2003 Moving To new Ways Annual Plan

The Board of Commissioners adopted Seattle Housing Authority's fiscal year 2003 plan in July 2003. Below is the Executive Summary of that plan.  

Executive Summary

The Moving To new Ways (MTW) Demonstration Program allows the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) to explore and test innovative methods of delivering housing and supportive services. The original name for this program was Moving to Work. Because the program is not a jobs program for SHA residents as this name implies, SHA has changed the name to Moving To new Ways. In January 1999, SHA and HUD executed an Agreement that defined SHA’s MTW flexibility. SHA’s MTW contract has been extended to 2006.

	Applicants for SHA housing review information about SHA properties.
	Using SHA's Moving to new Ways authority, SHA changed admissions policies to allow people to choose which highrise community they might like to live in, instead of having to accept the first available unit. Each spring, SHA develops its  Annual Plan for the following fiscal year, according to the terms of the MTW Agreement. The Annual Plan outlines SHA’s work program for the coming fiscal year, including program or policy initiatives and construction, demolition and property disposition activities.

The plan also outlines the budget and sets goals for performance in administering housing programs. SHA’s fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30.

Stakeholder involvement   

As part of developing the MTW Plan, SHA provides residents and others opportunities to review and comment on a draft plan:

• Joint Policy Advisory Committee (JPAC): On June 5, the JPAC, a body of resident representatives whose role is to advise SHA on policy issues, was given the opportunity to review and discuss the proposed annual plan. Other discussion items took longer than expected, however, so JPAC members decided to review a summary of the plan on their own and attend the June 11 public hearing or provide written comments.


 

• Public hearing: A public hearing was held at 6 p.m. on June 11 in the Center Park Community Room. Thirty-four participants signed in, including residents of SHA housing and members of the general public. 

Moving To new Ways priorities for FY 2003   

SHA’s MTW Agreement with HUD contains a specific list of activities for which SHA may exercise its MTW flexibility. In FY 2003, SHA will pursue the following MTW activities:

• Explore adjusting SHA’s MTW agreement with HUD to take into account the first few years of experience and regulatory changes in low-income housing since MTW was instituted.
   

• Review and evaluate the MTW rent policy for public housing taking into account recent changes in state benefits for TANF and other low income households.
   

• In consultation with stakeholders, propose and implement alternatives in addition to those adopted in FY 2002 to federal admissions preferences in the Housing Choice Voucher program to support targeting scarce service-enriched housing subsidies to those with the greatest need.
   

• In consultation with stakeholders, develop and implement a new minimum rent policy for the Housing Choice Voucher program based on an imputed income methodology.
   

• Continue to streamline admissions procedures for public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. If streamlining efforts suggest that policy changes are needed, develop alternatives, consult with stakeholders, and implement necessary changes.
   

• Work with HUD to redefine Housing Choice Voucher utilization goals.
   

• Design and implement a risk-based inspection protocol for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, including simplifying the Housing Quality Standards.
   

• Implement a risk-based inspection protocol in public housing to streamline SHA’s inspection strategy, tailoring the frequency and comprehensiveness of inspections to the likelihood of finding items to be repaired.
   

• Implement a new resource conservation (energy audit) protocol to provide direction concerning resource conservation for maintenance, capital and revitalization activities and regular business practices.
   

• Designate an additional elderly/near elderly public housing high rise. Explore designation of a north end building to provide a neighborhood choice. (Currently SHA has one designated high rise in the southwest corner of the city.)
   

• Monitor industry progress in developing alternatives to HUD’s performance measurement system; if warranted, adopt and implement new performance measurement systems.
   

• Use the findings from a survey of public housing high rise residents regarding their needs and interests for social services (to be conducted in FY 2002) to better target services to residents of these communities in FY 2003.
   

• Add a Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Homeownership staff member, contingent on receiving requested HUD grant funds, to help FSS clients prepare for purchasing a home. Implement a pilot Section 8 homeownership program as required by these grant funds.
   

• Analyze whether the current number of FSS slots (approximately 500) should be increased, using MTW flexibility.

Low-Income Housing Institute's Lakeview Apartments
Because of Moving to new Ways, SHA can now provide housing partners with subsidy funds to make units in developments like these affordable to extremely low income households.

Organizational improvements

• Implement portfolio-based management structure. SHA is moving away from a geographic organizational structure for property management, and creating property management teams for nine portfolios of housing with similar fund sources, regulatory requirements, occupancy and admissions policies and target markets.
   

• Complete the asset management plan, including public review and comment.
   

• Continue to clarify and update the Policy and Procedures Manual for consistency with current management practices.
   

• Develop and implement additional on-line information sharing capabilities to improve, for example, internal real estate performance monitoring and applicant and landlord access to SHA housing programs.
   

• Conduct a pilot for Protégé@Work, a document imaging project designed to improve staff productivity and streamline administration.
   

• Upgrade and streamline SHA’s computer platforms. Replace the current hardware system with one large computer and storage area network, a metaframe farm of computer servers and thin client monitors on staff desktops.
   

• Implement the business plan for Impact Property Services.
   

• Move into the new SHA Operations Support Center. Consolidate many maintenance and property management functions and staff at this facility near North 130th St. and Aurora Avenue North to support the portfolio-based management structure, increase efficiency and permit redevelopment of the old north end maintenance base at North 45th Street and Stone Avenue North.
   

• Address long-term financial sustainability of community and supportive services. Under the MTW technical assistance agreement with Abt Associates, convene a "community and supportive services sustainability committee" of funders, service providers, residents and staff to identify and develop strategies to ensure the long-term viability of needed support services for residents. The need for this is particularly acute with the elimination of the Drug Elimination Program and the imminent completion of community revitalization grants at NewHolly and Westwood Heights.

	The newly renovated exterior of Olive Ridge, a public housing high rise on Capitol Hill.
	Moving to new Ways allows SHA to set its own schedule for using federal capital funds to repair, renovate and modernize buildings such as these, rather than adhering to HUD schedules.

Meeting Seattle’s housing needs

• Involve stakeholders in redefining the purpose of the public housing scattered site program. This process will address admissions policies for the scattered site program. Originally, scattered sites operated as an "incentive transfer" program for households who had shown themselves to be good tenants in other SHA housing. Over time, scattered sites have been used to meet ADA accommodation or other needs. As a result, the program has become more costly to operate, while rent revenues have declined.
   

• Ensure the continued financial viability of the Seattle Senior Housing Program by adjusting the rent policy, if needed, in consultation with SSHP residents.
   

• Continue the community revitalization efforts at NewHolly, Rainier Vista and High Point. Demolition and start of construction of the final phase of NewHolly and the first phases of Rainier Vista and High Point are anticipated in FY 2003.
   

• Continue to meet off-site replacement housing obligations, including development of a 15-unit apartment building in Lake City, and development of 35 low-income units in a mixed-income, mixed-use project on the site of the old north end maintenance base, in partnership with Housing Resources Group.
   

• Include replacement housing with the new Yesler Community Center. Construction of a new mixed use facility at Yesler Terrace will begin in FY 2003. The mixed use facility will include a new full-size, full-service community center, as well as at least 21 units of housing to replace units demolished to clear the site.
   

• Continue implementation of Tri-Court as a smoke-free community. Begin rehabilitation by the end of FY 2002, with completion of all three buildings expected during FY 2004.
   

• Rebuild Lake City Village either on- or off-site or using a combination of strategies.
   

• Carry out a capital program involving $12 million in projects throughout SHA’s portfolio, in addition to the major community revitalization projects. Finance some urgent projects to get them done quickly and achieve economies of scale by grouping similar projects in different buildings.

For more information about SHA's annual plan or the Moving To new Ways program, contact Andria Lazaga at alazaga@seattlehousing.org or (206) 615-3546.