PSRC is circulating a sign-on letter to support the inclusion of the Continuum of Care (CoC) program in the state budget. The CoC program provides critical funding for permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and other services that help people remain housed. Recent changes to the program and ongoing litigation have created uncertainty for communities that depend on these resources. If you are a local elected official, please consider signing this letter.
The full text of the letter is below:
Continuum of Care Sign-On Letter to Governor Ferguson for Local Elected Officials
Dear Governor Ferguson:
We appreciate your continued leadership and the investments made to address homelessness and expand access to affordable housing in Washington. We are local elected officials from the Puget Sound region writing to urge you to include $146 million in backfill funding for the Continuum of Care (CoC) program requested in the Department of Commerce decision package in your final budget.
The CoC program provides critical funding for permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and other services that help people remain housed. Recent changes to the program and ongoing litigation have created uncertainty for communities that depend on these resources. On September 24, the First Circuit vacated the district court’s previous judgement, allowing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to proceed with its FY 2026 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), while the broader legal challenges continue. The FY 2026 NOFO significantly shifts funding away from permanent housing to temporary programs and caps the amount of bonus funding that Continuums of Care can receive for new projects.
For communities across the Puget sound region, the consequences of reduced CoC funding would be immediate. These programs provide housing and services for people with disabilities, people experiencing chronic homelessness and other individuals and families who would face significant barriers to remaining housed without this support. A disruption in funding will result in people losing housing and increase demand for shelter, outreach and other homelessness response services.
Local governments are already dedicating significant resources to homelessness response. This includes investment in shelter, supportive housing, prevention and other services. Those resources cannot replace federal CoC funding at the scale needed to maintain existing programs. This challenge will be exaggerated by the reductions in federal health care and food assistance. These federal reductions will increase financial instability and place more demands on local systems.
We appreciate the funding included in your budget to support communities facing these challenges, as well as your broader investment in affordable housing and homelessness prevention. Given the scale of the potential federal funding disruption, additional support is necessary to preserve existing housing services as communities navigate these drastic changes.
We strongly urge you to include $146 million in backfill funding for the CoC program in your final budget. This investment would help preserve housing for Washington residents, protect the significant investments already made by local governments and service providers and provide greater stability as the federal funding landscape continues to change.
Sincerely,
We appreciate your continued leadership and the investments made to address homelessness and expand access to affordable housing in Washington. We are local elected officials from the Puget Sound region writing to urge you to include $146 million in backfill funding for the Continuum of Care (CoC) program requested in the Department of Commerce decision package in your final budget.
The CoC program provides critical funding for permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and other services that help people remain housed. Recent changes to the program and ongoing litigation have created uncertainty for communities that depend on these resources. On September 24, the First Circuit vacated the district court’s previous judgement, allowing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to proceed with its FY 2026 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), while the broader legal challenges continue. The FY 2026 NOFO significantly shifts funding away from permanent housing to temporary programs and caps the amount of bonus funding that Continuums of Care can receive for new projects.
For communities across the Puget sound region, the consequences of reduced CoC funding would be immediate. These programs provide housing and services for people with disabilities, people experiencing chronic homelessness and other individuals and families who would face significant barriers to remaining housed without this support. A disruption in funding will result in people losing housing and increase demand for shelter, outreach and other homelessness response services.
Local governments are already dedicating significant resources to homelessness response. This includes investment in shelter, supportive housing, prevention and other services. Those resources cannot replace federal CoC funding at the scale needed to maintain existing programs. This challenge will be exaggerated by the reductions in federal health care and food assistance. These federal reductions will increase financial instability and place more demands on local systems.
We appreciate the funding included in your budget to support communities facing these challenges, as well as your broader investment in affordable housing and homelessness prevention. Given the scale of the potential federal funding disruption, additional support is necessary to preserve existing housing services as communities navigate these drastic changes.
We strongly urge you to include $146 million in backfill funding for the CoC program in your final budget. This investment would help preserve housing for Washington residents, protect the significant investments already made by local governments and service providers and provide greater stability as the federal funding landscape continues to change.
Sincerely,