Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative Interagency Service and Operating Funding Opportunity Request for Proposal - Round 9

New York has led the nation in affordable housing preservation and construction. The State Fiscal Year 2025-26 Enacted Budget continues funding to advance Governor Hochul’s comprehensive plan for affordable and supportive housing to ensure New Yorkers have access to safe and secure housing. The State has committed this funding in order to create or preserve affordable and supportive housing units.

New York will invest a portion of these resources to specifically address vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness. To ensure the maximum benefit of this investment, the State will utilize the existing federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) model that engages localities and not-for-profit (NFP) providers in developing and implementing data-driven strategies to address homelessness in specific populations such as victims or survivors of domestic violence, runaway and homeless youth and formerly incarcerated individuals (see Section 1.4 for full list of eligible target populations). The State intends to develop a total of 20,000 units over a period of 15 years. As such, the State is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) to advance the goal of developing 1,400 units of supportive housing annually for persons identified as homeless with special needs, conditions, or other life challenges.

The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) will serve as the lead procurement agency for this RFP under the guidance of the ESSHI Interagency Workgroup. Although OMH is the lead, proposals accepted through this RFP opportunity do not have to be for services to persons with mental illness but should address the range of needs of the populations served by the following agencies. The ESSHI Interagency Workgroup includes representatives from several State agencies including:

• Department of Health (DOH), including the AIDS Institute
• NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR)
• Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS)
• Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)
• Office of Mental Health (OMH)
• Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV)
• Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA)
• Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD)

All proposals to this RFP must be submitted through the Statewide Financial System (SFS). Registration and user resources can be found in Section 2.4.1 of the RFP. No hard copy or electronic (email) submissions will be accepted.

All applicants must be Prequalified by the due date and time of the RFP. If an agency is not Prequalified, SFS will not allow for the submission of the application.

There is an Informational Webinar scheduled for Tuesday, 6/10 at 2:30 PM. The link is found in Section 2.6.