25432 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 84 / Monday, May 1, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4560–N–04]

Fair Housing Initiatives Program;

Notice of Public Forum Focus Group

Meeting Information

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

availability of information from a Focus

Group Meeting held in connection with

the preparation for a National Best

Practices Symposium for 2000. Among

the topics discussed was information

that may be related to the Fair Housing

Partnership Component (FHPC) of the

Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP)

funding availability announcement that

was part of HUD’s SuperNOFA,

published February 24, 2000.

DATES: Comment Due Date: May 31,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit comments regarding

any aspect of the Focus Group Meeting

to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of

General Counsel, Room 10278,

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 451 Seventh Street, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20410.

Communications should refer to the

above docket number and title. A copy

of each communication submitted will

be available for public inspection and

copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30

p.m. weekdays at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information, please contact

Lauretta A. Dixon, Director, FHIP/FHAP

Support Division, Office of Fair Housing

and Equal Opportunity, Department of

Housing and Urban Development,

Washington, DC 20410. As additional

information regarding the Focus Groups

Meetings becomes available, it will be

posted on HUD’s website

(www.hud.gov/). Information also may

be obtained by contacting your local

HUD office, or by contacting the Office

of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity,

or the Best Practices Office in the

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW,

Room 4116, Washington, DC 20410;

telephone (202) 708–4252 (This is not a

toll-free number). Persons with hearing

or speech impairments may access that

number via TTY by calling the Federal

Information Relay Service at 1–800–

877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Background—Availability of

Information and Request for Comments

In preparation for a National Best

Practices Symposium for 2000, HUD is

arranging Focus Group Meetings by

each major office in the Department. In

the Focus Group Meetings, groups and

organizations that received 1999 Best

Practices nominations and awards are

invited to participate in the planning of

the 2000 Symposium. On February 24,

2000, the Office of Fair Housing and

Equal Opportunity conducted a Focus

Group Meeting entitled, ‘‘Building Fair

Housing and Equal Opportunity

Coalitions—A Model for Ending

Discrimination in Communities.’’ Some

of the participants in this Building

FHEO Coalitions Focus Group Meeting

are current Fair Housing Partners under

the Fair Housing Initiatives and the Fair

Housing Assistance Programs, and some

of the discussions that took place may

be helpful to applicants under the Fair

Housing Partnership Component (FHPC)

of the Fair Housing Initiatives Program

(FHIP) funding availability

announcement that was part of HUD’s

SuperNOFA, published February 24,

2000 (see 65 FR 9322, at 9485).

Those attending the Focus Group

Meeting on Building FHEO Coalitions

responded to an invitation sent to all

1999 Best Practices nominees, and came

at their own expense to participate in

this Meeting, which was held at HUD,

451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC,

from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The following

attendees represented fair housing

agencies: Tracey Gill, Baltimore

Neighborhoods, Inc.; Lee Porter, Fair

Housing Council, New Jersey; Mary

Davis, Cuyahoga County (Ohio)

Department of Development; Louise W.

Lorenz and Jan Alderton Pallesen of the

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Civil Rights

Commission; Nancy Downing of the

Connecticut Fair Housing Center; and

Barbara Snow and Tyrone Davis of the

Housing Authority of Baltimore City.

Attendees met with HUD officials in a

one day session to discuss a HUD model

for ‘‘Building Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity Coalitions—A Model for

Ending Discrimination in

Communities,’’ and strengths and

weaknesses within that model.

This Notice is published to inform the

public that an audio tape of the Focus

Group Meeting is available by

contacting any of the sources listed in

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section of this notice. The text of the

model document discussed at the

meeting follows below in section II. of

this notice. HUD invites the public to

comment on this model document. The

Department also welcomes comments

on the issues discussed in the Focus

Group Meeting. Please submit your

comments in accordance with the

requirements of the DATES and

ADDRESSES sections of this notice. After

consideration of the comments received,

HUD may prepare a revised model for

presentation at the National Best

Practices Symposium for 2000.

II. Discussion Document

The following document was

discussed at the Focus Group Meeting

held on February 24, 2000:

Building Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity Coalitions A Model for

Ending Discrimination in Communities

The Department of Housing and

Urban Development is committed to

eliminating racial and ethnic

segregation, illegal physical and other

barriers to persons with disabilities and

other discriminatory practices in

housing. Equal and free access to

residential housing (housing choice) is

fundamental to meeting essential needs

and pursuing personal, educational,

employment, or other goals. Because

housing choice is so critical, fair

housing is a goal that Government,

public officials, and private citizens

must achieve if equal opportunity is to

become a reality.

HUD works with various agencies

across the country to help remedy

discrimination in the housing industry.

Working in communities, these agencies

enforce substantially equivalent fair

housing laws and ordinances and

educate and promote fair housing

awareness. Great strides have been

made in increasing awareness and

breaking down the barriers to equal

housing choice in America. However,

until discrimination is eliminated, we

must continue to explore ways to better

address the causes of discrimination

and methods for breaking down the

barriers that prevent equal housing

choices. Developing local fair housing

partnerships is one such method for

improving performance.

Local fair housing partnerships are an

essential component of any

community’s strategy for fighting for fair

housing. Working together,

organizations can expand their

resources and build on each others

experience and efforts to combat the

negative forces within a community that

foster discrimination.

Performance Goal: Developing local

fair housing partnerships will result in

more housing options, both rental and

homeownership, for persons in a

community, regardless of race, color,

religion, sex, national origin, familial

status or disability.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 84 / Monday, May 1, 2000 / Notices 25433

Guiding Principles for Forming Fair

Housing Partnerships: Overall there are

two overriding reasons to form fair

housing partnerships, one is the

commitment to a common goal, the

other is the need to stretch scarce

resources.

Shared Vision: Fair Housing

organizations have a common goal:

reducing and eventually eliminating

discrimination in housing. Other

organizations within the community

have shared and/or mutual interests in

achieving the goal of fair housing.

Resources Sharing: Organizations are

limited by the amount of resources they

have. Government resources are either

being reduced and/or becoming

increasingly competitive to acquire.

Resource sharing can leverage the

limited budgets of organizations and

result in more positive outcomes.

Factors for Building Successful Fair

Housing Partnerships

Factor #1: Identify key stakeholders.

Within every community several

organizations, agencies and individuals

have an interest in eliminating

discrimination. Seek out and identify

who these entities are within your

community. Examples include:

Fair Housing Organizations. Fair

housing organizations, including human

relations commissions and voluntary,

nonprofit organizations focusing on fair

housing problems

Other Governments. Other

government agencies and/or authorities

in the metropolitan area or region

Advocacy Groups. Advocacy groups

and organizations that have among their

concerns the needs (including housing

needs) of particular segments of the

population, such as people with

disabilities; families with children;

immigrants and homeless persons; and

specific racial or ethnic groups (Blacks,

Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian

Americans, Alaskan Natives)

Housing Providers. Housing providers

and representatives of landlords/

owners.

Banks and Other Financial

Institutions. Banks and other financial

institutions that can provide loans

(including residential) and other

financial support to improve homes or

areas of the community where living

conditions have deteriorated

Educational Institutions. Educational

institutions and their representatives,

including the administrators and

teachers/professors who can assist in

conducting studies and developing

educational activities for delivery in

formal and informal settings.

Other Organizations. Other

organizations and individuals, such as

neighborhood organizations and

representatives, can provide

information, ideas, or support.

General Public. The general public

can also be involved and can be a

critical element in successful program

implementation

Factor #2: Develop Your

Organization’s Purpose. Organizations

should develop an comprehensive

vision that outlines the desired

outcomes they intend to pursue. They

should also develop a mission statement

that describes the strategy for achieving

the organization’s vision. Identifying the

organization’s purpose will help clarify

roles in future partnerships.

Factor #3: Identify Common Goals.

Seek out organizations that share your

organization’s goals and objectives.

Once these are identified, discussions

regarding mutual benefits and outcomes

can be discussed and the benefits of

partnership explored.

Factor #4: Seek Out Non-Traditional

Partners. Organizations may have

common interests in outcomes that

result from equal housing choice.

Private industry organizations may

realize more profits as a result of fair

housing partnerships through the

generation of more business.

Factor #5: Establish the Partnership.

Clearly define the roles and

responsibilities of each of the partners.

If feasible, codify the relationships

through written agreements, such as

Memorandum of Understandings.

Develop procedures/policies that

facilitate the success of the partnership.

The partnership should also establish

goals and objectives that will determine

the success of the partnership.

Factor #6: Resource Identification.

Clearly define the resources, financial,

human or institutional, that each of the

partners brings to the table. A

delineation and definition of how the

resources will be shared and/or

leveraged should be included in any

written agreement.

Factor #7: Evaluation. The partners

should continually assess the progress

being made toward stated goals and

objectives and evaluate areas for

improvement. This will help ensure that

the partners are obtaining the desired

results from the partnership.

The formation of partnerships

between organizations or between

public and private entities has several

benefits. Most agencies will have the

same goals, missions and objectives, so

partnerships are logical. There are

programmatic and efficiency reasons,

including but not limited to, the

following.

Reduce Duplication of Effort

With agencies performing similar

activities there is the chance of a

duplication of effort. For example, a

variety of groups may provide the

public with an awareness of the fair

housing laws. By pooling resources and

working together they reduce the chance

of duplication of effort and money saved

can be used for other efforts.

Work in the Community

Together they can have a strong voice

in the community. Their partnering can

influence state and local decisions

regarding housing.

Looking to Help the Same People

The federal Fair Housing Act fights

discrimination in housing if it is based

on one the following classes: color,

religion, handicap, familial status, race,

sex, and national origin. Agencies will,

at a minimum, provide protection for

these classes.

25434 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 84 / Monday, May 1, 2000 / Notices

Use Respective Strengths to Help Each

Other

There are times between grants when

agencies, unfortunately because they

rely so heavily on government money,

have little left to continue their

operations. Partners have been known to

step in during these periods to provide

subcontracts to the such agencies to

keep them operating.

Ensure Consistency of Effort

It is important that both the public

and private entities are performing their

tasks in ways that accurately reflect the

fair housing laws in their communities.

Having open communication and

knowing what each other is doing

ensures that each is following the laws.

Coordinating With Other Governmental

Agencies

Oftentimes, the work of enforcing the

provisions of the Federal Fair Housing

Act and the substantially equivalent fair

housing laws or States and local

governments, require crossing

governmental (State/local/Federal)

lines. It can require that public and/or

private agencies work with the Federal

government to complete a specific task.

Partnerships can form when groups

looking for similar outcomes can pool

limited resources to reach those

outcomes. The major goal of fair

housing agencies is to combat housing

discrimination through education and

enforcement activities.

Dated: April 21, 2000.

Eva M. Plaza,

Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and

Equal Opportunity.

[FR Doc. 00–10797 Filed 4–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–28–P