Get the Latest News by Following PNRC on Social Media!
A Letter From Your President, Cupid Alexander
Hello Housers,

As we work through the month of July, and as we continue to examine how we keep our communities and our families healthy and safe, it’s important to remember to get rest. Center yourself, your peace, and when you can- take a moment to be kinder to yourself. This work gets heavy; and as we move forward, and the projections for economic outcomes change, it may get heavier. You and your work is appreciated and very needed at this moment.

In the meantime, National NAHRO has come out with a policy paper charting the path forward, advocating for the needed resources post COVID. Be sure to check out this article HERE . Additionally, but sure to sign up for the national housing conference this month- as our learning, growing and advocating never stops.

Have a great July, and I wish you health, happiness, and success.  
Cupid Alexander
Join Us At National NAHRO's Online Summer Conference!
In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, NAHRO’s in-person Summer Conference in New York City has been cancelled. However, with this change, we are thrilled to announce a re-envisioned online experience that you can attend safely from anywhere!
NAHRO Online: 2020 Summer Conference will take place July 23-24 and will feature two full days of learning, teaching and networking, including plenary sessions featuring Charlie Cook, the NAHRO Washington Report, and a can’t-miss discussion of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’ll also have concurrent sessions on executive leadership, repositioning and post-positioning, resident programs, housing is health, and moving forward from COVID-19. We’ll even get together for some virtual networking!
KCHA successfully issues $140M in bonds to finance acquisition of workforce housing in King County
In mid-June the King County Housing Authority issued $140 million in tax-exempt housing revenue bonds to provide permanent financing for the acquisition of Hampton Greens, a 326-unit workforce housing complex in Bellevue, Wash., and to assume outstanding debt on four other workforce properties.
The Hampton Greens development is located adjacent to the Microsoft and Nintendo campuses in a high-opportunity neighborhood with excellent schools and access to public transportation. The property was purchased in December 2019 using a short-term line of credit.
KCHA worked with the KeyBanc Capital Markets’ team to market the bonds utilizing the Authority’s AA/Stable issuer rating from Standard & Poors. The offering was oversubscribed and achieved an overall borrowing rate of 2.95 percent based on a 20 year maturity and 30-year amortization structure.
“Given the current financial environment, we were uncertain of the market’s appetite for housing bonds,” said KCHA Executive Director Stephen Norman. “We were very pleased with the strength of the market response and final all-in debt costs”. The Hampton Greens complex is the latest addition to an inventory of more than 6,500 units of workforce housing built or acquired by the Housing Authority as part of its efforts to preserve and expand the affordable housing supply in the Seattle metropolitan region.
2020 Virtual Annual Conference
Session Sneak Peek
Being deeply connected to NAHRO and understanding how NAHRO works, how you could benefit and how to stay connected is key. This session is aimed at both new and repeated attendees to understand where PNRC NAHRO is headed, hear the stories of active participants and their NAHRO journey, and the opportunity to network with other new and repeated attendees on getting the most out of your NAHRO experience.
Anchorage Needs Thousands More Housing Units and Shelter Beds to Meet Demand, Report Finds
copied from Anchorage Daily News: Author: Paula Dobbyn
Anchorage needs about 3,000 new housing units and shelter beds to meet the needs of its homeless population, according to  a report  the  Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness r eleased on Monday.
The need is expected to rise in the months ahead as the coronavirus pandemic continues to erode Anchorage’s economy.
The 41-page report is a supply-and-demand analysis of Anchorage’s homeless situation. It examines what it will take with housing and supportive services to get people off the streets, out of shelters and into suitable living arrangements. The report, called a gap analysis, also offers a snapshot of homeless demographics, including a statistic indicating Alaska Native residents comprise nearly half of the city’s homeless population and more than 75% of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. According to  census data , Alaska Natives comprise just over 9% of Anchorage’s population.
Social service providers have known anecdotally that Alaska Natives are disproportionately affected by homelessness. The report’s statistics, compiled with a tool from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), reveal an urgent need to bring a racial equity lens to the work of solving homelessness, said Katie Scovic, who chairs the coalition’s advisory council.
“Having a number put to it and seeing this comparison and how shocking it is, both graphically and then to think about that being individual lives, it’s is pretty jarring to see,” said Scovic, associate director of community development and homeless initiatives, Cook Inlet Housing Authority.
During a single night in January 2020, Anchorage’s official homeless population numbered 1,058 individuals. Of those, 1,003 were staying in shelters and 55 were found living outside. The number, as reported to HUD for federal funding purposes, has remained relatively flat in recent years.
Inspiration For Tomorrow: 2020 Conference Keynote Speakers Eric Bailey & Calvin Terrell
Brought to you by Keybanc Capital Markets
Eric Bailey
Tuesday's Keynote Speaker
Eric Bailey is the President and CEO of Bailey Strategic Innovation Group, one of the fastest-growing OD/Strategy consulting firms in the western United States. His impact helps leaders improve the lives of those who follow them, and the customers/citizens whom they are charged with supporting. Eric has a uniquely diverse set of experiences, including: helping future NFL Hall-of-Famer Larry Fitzgerald pet a rhinoceros; teaching dozens of young children to ski; changing the strategic course of dozens of cities; jumping out of an airplane with his wife; flying an F-16; and chatting with LL Cool J on the campus of Harvard University. Eric understands that no matter what life puts in your path, there are lessons to be learned or stories to be told.
Eric is the creator of the Principles of Human Understanding™, a leadership and communication methodology based in brain science and psychology. Eric’s unique style blends fact and emotion and finds ways to appeal to the analytical thinkers, the emotional feelers, and everyone in between. Eric has been featured on Huffington Post, Forbes, Like a Real Boss Podcast and works with leaders and teams across North America to see common problems from new and different perspectives. Eric also hosts a YouTube series of 2-minute leadership video lessons called The Walking Meeting.
Through keynote presentations, group facilitation, strategic planning, team dynamics, individual coaching, and writing, Eric has a unique ability to communicate seemingly complex concepts in easy-to-comprehend ways. This style makes the message and lessons accessible to everyone from Generals to Airmen, and CEOs to frontline employees. Eric has worked with a myriad of clients including Google, Luke Air Force Base, Los Angeles County, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, The City of Phoenix, Arizona Women Leading Government, and Plasmology4.
Eric has a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Organizational Development from Saint Louis University and is a lifetime learner of human and organizational behavior. Eric holds a Bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University, where he ran on the Track & Field team specializing in the 400m hurdles and the 4x400 relay. When not working or researching, Eric enjoys road cycling with his wife Jamie and their three children in Phoenix, AZ.
Eric understands that the success that he has been blessed with is not the end result, but rather a moment of time in his fight to have a greater impact on the world.
Calvin Terrell
Wednesday's Keynote Speaker
Calvin Terrell transforms pain into power and haunts into healing. Surviving violences, losing loved ones to addictions, murder, white supremacy, and misogyny, as well as owning his own prejudices and role in oppression, compels Calvin’s service. Calvin is founder/director of Social Centric Institute, a non-profit he built to educate anyone and everyone to be healers of historical trauma around racial intersections, class, religion, gender, and environmental disruption. For more than 25 years, Calvin has engaged every demographic throughout the US in historical trauma healing processes. His approaches draw from many technologies that are colonial, decolonized, and indigenous.

For his dedication to human rights, Calvin's been awarded with honors from faith, educational, civic, and activist organizations, as well as government institutions, including the city of Phoenix year 2000 Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. “Living the Dream” Award. The demand of his services prompted organizations such as Harpo Inc., Oprah Winfrey’s production company to contract Calvin to train executive producers, coach various members of the production team, and assist in their transition to the “O” network. He was also honored to be a contributing consultant in designing the Muhammed Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Most recently, the Obama Foundation sought Calvin’s collaboration with regards to community empowerment.
Calvin challenges the privileged to abandon fragile pedestals of inconsiderate obliviousness, while he encourages the oppressed to remember their power developed from surviving historical unfairness. He invites all to abandon identity superstitions and materialistic traditions, so humanity can meet and collaborate on a healing field of justice waiting for cultivation. His greatest achievements are marriage, fatherhood, and a relationship with the infinite power that fashioned the stars. Calvin is not a democrat, nor a republican, a libertarian or anarchist; he is soul experiencing black membership of the human race. Calvin helps all remember their power and he doesn't care what you think or feel about him, but he loves you !
Our Keynotes Speakers are made available thanks to our Platinum Sponsor Keybanc Capital Markets
SPLASH INTO SUMMER Safety Tips
by the CDC
Summer is a great time for kids to enjoy different indoor and outdoor activities. Whether they are young children or teens, learn ways to keep your kids safe and healthy while they enjoy the summer fun.
Water-related activities are popular for getting  physical activity  and have many  health benefits . Here are some tips to stay safe while having fun. Learn how to prevent  recreational water illnesses and help protect yourself and your kids. Help kids get  H2O Smartz  about water safety. Drownings are the leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4, and three children die every day as a result of  drowning .
Always supervise children when in or around water. A responsible adult should constantly watch young children. Teach kids to swim. Formal swimming lessons can protect young children from drowning. Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Your CPR skills could save someone’s life. Install a four-sided fence around home pools.
Recreational boating  can be a wonderful way to spend time with family and friends. Make boating safety a priority.
Wear a properly fitted life jacket every time you and your loved ones are on the water.
Heat-related illness happens when the body’s temperature control system is overloaded.  Infants and children  up to 4 years of age are at greatest risk. Even young and healthy people can get sick from the heat if they participate in strenuous physical activities during hot weather. For heat-related illness,  the best defense is prevention .
  • Never leave infants, children, or pets in a
  • parked car, even if the windows are cracked open.
  • Dress infants and children in loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.
  • Schedule outdoor activities carefully, for morning and evening hours.
  • Stay cool with cool showers or baths.
  • Seek medical care immediate if your child has symptoms of heat-related illness.
Just a few serious sunburns can increase you and your child’s risk of  skin cancer  later in life. Their skin needs protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays whenever they’re outdoors.
  • Cover up. Clothing that covers your and your child’s skin helps protect against UV rays.
  • Use sunscreen with at least SPF (sun protection factor) 15 and UVA (ultraviolet A) and UVB (ultraviolet B) protection every time you and your child go outside.

Each year in the United States, emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries.  Falls  at home and on the playground are a common cause of injury.
  • Check to make sure that the surfaces under playground equipment are safe, soft, and well-maintained. Supervise young children at all times around fall hazards, such as stairs and playground equipment. Use stair gates, which can help keep a busy, active child from taking a dangerous tumble.
A concussion is a type of  traumatic brain injury  caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Concussions can occur in any sport or recreation activity.
Parents can take many actions to protect their children’s health and safety at home.
Young workers  have high job injury rates. Hazards in the workplace, inexperience, and lack of safety training may increase injury risks for young workers.
Know their rights, employer and  teen worker  responsibilities, and what teens under 18 can’t do.
2020 Virtual Annual Conference
Session Sneak Peek
Poverty, unemployment, and lack of affordable housing are commonly recognized causes of homelessness. These risk factors can be exacerbated by personal vulnerabilities such as mental health disorders and disabilities. This session will address the root causes of homelessness through a range of essential recovery
support services, including mental and substance use disorder treatment, employment, and mainstream benefits.
State Office of Homeless Youth awards $1.4 million in grants
Ten grants totaling $1.4 million will provide additional long-term housing and behavioral health intervention services to young people across the state
OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington State Office of Homeless Youth (OHY) at the Department of Commerce announced $1.4 million in grants to 10 organizations throughout the state for housing and services supporting the office’s goal to make sure that no young person spends a single night without a safe and stable place to call home.
“These grants will help strengthen communities’ capacity to serve growing numbers of vulnerable youth who are struggling to make their way in life,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown. “We had a statewide housing crisis before COVID19, and the economic disruption of the pandemic has only increased the needs of many young people who already may have the deck stacked against them.”
This funding will increase support and direct services available through two target statewide initiatives:
Transitional Housing Program - Provides funding for long-term housing, assessments, referrals, screening, ongoing family engagement and permanency planning services for non-state dependent youth ages 16-17 experiencing homelessness.
  • YouthCare - King County, $469,933
  • Friends of Youth - King County, $268,533
  • Northwest Youth Services - Whatcom County, $134,267
  • Catholic Charities – Walla Walla County, $67,133
  • Excelsior - Spokane County, $67,133
Ancillary Therapeutic Services - These funds increase capacity statewide to provide behavioral health interventions to youth ages 12-17 who reside in a licensed youth shelter, HOPE center or crisis residential center.
  • Community Youth Services - Pierce and Thurston Counties, $104,853
  • Volunteers of America - Spokane County, $101,020
  • YouthCare - King County, $90,850
  • Coffee Oasis - Kitsap County, $52,000
  • Clallam County Juvenile Services - Clallam County $31,277
Created in 2015, the Office of Homeless Youth Prevention and Protection Programs leads statewide efforts to reduce and prevent homelessness for youth and young adults. 
OHY’s vision is that every family and youth in Washington state has the individualized support they need so that no young person has to spend a single night without a safe and stable home. Additionally, they seek to make sure that every community has services that are equitable, accessible, effective, responsive and coordinated. To learn more, visit OHY’s website .
2020 Virtual Annual Conference
Session Sneak Peek
GASB 87 fundamentally changes lease recognition, measurement, and related disclosures for both government lessees and lessors. The standard will be effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2019, so it is imperative that your organization understands the new reporting requirement and acts quickly to implement any necessary changes. During this session, we will discuss the basics of the standard, how to prepare for implementation, review sample journal entries and discuss financial statement presentation examples. Differences exist between FASB and GASB lease standards which
will impact entities involved in LIHTC deals. Learn to identify those differences and recognize the impact on reporting. The discussion will also include an analysis of software packages available to track your leases.
House Releases Spending Bill for Affordable Housing and Community Development
The House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding levels for HUD affordable housing and community development programs voted today to approve a  fiscal year (FY) 2021 spending bill that provides a significant increase in funding to housing programs that serve low-income people and communities. For more details on the House FY21 spending bill, see NLIHC’s full analysis and updated budget chart .
Despite limited budget caps, the House bill rejects – for the fourth year in a row – the dramatic and severe spending cuts proposed by the administration, and it provides robust increases to many programs. Thanks to your advocacy and the leadership of House Subcommittee Chair David Price (D-NC) and Ranking Member Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), the bill provides overall funding for HUD at $13 billion above the president’s FY21 request and at least $1.5 billion above FY20 enacted levels; program funding is $18 billion above the president’s FY21 request and $4.6 billion above FY20 enacted levels.
These funding levels are an important victory for advocates and their congressional champions, given the strict spending caps required by the Budget Control Act on defense and domestic programs. While Congress reached in 2019 a two-year bipartisan budget agreement to provide very limited relief from these spending caps, Congress only has about $5 billion more in FY21 than FY20 for all domestic programs, including affordable housing.
With this spending bill, the House subcommittee clearly rebukes the harmful and discriminatory policies advanced by HUD Secretary Ben Carson, including the agency’s proposed anti-transgender rule change to the Equal Access Rule and its proposed rule to force mixed-status immigrant families – including 55,000 U.S. citizen children – to separate or face eviction from HUD housing. The bill takes important steps to prevent HUD and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) from undermining Housing First , a proven model for addressing homelessness backed by decades of research and learning. Moreover, the bill does not impose harmful rent increases, rigid work requirements, and other barriers to assistance proposed by Secretary Carson in his budget request.
The House full committee may vote on the spending bill as soon as next week. The Senate is expected to vote on its draft spending bills in the coming weeks, though this timeframe may be pushed back as Congress is slated to negotiate a final coronavirus relief package before leaving for August Recess.
Read a more detailed analysis of the House Appropriations Subcommittee funding package here and an updated budget chart here .
2020 Virtual Annual Conference
Session Sneak Peek
Expanding Housing Access During Coronavirus
The following is a guest blog post by  Jacqueline Altamirano Marin , Program Associate at the  Vera Institute of Justice .
Interview with Alan Zais, Illinois Reentry Task Force member and Executive Director of the Winnebago County Housing Authority
As much of the country continues to observe stay-at-home orders, some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, including people leaving prisons and jails, continue to struggle with access to safe and stable housing. Housing organizations have sprung into action to create  guides  that help Public Housing Authorities (PHA) not only reunite returning community members with their friends and families but also provide safe reentry during these unprecedented times. PHAs can take this time to rethink their policies towards people with conviction histories. In this conversation, the  Vera Institute of Justice  talks to Alan Zais, Illinois Reentry Task Force member and Executive Director of the Winnebago County Housing Authority about what housing authorities can do to help people reentering find safe homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.  
  1. We know the Illinois Department of Corrections has released 4,000 people in response to the pandemic. How are you and other housing authority directors talking about housing access for people with conviction histories during COVID-19?
The pandemic that affected so many in prison was just one part—those released had the trauma of being exposed and then the trauma of trying to find a place they could afford to live. Housing authorities have needed to be sensitive both to the trauma and the need to provide housing to impact against any like surge in recidivism. Housing authorities also have finite resources and waitlists that can have applicants waiting months to years [to secure housing]. It’s a complex problem, but fortunately, one easy solution is to let released people reunite with their families that are already in housing.
The pandemic is just one piece of this moment. The protests prompted by the deaths of George Floyd and many others have brought the focus to the inequities Black Americans face in criminal charges, convictions, and criminal histories. At this moment, housing authorities can help their communities make these transformational changes to recognize [that] how we currently review criminal histories can be inconsistent from one agency to another and based on a conviction system that is inequitable and disproportionate towards people of color. 
All of this has dramatically raised the conversation of housing access for persons with criminal histories to a high profile and urgent discussion.
  • Are there any examples of how people can safely open doors to affordable housing during COVID-19 to help people have a place to land once released from prison or jail?
There are many good examples of creative housing authorities finding a way. A quick example is the Housing Authority of Champaign County in Illinois, where CEO David Northern and his board made the dramatic change in June of deciding that they will not consider criminal histories, except for the two HUD mandated exceptions, for deciding admission eligibility. 
Our agency had a demonstration program in partnership with the Illinois Housing Development Authority, HUD, New York University Marron Institute and the Illinois Department of Corrections for an early release program. It allows people leaving prison to move into our public housing and Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (a federally funded, project-based voucher program). The outcomes are really positive. The State of Illinois has since funded a statewide voucher demonstration program for over 100 people that we used to increase our program, and they are looking at expanding it again.
Both the Champaign County and Winnebago County housing authorities relied strongly on community partnerships to leverage resources, which is so important as this is a community challenge and a community solution. Both our agencies are also compiling further study and reporting to make it more comfortable for other housing authorities to follow and replicate. Again, these are just two examples—there are many housing authorities with unique programs that prove we can safely open doors, house people, and work to solve this problem.
  • There is a shortage of affordable housing in the United States, impacting millions of people and families. Why is providing housing to people with criminal records and/or reuniting them with family living in public housing so crucial?
Access to housing is just a basic human need and right. Not having an address stops the ability to restart a life: someone simply needs an address to get started in school or at a job, to receive a paycheck, just to open a bank account.
Someone with a criminal record is already impacted by poverty, and in many cases received a conviction because they were already too poor to afford the legal representation available to affluent people, which often means that they then “accept” a plea deal—and basically incarcerating people because they are poor. The person leaving incarceration has paid their debt, and the housing authority is not deciding if they properly paid their debt but whether the person can abide by the lease. Further, housing authorities should not make a low-income family have to decide between reuniting with their family member or losing a home they can afford and fall further into poverty. The mission of a housing authority is to house and reunite families, not decide how to divide them.
We should also ask ourselves why are there millions of people impacted? The US leads the world in the number of people incarcerated. Focusing solely on someone’s criminal history makes us just another cog in the cycle, when we can be the agent of change and start the transformation.
  • Why is the consideration of mitigating circumstances so important when discussing housing access for people with convictions? 
I started housing as a public housing site manager and a Housing Choice Voucher case manager, and I can answer this best with a story of a real person. Early in my career, I had sent a denial letter to an applicant who had a criminal history of illegal drug use, [sex work], loitering, and resisting arrest. The woman came to see me and explained that she had a psychiatric disorder. She self-medicated with drugs and then turned to [sex work] to pay for the drugs. She got help from supportive services to stop the drug abuse, got medical help for her psychiatric condition, and her next step was to get a home. It had been a long journey for her, and she was determined to rebuild her life. 
Housing Authorities offer applicants deemed ineligible [to rent] the ability to appeal the decision with an informal hearing and present their mitigating circumstances, which is good, but the process can feel like a bureaucratic wall to the applicant. The hearing officers must be consistently trained to avoid subjective decisions. We must recognize how painful and anxious it can be for someone to share such a vulnerable part of their life. And we have to look further into how we make our decisions—for example, the illegal use of powder cocaine can be portrayed as harmless recreational use by people of affluence. Calling the same drug crack gives it a very different meaning and brings to mind images of “junkies” and crime. How does that influence convictions, and how does it influence us when looking at it in an informal hearing?
Stories, like the one of this woman, can be more powerful than citing policies and reviewing statistics. I found that woman eligible and she turned out to be one of our best residents. But that she had to share such personal pieces of her life, just to have a place she could afford to live, has stayed with me for over 25 years. We must change how we approach reentry because of each person it impacts.
2020 Virtual Annual Conference
Session Sneak Peek
Mobile devices have transformed the workplace, and the facility maintenance department is no exception. Many maintenance teams are beginning to use mobile technology coupled with Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS) to improve maintenance operations. In this session, we will talk
about the many benefits (and challenges) of moving to a CMMS, and the many other added benefits of “Going Mobile”:
- Ability to open, access, and complete work orders on the go
- Improved communication (email, video calls, text messaging, vendor apps)
- Access to information (manuals, warranty info, asbestos locations, reports)
- Update inventory using barcode scanning and online ordering
- GPS navigation/maps
HUD PIH Provides Updates on FAQs and Eviction Prevention and Stability Toolkit
On Thursday, July 9 th , HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) hosted a conference call providing updates on several items, including PIH Notice 2020-13 (which extends most of the COVID-19 related waivers to December 31 st  and adds certain new waivers); frequently discussed topics; an eviction and stability toolkit; and new developments in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.  
Department officials provided updates on the new waiver notice during the first part of the call. Each PHA continues to have discretion to choose which waivers to adopt and use ,  and must notify the public, if it chooses to use any waiver or alternative requirement. The notice adds six new waivers: 
  • HCV-11: Youth using Family Unification Vouchers may continue to receive housing assistance six months past the 36-month limit.  
  • HCV-12: PHAs may accept referrals from child welfare agencies for youths leaving foster care within 120 days.  
  • HCV-13: For families experiencing hardship in the last year of their homeownership term, PHAs may extend homeownership assistance for up to one year.  
  • HCV-14: Units under a Project Based Voucher (PBV) contract with zero housing assistance payments may remain on contract after 180 days. Public Housing Agencies may resume Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) should the family’s income change to require a HAP payment. This flexibility is available until the end of 2020. 
  • PH-11: Designated Housing Plans may be extended through the end of 2020 if they are set to expire beforehand, but PHAs will need to submit a renewal request 60 days prior to December 31st, 2020.  
  • PH-12: PHAs may waive the requirement to inspect each project during CY 2020, but must complete inspections during CY 2021. PHAs must also keep units in good working order and complete exterior inspections. If a PHA chooses not to use this waiver, HUD encourages use of Remote Video Inspections (RVI) instead. 
The notice also makes some additional changes. For Housing Quality Standards (HQS) waivers, where the PHA has accepted an owner’s certification, an inspection must be conducted within 1 year of the owner certification. For PHA’s that employ biennial inspections, the PHA will be required to perform an inspection as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than 1 year from the date when the biennial inspection would have occurred. The period to informally adopt changes to a PHA’s administrative plan or a PHA’s Admission and Continued Occupancy Plan (ACOP) ends on September 31. The PHA must formally adopt the changes by December 31. 
The HUD officials then provided updates about frequent topics of interest. These topics included the effective date of interim recertifications; calculating income for hazard pay and other unemployment insurance related topics; planning for the end of the eviction moratorium; privacy concerns; eligible uses of funding; a reminder that Violence Against Women Act guidance remains in effect; and Remote Video Inspections. 
The Department officials then reminded call participants that HUD has posted an  Eviction Prevention and Stability Toolkit  on its website, which includes resources for PHAs, landlords and tenants on rent repayment agreements and avoiding eviction-related expenses. 
Additionally, presenters discussed a series of recommendations that PHAs could take avoid evictions at the end of the eviction moratorium. The presenters also used Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority to illustrate some of these best practices. These recommendations include the following: 
  1. enter into repayment agreements with residents, update repayment agreement policies, and encourage Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) landlords to enter into repayment agreements;
  2. revise policies to allow for retroactive interim reexaminations;
  3. review hardship exemption policies and consider setting minimum rent to zero;
  4. communicate with households with unpaid rent; and 
  5. position residents for future stability by maximizing Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) and Jobs Plus benefits with other steps.
Finally, HUD presenters gave an update on the HCV program. The presenters noted that supplemental HAP funding would be provided via a notice to be released in late-July. They also stated that a second round of administrative fees would be disbursed in late-July or August. They noted that the new mobility demonstration would likely be published in the next few weeks and that HUD was going to start allowing PHAs that have Family Unification Programs (FUP) to participate in the Foster Youth the Independence initiative. The next round of FUP funding is anticipated to be announced later this summer. Finally, HUD staff announced the next round of HUD-VASH vouchers and answered some questions. 
Additional COVID-19 resources can be found at  www.nahro.org/coronavirus .