Month: September 2016

October is Housing America Month!

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

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Housing America Month is a celebration of affordable housing each October where housing and community development agencies in the U.S. host events to highlight their work. NAHRO encourages all PHAs and community development organizations to host events that showcase the important work that you do. Next month, tweet your events and stories about the impact that affordable housing has for Americans across the country to #WHAAT and #HousingAmericaMonth.

NAHRO wants to hear your stories! If there is anything you would like to share regarding Housing America Month, please e-mail Carmen Smith, NAHRO’s Public Affairs Coordinator and Assistant Editor, at csmith@nahro.org.

Housing America is a campaign that raises national awareness of the need for and importance of safe, quality, affordable housing through education, advocacy, and empowerment. Housing America celebrates education, advocacy, and empowerment.

HUD to Publish List of Regulatory Waivers Granted for the Second Quarter of CY 2016

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Monday, HUD will publish in the Federal Register a list of regulatory waivers that the agency has granted for the second quarter of calendar year 2016.

The pre-publication list can be found here.

(9/12/16 Edit – The published list in the Federal Register can be found here.)

UPCS-V Version 1.5 Released

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

 

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HUD REAC’s Oversight and Evaluation Division (OED) has released Version 1.5 of the UPCS-V protocol. NAHRO is still in the process of reading through it, but will continue to provide our membership with additional information and updates on both the UPCS-V protocol and the Demonstration testing the inspection protocol. HUD is seeking feedback at OED@hud.gov.

The protocol can be found on OED’s homepage or can be directly accessed here.

Our prior coverage of the UPCS-V protocol Version 1.0 can be found here. (Members only.)

GAO Study: CDBG Communities Lack Alternative Sources of Income Data for Determining Project Eligibility

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

On September 6, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report examining HUD’s policies related to communities that disagree with their Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) eligibility determinations based on 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data.The findings of the report are based on the GAO’s analyses of ACS data and HUD’s policy guidance to grantees, as well as interviews with CDBG administrators, stakeholders and community development groups, including NAHRO.

In order for a project to qualify for CDBG funding under the objective of providing benefit to low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons on an area basis, HUD instructs communities to use ACS data to show that a majority of the proposed service area consists of LMI residents. Some communities believe the ACS produces inaccurate results due to its smaller sample size and larger error rates. When a community disagrees with an eligibility determination, local income surveys may be used instead.  However, the GAO finds a number of challenges small communities face when conducting local income surveys, including: resource constraints, administrative burdens, and difficulty obtaining a sufficient number of survey responses. Furthermore, alternative ways to demonstrate eligibility are limited because other sources of income data are not as reliable and comprehensive compared to the ACS.

The GAO report does not make any specific recommendations to Congress on the sources of data issue, but it does point out that the Census Bureau is currently exploring ways to use external data, such as data from the Social Security Administration and IRS, to supplement the ACS. These recommendations are expected by March 2017.

Learn more about this GAO report in the September 15, 2016 edition of the NAHRO Monitor.

HAC Releases Policy Note on Maturing USDA Section 515 Loans

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

On August 29, the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) published a Rural Policy Note on maturing USDA Rural Rental Housing Loans (Section 515). The policy note analyzed data on USDA’s multifamily loan portfolio as of the end of March 2016. The policy notes that once USDA Section 515 loans are paid in full, owners are under no obligation to maintain the properties as affordable housing. USDA’s Rural Housing program may soon see a significant decline in affordable rental units and properties as numerous existing Section 515 loans reach their maturity in the coming decades.

According to the policy note, “an average of 74 properties (1,788 units) per year will leave the program over the next 12 years (2016 – 2027). In 2028, the number properties exiting the program is expected to increase significantly with an average loss of 556 properties (16,364 units) per year through 2032. For the following eight years after 2032, the numbers of properties exiting the program increases for an average loss of roughly 22,600 units per year, peaking in 2040.”

According to HAC, as of March 2016, “there were about 13,830 Section 515 properties with over 416,000 rental units … [and n]early two-thirds of the households in these properties receive USDA Rental Assistance. The average tenant household has an income of about $13,600.” The loss of these units will have significant impacts to rural affordable housing.

NAHRO’s position on adequately funding all USDA Rural Development programs can be found here (members only).

 

Handling Conflicts of Interest

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On September 6, HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a bulletin titled “7 Keys to Handling Conflicts of Interest.” Conflicts occur when “officials or staff stand to benefit–either directly themselves or indirectly through business partners or relatives–from the awarding or contracting of grant funds.” The bulletin lists points to remember when handling conflicts of interest:

  1. Know the Requirements;
  2. Train Employees;
  3. Create Procedures to Document Compliance;
  4. Implement the Regulations;
  5. Know the Consequences;
  6. Request an Exception; and
  7. Get Help.

The full bulletin, with examples, can be found here.

NAHRO Attends Two-Day Research Advisory Committee Meeting on MTW Expansion

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

NAHRO attended the two day public meeting of the Moving To Work (MTW) Research  Advisory Committee held on September 1, 2016 and September 2, 2016. While a complete summary of the entire two-day meeting is outside the scope of this blog post, the Committee made some preliminary determinations of the policy interventions for the new MTW cohorts.

Each cohort will receive standard MTW flexibilities, except for where those flexibilities may conflict with a policy intervention being tested. The following policy interventions were the ones that the Committee determined HUD should further examine when moving forward with the expansion:

  1. General MTW Flexibilities – Cohort of 30 agencies (possibly two cohorts of 15 agencies each) which would be given all general MTW flexibilities. Would be restricted to only small agencies and would be compared to a control group of small agencies to test the effects of the “standard MTW package.”
  2. Rent Reform – This cohort would test the efficacy and tenant impact of stepped rent and possibly also flat rent and tiered rent.
  3. Project-Based Voucher Caps –  This cohort would test the effects of removing or increasing PBV caps.
  4. Sponsored-Based Housing – A cohort that would test the effect of sponsored-based housing. It is unclear what specific type of sponsor-based housing or the vulnerable population affected would be. The Committee was split on whether to recommend this.
  5. Landlord Incentives – This cohort would test a “satchel” of flexibilities (e.g., increased payment standards, cash to landlords, inspection flexibilities, etc.) to determine their combined effect. Agencies will be able to pick and choose which tools in the “satchel” they utilize.
  6. Place-Based Model – This cohort would try to measure the effects of place-based strategies towards housing. The was discussed very quickly at the end of the two-day long meeting.

These were the Committee’s recommendations to HUD about how it should move forward, but these policy interventions are not necessarily the ones with which HUD will choose to move forward. Everything is subject to change.

This was my recollection of the end of the two-day long meeting, but if you attended the meeting, either in-person or by phone, and want to add something, please feel free to leave a comment on this post.

Additional information will be posted on HUD’s MTW Expansion website located here.

September is Attendance Awareness Month

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

As schools get into full swing this month, September is Attendance Awareness Month. For schools to work as centers of learning, it is important for students to be in class. Attendance Works focuses on the importance of student attendance and tracking student attendance data. PHAs and community development organizations can be an important partner with families and schools to insure increased school attendance and therefore improved educational outcomes for the children living in affordable housing..

As part of Attendance Awareness Month, Attendance Works is hosting a webinar on using attendance data.

Thursday, September 8, 2016: Ensuring an Equal Opportunity to Learn: Leveraging Chronic Absence Data for Strategic Action, 11-12:30 pm (PT) / 2-3:30 pm (ET). Register now.

In June 2016, the U.S. Office for Civil Rights released its first national count of students who were chronically absent. The data showed a staggering 6.5 million students were chronically absent, which means that they missed so much school that their ability to read well and gain fundamental skills and knowledge for college and career was hampered. In the 500 most heavily impacted districts, over 30% of students were chronically absent.

Join experts Hedy Chang, Executive Director of Attendance Works and Dr. Robert Balfanz, Director of the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University as they release a major national study analyzing the data and more importantly, showing how leaders at the local, state and national levels can take strategic action to monitor and address chronic absence in order to ensure an equal opportunity to learn and succeed.

 The webinar will provide suggestions and tips on to become engaged in attendance awareness month activities such as displaying an attendance poster at housing sites, establishing or expanding programmatic interventions such as a mentoring program, etc.

More information on Attendance Awareness Month and Attendance Works can be found at: http://awareness.attendanceworks.org/.