Appropriations

FY19 House T-HUD Appropriations Bill Released; HUD Programs Receive Level Funding/Slight Increases

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

On May 15, the House Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) Subcommittee released its draft FY 2019 appropriations bill. Overall, the bill received an additional $1.5 billion increase to its allocation compared to FY 2018, an achievement considering several spending bills have been level funded and T-HUD was expected to have a similar fate.  A summary is below; NAHRO will release a more detailed analysis soon.

The FY 2018 omnibus bill marked the first significant increase to HUD funding in nearly a decade; NAHRO and its members should be proud that the House bill preserves many of those funding increases in a highly competitive appropriations season.

Most programs within HUD received level funding or a slight increase, with the unfortunate exception of the HOME Investment Partnerships program. HOME was cut by 12 percent compared to FY 2018.

  • Public Housing Capital Fund: $2.75 billion, level funding – including a new $30 million set-aside for competitive grants for the demolition of the most distressed public housing units
  • Public Housing Operating Fund: $4.55 billion, level funding
  • Choice Neighborhoods:$150 million, level funding
  • Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Renewals:$20.107 billion, a 2.6 percent increase
  • Mobility Demonstration: $50 million for a new mobility demonstration program
  • Ongoing Administrative Fees: $1.73 billion, level funding
  • Family Self-Sufficiency: $75 million, level funding
  • Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance: $11.747 billion, a 2 percent increase
  • Community Development Block Grant:$3.3 billion, level funding
  • HOME Investment Partnerships:$1.2 billion, a 12 percent decrease
  • Housing Opportunity for Persons with AIDS:$393 million, a 5 percent increase
  • Homeless Assistance Grants:$2.546 billion, a 1 percent increase

As the FY 2019 appropriations process moves forward, NAHRO will focus advocacy efforts on the HOME program to ensure that the cuts proposed by the House are not enacted. NAHRO will also advocate for increased funding and flexibility for HCV Administrative Fee funds as level funding does not take into account the addition of new vouchers and the increased need for resident opportunity resources.

The bill will be brought before the House T-HUD Subcommittee on May 16 for consideration. No amendments are expected. It’s likely that the full House Appropriations Committee will vote on the bill next week. The timeline for a floor vote is unclear, though Congress typically tries to move as many bills through the process as possible before the August recess.

The Senate T-HUD bill is expected to be considered before the Senate T-HUD Subcommittee during the week of June 4.

Family Unification Program (FUP) Voucher Webinar to be hosted by CSH and CLPHA

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Our friends at the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) are hosting a webinar on how to effectively use Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers. The webinar is aimed at PHAs, public child welfare agencies, and homelessness response system partners. The webinar will provide an overview of the program in general, discuss the new notice of funding availability ($30 million; applications due 7/24/18), and provide recommendations and examples from the field.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, May 16 at 12 pm ET.

Registration for the webinar can be found here.

Additional TAC Mainstream Voucher Webinars

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

HUD recently released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for $100 million in new Mainstream vouchers. To assist in applying, the Technical Assistance Collaborative, along with NAHRO, hosted a webinar for PHAs on Tuesday, May 1st.

If you missed Tuesday’s TAC webinar on Mainstream vouchers for PHAs, you can download the slide deck from that webinar here. Additionally, TAC is planning on hosting two more webinars. Click on the links below the webinar title and time to register.

Mainstream NOFA webinar for Continuums of Care – Thursday, May 3rd at 1 pm ET

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VoucherMay3

Mainstream NOFA webinar for Disability Organizations – Tuesday, May 8th at 1 pm ET

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VoucherMay8

New Voucher Funding Opportunities (FUP Vouchers and Mainstream Vouchers)

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

There are currently two open notice of funding opportunities (NOFAs) for new vouchers for PHAs: Family  Unification Program Vouchers and Mainstream Vouchers.

Family Unification Program Vouchers

Application Due Date: 7/24/18.

Amount: $30 million.

The Family Unification Program (FUP) allows PHAs to partner with Public Child Welfare Agencies (PCWAs) to provide housing choice vouchers to two groups:

  • Families for whom the lack of housing is a primary factor in the placement of the family’s child in out-of-home care (or the delay in discharge to the family from out-of-home care); and
  • Youth who are at least 18 and have not yet reached their 25th birthday, who left foster care (or will leave foster care in 90 days) and are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless.

This NOFA now requires that in addition to PHAs and PCWAs to being parties to a required memorandum of understanding (MOU), Continuums of Care (COCs) must also be a party to the MOU. Additionally, there is now a threshold to to prevent FUP low utilizers from receiving a new allocation of FUP vouchers, and the CoC must now contribute to the PCWA’s Statement of Need. Finally, in addition to definitional revisions, this NOFA incorporates HOTMA’s FUP related changes.

Relevant links include the following:

  • The FUP NOFA for FY 2017 and FY 2018 can be found here;
  • A sample FUP MOU can be found here; and
  • HUD’s FUP FAQ can be found here.

Mainstream (Section 811) Vouchers

Application Due Date: 6/18/18.

Amount: $100 million.

This NOFA provides funding for vouchers which must be used to assist non-elderly persons with disabilities and their families. The funding is provided to assist non-elderly persons with disabilities who are:

  • Transitioning out of institutional or other segregated setting;
  • At serious risk of institutionalization;
  • Homeless; or
  • At risk of becoming homeless.

The rating criteria for applications is the following:

  • PHA Capacity and Experience (60 points);
  • Leveraging Resources (30 points); and
  • Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 points).

Relevant links include the following:

  • The Mainstream NOFA can be found here;
  • HUD’s NOFA Summary Presentation can be found here;
  • HUD’s NOFA FAQ can be found here; and
  • Additional resources from the Technical Assistance Collaborative can be found here. [5/2/18 Edit – link corrected.]

TAC to Hold Mainstream Voucher NOFA Webinar

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

HUD recently issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for $100 million in new “Mainstream” housing vouchers for nonelderly people with disabilities.  Information on “Mainstream” Vouchers can be found on HUD’s Office of Housing Choice Vouchers page. The link can also be found below:

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv.

PHAs are eligible to submit applications; applications are due June 18th.  While not a requirement, HUD is providing points in this competitive process for applications that include partnerships between housing and services agencies, especially those that target housing assistance to assist people with disabilities who are transitioning out of institutional or other segregated settings, at risk of institutionalization, homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC)* and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) are sponsoring a webinar on Tuesday May 1 at 1:00 ET to provide additional information about this exciting opportunity. The webinar will review the NOFA requirements and provide PHAs with some strategies to identify service partners and establish partnerships to serve target populations.

The webinar is free of charge but you must register. To register, please click on the link below to provide us with your information via Survey Monkey.  Once the survey completes, click the “Continue” button where GoToWebinar will verify your information. Click “Register” and you are all set! Note that this webinar is specifically for PHAs.  For information about related webinars, please email: lsloane@tacinc.org.

Please email lsloane@tacinc.org by April 26 with any reasonable accommodation requests.

To register, please click on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VoucherMay1

*See www. tacinc.org for more information about TAC.

HUD Sends FSS Program Coordinator Funding Letter

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Earlier today, HUD sent a Fiscal Year 2018 Family Self-Sufficiency Program Coordinator Funding Letter to PHA Executive Directors. The letter is meant to help “prepare for the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Family Self Sufficiency Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) competition.” The letter discusses Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC) data; the possible use of composite scores in funding determinations; and checking the System for Award Management (SAM) and DUNS status.

Click below to learn more.

Continue reading →

HUD Publishes CY 2018 Administrative Fee Rates in Federal Register

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Earlier today, HUD published, in the Federal Register, 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.” According to the notice, administrative fees will continue to be earned on the basis of vouchers leased on the first of each month as taken from the Voucher Management System (VMS) at the close of each reporting cycle. Two rates are given: the first is for the first 7,200 voucher unit months, while the second applies to all remaining  voucher unit months in calendar year (CY) 2018.

The full notice can be found here.

[Note: HUD has previously published these rates on their website.]

HCV TPV Funding Awards for FY 2017 Posted

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Earlier today, HUD posted a pre-publication copy of a notice titled “Announcement of Tenant Protection Voucher Funding Awards for Fiscal Year 2017 for the Housing Choice Voucher Program” in the Federal Register. The notice notifies the public of Tenant Protection Voucher (TPV) funding awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.

The recipients of these funds were awarded their vouchers on a as-needed, non-competitive basis. The awards published in the notice were provided to do the following:

  1. Assist families in HUD-owned properties that are being sold;
  2. Assist families affected by the expiration or termination of their Section 9 Project-based and Moderate Rehabilitation contracts;
  3. Assist families in properties where the owner has prepaid the HUD mortgage;
  4. Assist families in projects where the Rental Supplement and the Rental Assistance Payments contracts are expired (RAD – Second Component);
  5. Provide relocation housing assistance in connection with the demolition of public housing;
  6. Assist individuals affected by the expiration or termination of their Section 8 single room occupancy (SRO) contracts;
  7. Assist families in public housing developments that are scheduled for demolition in connection with a HUD-approved HOPE VI revitalization or demolition grant; and
  8. Assist families consistent with PIH Notice 2016-12 titled “Funding Availability for Tenant Protection Voucher for Certain At-Risk Households in Low Vacancy Areas-Fiscal Year 2016.”

HUD awarded 9,218 housing choice vouchers ($94,468,761 in new budget authority) in the above categories. A special administrative fee of $200 per occupied unit was provided to PHAs to compensate for any extraordinary HCV administrative costs associated with Multifamily Housing conversion actions.

The pre-publication version of the notice can be found here.

HUD Releases Guidance on HCV Shortfall Funding and CY 2018 Administrative Fees

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Earlier today, HUD released Notice PIH 2018-05 titled “Guidance Related to (1) Eligiblity for Potential Shortfall Funding Under the Calendar Year (CY) 2018 Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) Renewal Set-Aside for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program and (2) CY 2018 Administrative Fees.” Although released today, after the passage of the FY 2018 budget, it appears that this notice was written before the passage of the budget. Certain details may be changed by HUD to better reflect the FY 2018 budget. This notice offers guidance on shortfall funding; administrative fee set-aside funding; and blended rate administrative fees and higher administrative fee rates.

Click below to read a brief overview of the notice.

Continue reading →

HCV Two-Year Funding Tool Projections Revised

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

We have received word from an official at HUD that the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program funding tool projected prorations have been revised based on the FY 2018 Omnibus that was recently passed. HUD has revised the projections to full funding for the HCV Housing Assistance Payments (i.e., a 100 percent proration) and a proration of 77 percent for the HCV administrative fee for calendar year 2018.

The HCV Two-Year Projection tool can be accessed on HUD’s HCV website here.