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.
HUD published the first operations notice and request for comments on January 23, 2017. Today’s notice incorporates changes suggested in public comments and seeks further comments, which must be submitted no later than November 19, 2018.
The operations notice details the implementation and continued operations of MTW agencies selected through the expansion. It does not include application instructions, which will be issued in future PIH notices. The 16-page document covers the following 11 topics:
- Purpose and applicability of the program
- Waivers, including agency-specific and cohort-specific waivers
- The term of participation
- MTW funding flexibilities and financial reporting
- Program-wide and cohort-specific evaluation
- Program administration and oversight
- The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program
- Applying MTW flexibilities to special purpose vouchers
- The applicability of other federal, state, and local requirements
- MTW agencies admitted prior to the 2016 MTW expansion statute
- Sanctions, terminations, and default
The notice provides the following information about the 100 agencies which will be selected for the MTW expansion:
- No less than 50 PHAs shall administer 1,000 or fewer aggregate housing voucher and public housing units
- No less than 47 PHAs shall administer 1,001–6,000 aggregate housing voucher and public housing units
- No more than 3 PHAs shall administer 6,001–27,000 aggregate housing voucher and public housing units
- No PHA shall be granted MTW designation if it administers more than 27,000 aggregate housing voucher and public housing units; and
- Five of the PHAs selected shall be agencies with a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) portfolio award
