SCOPE OF ACTIVITY

The Public and Indian Housing (PIH) staff is responsible for performing functions in accordance with legislation which authorizes the Department to enter into contracts to provide assistance for the development and operation of public and Indian housing, and to provide rental assistance payments on behalf of lower-income households. The principal legislative authorization for PIH activities is the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended.

Headquarters staff perform the following principal functions in support of PIH goals:

• develop program policies, procedures and guidelines for all PIH programs (PH Capital Fund, Housing Certificate Fund, PH Operating Fund, Revitalization of Severely Distressed PH (HOPE VI), PH Drug Elimination Grants, Indian Housing Block Grants, Indian Home Loan Guarantees) including priorities for improving Public and Indian Housing through initiatives for crime reduction, economic development, and resident opportunities and self-sufficiency (ROSS);
• direct and coordinate the administration of all PIH programs and provide training, technical assistance, and procedural program guidance to the HUD Field staff, Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), Indian Housing Authorities (IHAs), and resident groups, as appropriate;
• monitor, review and evaluate Field program operations and review administrative practices of local agencies, including PHAs, IHAs, and resident groups to ensure that programs are managed efficiently and that services and assistance are provided as intended;
• provide financial assistance for use by local agencies as well as program, administrative, management, statistical and budget support; and
• manage and control program and administrative resources.

In keeping with the goal of creating a new HUD, in fiscal year 1998, the Office of Public and Indian Housing revamped its business structure to separate the enforcement, monitoring and program delivery functions. Specifically, the PIH reorganization was designed to consolidate financial, funding and processing activities, separate troubled agency recovery activities from routine PHA oversight and technical assistance functions and to enable the Hub and Program Center staffs to concentrate on the provision of technical assistance and oversight to those PHAs whose performance needs improvement. The consolidation of the financial, funding and processing activities was accomplished through the creation of three PIH centers: Grants Management, Special Applications, and Section 8 Financial Management. Location neutral, high volume activities and highly technical, non-routine applications were targeted for consolidation. Benefits of this reorganization include improved internal quality control over financial and processing functions, economies of scale, improved oversight and staff expertise.

Fiscal year 1999 was the first full year of operation for the 3 PIH Troubled Agency Recovery Centers, the Special Applications Center, the Public Housing Grants Management Center and the Section 8 Financial Management Center. All of the centers are well staffed, and have been completely integrated into the PIH functional organizational structure.

Also, in fiscal year 1999, the Office of Administration and Budget/CFO established a Procurement and Contracting Division to provide focused resources for the implementation and management of PIH's contractual responsibilities.

Previous realignment of the field offices gave Headquarters direct line supervision over the field office activities. To meet the needs of the Department under the on-going management reforms, the majority of field office employees were reclassified from specialists to generalists.

The field office consolidations yielded 27 Hubs and 16 Program Center Offices to serve approximately 3,300 PHAs. The objective of these offices is to manage and coordinate the effective and efficient delivery of HUD programs to HAs whose performance has declined. Such assistance is providing through focused technical assistance, program expertise, and where necessary, targeted intervention. Moreover, field staff have been beneficial in supplementing both PIH headquarters and field offices that experience short term, unexpected staff or skill imbalances.

The full implementation of the Centers as well as completing the established PIH Business Operating Plan (BOP) goals has caused an increase in the travel requirements for PIH. The table below identifies travel requirements unique to the PIH Organization (excluding funding from program appropriations). Travel associated with specific appropriations is identified in those justifications.

a/ 30 percent-45 percent of travel supports 2020 Management.

b/ Includes ONAP Field travel.

In fiscal year 2000, the Office of Public and Indian Housing expects to complete the technical review and reconciliation of the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation program, a task that is key to maintaining the integrity of the tenant-based assistance program. The continued focus for contractual services will be in the following areas: grants management, physical inspection of managed units, the Indian Loan Guarantee program, management and financial controls, and an interagency agreement with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for inquiry services to housing authorities regarding non-citizen immigration status.