Los Angeles Office of Public Housing
Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2013
Serving Southern California

Los Angeles community-police partnership recognized with $25,000 national award for innovation and impact

MetLife Foundation honors alliance to revitalize East Los Angeles

Los Angeles community-police partnership recognized with $25,000 national award for innovation and impact MetLife Foundation honors alliance to revitalize East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, CA (November 14, 2012): Local community development leaders along with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Community Development Commission and Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles were recognized nationally for their innovation in promoting community safety through strategic economic development and creative partnerships.

The Los Angeles County Community Development Foundation received a MetLife Foundation Community Police Partnership Award during an 11:00 a.m. ceremony on November 14th at the Nueva Maravilla Community Center in East Los Angeles. Representatives for Supervisor Gloria Molina, Housing Commissioner Alma Cibrian, and Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Commander Henry Romero attended, while MetLife representatives presented this prestigious award to the community during a celebration. During the awards ceremony past Nueva Maravilla resident, Rosie Vasquez described how the community became safer from 1994 to 2004. Ms. Vasquez is now a nurse with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Terry Mansky, Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, also shared the importance of a safe community to Coffee Bean's decision to invest in a new store in East Los Angeles in 2004.

The Los Angeles community safety partnership was selected as a first place winner from more than 560 applicants nationwide for one of 10 MetLife Foundation honors. The Los Angeles County Community Development Foundation received $25,000 to advance this safety partnership from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which has administered the MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards program for 11 years.

"Collaboration between community-based groups and police departments can reduce crime, stimulate housing and business activity, and improve the quality of life in low-income neighborhoods," said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. "The Los Angeles County partnership is an exemplary model for groups nationwide facing similar challenges and opportunities."

"We are so proud that the hard work and creativity of Los Angeles groups are being recognized on the national stage," said Los Angeles LISC executive director Claudia Lima, "The Reimagining East L.A. work with the Sherriff's department has strengthened this neighborhood in ways that are seen and felt by residents and business owners every day. We are proud to join MetLife Foundation in celebrating the great strides they have made in improving the safety and vitality of this community."

In 1997, the Los Angeles County Community Development Foundation (CDF) and the Community Development Commission and the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (CDC/HACoLA) began to partner with the L.A. Sheriff's Department (LASD) to combat the drug dealing and gang activity in the Nueva Maravilla housing complexes. A comprehensive Community Policing Program was initiated that included crime prevention, youth and adult intervention, and enforcement strategies.

By 2003, the collaborative efforts of CDF, CDC/HACoLA, and LASD to reduce crime began to expand its focus to include the community surrounding Nueva Maravilla. During that year, the Maravilla Community Advisory Committee (CAC) was intentionally created as a means of integrating the diverse Maravilla stakeholders, including representatives from business owners, community leaders, developers, social service providers, and law enforcement. This strategic alliance planned and oversaw major redevelopment activity linked to crime reduction and economic growth strategies.

"We are proud of this partnership and how our combined efforts have helped to build better lives and better neighborhoods for Los Angeles County residents." stated Sean Rogan, CDC/HACoLA Executive Director.

"The Maravilla neighborhood has undergone a tremendous transformation over the past 20 that truly shatters the image that associates poverty with crime and gang-life." said CDF Executive Director, Jennifer Blackwell-Trotter. "This change is only possible with the leadership, determination, and vision of the entire community to reimagine East LA as a safe and vibrant community."

"Since 1993, the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) and the L. A. County Sheriff's Department have partnered together to combat crime in and around the Nueva Maravilla housing site," said Captain Robert J. Tubbs, the Unit Commander of the Community Oriented Policing Services Bureau. "The commitment of HACoLA to establish a dedicated Community Policing Program has truly made a significant difference in our communities. This partnership has been extremely successful in reducing crime and improving the quality of life for families living in public housing."

From program inception, violent, property and drug crimes declined from 239 to 41 at the Nuevan Maravilla public housing site.

SUMMARIZATION SCHEDULE

FOR

JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2013

1. The Monthly Summarization extract is run the First Friday of the month and continues throughout the weekend. The summarization process starts, barring any complications, at about 5pm Pacific Standard Time. If something hangs that part of the summarization is rerun the next weekend.

• Data received and processed before the First Friday cutoff will be included in the reports if its effective date falls within the report date range. HAs must make sure the 50058 submissions are completed the Thursday prior to the commencement of the summarization process.
• HAs need to ensure that they maintain a reporting rate of 97% or higher since REAC will be monitoring on a monthly basis the Delinquency Report from PIC along with the PIC Reexam Report.
• Monthly summarization reports are generated based on the effective date of the actions. Therefore, whatever the effective month of the action, that will be included in that month ending report. For example, if a PHA submitted a 50058 with an effective action date of January 2011, it will show in the January 31, 2011 reports, etc.
• The monthly summarization reports are generated based on the effective date of the actions. So whatever the effective month of the action, that will be included in that month ending report.
• Exceptions to First Friday summarization are made when:

1. The First Friday falls during a software release
2. The monthly summarization fails to run successfully, and/or
3. Other operational problems prevent the running of the summarization that weekend.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESETTING PASSWORD

Please be advised that your HUD-PIH EIV Coordinator or agency User Administrator cannot reset your HUD Secure System password. For password resets, you must go to: https://hudapps.hud.gov/reac/wass/resetPwd.html, and provide the requested information and then click on the Reset Password button at the bottom of the form.

In an effort to further protect the privacy and security of data submitted to REAC by our business partners, Secure Systems passwords will begin to expire every sixty (60) calendar days. The 60-day clock will start ticking the first time a user logs in to Secure Systems on or after April 5, 2005. When a user's password expires, he/she will be presented with the "Change Password" page instead of the Secure Systems main menu. All Secure Connection users will be required to create a new password at each expiration notice.

Note: Passwords must be eight (8) characters in length, should be comprised of both mixed case letters and numbers, and are case sensitive. The new password must be different from the last ten passwords the user has had. Each time a password is changed, the 60-day clock resets.

If you require additional assistance, you may contact the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) Technical Assistance Center (TAC). Their contact information is REAC_TAC@hud.gov

Contacting REAC for Assistance

The TAC serves as the primary point of contact for PIH program and business area inquiries. Customers may call the TAC Monday through Friday, 7:00am - 8:30pm EST.

: TAC Notice :

When calling choose the best option for your request, be logged into the REAC system, be ready to share:

• your ID number
• PHA Code
• Tax ID number (TIN) number
• FHA number
• FYE
• error message and
• another specific information needed to answer your inquiry.

When emailing REAC please copy on the email Martha.E.Murillo@hud.gov.

Take Notice of PIH Notices!

The Energy Performance Information Center (EPIC)

What is EPIC?

The Energy and Performance Information Center (EPIC) is a program designed to collect summary capital fund grant activity and energy efficiency measures (EEM) - planned and completed - being implemented with PIH Capital Fund or Replacement Housing Factor (RHF) grants.

Reporting in EPIC

PHAs are required to report their activities in EPIC on a quarterly basis after the conclusion of each quarter. PHAs must submit a report for all open Capital Fund and RHF grants following the schedule below:

Accessing EPIC

EPIC can be found at: http://portal.hud.gov/app_epic. Please add this to your Favorites in your web browser for easy future access.

Registration and User ID

If you had a user ID for Recovery Act Management and Performance System(RAMPS) prior to March 29, 2012, the same user ID will be valid in EPIC. If you were not registered with the RAMPS system, you will need to register as a new user in EPIC.

If you are a Housing Authority user and you do not have a WASS user ID number, you first need to get a Secure Systems log in ID (WASS user ID) and password by going to the Secure Systems user registration page: https://hudapps.hud.gov/public/wass/public/pha/phareg_page.jsp. Once you have a Secure Systems logon ID and password, please send an email to EPICHelp@hud.gov  to request access to EPIC. In your email request, include your M number, your PHA code, your full name and your office telephone number.

Help!

• Email EPICHelp@hud.gov
• You may also use the password reset self-service utility at: https://hudapps.hud.gov/reac/wass/resetPwd.html.
• For more information, please visit http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/ph/capfund/epic
• HUD Monitoring of PHA Program Compliance
• Deadlines for Quarter 1 FY 2013
• As part of its internal controls efforts, the Department's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) continuously monitors the timeliness and accuracy of tenant information reported to the Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC). REAC performs data comparisons of tenant information reported in PIC to data obtained from other Federal databases to validate the accuracy of tenant-reported Social Security Numbers (SSNs), names, and date of birth. The intended outcome of this monitoring is to identify, reduce, and recover improper payments within HUD's rental assistance programs; improve the accuracy and integrity of tenant data; and to verify Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) compliance with PIC reporting and use of the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system. 

What REAC monitors and what the PHAs should be monitoring on a monthly (m) or quarterly (q) basis:

• PIC Delinquency Report (m)
• PIC Reexam Report (m)
• EIV PHA Usage Report
• EIV Deceased Tenants Report (m)
• EIV Identity Verification Report (m)
• EIV Multiple Subsidy Report (q)
• EIV Immigration Report (m)
• EIV Income Report (m)
• Tenant Unreported Income (m)
•  
• If further assistance and/ or questions regarding the notice of deficiencies for the reports due by the respective deadlines, please contact Martha.E.Murillo@hud.gov.

HUD Monitoring of PHA Program Compliance

Deadlines for Quarter 1 FY 2013

As part of its internal controls efforts, the Department's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) continuously monitors the timeliness and accuracy of tenant information reported to the Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC). REAC performs data comparisons of tenant information reported in PIC to data obtained from other Federal databases to validate the accuracy of tenant-reported Social Security Numbers (SSNs), names, and date of birth. The intended outcome of this monitoring is to identify, reduce, and recover improper payments within HUD's rental assistance programs; improve the accuracy and integrity of tenant data; and to verify Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) compliance with PIC reporting and use of the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system.

What REAC monitors and what the PHAs should be monitoring on a monthly (m) or quarterly (q) basis:

• PIC Delinquency Report (m)
• PIC Reexam Report (m)
• EIV PHA Usage Report
• EIV Deceased Tenants Report (m)
• EIV Identity Verification Report (m)
• EIV Multiple Subsidy Report (q)
• EIV Immigration Report (m)
• EIV Income Report (m)
• Tenant Unreported Income (m)

If further assistance and/ or questions regarding the notice of deficiencies for the reports due by the respective deadlines, please contact Martha.E.Murillo@hud.gov.

Proactive Exchange Round up!

On February 13, 2012, the 2012 Quarter Proactive Exchange was hosted by the Los Angeles Office of Public Housing. Housing Authorities from Southern California gathered at the HUD Los Angeles Field Office, the HUD Santa Ana Field Office, and the HUD San Diego Field Office to share ideas and information regarding the administration of our programs.

The following topics were discussed by Housing Authority and HUD staff:

• United Way Home For Good Campaign
• Closing Capital Fund Programs and Procurement
• Operating Subsidy and Housing Choice Voucher CY 2013
• HUD Program Monitoring Compliance

The next Proactive Exchange is scheduled for May 7, 2012. We encourage your participation in this event where valuable information is shared. Please feel free to submit ideas for discussion topics to Maria Granata at maria.j.granata@hud.gov.

Helpful Links

PHA staff can use this tool to forecast the relationship between current leasing and future funding.

Two Year Forecasting Tool: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv

The Public Housing Occupancy Guidebook is a reference tool to assist PHA staff with issues related to HUD Public Housing occupancy and leasing.
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUDsrc=/program_offices/
public_indian_housing/programs/ph/rhiip/phguidebook

The Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) Technical Assistance Center analyszes data and develops objective performance scores. PHA staff can use the REAC technical assistance for helpful links. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/reac/support/tac

At the POST Website, PHA staff can obtain quick access to PIH systems, tools, training opportunities, program requirements, commonly used external websites, PIH contacts for using Public Housing one stop tool on http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/post

Two New Points of Contact

HUD recently set up two email boxes for the following subjects:

1) Energy Performance Contract (EPC) mailbox Pih_epc_policy@hud.gov

Send email to the above mailbox if you have any inquiry on green retrofits or general EPC issues.

2) Public Housing mailbox publichousingpolicyquestion@.hud.gov

The above mailbox is dedicated to inquiries regarding PH waiting list, occupancy, or general PH issues.

Goodbye to a friend

Percy Taylor, former Facilities Management Specialist in the HUD Los Angeles Office of Public Housing, passed away in February 2013. He retired in 2008 and enjoyed spending time with friends, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He will be deeply missed.

Website for the below calendar : http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/post/calendar

Due Dates for 2013

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