Northwest Notes

Office of Public Housing

Region X - Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington
FY2012 Quarter II

The Director's Corner

In this edition we begin by highlighting the successes and opportunities of the HUD-VASH program in Northwest, Region X. As we enter the third quarter of FFY 2012, we are all well underway with the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act (Minibus) 2012, "HUD Appropriations Act" enacted November 18, 2011 (P.L. 112-55), that included a number of PHA program funding opportunities. The list of FY2012 programs available is on HUD's website and www.grants.gov/.

Field Offices are reviewing PHA HCV lease up data for potential shortfall situations, as well as monitoring PH occupancy and vacancy rates. Some of you may be contacted by field office team members to gather more current data and discuss options that might be available to address any potential negative situations. We thank you in advance for your cooperation in working to resolve any concerns. Our goal is to ensure your PHA is in a position to make fully informed choices with regard to HCV utilization and PH occupancy to enhance, strengthen and sustain our communities.

On behalf of Office of Public Housing team members in the Seattle, Portland & Anchorage offices, we hope this newsletter is helpful to you. Let us know if there are items you would like to see in future newsletters.

Joy McCray, Program Center Coordinator
Office of Public Housing
Portland

Harlan Stewart, Director
Office of Public Housing
Seattle

Bellingham Housing Authority Employee Awarded VA Community Partner Award

Debbie Lagman, Bellingham Housing Authority (BHA) Leasing Specialist, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), to receive the "Community Partner Heart of a Social Worker" Award.

During the month of March 2012, VA Social Workers honor various individuals and organizations for their contributions to the Veteran community. VA Social Worker Gary Dolin nominated Debbie for her outstanding work in the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. The VASH program combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans, with case management and clinical services provided by the VA.

"Debbie Lagman has worked tirelessly with me to ensure that our project and tenant based vouchers are filled as quickly and as efficiently as possible," says Gary Dolin. "She has displayed the highest quality of professionalism, dedication and commitment to the HUDVASH Program. She continues to go beyond the 'call of duty' on a personal and professional level to be helpful to Veterans. I am so very fortunate to be partnered with her and the BHA."

Debbie has been working with BHA's VASH program since they received their initial VASH vouchers that were appropriated in 2010. "I thoroughly enjoy working with our Veterans," she says. "It is an honor to know that they trust me and have allowed me to help them secure housing." Debbie brings a personal connection to the Veteran community. Her husband was a service person in the U.S. Navy and has first hand experience of military family life. "Throughout our time in the military my family has met many Veterans. All around the world, they are there working at our bases; they mentor and advise those new to their duty stations; they 'adopt' you; they become your family away from family. They become part of your community when you are worlds away from your own communities."

Debbie Lagman, Leasing Specialist, along with Gary Dolin from the VA, Joe Nagel from City Gate, and Carol Sheets, the National Director of Social Work, at the VA luncheon.

Though there are many challenges to successfully implementing the HUD-VASH program, Debbie credits the strong partnership between BHA and Gary Dolin for making a difference in Veteran homelessness in Whatcom County. "Gary is great to work with. He is 'real' and has developed trusting relationships with the Veterans. Together, we have developed a strong working relationship, meeting face to face at least monthly and talking frequently regarding any issues or obstacles."

Debbie has countless inspirational stories of her work with Veterans. Recently she met with one of her clients who was adding his 18 year old son to his household. "As I was briefly explaining to the son the program rules and reviewing that his father was selected to receive one of our VASH vouchers due to him being a Vet, the son put his hand on his dad's shoulder." Debbie tells of the look of pride on his son's face. "It was a priceless moment to witness."

Debbie and the social workers at the VA know just how important their work is. She goes on to say, "I want the Veterans that I work with to know that they matter. One application at a time…one by one they add up to make a difference."

Debbie received the "Community Partner Heart of a Social Worker" recognition at an award ceremony and luncheon held at the Seattle Veterans Affairs office in Seattle, WA on March 28, 2012.

HUD & VA Award Rental Assistance to 610 More Homeless Veterans Across Region 10

On March 27, 2012, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announce they would provide HUD rental vouchers and VA case management to 610 more veterans in the Northwest Region. 50 will be awarded in Alaska, 50 in Idaho, 185 in Oregon, and 325 in Washington State. For these four states, the 2012 Appropriations Bill provided $3,770,409 to fund the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (VASH) vouchers. These newly awarded vouchers add to the 2283 VASH vouchers already awarded since 2008 to house homeless veterans across the Northwest region. 

For the HUD-VASH program, PHAs work closely with VA Medical Centers (VAMC). Supportive services and case management is provided by VAMC in various jurisdictions. The VA case managers work closely with homeless veterans to address their needs, and then refer them to PHAs for rental assistance. HUD-VASH vouchers include both the rental assistance from HUD and the case management services from the VA.

This funding to PHAs help support the Obama Administration's commitment to end Veteran Homelessness. The 2012 appropriations for VASH vouchers total $75 million dollars to house approximately 10,5000 homeless veterans. This award is the first of two rounds of awards, with the next round expected to be announced this summer

Meet the HUD Staff – Portland

In order to get to know the HUD staff, NW Notes will feature office photos. This quarter features the Portland Office. From left to right - Betsy Marsh, Financial Analyst. Jackson Chan, Facilities Management Specialist. Dan Esterling, Portfolio Management Specialist. Ray Phung, Program Analyst. Joy McCray, Program Center Coordinator. Laura Walters, Program Assistant. Deborah Mann, Public Housing Revitalization Specialist. Chad Trepinski, Public Housing Revitalization Specialist. Not Pictured: Donna Nye, Public Housing Revitalization Specialist. 

HUD Portland staff

IMS-PIC

PIH Notice 2011-65

PIH Notice 2011-65, titled Timely Reporting Requirements of the Family Report into the Public and Indian Housing Information Center, was published on November 30, 2011. The purpose of this notice was to extend notice PIH 2010-25, which established timeframes for timely reporting of HUD-50058 and explained modifications and clarified Family Self-Sufficiency requirements.

The revised notice makes two changes. Section 4.A. has been revised to only require reporting Issuance of Voucher (action code 10) for new admissions and portability move-in's only. This relieves PHAs from having to process an Issuance for those attempting to change units. Changes to section 4.B. are related to certain fields of Section 17 of the 50058 that require completion.

Reporting Special Purpose Vouchers
In tracking the utilization of special purpose vouchers, like FUP and VASH, HUD has noticed a large discrepancy between VMS and PIC numbers. When submitting 50058s for special purpose voucher participants, PHAs need to be sure that the special purpose code reported on line 2n is being carried forward in each 50058. Family Reporting Software and other PHA reporting software may not be automatically carrying this field over. PIC does not check previous 50058s to see if there was something in that field. If there is no code on that line, PIC assumes they are no longer in the program and thus are not counted in any reports. As Congress is very interested in the outcome of these special programs, its essential their reporting is complete and accurate.

Field 4c on the 50058, Homeless at Admission
HUD has noted that a significant number of HUD-VASH family reports have "N" marked in field 4c of form 50058 when a HUD-VASH household's information is submitted into IMS/PIC. Field 4c asks whether or not a household is homeless upon admission into a public housing or voucher program. It is possible that in some systems, "no" is the default answer for field 4c. Therefore, please make sure that all PHA staff make a concerted effort to mark "Y" in field 4c of the 50058 for all HUD-VASH families.

Family Reporting Software moving from FRS 4.0 to FRS 5.0
For those PHAs who use the Family Reporting Software (FRS) for the generation and transmission of Form 50058 to IMS-PIC, the FRS software must be updated by April 27, 2012. The version will be updating from 4.0 to 5.0. The old version 4.0 is not compatible with any newer computers who use a 64-bit operating system, or that run Windows Vista or Windows 7. After the April 27, 2012 deadline, there will not longer be any support and updates for FRS 4.0; any new updates will be for FRS 5.0. To update to version FRS 5.0, visit HUD's website. Follow the instructions, which include how to back up and transfer FRS data.

Fair Housing Training in an Area Near You

Below is a link to the available Fair Housing Training across Region 10. All the training is free, but space is limited. So please register early. The website lists both on-site trainings and remote Live Meeting trainings. 

REAC Training Tools Now Available Online

In an effort to improve communications and customer service with clients across the country, the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) has released a series of training tools online. These are posted on YouTube for easy accessibility. REAC hopes that these tools will provide those who work with REAC a better understanding of the many aspects of REAC and their processes. Below are links to the videos currently available. Please note that all videos are stored on YouTube.com and will open in a new window/tab

Physical Assessment Subsystem (PASS)

Technical Assistance Center (TAC)

Updates on "Delivering Together" Initiative

The FY12 Q1 newsletter brought a story about the Public and Indian Housing One-Stop Tool (POST) website. This new website delivering easy access to PIH systems and tools was developed as part of the Delivering Together Initiative. This Initiative works to address problems with HUD's delivery of service and information. The Delivering Together team is improving and revamping HUD resources to streamline their use. The newest changes were made in response to two recommendations to address the burden associated with HUD forms. One recommendation was to remove expired or obsolete forms. The other recommendation was to make HUD forms listed in HUDCLIIPS fill-able and save-able. Below is a brief summary of the new updates from the Delivering Together Team:

Fill-able and Save-able HUD Forms: One of the Delivering Together recommendations was to make PIH HUD forms fill-able and savable. The Delivering Together team reviewed all of the PIH forms on HUD's website and identified forms that were not savable and fill-able. In the past, HUD used Adobe Acrobat to post forms on HUDCLIPS (HUD's forms website).The Department has since changed the software standard to Nuance; therefore, PHAs that wish to download and save forms to their local drives must first download the Nuance software. The steps for downloading the software can be found on HUD's website. Once Nuance has been downloaded, refer to the following instructions for downloading, completing, and saving PIH forms: (1) find the needed form on HUDCLIPS and right-click on the form name, (2) when the dialog box opens, choose "save target as" and select the computer location for the file you want to save, (3) open the Nuance PDF Reader and use the "file open" command on the menu, (4) select the form you previously saved to the computer, and (5) complete the form and "save as" with a file name reflecting the subject or date of the form. You have now successfully saved a completed copy of the form. You can open the document later to make and save further changes to it if you desire. In addition, if you identify any problems in filling out or saving PIH HUD forms, please send an email (HUDCLIPS@hud.gov). Keep your eyes open for many other Delivering Together customer service improvements being implemented in the near future!
Arlette Mussington, Office of Program Policy and Legislative Initiatives.

Outdated and Obsolete Forms: HUDCLIPS is the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) official source for program forms. Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) noted that, in some instances, obsolete or unused HUD forms were listed on the HUDCLIPS website. The Delivering Together team and the Public and Indian Housing Office of Program Policy and Legislative Initiatives (OPPLI) set out to solve the problem. They identified forms on HUDCLIPS that had expired and reviewed the information required by the over 200 PIH forms posted on HUD's website to determine whether PHAs are still required to submit such information. As a result, a total of 40 obsolete forms have been removed from the HUDCLIPS website. Going forward, in order to further reduce PHA burden, OPPLI will continue to regularly review all posted forms to ensure that they are current and active. Keep your eyes open for many other Delivering Together customer service improvements being implemented in the near future!
Larry W. Keys, Jr., Office of Program Policy and Legislative Initiatives

Family Self-Sufficiency Application Deadlines are Approaching

Recently, HUD has released two Notice of Funding Availability (NOFAs) for the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program. The deadline to apply for both of these grants is rapidly approaching. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) FSS NOFA application was open on February 16, 2012 and closes on April 24, 2012. The Public and Indian Housing FSS Program, under ROSS FSS, was posted on April 10, 2012 and closes on May 30, 2012. The NOFAs and information on how to apply can be found at the links below, and here (www.grants.gov). To start or continue your FSS program, please be sure to apply by the deadlines.

HCV FSS
PIH FSS (ROSS FSS)

Recently Published Guidance

PIH Notices

Federal Register Notices

E-Memos (electronic memoranda)

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