CUOMO ANNOUNCES PLAN TO HELP RESIDENTS OF HUD-ASSISTED HOUSING IN 18 STATES GET JOBS AND HELP IMPROVE HOUSING AUTHORITY OPERATIONS

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development will work with well-managed housing authorities in 18 states to launch new initiatives that will help people living in HUD-assisted housing move from welfare to work and help housing authorities improve their operations, Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced today.

"We will give well-run housing authorities new flexibility from HUD regulations so they can help more residents get jobs and become self-supporting," Cuomo said. "This benefits residents by giving them a chance to climb out of poverty and into the middle class under their own power."

The new flexibility will also enable housing authorities to do a better job administering public housing and rental subsidies under the Section 8 program, Cuomo said.

Housing authorities will be given new powers to operate, produce, modernize and replace public housing, and to help low-income residents become homeowners under the three-year demonstration initiative, Cuomo said.

"We are rewarding some of the best housing authorities in the country with unprecedented freedom from HUD regulations because we think they can design local initiatives that will succeed," Cuomo said.

The housing authorities will work with HUD to negotiate individual plans.

The following Housing Authorities are part of the Moving To Work demonstration:

ALABAMA: Birmingham Housing Authority.

CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles County Housing Authority, San Diego Housing Commission, San Mateo Housing Authority, Tulare Housing Authority.

DELAWARE: Delaware State Housing Authority.

FLORIDA: Tampa Housing Authority.

KANSAS: Lawrence Housing Authority.

KENTUCKY: Louisville Housing Authority.

OKLAHOMA: Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation.

MASSACHUSETTS: Cambridge Housing Authority, Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development.

MINNESOTA: Minneapolis Housing Authority.

NEBRASKA: Lincoln Housing Authority.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Keene Housing Authority.

NORTH CAROLINA: High Point Housing Authority.

OHIO: Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority, Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority.

OREGON: Portland Housing Authority.

TEXAS: San Antonio Housing Authority.

UTAH: The Utah Consortium, which consists of Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Davis County, Utah County, Provo City, and Ogden City.

WASHINGTON: Seattle Housing Authority, Vancouver Housing Authority.

WISCONSIN: Stevens Point Housing Authority.

Moving to Work Demonstration Application Ranking