Quiz

“No” is correct. This is not an eligible cost. Items like dishes, cookware, linens, bedding, or other consumable supplies that are used by the program participant rather than the recipient or subrecipient are not specified as eligible costs in the CoC Program Interim Rule, and therefore cannot be funded with CoC Program grants.

“No” is correct. Since the agency did not include food as an expense (§ 578.53(e)(7)) in their HUD approved budget, they may not use HUD funds to purchase groceries. However, they can work with their local field office to amend their budget to include food.

“Maybe” is correct. The cost of purchasing gift cards (including food vouchers to area grocery stores) in and of itself is not an eligible cost under the CoC Program. However, the costs of providing meals or groceries to program participants are eligible supportive service costs (§ 578.53(e)). That being said, if the gift card is used by the program participant for eligible activities, and the recipient is able to document that it was used to pay for eligible costs, gift cards may be used to pay for the cost of those services. If the recipient or subrecipient is not able to ultimately determine and document that the program participant used the gift card to pay for eligible CoC Program costs, recipients or subrecipients may not be reimbursed with CoC grant funds for the purchase of gift cards. For instance, if a recipient provides a program participant with a $10 gift card for groceries and the program participant provides a receipt for $7 worth of food, the recipient can only seek reimbursement for $7 as documented by the receipt provided.