The Moving To Work (MTW) program, authorized by section 204 of the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, offers a
limited number of housing authorities the opportunity to design and test innovative strategies for addressing the needs of their tenants and their communities.
Goals and Flexibilities
MTW agencies have the flexibility to find new approaches that accomplish three primary statutory goals:
- Reducing cost and achieving greater costs effectiveness in Federal expenditures
- Giving incentives to families with children where the head of household is working, is seeking work, or is preparing for work by participating in job training, educational programs, or programs that assist people to obtain employment and become economically self-sufficient
- Increasing housing choices for low-income families
Some of the flexibilities available include:
- Combining operating, capital, and tenant-based assistance funds into a single agency-wide funding source
- Refining rent policies for purposes such as eliminating unnecessary recertifications and simplifying those that are necessary (most, e.g., King County)
- Creating local housing programs to address local needs, such as the sponsor-based housing programs in King County, Seattle, Cambridge, Portland, etc. or Minneapolis’s mortgage foreclosure prevention and homeownership initiatives
- Streamlining development processes and using acquisition strategies to preserve or even increase the local stock of hard units (e.g., Charlotte)
MTW Agencies
As of December 2012, there are 39 housing authorities with MTW status. Each has an agency-specific MTW agreement with HUD, detailing the flexibilities granted in order to meet program goals. All agencies have had their agreements
extended through the end of FY2018 at the earliest. Each year, the housing authority completes an annual plan,
to be approved by HUD, and an annual report on the outcomes achieved.
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation*
Atlanta Housing Authority*
Housing Authority of Baltimore City*
Boulder Housing Partners
Cambridge Housing Authority*
Housing Authority of Champaign County
Charlotte Housing Authority*
Chicago Housing Authority*
Housing Authority of Columbus, Georgia+
Delaware State Housing Authority
District of Columbia Housing Authority*
Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority+
Holyoke Housing Authority+
Keene Housing Authority
King County Housing Authority*
Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority
Lincoln Housing Authority
Louisville Metro Housing Authority
Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority*
Elm City Communities (Housing Authority of the City of New Haven)*
Oakland Housing Authority*
Orlando Housing Authority
Philadelphia Housing Authority*
Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh
Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority
Home Forward (Housing Authority of Portland, OR)*
Housing Authority of the City of Reno+
San Antonio Housing Authority*
Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino*
San Diego Housing Commission*
Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo
Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara*
San Jose Housing Authority
Seattle Housing Authority*
Tacoma Housing Authority*
Tulare County Housing Authority
Vancouver Housing Authority*
*CLPHA member
+Newly designated as MTW in December 2012
Moving to Work: Interim Policy Applications and the Future of the Demonstration -- HUD Report to Congress 2010
