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FY 1999 Annual Performance PlanStrategic Objective 7Promote Equal Housing Opportunities for Those Protected by Law
Introduction
As HUD fundamentally alters its organizational structure and
reforms its management approach to administering its programs,
its new strategy for promoting equal housing opportunity must
focus all discretionary elements of the fair housing program (human,
financial and material resources) more effectively and measure
their impact more precisely than before.
This strategy, a significant departure from previous approaches,
is designed to respond to the challenges of the Results Act, maximize
the effective use of the new FHEO structure, and make use of the
HUD management reforms. It will increase the emphasis on "partnering"
both within the Department and externally with HUD program recipients
and those organizations and individuals who, whether recipients
or not, have a major stake in helping to create a Nation of open
communities.
HUD's efforts to promote equal housing opportunities go beyond
enforcement. Discrimination is reality for many Americans, particularly
the poor. HUD's programs and initiatives strive to provide housing,
employment, and services to disadvantaged Americans, many of whom
are ethnic minorities. Thus, HUD's programs such as Section 8,
CDBG, and HOME, which are targeted to the poor, necessarily have
as their end the promotion of equal opportunity. Strategies
Demonstrate the impact of FHEO programs on expanding housing
opportunities and addressing discrimination in measurable ways
by concentrating program resources in a selected number of communities.
FHEO will develop criteria to select a fixed number of communities
in all of the ten field offices that our program operates. These
selections will be made to assure a reasonable representation
of communities with a variety of geographic, demographic and program
characteristics revealing civil rights problems so that they will
be fairly representative of the diverse nature of fair housing
program challenges nationwide.
The full range of FHEO enforcement, compliance and program activities
will be provided in these locations with the objective of reducing
discrimination in housing and housing related services in those
communities by application of a focused civil rights effort.
The program will build upon the identification and analysis of
impediments to fair housing and a community's plan to address
them.
Expand in measurable ways the impact that HUD's programs and
the housing and urban development-related programs of other Federal
Departments and agencies have on housing opportunities by focusing
Federal resources on promoting greater housing choice.
This objective is key to the impact that HUD's housing and urban
development programs will have on the success or failure of HUD's
entire Strategic Plan. The extent to which HUD succeeds in any
of its other strategic objectives will depend directly upon the
degree to which it succeeds in its more focussed and coordinated
approach to creating greater housing mobility and choice for all,
especially lower income and minority families. Without such opportunities,
the Department will be unable either to provide a continuum of
housing and services to assist homeless individuals and families
or to increase the availability of affordable housing to low-income
and minority families to reduce their isolation.
Failure to achieve greater housing mobility and choice will also
make impossible the empowerment and self-sufficiency of low-income
individuals and families needing desperately to make the transition
from welfare to work. This will also mean confining whatever
homeownership opportunities they may have to the urban core where
good jobs are scarce.
Partner with "stakeholders" in the chosen communities
to seek and expand upon areas of common ground and shared interests
in working toward the goals of equal housing opportunity and open
communities.
FHEO will seek partnerships with civil rights, disability advocacy
organizations, private fair housing groups; community-based institutions
such as churches, temples, and neighborhood associations; housing
industry groups such as mortgage lenders, property insurance providers,
sales and rental housing-related associations and building code
organizations; and State and local Government agencies such as
real estate licensing agencies, social service agencies, and civil
rights enforcement agencies, state attorneys general; even those
having a stake in the outcomes FHEO seeks.
Where the potential outcomes are perceived positively, FHEO will
work with those stakeholders to facilitate their involvement in
achieving them. Where the outcomes are viewed with fear and suspicion,
FHEO will seek through dialog and outreach to alter perceptions
in a more positive and constructive direction. Linkage to HUD 2020: Management Reform Plan
FHEO faces challenges in fragmented responsibilities and lack
of accountability; duplication of Field Office oversight functions;
inefficient separation of staff resources between enforcement
and program/compliance; and inadequate use of technology.
To overcome these problems, FHEO will cross-train staff, consolidate
Field Office oversight and policy functions; integrate fair housing
principles through HUD's other program areas; create mechanism
to assure coordinated development and dissemination of uniform
FHEO policy, regulations and public information; and make greater
use of other area's technology.
Specifically, FHEO will consolidate existing organizations and
employees and contract where appropriate with outside investigators,
auditors and attorneys. Community Resource Representatives (See
also Objective #1) will be trained in fair housing laws, issues
surrounding Section 8 recipients, and other pertinent fair housing
issues. A process will be established to ensure that fair housing
compliance is included in assessing PHAs. Section 3 will be moved
from FHEO to the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization,
to take advantage of greater expertise in economic development
and procurement. External Factors
A key underlying factor over which HUD has little influence is
simply the nature and extent of discrimination in the society.
Conceivably, Americans will become more accepting of people who
are different and discrimination will diminish. It is, however,
equally conceivable that discrimination will increase or become
a policy issue in different aspects of American life. In either
case, the result will be important and would be largely out of
HUD's control.
Broad economic factors undoubtedly are also key. Vigorous, sustained
economic growth should provide opportunities for minorities and
women to succeed. With greater economic success among disadvantaged
groups, one would expect greater integration in other aspects
of society. Conversely, economic decline likely will result in
greater social rigidity.
The education system and its results are important external factors.
Where segregated schools result in different levels of achievement
by people of different ethnicities, it is more difficult to achieve
integration in other aspects of society. Annual Performance Goals A comprehensive, targeted approach to combating housing discrimination will result in a level of effectiveness that will have a measurable impact on reducing discriminatory practices. The measures of effectiveness of concentrating FHEO program resources in selected communities allows us to determine the steps necessary to carry out the larger strategy on a national basis. The successful outcomes from these targeted activities will provide the base from which FHEO can expand its efforts to additional communities in the future.
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Content Archived: November 29, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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