WASHINGTON–CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris has issued a statement regarding a number of issues, including how it is dealing with issues related to delays in the CDFI certification process.
As CUToday.info reported here, CUNA is meeting Thursday with Harris to address similar concerns.
“We’ve announced a lot of big changes recently, from opening funding applications for the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program, which will provide $1.75 billion to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to respond to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, to announcing the next steps in our process to update CDFI Certification requirements,” wrote Harris. “We also released a request for public comment on the creation of a new Minority Lending Institution (MLI) designation. Although no federal funding will be associated with an MLI designation at this time, the CDFI Fund seeks to implement the designation for those CDFIs that wish to be recognized for their high levels of service and accountability to minority populations, as well as to identify barriers that such CDFIs experience in providing access to capital.”
What’s Ahead
In the coming months, Harris said financial institutions will have more opportunities to weigh in with comments on other CDFI Fund programs, including the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program), the Capital Magnet Fund, the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program), as well as Target Market verification processes for CDFI Certification.
“We are also continuing our regular work administering funding application rounds for our programs, however, you should expect the timing of some of our application rounds to shift from what we have done in recent years,” Harris said in her statement. “While the fiscal year (FY) 2022 CDFI Program and NACA Program Technical Assistance awards will be announced by the end of September 2022, we don’t anticipate announcing the Financial Assistance awards until early calendar year 2023.”
Additional Notes
Harris further stated:
The next open application round for the CDFI Program and NACA Program will also be held later than usual, in fall 2023, “to allow us to conduct public feedback on those programs before we accept new applications. That application round will combine FY 2023 and FY 2024 funding for the CDFI Program and NACA Program, including the supplemental Persistent Poverty County-Financial Assistance, Healthy Food Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance, and Disability Funds-Financial Assistance awards.”
Rather than opening the FY 2022 application round of the BEA Program in fall 2022, the CDFI Fund will be accepting applications for a joint FY 2022 and FY 2023 BEA Program application round in spring 2023.
‘Important Work’
“These shifts will allow the CDFI Fund to complete important work for the administration of our programs, not the least of which is providing CDFIs and the public ample opportunity to submit feedback on ways our programs can be improved for the coming years,” Harris stated. “Shifting some of our annual application timelines will also reduce the program application rounds that will be affected by the period that begins on Oct. 1, 2022.”