Community Outreach Partnership Centers Program OMB Approval No. 2528-0180 (exp. 1/31/2000) Historically Black Colleges and Universities OMB Approval No. 2506--122 (exp. 11-30/2000) The information collection requirements contained in this notice of funding availability and application kit will be used to rate applications, determine eligibility, and establish grant amounts. Selection of applications for funding under the Community Outreach Partnership Centers Program (COPC) and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program (HBCU) are based on the rating factors for this program listed in the SuperNOFA for Housing and Community Development Programs, published on March 31, 1998. Public reporting burden for collection of this information for the COPC program is estimated to average 80 hours and the reporting burden for collection of information for the HBCU program is estimated to average 44 hours per response. This includes the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions to reducing this burden, to the Reports Management Officer, Paperwork Reduction Project to the Office of Information Technology, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC 20410-3600. When providing comments please refer to OMB Approval No. 2528-0180 for the COPC program, and OMB Approval No. 2506-0122 for the HBCU program. Do not send this form to the above address. The agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection displays a valid control number. The information submitted in response to the notice of funding availability for the COPC program and HBCU program is subject to the disclosure requirements of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (Pub.L. 101-235, approved December 15, 1989, 42 U.S.C. 3545). Warning: HUD will prosecute false claims and statements. Conviction may result in criminal and/or civil penalties. (18 U.S.C. 1001, 1010, 1012; 31 U.S.C. 3729, 3802). General Instructions To further HUD's objectives of improving customer service and providing the necessary tools for community revitalization HUD has published the first of three SuperNOFAs (Notices of Funding Availability) which consolidate competitive program funding within and across traditional HUD program lines. The goal of this consolidation is to make HUD's 40 competitive grant programs easier to access, easier to understand, and easier to coordinate. The SuperNOFAs, which provide a menu of programs from which communities can seek funding, are designed to facilitate communities in their planning and implementation of truly comprehensive revitalization strategies. As part of this consolidated approach, HUD has also streamlined the application process to reduce the administrative and paperwork burdens associated with applying for more than one program. We have grouped together separate HUD programs that provide similar types of assistance so that applicants who are eligible for, and want to apply for, more than one program do not have to create certain information required by each program more than once. These are first steps. HUD intends to streamline the application process even further next year by learning from you how it can be improved. A comment/suggestion form is included in this application kit. We hope that you will provide us with input so that we may continually improve the competitive grant process. This application kit contains materials and information necessary to apply for two university programs offering a total of approximately $13.5 million. The programs and approximate funding amounts are as follows: Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) $ 7,000,000 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) $ 6,500,000 The kit combines application information for these two programs, because they are both intended to get colleges and universities involved with their communities—to make them key partners with HUD in revitalizing America's communities. The eligibility requirements of the two programs enable certain colleges and universities to apply for both programs to fund truly comprehensive approaches to community revitalization. Those applicants who are eligible for, and choose to apply for, both programs will find the process easier this year. Such applicants have the option to create completely separate applications for each program or use portions of their COPC application to fulfill certain requirements of their HBCUs application. They will also only have to complete certain standard HUD forms and program certification form(s) required for both programs once (though they must be photocopied for inclusion in the second application). The details associated with applying for both programs are provided in the "Assembling Your Applications" section below. Eligible Applicants Applicants for the Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) program must be public or private nonprofit institutions of higher learning that grant two- or four- year degrees and are accredited by a national or regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Eligible institutions may apply alone or as part of a consortium of eligible institutions, as long as one institution is designated as the lead applicant. Applicants to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) program must be an HBCU as determined by the U.S. Department of Education in 34 CFR 608.2. A list of institutions eligible for the HBCU program can be found in Part 2, Sections D and E of this application kit. Schools considering applying for either program should read the program NOFAs for specific details on eligibility. While not all schools that are eligible for the COPC program are eligible for the HBCU program, all schools that are eligible for the HBCU program are also eligible to apply for the COPC program. Applicants who apply to both programs will be able to use certain information created for their COPC application to fulfill certain requirements of their HBCU application. In lieu of applying to both programs on their own, schools that are eligible for the HBCU program may partner with another school in their region that is eligible for COPC. Applicants intending to apply for both the COPC and HBCU programs should be aware that applying for funding from both programs to carry out the same project activity is prohibited, unless the applicant demonstrates that the increased funding will be used to increase the scope of the activity and the differences between the two applications clearly specified (e.g. assisting 40 families instead of 20). The increased scope must be well documented. (e.g. assisting 40 families instead of 20). Though the programs may be used to fund related activities, they are intended to fund different types of activities. Parts of the Application Kit In addition to this introductory section, the application kit contains the following four Parts: Part 1: Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) Part 1 contains a description of, and application materials and instructions for, the COPC program. COPC is designed to help colleges and universities apply their human, intellectual, and institutional resources to the challenge of revitalizing distressed communities. COPC provides funding to grantees who address at least three of the following areas: local housing, infrastructure, economic development, neighborhood revitalization, health care, job training, crime prevention, education, planning, and community organizing. Grantees may address these issues by conducting and applying relevant research, coordinating outreach efforts with neighborhood groups and residents, acting as a local information exchange, galvanizing support for neighborhood revitalization, developing public service projects and instructional programs, and collaborating with other partnership centers. COPC is also designed as a vehicle for institutionalizing outreach and applied research in colleges and universities. Part 2: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Part 2 contains a description of, and application materials and instructions for, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) program. HBCU is designed to help historically black colleges and universities expand their role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs--neighborhood revitalization, housing, and economic development--in their localities. The HBCU program funds grantees to carry out projects designed primarily to benefit low- and moderate-income residents, help prevent or eliminate slums or blight, or meet an urgent community development need in the community where the HBCU is located. Eligible activities are the same as those eligible under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. These include, but are not limited to, real property acquisition, clearance and demolition, rehabilitation of residential and/or commercial structures, direct homeownership assistance to low- and moderate-income persons, public facilities improvements, special economic development activities, eligible public services, facilitation of the establishment/expansion of microenterprises, assistance to community-based development organizations, establishment of a community development corporation to undertake eligible