February 2026 Newsletter
- The Three County CoC
- Feb 4
- 9 min read
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Three County CoC Spotlights
Spotlight: Point in Time Count – Thank you!
The Three County CoC just finished conducting our Winter Point in Time Count, which is the count of those that were experiencing unsheltered homelessness on one designated night in the last week of January. A big thank you to all of the providers in the region that completed surveys with participants.
The Point in Time Count results will inform funding decisions and other resource allocations for Franklin, Hampshire, and Berkshire Counties. Results will also be used to inform local advocacy efforts. The Point in Time Count results will be published in April and shared widely. Please be sure to email any surveys to nburtzos@communityaction.us
Spotlight: The PLE Action Board’s Annual Candlelight Vigil Homeless Memorial
In December, the People with Lived Experience Action Board (PLE), with support from the Three County CoC, hosted a candlelight vigil to honor those who passed away while experiencing homelessness in 2025. Please feel free to check out our recording of the words shared by Shaundell and Pastor Steph here:: https://youtu.be/vn6LRVg6NjI?si=8if1txc6T0Ty8h-g
Spotlight: PLE Action Board Member’s Newly Published Book
Jessica Lozada, a member of the Three County CoC’s People with Lived Experience Action Board, has published her debut, “Why She Stayed: A raw, unfiltered journey into the hidden realities of domestic violence.” This book is “written for survivors, advocates, families, and anyone seeking to understand the complexity of abuse. Why She Stayed dismantles judgment and replaces it with compassion, truth, and hope.” We are so proud of Jessica and this incredible accomplishment!
Take a look at Jessica’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/
Spotlight: Statewide Plan to Address Sex Trafficking
On January 29th, the Governor's Council to Address Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Human Trafficking (GCSADVHT) released its "Five-Year Statewide Plan to Address Sex Trafficking." Shaundell and Emma trekked out to Boston to attend the press event.
The Human Trafficking Subcommittee (Sex Trafficking Branch) of the GCSADVHT, which is comprised of survivors, providers, advocates, law enforcement, and state agencies, created this plan. They conducted research, surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Survivors' feedback and input was an integral part of each step in the process, from initial planning to implementation and evaluation.
The Plan has six Recommendations: Leadership, Empowerment, Justice, Collaboration, Prevention, and Measurement. Each Recommendation has between two and six Outcomes, and each Outcome has specific Action Steps. In addition to the 6 Recommendations, there are 23 Outcomes and 94 Action Steps. Outcome 2 under Empowerment is "Improved access to shelter and housing", and the Action Steps focus on assessing housing needs for survivors and identifying existing resources and referral pathways.
With this plan, Massachusetts can continue the important work of stopping sex trafficking, supporting survivors, and holding perpetrators accountable.
Spotlight: Franklin/Hampshire County Fair Housing Regional Listening Session
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) is partnering with the Three County Continuum of Care to host a listening session that will provide an opportunity for residents, advocates, and stakeholders to share their experiences, identify barriers to fair housing, and shape strategies to ensure that every community in Franklin and Hampshire Counties is inclusive and equitable. The hope of this listening session is for community members to have an opportunity for their voices to be heard and to build more partnerships. What is shared in the listening session will be recorded and shared with
The listening session is additionally supported by the Franklin County Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) and Community Legal Aid.
Register for the virtual listening session on February 5th, 2026 from 10:00am – 12:00pm here.
Three County CoC Updates
Notice of Funding Opportunity Updates
What a whirlwind of events have happened in the last few months around the CoC NOFO Competition. Let's review what has happened in chronological order.
November 13, 2025: HUD released the FY25 CoC NOFO, that proposed changes to funding priorities and project eligibility for the FY25 CoC program, that would have replaced the FY24-25 two-year NOFO.
November 25, 2025: A group of 19 state Attorneys General and Governors filed suit challenging the FY25 NOFO’s legality.
December 1, 2025: The National Alliance to End Homelessness and partner organizations filed a second lawsuit challenging the FY25 CoC NOFO.
December 8, 2025: HUD rescinded the FY25 NOFO hours prior to a hearing on the lawsuits was set to take place in a Rhode Island Court and stated intent to revise and reissue.
December 19, 2025: HUD issued a revised FY25 COC NOFO for public review overnight, shortly before court action.
December 23, 2025: The Federal Court in Rhode Island with US District Judge Mary S. McElroy presiding, preliminarily enjoined HUD from rescinding/replacing the FY24-25 NOFO and ordered HUD to process renewals under the FY24-25 NOFO framework.
December 30, 2025: HUD published an FY24-25 CoC NOFO Implementation Plan outlining the steps it would take to process renewals consistent with the injunction.
January 8, 2026: HUD communicated procedural details for processing renewals under the FY24-25 NOFO per the court order.
January 9, 2026: HUD officially reopened the two-year FY24-25 NOFO for renewal applications with a due date of February 9, 2026.
January 16, 2026: E-SNAPS application portal fully opened to accept renewal applications under the reopened FY24-25 NOFO.
January 26, 2026: HUD sent email notification on instructions on the process for CoCs not submitting project applications or priority listings due to no reallocations, or new projects.
February 2, 2026: The Three County CoC and Community Action Pioneer Valley, the Collaborative Applicant, submitted the required email to HUD, with the intention of applying solely for renewal of our existing CoC-funded projects.
This bill directs HUD to non-competitively renew for one 12-month period all projects expiring during the first quarter of 2026, which many of our CoC-funded projects fall under, (these are the grants the CoC applied for in October 2024 with the FY24-25 NOFO).
If, by April 1 and July 1, no funds are made under an FY25 NOFO, all grants expiring in the second and third & fourth quarters must be non-competitively renewed as well.
FY26 NOFO must be released by June 1, 2026, and make awards by December 1, 2026.
Upcoming Information Sessions to prepare for the next Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
In the coming months, the Three County CoC will be hosting information sessions on the types of projects that Continuums of Care fund and what it would look like to receive funding through the Three County CoC for the project types. The project types that will be covered include:
Transitional Housing (TH)
Rapid Rehousing (RRH)
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)
Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP)
Our most recent Gaps Analysis has identified Rapid Rehousing (and other short to medium term housing assistance programs) as a priority.
These information sessions will take place before June, when the next Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is expected to be released. When dates have been set for these information sessions, the information will be shared widely.
Move On Case Conferencing
The Three County CoC and stakeholders have identified the need for collaborative conversations to determine if there are participants in the Three County CoC’s funded Permanent Supportive Housing Projects that would be good fits to be supported by projects to “Move On” and receive alternative housing assistance and resource outside of our projects. The CoC is hopeful that this can be an opportunity to be proactive in supporting participants to gain their own stability whenever possible in anticipation of potential changes in funding requirements in the coming year. This being said, not all participants in projects are going to be good fits to move on. The purpose of permanent supportive housing is to support those that are most vulnerable. However, there may be some cases in which a participant with some support can find alternative resources for housing or be able to support themselves. These considerations will be discussed in “Move On” Case Conferencing meetings with Housing Project staff in attendance beginning this month.
Upcoming Coordinated Entry Evaluation
The Three County CoC has partnered with two Technical Assistance providers to have our Coordinated Entry System evaluated to ensure that the Three County’s CoC’s Coordinated Entry practices are effectively supporting our participants. This March and April, our TA Providers want to hear from those who are conducting assessments, attending case conferencing meetings, or have lived experience. The Three County CoC will be putting out requests for people to either join our Coordinated Entry committee meetings or to attend a focus group meeting that the TA providers and the CoC will be hosting. Your input is incredibly valuable in determining how we can improve our Coordinated Entry system.
If you are interested in joining the Coordinated Entry Committee or attending the focus groups (or would like to learn more) please reach out to the Three County CoC’s Coordinated Entry specialist, Vega Johnson at vjohnsonbouchard@communityaction.us
Project Updates at the Three County CoC
Hearthway Partnership
The Three County CoC has a partnership with Hearthway, a housing agency in Pittsfield, MA to house participants through the Coordinated Entry System in Hearthway’s newly built housing projects. Hearthway hosted a ribbon cutting event to celebrate the opening of the projects and to thank all the contributors who made the two permanent supportive housing projects possible.
The Three County CoC through the Coordinated Entry system has identified referrals for the two permanent supportive housing projects, with a few more spots to be identified in our next case conferencing meetings this month. Please read more about the process to refer participants in this attachment:
And see below for more information on being connected to our CoC’s Coordinated Entry System.
Getting Involved with the CoC’s Coordinated Entry System
To connect an individual with the Three County CoC’s resources, the first step for entry into our system is to have a service provider complete the Three County CoC specific Coordinated Entry Assessment with the participant. If you are working with someone that is experiencing homelessness and you would like to either connect them to an agency that could complete an assessment with them or become a trained Coordinated Entry Assessor, please reach out to the Three County CoC’s Coordinated Entry Specialist, Vega Johnson at vjohnsonbouchard@communityaction.us
If you are working with survivors of domestic violence that are experiencing homelessness or are looking to collaborate to support those experiencing homelessness while in encampments, please reach out to Emma Coles at ecoles@commuityaction.us
Legislative & Advocacy Updates
Massachusetts State Level Updates
In late January, the Governor released her FY27 (which begins July 1, 2026) Budget. The Governor’s Budget is a recommendation for funding levels, not the final bill. Both the House and the Senate will release their own budgets in the coming weeks, and after debates and compromises, a Final Budget will be created and sent to the Governor to sign.
Funding for some key homelessness programs (many thanks to organizations such as MHSA and MA Coalition for the Homeless for releasing their charts and analyses!):
Program | FY27 Governor’s Budget | Difference from FY26 Budget |
EA Family Shelter EA Diversion (*this is now its own line item, while previously it was part of EA Family Shelter budget line item) | $258.6 million $7.4 million | -$10.3 million |
RAFT | $201.2 million | -$6.2 million |
Individual Shelter | $114 million | +$700k |
HomeBASE | $83.3 million | +$25 million |
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth | $10.4 million | -$200k |
Rapid Rehousing | $5 million | -- |
March 5th is MA Coalition for the Homeless Legislative Day of Action. They explain that this event is “hosted by State Representative Jim O'Day. Look forward to hearing from inspiring speakers, learning how to advocate with legislators, and meeting with your state legislators and legislative staff to talk about issues and policy recommendations to address homelessness in Massachusetts.”
A plenary session from 10am-12pm will be followed by meetings with legislators until 4pm. RSVP here, sign up for action alerts here, and check out more information here.
Want more resources for staying up to date on legislative changes, advocacy opportunities, and resources? These are the newsletters & blog updates that we subscribe to:
Public Health Insitute of Western Massachusetts, which includes updates from
413Cares
Clean Slate MA
Healthy Air Network
Healthy Homes
Youth Mental Health Coalition
& more!
Upcoming CoC Trainings:
February 26th: This virtual training, provided by staff attorneys Liz Johnson and Maureen McMahon from the Greenfield Court Service, will cover Probate & Family Court--custody and child support for separated, divorced, and unmarried parents. Liz and Maureen will take folks through the “life-cycle” of a parent in different scenarios, and discuss challenges like homelessness along the way. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Tb9vVpZ5T6GXITglSWamAw
March 28th: Financial Literacy training (**time TBD), more information will be sent out soon
TalentLMS
Was there a training that you missed? You can still view it on the Three County CoC’s TalentLMS training platform! The link to the training catalog is here: https://threecountycoc.talentlms.com/plus/catalog
The Three County CoC’s Committees and Workgroups
The Three County CoC has various committees and workgroups that all stakeholders in the region connected to our system are invite to attend. Please take a look at our highlights of the committees and workgroups in our November Newsletter, linked here:
Thank you for reading!
If you aren’t already, please subscribe to receive Three County CoC mailing updates. You will receive emails about upcoming events, training opportunities, and newsletters like this one.
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Any questions about the contents in this newsletter? Please reach out to Vega, The Three County CoC Coordinated Entry Specialist at vjohnsonbouchard@commnityaction.us
