Notice2024-16039
Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers: Additional Implementation Guidance of the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration for Awarded PHAs
Primary source
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Published
July 22, 2024
Issuing agencies
Housing and Urban Development Department
Abstract
On July 15, 2020, HUD published a notice (Implementation Notice) implementing the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) mobility demonstration (demonstration) authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019. The demonstration was later renamed the Community Choice Demonstration (CCD). Through the Implementation Notice, HUD made available up to $50,000,000 to participating Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to implement housing mobility programs. On April 30, 2021, HUD announced its selection of PHAs that would participate in the demonstration. Those PHAs received $45.7 million in total funding under that award. On April 4, 2022, HUD issued "Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers: Implementation of the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration for Awarded PHAs, Supplementary Notice for Demonstration Participants" (Supplementary Notice) which supplemented the Implementation Notice and described additional policies and flexibilities for PHAs selected to participate in the demonstration. Building on the implementation experience since the Supplementary Notice, HUD has identified further policies and flexibilities necessary to ensure effective PHA participation in the demonstration. Additionally, this notice provides requirements related to recapture and reallocation of funds.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 140 (Monday, July 22, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 140 (Monday, July 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59144-59147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16039]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-6191-N-06]
Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers: Additional Implementation
Guidance of the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration for
Awarded PHAs
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
(PIH), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: On July 15, 2020, HUD published a notice (Implementation
Notice) implementing the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) mobility
demonstration (demonstration) authorized by the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2019. The demonstration was later renamed the
Community Choice Demonstration (CCD). Through the Implementation
Notice, HUD made available up to $50,000,000 to participating Public
Housing Agencies (PHAs) to implement housing mobility programs. On
April 30, 2021, HUD announced its selection of PHAs that would
participate in the demonstration. Those PHAs received $45.7 million in
total funding under that award. On April 4, 2022, HUD issued ``Section
8 Housing Choice Vouchers: Implementation of the Housing Choice Voucher
Mobility Demonstration for Awarded PHAs, Supplementary Notice for
Demonstration Participants'' (Supplementary Notice) which supplemented
the Implementation Notice and described additional policies and
flexibilities for PHAs selected to participate in the demonstration.
Building on the implementation experience since the Supplementary
Notice, HUD has identified further policies and flexibilities necessary
to ensure effective PHA participation in the demonstration.
Additionally, this notice provides requirements related to recapture
and reallocation of funds.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Jones, Director, Housing Voucher
Management and Operations Division, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 4214, Washington, DC 20410,
telephone number (202) 402-2677. (This is not a toll-free number). HUD
welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf
or hard of hearing, as well as individuals with speech or communication
disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible telephone
call, please visit <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs">https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs</a>.HUD encourages submission of
questions about the demonstration to be sent to:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1e565d4873717c7772776a677a7b7371706d6a6c7f6a7771705e766b7a30797168"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ac2c9dce7e5e8e3e6e3fef3eeefe7e5e4f9fef8ebfee3e5e4cae2ffeea4ede5fc">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On July 15, 2020, HUD published the Implementation Notice for the
demonstration authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019.
(85 FR 42890) Through that Implementation Notice, HUD made available up
to $50,000,000 to participating PHAs throughout the country to
implement housing mobility programs by offering housing mobility-
related services to increase the number of voucher families with
children living in opportunity areas. On April 30, 2021, HUD announced
that nine lead PHAs would participate in the demonstration and those
PHAs were awarded new housing choice vouchers, referred to as Mobility
Demonstration Vouchers (MDVs) and housing mobility-related services
funding. HUD also announced that an additional four PHAs that applied
in partnership with a lead PHA were awarded new housing choice
vouchers. Those PHAs were to receive $45.73 million in total funding
under
[[Page 59145]]
that award. Through the demonstration, the awarded PHAs will provide
approximately 9,000 families with children with better access to low-
poverty neighborhoods, high-performing schools, and other strong
community resources.
The Implementation Notice described broad parameters for selected
PHAs, including the set of housing mobility-related services that they
would likely be required to provide to families participating in the
program, the likely research design, and an estimated cost of services
per family offered participation in the program. The Implementation
Notice also described a required evaluation that would be conducted at
the selected PHAs and explained that some aspects of the program and
research design would be determined jointly by HUD (including its
evaluation contractor and technical assistance provider) in
collaboration with the selected PHAs.
On April 4, 2022, HUD supplemented the Implementation Notice with a
Supplementary Notice describing policies and flexibilities for PHAs
selected to participate in the demonstration. (87 FR 19522) After
publication of the Supplementary Notice, one PHA demonstration site
(both the lead PHA and its partner PHA), and one partnering PHA,
withdrew their participation from the demonstration. As a result of
those withdrawals, combined with funding not initially awarded, HUD now
has $1,814,262 in MDV assistance and $7,346,290 in funding for housing
mobility-related services to be awarded to PHAs previously
competitively selected under the Implementation Notice. Additionally,
as the demonstration implementation has advanced, HUD and the PHAs have
clarified additional policies necessary to promote the goals of the
demonstration and have identified policies necessary to execute the
evaluation. Finally, HUD has determined it necessary to adjust the
anticipated timelines for implementation of the selected mobility-
related services (SMRS) treatment arm. This notice describes HUD's
determination to delay the SMRS implementation timeline, additional
policies necessary to implement the demonstration, and a funding award
process.
II. Changes to SMRS Implementation Timeline
The Implementation Notice estimated that HUD would implement a
second treatment arm that would receive a subset of the services
offered under comprehensive mobility-related services (CMRS) in years
three through six of the demonstration. HUD has since determined that
it will delay the implementation of the SMRS in order to perform
additional analysis of the preliminary data being used to develop the
SMRS interventions. HUD will publish an additional Federal Register
document describing any revisions to the timelines and research design
for the introduction of the SMRS.
III. Regional PBV Plan
The Implementation Notice described that PHAs that received funding
for the development of a Regional Project-based Voucher Plan (RPBVP)
would develop the plan throughout the first three years of the
demonstration. The plan would then be submitted to HUD at the beginning
of the fourth year of the demonstration, which is May 1, 2025. Given
the demands of the initial planning period for the demonstration and
implementation, HUD recognizes that PHAs may not have had adequate time
to develop their RPBVP. Therefore, HUD is extending the deadline of the
RPBVP to the start of the seventh year of the demonstration, which is
May 1, 2027.
In addition, the RPBVP was an optional component of the
Implementation Notice and is not being studied as part of the
evaluation. HUD recognizes that PHAs may wish to reconsider their
participation in this optional component. Therefore, HUD is allowing
those PHAs awarded funding for this component to withdraw from their
obligations to develop a RPBVP. PHAs wishing to withdraw from the RPBVP
component must submit a written letter to HUD requesting withdrawal.
Written requests can be submitted via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#abe3e8fdc6c4c9c2c7c2dfd2cfcec6c4c5d8dfd9cadfc2c4c5ebc3decf85ccc4dd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1f575c4972707d7673766b667b7a7270716c6b6d7e6b7670715f776a7b31787069">[email protected]</span></a>. HUD will only allow withdrawal from
the RPBVP component for PHAs that have not already incurred substantial
expenses (i.e., more than 60 percent of awarded RPBVP funds) under the
RPBVP for which they are requesting reimbursement by HUD. PHAs must
submit their withdrawal request prior to the May 1, 2027 deadline for
plan submission. All awarded and unexpended funds from any site that
withdraws from the RPBVP component will be reallocated in accordance
with Section VIII of this notice.
At this point in the demonstration, HUD also recognizes that sites
that initially did not apply for RPBVP funding may have identified a
new need to develop a RPBVP. Therefore, HUD is also allowing PHAs that
were not initially awarded RPBVP funds to request funding for this
component. Lead PHAs wishing to request RPBVP funds for a demonstration
site must submit a written letter to HUD requesting funding. In the
request, the PHA must demonstrate that it will be able to expend the
requested funds and submit a final RPBVP by the May 1, 2027, deadline.
Written requests can be submitted via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#652d2633080a070c090c111c0100080a0b16111704110c0a0b250d10014b020a13"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9ed6ddc8f3f1fcf7f2f7eae7fafbf3f1f0edeaecffeaf7f1f0def6ebfab0f9f1e8">[email protected]</span></a>.
IV. Extension of the Demonstration Participant Enrollment Period
As described in the Implementation Notice, PHAs would enroll
families through year six of the demonstration, which would conclude on
April 30, 2027. However, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019
authorized the demonstration through October 1, 2028. In order to
provide PHAs more time to enroll families and meet their commitments,
HUD is extending the participation period for PHAs through the
statutorily authorized date of October 1, 2028. This participation
period extension is optional, and PHAs must inform HUD in writing if
they want to extend their participation period. PHAs may elect to
enroll families through April 30, 2028, or may extend for a lesser
period of time by enrolling families through December 31, 2027.
V. Mobility Demonstration Vouchers
Families with children receiving voucher assistance through an MDV
that agree to participate in the demonstration are randomly assigned to
a treatment group that receives housing mobility-related services or a
control group that receives HCV program services already offered by the
PHA to all HCV applicants and participants. Although most participants
in the demonstration are existing voucher holders, each PHA has
received an allocation of MDVs. Families that receive an MDV are
required by statute to participate in the demonstration. A family is
considered to be participating in the demonstration if they initially
enrolled in the study and were randomly assigned to either the
treatment or control group. A family that was participating in the
demonstration and subsequently withdraws from the study, or no longer
has children in the household, may continue to use their MDV. PHAs are
encouraged, however, to provide a regular turnover voucher to such
families in order to provide the MDV to a family with children actively
enrolled in the study.
As provided in the Implementation Notice, after October 1, 2028,
MDVs will no longer be restricted to the purposes of the demonstration.
The MDVs will
[[Page 59146]]
then become part of a PHA's regular HCV program and continue to be
available to the PHA upon turnover. However, due to the statutory
language authorizing them, these vouchers will continue to be
restricted to families with children (age 17 or younger).
VI. Eligible Uses of Funds
Throughout the implementation of the demonstration, PHAs and HUD
have identified additional uses of housing mobility-related services
funding that will increase effective program implementation, especially
the SMRS. These uses of housing mobility-related services funds were
not directly addressed by the Implementation Notice or the
Supplementary Notice. For the purposes of transparency and clarity, HUD
has included a discussion of these uses of funds in this notice.
PHAs participating in the demonstration must recruit and enroll
families into the study. In the Supplementary Notice, HUD provided that
each PHA site (i.e., an individual PHA or the lead PHA and its partner)
may use up to $40,000 each year for staff time and expenses related to
recruitment and enrollment. After working closely with PHAs to
understand their current time commitment for these activities, HUD is
increasing the eligible amount up to $80,000 each year.
Under the Implementation Notice, HUD provided that PHAs may use up
to $250,000 of their funding award for start-up costs. Many
participating PHAs used their funds for start-up costs related to the
CMRS. Based on the level of effort required for CMRS planning, HUD
recognizes PHAs may need additional start-up funds to assist in
planning for the SMRS. PHAs may use up to an additional $100,000 for
SMRS start-up expenditures, upon written approval from HUD.
PHAs may use their existing housing mobility-related services
funding award to pay for these activities. PHAs must update their
annual expenditure plans to reflect the amount of funds they intend to
use for these purposes and begin immediately reporting these
expenditures on their invoices and in HUD's Voucher Management System
(VMS).
VII. Demonstration Withdrawal and Recapture of Funds
In 2023, one PHA site (both the lead PHA and its partner PHA), and
one partnering PHA, voluntarily withdrew from the demonstration prior
to enrollment of any families. These PHAs remitted their funding award
to HUD, and HUD has recaptured the funds. This recapture included
$3,218,700 in housing mobility-related services funding and $1,814,262
in remaining funding for MDVs.
HUD now establishes criteria for withdrawal--whether voluntary
withdrawal on behalf of the PHA or termination of PHA participation by
HUD--to help ensure impacts to families and landlords are effectively
mitigated since all participating PHAs are well into enrollment.
Participating PHAs that wish to request to voluntarily withdraw from
the demonstration must submit a letter in writing, with an associated
board resolution, recommending withdrawal to HUD. The letter must state
the key reasons for withdrawal from the demonstration and a proposed
plan for mitigating the impact on participating families and landlords.
Upon receipt of the letter, HUD will review the PHA's request. In
determining whether voluntary withdrawal will be approved, HUD will
consider the PHA's rationale, the impact on participating families and
landlords, including any evidence that the PHA's withdrawal from the
demonstration would have an unlawful discriminatory effect on
participating families or otherwise violate civil rights requirements,
and the research evaluation. HUD will make its best efforts to honor
the PHA's request.
Adherence to the Implementation Notice, Supplemental Notice, this
Notice and the Statement of Responsibilities is critical to ensuring
the success of the demonstration. PHAs that have been materially non-
compliant with demonstration requirements may be terminated from the
demonstration and have their funding recaptured. HUD will issue a
notice of corrective action to PHAs found to be in material non-
compliance with demonstration requirements, as defined in the Statement
of Responsibilities. PHAs will have no fewer than six months to cure
any material non-compliance. If after six months, the PHA is found to
continue to be in material non-compliance, HUD may issue a notice of
intent to terminate the PHA's participation in the demonstration. The
PHA may respond to that notice and ask HUD to reconsider its
determination.
If HUD accepts a PHA's request to voluntarily withdraw or
determines that the termination of participation is necessary, HUD will
work closely with the PHA and the evaluator to develop a process by
which the PHA will carefully end their participation and implement
their plan for mitigating the impact on participating families and
landlords. The plan must include consultation from any enrolled
families to ensure that they are successfully transitioned out of the
program. After that date, the PHA will submit final invoices to PIH CCD
staff and complete final reporting in VMS, the PIH Information Center
(PIC)/Housing Information Portal (HIP) and the demonstration's Service
Delivery Tool. HUD's Financial Management Center (FMC) will reconcile
and process any final invoices and determine the amount of the
remaining grant funds. HUD FMC will then recapture the remaining funds
from the PHA.
VIII. Additional Allocation and Reallocation of Funds
As mentioned in the Supplemental Notice, after the funding awards
made on April 30, 2021, HUD had $4,127,590 in remaining housing
mobility-related services funding. After the withdrawal of one PHA
site, and one partner PHA, HUD has a total of $7,346,290 in housing
mobility-related services funding and $1,814,262 remaining in funding
for MDVs.
In any cases where a PHA that is part of a partnership site
withdraws from the demonstration, but HUD allows the remaining PHA to
continue their participation, HUD will reallocate the site's remaining
housing mobility-related services funding, any awarded RPBVP funds and
voucher assistance to the remaining PHA to support their continued
participation in the demonstration, as they will assume the
responsibilities of the withdrawn PHA.
In all other cases, for housing mobility-related services funding,
HUD will reallocate funding in two ways: (1) HUD will equally
distribute a portion of the remaining funding to all participating
demonstration sites; and/or (2) HUD may reserve a reasonable amount of
remaining funding to be distributed to sites based on need or for new
RPBVP funding, by request. HUD will review requests for need-based
funding from sites in accordance with the process described below. HUD
may reallocate funding, as needed, throughout the remainder of the
demonstration to ensure that sites have the necessary support and to
maximize utilization of available funding.
In reallocating voucher assistance for MDVs, HUD will only
reallocate recaptured voucher amounts based on need. Selected
demonstration sites were required to demonstrate their need for MDVs in
their initial applications for demonstration funding. In cases where
one PHA withdraws from a partner site, HUD will reallocate recaptured
voucher assistance from the withdrawn PHA to the remaining PHA, based
on the entire site's determination of need presented
[[Page 59147]]
in its initial application. For all other recaptured voucher
assistance, HUD will reallocate to other demonstration PHAs based on
their jurisdictional need and, when necessary, will prioritize the
awards to sites with the highest number of enrolled families.
Any recaptured RPBVP funds due to a site withdrawing from their
participation in the RPBVP component, voluntarily withdrawing from the
demonstration, or having their participation in the demonstration
terminated, will be recaptured and reallocated. Any unexpended RPBVP
funds remaining after a site completes its plan will also be recaptured
and reallocated.
PHAs wishing to request additional housing mobility-related
services funding or voucher assistance under the demonstration must
submit a request in writing to HUD. The request must include a
narrative describing the need for additional funding, as well as a
projected budget for the remainder of the demonstration showing the
full expenditure of the requested funds or utilization of the voucher
assistance. If applicable, the request should also include an amendment
of the program budget for the current year.
IX. Continued Housing Mobility-Related Services at Demonstration End
Upon the October 1, 2028 statutory end date of the demonstration,
HUD will work with sites to process final invoices and complete final
reporting in VMS, PIC/HIP and the demonstration's Service Delivery
Tool. After the demonstration ends, sites will be allowed to use
remaining housing mobility-related services funds to continue providing
any CMRS services, as described in the Implementation Notice and
subsequent notices, to any family participating in a housing mobility
program at the site. HUD will provide guidance to sites on invoicing
procedures for these funds.
Any waivers and/or alternative requirements implemented by HUD,
specific to the demonstration, will terminate upon the October 1, 2028
end date. In addition, any special uses of HCV funding or program
flexibilities expressly allowed under the demonstration (e.g., the use
of non-MDV housing assistance payments for security deposits) will also
terminate upon the October 1, 2028 end date. After the end of the
demonstration, PHAs may continue to use their awarded housing mobility-
related services funds, but the provision of services must be in
accordance with normal HCV program rules.
Dominique Blom,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 2024-16039 Filed 7-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
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