St. Louis County staff on a ranking-and-review training video told volunteer reviewers the county has revised its NOFO ranking policy to prioritize permanent supportive housing at the top of Tier 1 while moving coordinated entry and HMIS toward Tier 2.

"These funds are specifically towards, housing folks experiencing homelessness," Speaker 1 said while explaining how the Continuum of Care (CoC) application is submitted by the county as the collaborative applicant. Speaker 1 said the county's CoC portfolio currently includes about 27 projects across St. Louis County.

County staff framed the change as the result of a community process that included providers, planning and evaluation, lived experience groups and a vote by the Heading Home Advisory Council. Under the revised policy, permanent supportive housing will be prioritized in the top portion of Tier 1. Speaker 1 said the county previously had a portfolio that was about 82% permanent supportive housing but that "only 30% of our budget this year is allowed to be permanent supportive housing."

The training clarified how different project types will be ranked: coordinated entry and the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) — previously placed at the top of Tier 1 — are expected to sit near the boundary between Tier 1 and Tier 2 and will be considered for funding earlier in Tier 2. Other permanent supportive housing projects, transitional housing and projects transitioning their program component will be ranked underneath those items using the usual ranking and review requirements.

Staff also described transition grants intended to let projects reclassify (for example, from a permanent housing grant to a services-only grant) during a year-long transition period. Speaker 1 used a budgeting example to show why a project that owns a building but primarily provides services might be better positioned as a services-only award under the new NOFO alignment.

County staff emphasized continuity: new and expansion projects will remain at the bottom of Tier 2 to avoid destabilizing renewals, and transition applications will be scored like renewals and ranked according to the component they intend to become.

The next procedural step is for reviewers to use the provided score sheets, raise questions for a scheduled Thursday discussion, and finalize rankings to be presented to the Heading Home Advisory Council for a pre-submission vote. If a provider appeals a decision, staff said they would convene a small volunteer panel to review the appeal.

The training concluded with staff asking volunteers to review their narrative guide before scoring in-person later in the week.