On July 15, HUD announced that it was teaming up with Comcast to expand Comcast’s Internet Essentials program. After this expansion, all public housing and HUD-assisted residents that are within Comcast’s service area are eligible to apply for Internet Essentials. Internet Essentials is Comcast’s high-speed internet adoption program for low-income families. An estimated 2 million HUD-assisted homes will now be eligible for low-cost internet service.
HUD’s full press release can be read here.
HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published its Semiannual Report to Congress for the period ending March 31, 2016.
The report can be found here.
In its “RADBlast!” email, HUD announced the availability of two Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) resources:
To access these resources, and others, please go to HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration Resource Desk (www.radresource.net) after logging-in and click on the “Document Library” link under “Main Menu Selections.”
Additionally, HUD will hold a live question-and-answer webinar to walk through the revised tool and answer questions that participants may have. The webinar will be held on July 13, 2016 between 3 pm and 4 pm (EST). Registration for the webinar can be found here.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has published a Chart Book titled “Rental Assistance Reduces Hardship, Promotes Children’s Long-Term Success.” It has some great charts that help to illustrate why rental assistance is so crucial.
Here’s one taken from page 6 of the chart book PDF that illustrates the benefits of the HUD-VASH program.
The Center’s web-based chart book can be found here.
The Center’s PDF of the chart book can be found here.
On June 28, HUD awarded $8 million in Choice Neighborhoods Planning grants to 10 communities across the nation. The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) helps struggling neighborhoods with severely distressed public housing or HUD-assisted housing by comprehensively investing in the community’s housing, residents and neighbors. Planning Grants, which assist communities in developing their comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plan or “Transformation Plan,” is one of two types of grants offered through the Initiative. Implementation Grants, which support communities that are ready to implement their Transformation Plan, are also funded through this program.
HUD is awarding Choice Neighborhood Planning funds to the following grantees:
Prior to the funding announcement for the FY 2015/FY 2016 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant last November, Planning Grant funds could only be used for the creation of a Transformation Plan. HUD has now introduced a new component called Planning and Action Grants that will allow communities to use grants of up to $2 million over three years to demonstrate a commitment to “doing while planning.”
During the planning process, communities will identify Action Activities to be carried out during the latter portion of the grant period that must build upon the planning for the target housing and neighborhood. Eligible Action Activities may include reclaiming and recycling vacant property into community gardens, pocket parks, farmers’ markets, or land banking; beautification, placemaking, and community arts projects; homeowner and business façade improvement programs; neighborhood broadband/Wi-Fi; fresh food initiatives; and gap financing for economic development projects. The inspiration for this new component comes from the 63 previously awarded Planning Grantees that showed “tangible, early actions help sustain community energy, attract new resources, and build momentum to turn that plan into reality.”
Read comprehensive summaries of the 10 Choice Neighborhoods Planning grants here.
On June 29 and 30, NAHRO staff met with HUD staff to discuss the Moving to Work (MTW) Expansion that was included in the FY 2016 Omnibus and the upcoming smoke-free final rule. HUD also hosted a Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) proposed rule briefing.
Although HUD is still finalizing the MTW Expansion, they recently unveiled their MTW Expansion website, which contains information on the expansion process. HUD has also posted a MTW Expansion Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.
According to HUD, a PIH notice should be published in the fall of 2016 soliciting applications for the initial cohort of new MTW PHAs. Additional cohorts of MTW PHAs will be added through separate notices through 2020 or until a total of 100 new MTW PHAs have been added. HUD has yet to determine the number of cohorts that will be included in the expansion nor specific policies to be tested through the expansion. The Secretary will weigh the advice of the MTW expansion advisory committee before determining both of these matters. For each cohort of new MTW PHAs, the specific policy proposals and methods of research and evaluation will be described in the PIH notice to be published in the fall of 2016. NAHRO’s policy proposals and recommended research evaluation methods for HUD regarding the MTW expansion can be found here (members only).
HUD plans to release the Instituting Smoke-Free Final Rule late summer or early fall. Although the rule is still undergoing the rule making process, NAHRO staff has learned HUD plans to submit the final rule to the Office of Management and Budget shortly. NAHRO was able to provide HUD staff with input on members concerns regarding the proposed rule. NAHRO’s comments on HUD’s proposed rule can be found here (members only).
HUD also hosted a briefing on the proposed SAFMR rule. The briefing went over the basics of the proposed rule and reviewed specific areas on which HUD was seeking comment. Comments and questions posed at the briefing from industry and advocacy groups included a question about the variability of all Fair Market Rents (FMRS) (to which HUD responded that they are working on a new methodology for FY 2017 FMRs); the current status of the SAFMR demonstration (it’s still going); and whether tenants who receive a subsidy cut in certain zip codes because of the SAFMR rule will be able to find housing in other zip codes because there are not enough available units or because landlords are not accepting vouchers (HUD does not know how to deal with this problem). Read our coverage of the proposed SAFMR rule here (members only).
Several members have requested a chart showing the timelines for Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) submissions under the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. Here is a decision tree chart that we came up with that we hope will simplify the process of figuring out the appropriate date an AFH is due. Please let us know if you have suggestions for how this chart can be improved or if you feel it is unclear.
On Wednesday, June 22, HUD published the names of the members of the MTW Advisory Committee. In its FY 2016 Appropriations bill, Congress directed HUD to expand MTW to include a hundred additional public housing agencies (PHAs) over the next seven years. Congress also called on HUD to establish a federal research advisory committee. The research advisory committee is responsible for advising HUD on specific policy proposals and methods of research and evaluation for MTW.
HUD has appointed the following people to the advisory committee:
HUD has also published an anticipated timeline for the expansion.
Early Summer 2016
Publish a summary of submitted comments on www.hud.gov/mtw.
Summer 2016
Begin the calls with the advisory committee, with an in-person meeting in Washington, DC in late-summer.
Fall 2016
Publish the notice to select the initial cohort of MTW agencies, with up to four months to submit applications.
Spring/Summer 2017
Select initial cohort of new MTW public housing authorities.
Additional Resources:
Read the full HUD Press Release here.
Read NAHRO’s coverage of the FY 2016 appropriations bill and the included MTW expansion here.
The NAHRO Blog: Legislative & Policy Updates from Washington, DC 