Month: December 2021

HUD and HHS Launch Housing and Services Resource Center

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Dec. 8, in a press release, HUD–in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)–announced the launch of a national Housing and Services Resource Center. According to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, “[t]his new joint HHS and HUD center will help communities break down the silos and coordinate the provision of services with housing to ensure that these new resources reach our most vulnerable homeless neighbors.” The press release notes that in every state, there are a number of entities that can help people access housing and supportive services. Many people experiencing homelessness and older individuals need access to community based services like “behavioral health services, personal care assistance, tenancy supports, accessible transportation, and home-delivered meals.”

The goal of the Housing and Services Resource Center is to help coordinate resources to PHAs as well as other entities. The website brings together “Medicaid-funded home and community-based services, behavioral health support, vouchers, and other housing programs.” It also provides examples of successful partnerships and will provide new technical assistance resources. People using the site can do the following:

  • “Learn about how to develop and expand partnerships,
  • Quickly find tools designed for community collaborations;
  • Increase knowledge to support people with disabilities, older adults, and people experiencing homelessness to get and/or keep affordable and accessible housing and voluntary services, and
  • Discover innovative models and strategies.”

The Housing and Services Resource Center can be accessed here.

HUD Requires PHAs to Submit CARES Act Waiver Information by Dec. 20, 2021

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Dec. 6, HUD published a notice titled “Submitting CARES Act Waiver Adoption Information to HUD by December 20, 2021” (PIH 2021-33). This notice requires all PHAs–including those that did not adopt any CARES Act waivers and those that are Moving to Work (MTW) agencies–to report on the waivers that they did or did not implement in the CARES Act Waiver Reporting Tool (CAWRT).

The CARES Act, passed on March 27, 2020, provided HUD with the authority to waive certain statutes and regulations for the public housing and the housing choice voucher (HCV) programs as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department exercised its authority to issue waivers through multiple notices, including PIH 2021-14 (providing revised waivers for public housing and the HCV program), PIH 2020-20 (providing waivers for the Mod. Rehab. program), and PIH 2020-22 (providing waivers for Mainstream vouchers). Additionally, HUD has provided guidance for winding down the waivers as they near their end of life.

Housing agencies must now report to HUD the waivers that they adopted. In adopting CARES Act waivers, HUD required PHAs to record which waivers the PHA had adopted. Agencies should have made this document available to the public. The Department also provided a suggested format for recording adopted waivers in the form of Attachment I of PIH Notice 2021-14. HUD requires one response from each PHA code. Agencies participating in the MTW program should only indicate adoption of the waivers that were adopted through CARES Act authority.

This reporting requirement must be met by Dec. 20, 2021.

Step-by-step instructions to complete this reporting requirement can be found here.

Housing agencies can access the CARES Act Waiver Reporting Tool here.