Jobs Plus NOFO for Fiscal Year 2025

The Jobs Plus program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under its Office of Public and Indian Housing, aims to improve employment outcomes and promote economic self-sufficiency for residents in public housing. The program provides competitive grant awards to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to saturate designated housing developments with employment-related services, supportive community engagement, and a rent incentive model that rewards increased earnings without rent penalties. First developed through a HUD-public-private partnership in the early 2000s and informed by evaluations showing lasting income gains, Jobs Plus is a place-based initiative emphasizing collaboration, outreach, and systemic employment support. Eligible applicants are PHAs operating one or more qualifying public housing projects (AMPs) that meet size and unemployment thresholds defined in the NOFO. The program requires a 25% local match and mandatory partnerships with entities such as Workforce Development Boards and American Job Centers. HUD expects grantees to contact 100% of adults in the targeted project(s) in the first year and deliver robust services including job placement, training, transportation, legal aid, and financial literacy, either directly or via in-kind partnerships. Services must be accessible, including digitally, with annual needs assessments and continuous resident feedback guiding programming. Residents must voluntarily opt into the rent incentive, which allows 100% of incremental earned income to be excluded from rent calculations for up to 48 months. Applicants must submit a comprehensive package through Grants.gov by 11:59 PM ET on December 29, 2025. Required documents include multiple narratives (capacity, need, soundness), a HUD-50144 summary budget, a detailed program budget and schedule, a signed MOU with a local WDB or AJC, and formal match letters. All documents must adhere to HUD's formatting and naming protocols. Only applications that meet all threshold requirements will proceed to merit review. HUD will make approximately 15 awards from a $21.6 million pool combining FY2025 and residual FY2024 funds. Grant amounts range from $1.6 million to $3.7 million based on the size of eligible non-elderly households at the target site. The grant term spans 54 months, including a six-month start-up phase followed by 48 months of implementation. Applicants must be prepared to hire core staff within the first five months and launch services within six months of award. Performance outcomes are tracked at the participant level and focus on employment rate increases, sustained job retention, and income growth. Contact for questions is the Jobs Plus Program Office via email at [email protected]. Awards are anticipated around February 27, 2026, with program operations expected to run through September 1, 2030. The program is offered annually, and future rounds are anticipated.

Ensure early staffing; align match letters to goals; emphasize 100% resident contact in Year 1; document employment barriers and strategies