Welcome to CLPHA's Press Room
CLPHA experts welcome interview requests from print, radio, television, and online reporters and are happy to provide their insights on issues of public housing and related legislation and policy.
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David Greer
Director of Communications
During the COVID-19 quarantine, David can be reached at (202) 550-1381 or dgreer@clpha.org.
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Experts to Present First National Snapshot of Health Partnerships in Public Housing
Free Webinar Aug. 29, 12 PM ET
WASHINGTON (August 28, 2018) - Half of the nation’s public housing authorities (PHAs) are engaged in a resident health initiative, most with a health organization partner according to Health Starts at Home: A National Snapshot of Public Housing Authorities' Health Partnerships, the latest report released by the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) and the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC). The report provides the first national snapshot of PHA efforts to address residents’ health care needs and emphasizes opportunities for collaboration between the health and housing sectors.
Report authors Steve Lucas, MPH, CLPHA Health Research and Policy Manger for the Housing Is Initiative, Keely Stater, PHD, PAHRC Director of Research and Industry Intelligence, and Kelly McElwain, PAHRC Research Analyst III, will present their analysis during a free webinar on August 29, 2018 at 12:00 PM ET.
“Housing and health systems need to work together,” said Lucas, who designed and implemented the original survey that led to the report. “Public housing authorities are significant providers of housing to those in need, offering the health sector scale and expertise. We found that PHAs across the country are engaged in a wide range of partnerships with different health organizations that address various target populations and health priorities. Though there are barriers to housing-health collaboration, such as funding and staffing capacity, these can be overcome with cross-system partnerships that seek to address these needs.”
Lucas published the initial survey findings in an issue of CityScape, a research publication of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. The article, “Connecting Fragmented Systems: Public Housing Authority Partnerships with the Health Sector,” is posted to the HUD User website.
What: Free Webinar: Building PHA Health Initiatives and Cross-Sector Partnerships
When: Wednesday, August 29, 2018, 12:00 PM ET
WEBINAR RECORDING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5-jm5eF_YU&t=24s
Webinar Presenters
Steve Lucas, MPH
Health Research and Policy Manager, Housing Is Initiative,
Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
Keely Stater, PhD
Director of Research and Industry Intelligence,
Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation,
HAI Group's Research Division
Kelly McElwain
Research Analyst III,
Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation,
HAI Group's Research Division
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. CLPHA’s 70 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country. Together they manage 40 percent of the nation’s public housing program; administer 26 percent of the Housing Choice Voucher program; and operate a wide array of other housing programs. Learn more at clpha.org and on Twitter @CLPHA.
About Housing Is
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative helps establish, broaden, and deepen efforts to align affordable housing, education, and health systems to produce positive, long-term results. We are building a future where systems work together to improve life outcomes for low-income people. Learn more at HousingIs.org and on Twitter @Housing_Is.
CLPHA Opposes Administration Proposal to Increase Rent Burden on Lowest-Income Residents
WASHINGTON (May 14, 2018) - The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) strongly opposes the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) recently announced proposal to increase rent burdens on low-income residents residing in public housing and assisted housing.
The core of HUD’s rent reform proposal is to shift the burden of chronic federal underfunding of assisted housing to low-income residents who can least afford it. While there are advantages to a proposal that simplifies rent calculations and reduces administrative burdens for public housing authorities (PHAs), this proposal requires that PHAs raise rents in order to benefit from common sense rent simplification. Even with the benefit of housing assistance, many public housing residents are already spending more than 30% of their income on rent. A 2017 HUD study reported that the average Housing Choice Voucher recipient had a rent burden of 37% in 2015. Nationally, we represent PHAs serving residents in the most expensive housing markets in the country, where voucher holders are especially likely to have to incur high rent burdens to gain access to higher opportunity neighborhoods of their choice.
Given existing rent burdens, this proposal raises serious concerns about the negative impact the proposed rent calculations would have on residents. Through changes to 35% of unadjusted income for families and 30% of unadjusted income for the elderly and disabled, many assisted households would see significant rent increases. For example, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) estimates that public housing residents would see an average 36% rent increase while Housing Choice Voucher households would experience an average 23% rent increase. With an average annual household income of $21,000 for public housing residents and $16,000 for voucher holders served by HACLA, these increases represent substantial burdens that may interfere with a household’s ability to afford other necessities.
Beyond concerns regarding the fairness of further cost-burdening residents, there is some evidence to suggest that increased rents do not financially benefit PHAs and may have the opposite effect. When the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) implemented a HUD-mandated flat rent increase in 2014, impacted residents experienced an average rent increase of 46%. NYCHA saw their rent collection rate decrease among those impacted by the increase. NYCHA’s experience reflects the reality that increased rent payments only exacerbates affordability issues and puts more residents at risk of delinquency and eviction, resulting in more challenges for PHAs and less predictable revenue.
In addition to our concerns about the impacts of the proposed rent calculations, we note that the timing of these proposed changes are problematic for two reasons. First, some components of the proposal contradict important changes to housing assistance made through the recent federally enacted Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA) in 2016 by unanimous vote of the House and Senate. HUD has yet to publish implementation regulations for some of the key provisions in the bill. For example, HOTMA increased the deduction of medical expenses for elderly and disabled families and tied the deduction to inflation, while HUD’s proposal eliminates these deductions entirely. A significant number of elderly and disabled households currently use medical deductions, many of whom have substantial medical costs. We question the elimination of this deduction particularly when it is already undergoing a very different set of changes through congressionally-mandated HOTMA.
We also question the timing of these proposed changes given the fact that in 2012, HUD commissioned a four-site demonstration from MDRC to study several rent reform elements included in the proposal, including triennial recertification, elimination of income deductions, and ignorable asset limits. One of the research questions the demonstration is explicitly testing is whether these reforms reduce work disincentives and increase family self-sufficiency among families receiving vouchers. With results expected in 2019, HUD should use insights from the study to inform design of a rent reform model that most effectively promotes self-sufficiency.
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
CLPHA, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit organization working to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. It represents most of the nation’s largest public housing authorities.
Web tool targets idea-sharing and improves cross-sector
collaboration to help low-income families
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(202) 550-1381
For Immediate Release
January 28, 2021 |
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(Washington, D.C.) January 28, 2021 – Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, released the following statement upon the conclusion of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs’ nomination hearing for The Honorable Marcia L. Fudge, of Ohio, to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: “The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities applauds HUD Secretary-designate Marcia Fudge’s forceful call for expanding emergency rental assistance at her Senate nomination hearing today for individuals who are facing housing instability due to lost income or are experiencing unemployment because of COVID-19, many of whom are people of color. She understands that the $25 billion allocated to emergency rental assistance in the most recent stimulus was not enough and only a down payment.
“Right now, in back rent alone, 10 million low-income renters have accrued an average of $5,600 in rental arrears, which totals $56.3 billion. The current stimulus package will help approximately 3.5 million renters pay back rent by February. The remaining 7 million renters who are unable to pay back rent will face eviction, compounding the strain on our nation’s economy and compromising our nation’s moral responsibility to address racial inequities among our most vulnerable individuals.
CLPHA calls for Congress to immediately pass President Biden’s American Rescue Plan which contains $50 billion in emergency rental assistance, and for the Senate to swiftly confirm Secretary-designate Fudge so that she can begin her imperative work.”
About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative |
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(202) 550-1381
For Immediate Release
January 15, 2021 |
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(Washington, D.C.) January 15, 2021 – Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, released the following statement on President-elect Biden’s American Rescue Plan:
“The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities applauds President-elect Biden’s American Rescue Plan for including $35 billion in emergency rental and utility assistance and a significant extension of the eviction moratorium.
“The Biden-Harris proposal underscores the magnitude of the rental crisis facing the nation, and, when combined with the $25 billion in rental assistance from the December stimulus, finally begins to address the threat of housing instability that millions of low-income Americans are facing. To date, 11.4 million renters have accrued an average of $6,000 in back rent, totaling $70 billion in unpaid rent. President-elect Biden said last night that every day matters when keeping a roof over one’s head. The most effective model to deliver rental assistance immediately is the Housing Choice Voucher program. Its efficiency is proven, the infrastructure is in place, and it can rapidly expand to deliver the significant amount of relief proposed in the American Rescue Plan.
“CLPHA is committed to working with Congress and the Biden-Harris administration to ensure its swift passage so that Americans facing the threat of eviction don’t have to wait another day longer.”
About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative |
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January 6, 2021
(Washington, D.C.) January 6, 2021 – Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, released the following statement on the results of yesterday’s special election in Georgia:
“CLPHA congratulates Raphael Warnock on his historic victory and Jon Ossoff’s election to the United States Senate, thus securing a Democratic Senate majority. The incoming Biden-Harris administration and HUD Secretary-designate Marcia Fudge now have expanded, once-in-a-generation opportunities to improve the lives of low-income Americans who have been especially harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first course of action is for Congress to pass a new stimulus relief bill with $50 billion in emergency rental assistance that addresses housing insecurity and homelessness. These historic wins also provide momentum to permanently expand the Housing Choice Voucher program and recapitalize the public housing portfolio, both of which are concrete steps to eradicating poverty and dismantling systemic racism. CLPHA looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration and the 117th Congress to make these legislative goals happen.”
About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. CLPHA’s 70 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country. Together they manage 40 percent of the nation’s public housing program; administer more than a quarter of the Housing Choice Voucher program; and operate a wide array of other housing programs. Learn more at clpha.org and on Twitter @CLPHA .
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative
The Housing Is Initiative, led by the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, helps build a future where sectors work together to improve life outcomes. Housing stability is a critical first step to improve life outcomes for low-income children, families, and seniors; CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative is based on the premise that sectors can better meet needs when they work together. Housing Is establishes, broadens, and deepens efforts to align affordable housing, education, and health systems to produce positive, long-term results. Learn more at housingis.org and on Twitter @housing_is.
Pacific Standard quoted CLPHA Executive Director Sunia Zaterman in today's article "The Government Shutdown Could Decimate America's Subsidized Housing Programs." Of the partial government shutdown's impact on the housing market, Zaterman said, "Owners in many cities will be faced with financial disruption, foreclosure, or bankruptcy if they're not able to pay their mortgage or meet the other costs of the property... This really is going to ripple through the whole housing market system."
Zaterman added that the shutdown is likely to negatively impact landlords' perceptions of the HCV program and other federally funded rental assistance programs, observing that in light of the shutdown landlords may be discouraged from participating in the HCV program because now "[funding] is something an owner would have to calculate as a risk now that was previously not seen as a risk."
CLPHA’ Executive Director Sunia Zaterman spoke to Multi-Housing News about the disastrous effect the shutdown will have on not only on Housing Choice Voucher funding and other rental assistance programs, but also affordable housing projects, if it continues beyond February. Zaterman added that if the shutdown continues into March, for smaller landlords and property owners especially “there is a huge concern about the ripple effect and concerns about bankruptcy and foreclosure.”
However, as Zaterman noted in a January 16, 2019, joint press release accompanying a national conference call about the effects of the partial government shutdown on low-income people and communities and the affordable housing programs that serve them, the shutdown is already a catastrophe for millions who rely on HUD funding. “Anxious residents and landlords fearful of missed payments, combined with other cascading impacts due to lack of staffing at HUD, including program grants not being renewed and affordable housing development deals not being approved, amount to an unmitigated disaster for millions of low-income families,” said Zaterman.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development today issued additional information about HUD’s contingency plan so that PHAs administering the HCV program may access their HUD-held Housing Assistance Payment Reserves (HHR) under certain circumstances due the lapse in appropriations.
According to the letter, HAP renewal funds and Administrative Fees are scheduled to be paid on time for February, but HUD recognizes that the funds may not cover the monthly HAP needs as a result of additional leasing or costs.
HUD will allow access to HHR funds in situations where the failure to act “would result in an imminent threat to the safety of human life or the protection of property.”
PHAs may request HAP reserves from HUD under the following circumstances:
- To protect families that are imminent risk of termination of assistance; and/or
- PHAs that were eligible to receive a payment for January 2019 and did not receive it (e.g. first time RAD payments for a project) and need reserves to ensure that the property owner(s) receive(s) a HAP payment to continue assistance and protect the residents at the property.
Read the letter for instructions to request an additional payment covered by the HHR.
For more information on the shutdown’s impact on public and affordable housing, join today’s national conference call at 4:00 pm ET for insights from CLPHA and other housing industry experts. Click here to register.
As the partial government shutdown continues and creates more uncertainty for public housing authorities, CLPHA is collecting information on the impacts and effects of the government shutdown on housing authorities and residents.
We are particularly interested in examples regarding landlord willingness to accept new vouchers from HCV participants, and PHA decisions around issuing new vouchers.
We will be sharing your feedback with our media contacts and coalition partners (please let us know if you do not want your PHA’s name identified).
Please send any information to Emily Warren at ewarren@clpha.org as soon as possible.
CHCDF National Call to Learn About the Impacts of the Government Shutdown
CLPHA, as a member of the steering committee of the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding, will be participating in a national conference call on January 15 at 4:00 PM ET to provide updates on the latest information and guidance on how advocates can engage lawmakers to help end the shutdown.
In response to a January 5 Washington Post article focused on new research about where voucher holders live, CLPHA Executive Director Sunia Zaterman submitted a Letter to the Editor to emphasize examples of PHAs’ innovative housing mobility strategies. Although edited significantly for length, the version published in print and online describes landlord recruitment and retention efforts, and calls for additional local flexibilities and sufficient federal funding.
From the Boston Housing Authority's website:
Through a new partnership with Compass Working Capital, the Boston Housing Authority’s Family Self- Sufficiency (FSS) program has nearly tripled in size since 2020, rising to become one of the largest programs of its kind in the country.
The FSS Program is a voluntary five-year program designed to help Section 8 Voucher holders to build savings, work with a financial coach and to achieve goals such as higher education or homeownership.
“Our residents and voucher families have a lot to offer this city. All they need is a chance,” said BHA Administrator Kate Bennett. “Our Partnership with Compass Working Capital has opened up exciting new pathways out of poverty for hundreds of BHA residents and voucher families. I look forward to seeing what they do next."
Since May of last year, the program has grown from 244 active participants to 714. In May 2020, BHA’s FSS program was the 47th largest program of its kind in the United States, out of more than 700 programs. Based on enrollment growth, it is now estimated to be among the 10 largest programs nationally.” This enrollment growth is due in part to a new pilot program that connects BHA’s voucher holding population to the FSS program through the recertification process. Pilot program participants signed up for the FSS program at five-times BHA’s 2019-2020 rate.
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“This program completely changed my life,” said BHA voucher participant Simone Lopes, who enrolled in the FSS program in 2020. With help from her FSS coach, Simone was able to dramatically pay down her debts, including all of her student loans, and enroll in a public loan forgiveness program. Simone is now actively working towards fulfill her dream of owning a home. “For a parent working to raise two children, the FSS program has been an absolute godsend. This has opened up so many incredible opportunities I never imagined were possible before I started."
From the City of Boston's press release:
Mayor Kim Janey, South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation, Caritas Communities and the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) celebrated the grand opening of the O'Connor Way Senior Housing Development today in South Boston. The project has brought 46 one-bedroom units of affordable housing to South Boston using formerly vacant Boston Housing Authority land and Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) funds secured through the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
"I’m delighted to welcome the new residents of O'Connor Way Senior Housing,” said Mayor Janey. “As Boston residents age, many want to continue living in the city they’ve known and loved for their entire lives. This new development has replaced an empty lot with beautiful, affordable homes for seniors in our South Boston neighborhood."
O'Connor Way Senior Housing was built on BHA land that had been vacant for over 50 years. The development includes 24 units that are subsidized using federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and 22 units made deeply affordable through project-based vouchers administered by BHA.
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“Three years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine the beautiful community that is now standing here at O’Connor Way,” BHA Administrator Kate Bennett said. “Every unit in this new community represents a new opportunity for Boston residents to age in place with dignity and peace of mind. It is exciting to see such a creative idea come together and have such an immediate impact.”
Read the City of Boston's press release, featuring the Boston Housing Authority.
Janet Abrahams, executive director of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City and Angela Cameron, HABC vice president joined WEAA Baltimore Radio's Two Way Talk to discuss a new campaign with their local United Way that will help renters who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic via Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA funds).
From the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs' press release:
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) today highlighted that it has reached the milestone of disbursing more than $200 million in federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds throughout the state. More than $232 million in rental relief has been distributed to nearly 26,000 households to date as DCA’s Division of Housing and Community Resources continually works to increase the pace of distribution.
Additionally, DCA is announcing the start of the Eviction Prevention Program, which will pay rent arrears and future rent up to a total of 24 months, as well as utility assistance, for low-income, moderate-income, and middle-income households that have experienced an economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is made possible with $500 million in federal funding for rental assistance and $250 million in federal funding for utility assistance that was included in legislation (S-3691) Governor Murphy signed into law on August 4, 2021.
U.S. Treasury published a report on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program in June in which it described DCA as a high performer in disbursing rental assistance. The report can be found at: Emergency Rental Assistance Program | U.S. Department of the Treasury. That high rating continued in the July report with DCA’s performance near the top among states in terms of overall disbursement and funds disbursed in the month of July. All states must expend 65 percent of the first tranche of ERAP funds by September 30, 2021. U.S. Treasury tracks the amount expended on a monthly basis and, in terms of percentage of funds spent, New Jersey is currently third in the nation among state programs.
“We are proud to be in the top tier of states to get federal emergency rental assistance out, but we know even more needs to be done to help families who have struggled to pay their rent throughout this pandemic,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as DCA Commissioner. “This is why DCA continues to focus on picking up the pace of distributing funds so that as many people as possible can avoid eviction. It is also why we are launching the Eviction Prevention Program, which will help us expand income eligibility to reach even more households in need.”
HUD recently announced $105 million in available FY21 renewal grant funds to support the salaries of Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program Coordinators who connect participating families to public and private resources to increase their earned income and financial empowerment, reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance, and make progress toward economic independence and self-sufficiency. The FY21 FSS Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) contains important changes from prior years NOFO, as summarized below.
Public housing authorities (PHAs) that were funded in FY20, FY19 or FY18 must apply to Grants.gov for renewal funding under this NOFO by 11:59PM EST August 27, 2021. PHAs that did not meet the minimum number of participants requirement may also apply, because HUD is giving all PHAs a grace period year due to the impacts of COVID-19.
Changes from Previous NOFO
- Maximum Positions: HUD will not use 2020 PIC counts to limit PHAs Maximum Positions. Starting in this FY21 FSS Renewal NOFO, HUD is using a 3-year lookback period for determining PHAs Maximum Positions and will use the highest number of funded positions in the eligibility period, with all part-time positions above the first position rounded up to the next highest number of full-time positions.
- Funding Priority Categories:
- Category 1 will be to fund eligible PHAs the amount last awarded.
- Category 2, if applicable, will increase eligible PHAs part-time position above 1 full-time coordinator from a part-time position to a full-time position (from 1.5 to 2, 2.5 to 3 etc.), unless the PHA submits a Part-Time Loss Acknowledgement letter with this NOFO application.
- Category 3 will be to increase eligible PHA funding, up to the Maximum Award or the amount of PHA-approved Exception Request. If an eligible PHA requests an exception, the PHA should request the total funding request amount for all three categories.
- Salary Comparability Information: In previous NOFOs, applicants were asked to submit salary comparability information with their application. Under this NOFO, salary comparability information is NOT required. Instead, salary information will be taken from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) locality pay data.
- Maximum Funding per Position: The funding formula for Maximum Funding per Position has changed. If a PHA would like to be funded more than the Maximum per Position, the PHA must calculate the new Maximum per Position amount and submit an Exception Request with this NOFO application.
Additional Resources
- Details on an upcoming FY21 FSS NOFO webinar will be posted soon on HUD’s FSS webpage. Click here for more information.
- Click here to review the FY21 FSS Renewal Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).