Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands get disaster recovery funds, HUD addresses reentry housing needs, FHA takes steps to remove student loan debt barriers to homeownership, and more.

Breaking news

HUD Takes Additional Steps to Free Up Long Awaited Disaster Recovery Funds for Puerto Rico and USVI

A Federal Register notice published June 21 governs the use of $2 billion in CDBG-DR funds for electric power system enhancements and improvements for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The funds provide a significant opportunity for these territories to mitigate disaster risks to their power systems and simultaneously improve their reliability. Read article

 

Secretary Fudge Outlines HUD Actions to Address Reentry Housing Needs and Increase Public Safety

In a letter to public housing authorities and other agencies, Secretary Fudge discusses the steps HUD is taking to improve housing access for citizens exiting prisons and jails, as well as others with criminal records. These steps include the clarification that returning citizens at risk of homelessness are eligible for emergency housing vouchers funded by the American Rescue Plan. Read article

 

HUD PIH Extends Date for PHAs to Apply For Landlord-Incentive MTW Cohort

The notice extends the deadline for PHAs to apply to participate until Friday, October 15. The cohort will evaluate landlord incentives and their effect on landlord participate ion the Housing Choice Voucher program. Read article

Late yesterday, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) published Notice PIH 2018-17, offering eligible PHAs the opportunity to apply for admission to the Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration under the first cohort of the recent expansion, and providing the two-step application process to do so. HUD republished in the Federal Register the operations notice on the MTW expansion yesterday. While the operations notice does cover the implementation and continued operations of MTW agencies selected through the expansion, it does not include the application instructions. Notice PIH 2018-17, however, lays out those instructions in detail:

On Friday in the Federal Register, HUD published an operations notice for the expansion of the Moving to Work (MTW) program. The 2016 MTW Expansion Statute allows HUD to increase the size of the program from 39 agencies to 139 agencies over a seven-year period. MTW agencies are given flexibility to develop alternative housing program policies aimed at reducing program costs, increasing self-sufficiency of assisted families, and increasing housing choice.

Registration for the annual Moving to Work (MTW) national conference in Washington, DC, is now open to all housing agencies! Whether you're an MTW agency or interested in becoming one, the 2018 MTW Conference will provide you with a greater understanding of the possibilities the MTW program provides, from serving special populations and increasing affordable housing opportunities to strategies to targeted self-sufficiency programs and addressing homelessness. View the full agenda online here

As manager of research and industry intelligence at HAI Group's Public and Affordable Housing and Research Center (PAHRC), Dr. Keely Stater leverages nearly fifteen years of social science research to oversee PAHRC’s research activities and data holdings. Prior to working at HAI Group, Keely was an assistant professor at University of Georgia and has also taught at Trinity College and the University of Connecticut. As a researcher, her work includes publications on affordable housing, public administration, and civic engagement. Keely holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Notre Dame.