NAHRO has renamed the Small
Agencies Task Force to the Small Agencies Forum, and is
also creating Medium- and Large-Agency forums.
NAHRO Housing Committee Meeting,
re: SEVRA (Passed by the House as HR 1851 on 7/12/07 &
introduced to the Senate as S. 2684 on 3/4/08).
Throughout March, the Housing
Committee held several teleconferences to review many
specific sections of SEVRA that vary from NAHRO’s
previously adopted position (comparing the House-adopted
version, the version introduced in the Senate, and
NAHRO’s position) prior to meeting at the Legislative
Conference in March, at which the Section 8 Subcommittee
completed its review and recommendations for adoption by
the full Housing Committee and Board of Governors. While
there are many other items in the bill that do or do not
reflect NAHRO’s position, one section could very
negatively affect (especially) small agencies:
Section 13. Screening of Applicants
- Informal Hearings vs. Informal Review
Both HR 1851 and S. 2684 would
institute a change from current law which requires
informal reviews for applicant households denied
admission to the HCV program rather than informal
hearings. There may be an additional cost, as well as
staff time, for conducting hearings rather than reviews.
Neither bill provides any additional administrative fee
funds to help pay for PHAs’ increased costs associated
with informal hearings in cases of denial of
assistance.
NAHRO’s side-by-side comparison of
SEVRA that includes NAHRO’s position was emailed to the
WAHA membership in March. If anyone would like the
document emailed to them again, they can email their
request to me at
kay.hestekin@co.eau-claire.wi.us.
NAHRO Small Agencies Task Force – 2007-2009 Goals
Membership Benefits and Training: Find and
implement new ways to demonstrate and encourage the
benefits of association membership. Market the
importance of accessing NAHRO professional development
and training opportunities among smaller agencies.
Communications: Find and implement new ways to
communicate with and reach out to small agencies
including but not limited to working cooperatively with
regions and chapters to encourage same; by developing
and launching new list serves; through regular
teleconferences and by developing NAHRO publications
more directly targeted to small agency concerns.
Integration of Small Agencies: Work to better
integrate small agency interests as a part of NAHRO
national meetings.
Shared Administration: Seek out and distribute
to small agency members case studies of shared services
and administration occurring around the country.
Targeted Educational Offerings: Seek to gear
education and professional development offerings to the
interests of its members who are smaller in scale.
Contact your
Legislators--
Our politicians need to be informed about
the impact of the funding cuts, program changes, and
asset management on the communities and constituents
they represent. Senators and Representatives listen most
to Board members and residents—Try to get them involved
in your advocacy. For more information on appropriations
and other issues, see NAHRO’s Current Issues online at
www.nahro.org/legislative/issues.cfm. This page can
be viewed by non-NAHRO members.
It is always best to call
or email your federal legislators, as snail mail must be
screened. Congressional contact information for your
district can be obtained at the following site:
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml
Contact information for Wisconsin’s
Senators:
Senator Russell Feingold
Fax (202) 224-2725
Web Site
http://feingold.senate.gov/
Senator Herb Kohl
Fax (202) 224-9787
Web Site
http://kohl.senate.gov/
Each scholarship covers the tuition for
one national NAHRO registration in 2008.
To qualify, your
agency must:
John L. Carroll
Memorial Scholarship Applications for Small Agencies are
accepted each spring and fall. Each scholarship will cover the tuition for
one e-Learning program. More information about the
application and selection process is located on NAHRO's
website at,
www.nahro.org/professional/carroll.cfm
or call 877-866-2476 for more information.
NAHRO seminars are
held throughout the continental United States. Please
see the NAHRO Seminar Calendar at
http://www.nahro.org/professional/index.cfm for a
complete list of seminar dates and locations.
NAHRO has
implemented e-LEARNING courses that are live,
instructor-led classes held over the Internet. The
virtual classrooms offer those working in the housing
and community development industry the ability to keep
current on HUD rules and regulations, without the cost
associated with travel. The classes are interactive;
users can speak directly with the instructor in real
time. Your entire staff can be trained at the same time.
NAHRO e-Briefings ***NEW***
NAHRO has launched “e-Briefings” as a distance
learning tool for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and
other interested housing and community development
agencies. The focus of e-Briefings is to provide updated
information and guidance on significant and “need to
know” topics---including new and relevant HUD policies,
as well as local ideas and practices. This e-Briefing
initiative replaces and revises the previous audio-short
approach.
e-Briefing sessions are scheduled for the second and
fourth Tuesday of every month from 1:30 pm to 3 pm ET,
including at least fifteen minutes of questions and
answers. Resource materials, including power point
slides and other URL references, are provided to each
participant. Confirmed e-Briefings are noted with the
asterisk symbol. For more information, go to
http://www.nahro.org/professional/e-briefing.cfm
|
Date |
Title |
Program(s) |
|
*
April 22 |
“ABC’s for PHAs to Sustain a High
PIC-50058 Reporting Rate” |
(Public Housing / Voucher) |
|
*
May 13 |
“The Family Self-Sufficiency
Program and ROSS ” |
(Public Housing / Voucher) |
|
*
May 20 |
“De-Mystifying HUD’s Civil Rights
and Fair Housing Review Process (Section 504,
Title V1 and LEP, and VCAs)” |
(Public Housing / Voucher) |
|
*
June 10 |
“Interim Reexaminations:
Balancing Program Integrity and Streamlined
Management” |
(Public Housing / Vouchers) |
|
*
June 24 |
“Successful Property Management
in a PHA Asset Management Program” |
(Public Housing) |
|
July 8 |
“CDBG Formula Subject to GAO
Scrutiny: What do Cities Do?” |
(Community Planning /
Development) |
|
July 22 |
“How Capital Fund Financing
Expands Affordable Housing” |
(Public Housing) |
|
Aug. 12 |
“Making Energy Performance
Contracting Work” |
(Public Housing) |
|
Sept. 9 |
“Promising Models for Project
Based Vouchers” |
(Vouchers) |
|
Sept. 23 |
“Workable Financing Tools for
PHAs to Expand Affordable Housing” |
(all programs) |
|
Oct. 14 |
“Using Decentralized Procurement
Approaches that Prevent Audit Findings” |
(Public Housing) |
|
Oct. 28 |
“Leadership and Strategic
Planning-How It Pays Off” |
(all programs) |
|
Nov. 11 |
“Using the Intern Program to
Provide Talent to Your PHA/CDA” |
(all programs) |
|
Nov. 25 |
“Project-based Maintenance Best
Practices” |
(Public Housing) |
|
Dec. 9 |
“Case Studies on Expanding
Affordable Housing” |
(all programs) |
