PART III: Coordinating HUD Programs
Coordination With the Consolidated Plan

Each community seeking funding from HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships, Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA), or Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) programs must submit a Consolidated Plan to HUD. The Consolidated Plan incorporates into a single document one plan and application for funding from all of these formula-based programs. It also encourages cooperation with public housing authorities in the development of their Comprehensive Grant Plans. Applicants to HUD's competitive grant programs will benefit from designing their strategies and activities around the needs, priorities, goals, and objectives identified in their communities' Consolidated Plan.

The Consolidated Plan is developed through a collaborative process whereby a community establishes a unified vision for its community development activities. It integrates economic, physical, community, and human development into comprehensive and coordinated strategies that enable all members of a community to work together to solve local problems. As a result of this process, the Consolidated Plan serves four functions:

1. It is a planning document for each community, built on public participation and input.
   
   
2. It is an application for funds under the Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) formula grant programs: CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA.
   
   
3. It articulates local priorities, needs, goals, and objectives and describes a 3- to 5-year strategy that the jurisdiction will follow to implement HUD programs.
   
   
4. It provides the basis for assessing performance to ensure accountability and results for CPD-funded programs.

A complete Consolidated Plan describes the lead agency responsible for overseeing its development and implementation and all agencies, groups, and organizations that participate in the process. It also includes a summary of the citizen participation process, public comments, and efforts made to broaden public participation in preparing the plan. In addition, all Consolidated Plans include:

• Housing and homeless needs assessments.
  
  
• A housing market analysis describing the significant characteristics of the community's housing market, including concentrations of minority and/or low-income families, the condition of public housing units, the inventory of homeless facilities, and barriers to affordable housing.
  
  
• A 3- to 5-year strategic plan for addressing identified priorities.
  
  
• An annual action plan describing specific projects and activities being implemented during a program year.
  
  
• Certifications indicating that communities are following a citizens participation plan, affirmatively furthering fair housing, following an anti-displacement and relocation plan and meeting other legal requirements.

Coordination of competitive grants with the Consolidated Plan occurs when you become involved in the process of developing the Plan. It occurs when you use grant funding to address the needs, priorities, and objectives identified in the Plan. It occurs when you design program strategies that are consistent with activities outlined in the Plan. Finally, it occurs when you use information and outcomes obtained through implementing your programs to improve future Consolidated Plan development. Such coordination serves several purposes. It helps ensure that money is not spent on two or more separate programs that conflict with one another. It helps eliminate duplication of efforts and spending and promotes consistency between needs and funding. Finally, it helps to assure consistency of specific proposals with overall community development and revitalization strategies.

To obtain a copy of your community's Consolidated Plan contact the community development office of your local government or your local HUD field office. A list of HUD field offices is provided in Appendix A. Small cities which are considered CDBG nonentitlement communities should contact their state housing and community development office for a copy of their Consolidated Plan.