2026 NOFO is a separate notice, HUD points to the FY2026 appropriations act as its authority, and the August 26 deadline stands for now. Expect more litigation either way. Our 2025 numbers feature is tracking the ruling. One practical note: HUD’s materials now show three different deadline times for August 26 (5:00 PM ET on HUD’s webpage, 8:00 PM ET on the NOFO cover, 11:59:59 PM on p. 96), so plan for 5:00 PM ET. The package below is v1.4, updated today with all of this plus clarifications from HUD’s June FAQ.
What’s in it
The Guide: “Navigating the HUD CoC NOFO” (Word + PDF, 19 pages)
- A one-page survival guide for anyone new to the competition: the whole process in 8 plain-language steps
- History of the competition from FY2010 through FY2026, including the FY2025 court fight
- Full FY2026 breakdown with NOFO page citations: scoring, tiers, deadlines, and what’s new
- Which points are already locked by your data vs. the 156 of 220 you can still win before August 26
- Top 20 ways CoCs lose points, pulled from HUD’s own FY2024 debrief data
- An evidence library: what letters, MOUs, and screenshots to gather for each criterion
The Workbook: scoring calculator and planner (Excel, 12 tabs)
- A scoring calculator covering all 52 scored criteria (200 base + 20 bonus points), each with HUD’s criteria and page number
- A Tier 2 project score model using HUD’s published formula
- A backwards-planned timeline from the August 26 deadline, with owners and dependencies
- A Point Recovery Plan that auto-shows where your biggest winnable gaps are
- An evidence tracker, pre-flight checklist, beginner’s guide, and glossary
Fair warning
This is AI-assisted and unofficial. It is not HUD guidance. If anything in here conflicts with the actual NOFO, go with the NOFO. Every point value cites its NOFO page so you can verify it yourself, and a couple of genuine NOFO ambiguities (like whether bonus points count toward Tier 2 scoring) are flagged in the tools rather than guessed at. The NOFO itself and HUD’s FAQs are on HUD’s CoC Program Competition page.
Download the tools
- The Guide: Navigating the HUD CoC NOFO (PDF, 19 pages, 265 KB)
- The Guide: Navigating the HUD CoC NOFO (Word, 35 KB)
- The Workbook: NOFO Navigator and Scoring Workbook (Excel, 12 tabs, 54 KB)
Version 1.4, July 1, 2026: every point value, criterion, and page citation re-checked line by line against the NOFO PDF. Earlier versions stay where they were, so old links keep working.
Beyond NOFO season
The NOFO is a twelve-week sprint. The data work is the other forty weeks. If you want your community’s numbers to tell a clearer story year-round, that is what we build:
- CAD: Community Analysis Dashboard: static, aggregated views built from your HUD APR export out of HMIS, covering demographics, length of stay, returns, and sub-populations.
- NHPD: National Homeless Performance Dashboard: HMIS-powered performance dashboards aligned to the HUD 2026 Data Standards.
Book a meeting to see what fits your CoC, or get the monthly newsletter for more on NOFO, HMIS, and measurement.
PS: If you work in the CoC or HMIS world, you might want to check out the free CoC Alliance Slack group, where CoC and HMIS leaders help each other every day with things like the NOFO, HMIS, and more.