HUD Seeks PHAs To Participate in Moving to Work Demonstration Program
The call has gone out! Public housing agencies (PHAs) have been invited to join the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) expanding Moving to Work demonstration program, which allows PHAs to practice greater program flexibility to meet the needs of their local communities and encourages housing choice and self-sufficiency among low-income families.
According to HUD Secretary Ben Carson: "Cultivating self-sufficiency among low-income families is central to increasing their quality of life. Moving to Work provides families with a sense of stability and greater opportunity to pursue their goals."
There now are 39 Moving to Work PHAs nationwide, and Congress has allowed HUD to expand the demonstration program to 100 additional PHAs over a seven-year period. HUD will select groups of PHAs for the program in “cohorts,” and will add the 100 new PHAs through four cohorts.
Each cohort will implement affordable housing policies that fit their unique needs. HUD then will study these tailored policy changes to learn what successful Moving to Work innovations can be applied to PHAs nationwide. HUD particularly will be assessing successes from Moving to Work flexibilities, rent reform, work requirements and landlord incentives. As part of the first cohort, HUD is looking for 30 high-performing PHAs that administer 1,000 or fewer Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing units combined. This first cohort will experiment with Moving to Work flexibilities, while a second cohort, to be announced later this year, will focus on rent reform.
We feel this program has merit and any efforts to improve the quality of public housing can only prove beneficial. Interested PHAs should consider the types of policies they would like to implement as part of the demonstration program. Examples of MTW programs previously implemented by PHAs can be found here.
Information on how to apply to become an MTW agency can be found here, or PHA’s may contact the MTW office at MTW-info@hud.gov.
