July 17th Update: LeadingAge received additional information on the forthcoming Service Coordinator allocations from the CARES Act announced in a HUD memo on July 10^th: In the next few weeks, HUD will be issuing a prescriptive list of allowable uses for the funds. The funds will be for the same purposes under the grants, except that the expenses would have to be justified as higher due to COVID-19; the agency will also likely allow providers to use the funds for some areas outside of the normal grant. The agency also said that even grants that have not yet received their 2020 extension will be eligible to receive the CARES Act supplemental once their extension is approved.

July 10th Update: HUD released a memo on July 10th, outlining plans to allocate the $10 million in Service Coordinator funding approved by the CARES Act at the end of March. The funds will support approximately 1,600 properties with grant-funded Service Coordinator programs. The agency said they plan to issue guidance for budget-funded Service Coordination and other COVID-related expenses soon.

Grantees with an approved 2020 Service Coordinator grant extension will receive a one-time grant supplement; the amount will be directly proportionate to each grantee’s approved 2020 budget, resulting in an estimated 9% of each program operating budget.

Properties will be required to use the supplemental funds to cover increased expenditures supporting program activities at properties impact by COVID-19 between March 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Because the CARES Act funds were enacted to prevent, prepare for, or respond to COVID-19, housing providers will have to individually respond to a HUD-prepared Notice of Award to accept the funds based on anticipated eligible cost increases during the 2020 performance year.

Housing providers can also decline the supplemental funds if they do not anticipate increased costs due to COVID-19, or amend the amount they accepted at a later date. In the next 30 days, HUD will issue more information about eligible costs and other required documentation. HUD does not expect CARES Act reporting requirements to be triggered by the Service Coordinator supplementals.

While the supplemental will provide much-needed relief to senior housing communities with grant-based Service Coordinators, LeadingAge has urged the agency to also allocate funds for Service Coordinators funded by property budgets. Grant-funded Service Coordinators are estimated to make up only one-third of the service coordinators in the HUD-assisted senior housing portfolio.