NAHRO Professional Development with MARC-NAHRO are offering a special training opportunity – Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Seminar with Proficiency Test.
The seminar will be held in conjunction with MARC-NAHRO’s Annual Conference, August 16-18, 2017, in Washington, DC. See details below.
For additional information and to register, go to www.marcnahro.org. 
Following earlier industry days in Phoenix and Jacksonville, HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) is adding two additional events in Los Angeles (July 25 and 26) and Portland (July 27 and 28). At these events, HUD would like to discuss the technical details of PIC-NG, VMS, and UPCS-V, while receiving technical feedback. Updated materials from previous industry days in Phoenix and Jacksonville will be presented.
At this time, the topics include the following:
Registration for either the Los Angeles session (July 25 and 26) or the Portland session (July 27 and 28) can be done here.
On June 30, HUD posted Capital Fund Program (CFP) grant awards for formula grants and, where applicable, Replacement Housing Factor grant(s) (RHF) for FY 2017. The obligation start date for FY 2017 Capital Funds will be August 16, 2017 with an obligation end date of August 16, 2019 and a disbursement end date of August 16, 2021.
PHAs can access information on their specific agencies on the HUD PIH website for the Capital Fund Program. PHAs have until August 2, 2017 to submit three original signed and dated ACC Amendments for each 2017 formula & RHF grant, along with the corresponding CF Annual Statement form HUD 50075.1 (Parts I & II) to their Regional and Field HUD office. HUD notes, “to ensure that your PHA has access to its Capital Funds as soon as possible, please adhere to the timeline that has been established.” Regional and Field HUD offices will execute ACC for Amendments for FY 2017 Capital Fund grants on August 16, 2017. The final submission date for all pending ACC Amendments is September 1, 2017. PHAs that miss that deadline will have their grants rescinded and de-reserved.
HUD has changed the link to the Housing Choice Voucher Forecasting Tool and the Payment Standard tool. To use it, PHAs should make sure that they are logged into the Web Access Security System (WASS), then go to the webpage. If you have been unable to access the tool, it may be because you are trying to access it with the old link.
The forecasting tool now has 2017 set as the first year and has a likely-to-be-accurate estimate of the amount to be sent out to PHAs.
The HCV tools page can be accessed here.
On June 27, NAHRO attended the LeadingAge rally on Capitol Hill to preserve the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program (HUD 202). The program provides affordable housing to 400,000 very low-income older adults. The rally focused on preventing HUD 202 proposed budget cuts for more than 128,000 Section 202 units and highlighted the efforts toward creating new housing units. This is essential so this population can age in a single place for a longer time, which results in positive health results. LeadingAge calculates $514 million is needed for the FY 2018 Section 202 expansion.
Community leaders joined Senator Bob Casey, Representative Al Green, Senator Robert Menendez, Congressman David Price, and Representative Maxine Waters to encourage activism on a local, state, and federal level. There was an emphasis that housing is a human right and should be viewed as an investment not an expense. Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) cuts were highlighted as essential to this program. The rally’s message is that we must strive toward our vision and fight against ageism. Currently only 1.4 million out of the four million eligible older adult households receive rental assistance programs. We need a budget that reflects the value of taking care of our elders, not one that leaves them behind due to lack of affordable housing funds. Representatives urged all affordable housing advocates to engage in advocacy. This starts with speaking to lawmakers about HUD 202’s countless positive impacts.
For more information on becoming involved view: http://www.leadingage.org/save-hud-202
On June 27, HUD released their July Explanation of CY 2017 Operating Fund Obligations. HUD bases monthly obligations on eligibility determined after processing 2017 Operating Subsidy forms. The Operating Fund proration for July is 92.4 percent, down slightly from June’s proration of 92.9 percent. Operating Subsidy obligations are cumulative, and Public Housing projects are allowed funding in the amount of seven twelfths of prorated eligibility. Funding from the continuing resolution were used to make the obligation through July as there was a slight delay in funds being made available to PIH from the full year appropriation. According to HUD, the full year appropriation will be available for the next obligation.
On June 20, PHAs received an informational Power Point from HUD Field Offices regarding compliance with HUD’s Lead-Based Paint Final Rule. PHAs must comply with HUD’s Lead-Based Paint Final Rule by July, 13. The final rule amends HUD’s lead-based paint regulations on reducing blood lead levels in children under age 6 who reside in federally-owned or -assisted housing that was built pre-1978, and formally adopts the revised definition of “elevated blood lead levels” (EBLLs) in children under the age of 6 in accordance to the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). HUD’s Power Point can also be found in NAHRO’s Public Housing Resource Center (members only). For more information on HUD’s Lead-Based Paint Final Rule, click here (members only).
NAHRO and Community Action Partnership (the Partnership) are pleased to announce the release of the NAHRO and Community Action Partnership Survey Findings report. Community Action Partnership is a national, 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization that provides technical assistance, training and other resources to Community Action Agencies, nonprofit and public groups funded by the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), a federal program that allocates funding to states to combat poverty across the United States. Conducted in the Spring of 2017, the survey examines and assess crossover between the nation’s existing network of Community Action Agencies, Public Housing Agencies, and Local Redevelopment Agencies.
Nationally, Housing Authorities help over 4.8 million families and individuals by providing safe, decent, affordable housing for families in need. Community Action Agencies provide critical programs to more than 15 million people with low-incomes every year. Services provided by Community Action Agencies and local Housing and Redevelopment Agencies play an indispensable role in helping combat poverty. NAHRO and the Partnership hope to grow a new and exciting relationship to help address poverty in communities across the nation by strengthening partnerships between these essential and in many cases indispensable organizations. We believe that the mission of Public Housing Agencies and Community Action Agencies is strengthened through collaboration, and when the programs and services of Community Action Agencies are available to public housing residents, localities are in a far better position to combat poverty.
HUD has published the administrative fee rates for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program in the Federal Register in a notice titled “Notice of Annual Factors for Determining Public Housing Agency Administrative Fees for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Mainstream, and Moderate Rehabilitation Programs.” HUD had previously published these fee rates in February on the website of the Office of Housing Choice Vouchers. The rates remain the same as those published in February.
What has changed is that HUD has calculated a proration factor for administrative fees of 74% for January to March of this year. (This is not mentioned in the notice published in the Federal Register, but PHAs should have received notices informing them of this from HUD.) HUD hopes to raise that number as the year progresses by supplementing it with unobligated funds. NAHRO continues to stress the importance of the administrative fee to the proper running of the HCV program to appropriators in Congress.
Finally, it is not too late to apply for a blended administrative fee or a higher administrative fee as the deadline for applying to both has been extended to Friday, June 23.
The full notice can be read here.
HUD has released their new in-depth guidebook providing practical information and guidance on how to run an effective Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program. The guide, Administering an Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program: A Guidebook Based on Evidence and Promising Practices will benefit all service coordination programs (ROSS, FSS, Multi-Family FSS, Multi-Family Service Coordinators, Jobs Plus, Choice Neighborhoods “People” component and others), and also comes with and online FSS training. HUD recommends utilizing the “Get Credit” function of the training, as “it is possible that the training will be mandatory for eligibility for future FSS NOFA funding.”
HUD also announced the release of the Family Self-Sufficiency Guidebook for Owners of Project-Based Section 8 Developments and the new Multifamily FSS page on the HUD Exchange.
All resources can also be found on the FSS Resource Library page on HUD Exchange.
The NAHRO Blog: Legislative & Policy Updates from Washington, DC 