40034 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 28, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4509–N–16]

Public Housing Assessment System

Resident Service and Satisfaction

Scoring Process

AGENCY: Office of the Director, Real

Estate Assessment Center, HUD

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice provides

additional information to public

housing agencies, and members of the

public, regarding HUD’s process for

issuing scores under the Resident

Service and Satisfaction Indicator of the

Public Housing Assessment System

(PHAS). This notice is an update of the

Resident Service and Satisfaction

Indicator notice on scoring that was

published on June 23, 1999. This notice

takes into consideration public

comment received on the June 23, 1999

notice and reflects the changes made to

the PHAS regulations published on

January 11, 2000, with certain

corrections published on June 6, 2000.

Additionally, the content has been

revised to provide more detail about the

formulas used to compute public

housing agency (PHA) scores and to

provide more information about

requirements concerning the Follow-up

Plan, which counts for 3 of the 10 points

under the Resident Indicator. The

changes made to this notice are

discussed in the Supplementary

Information section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information contact Wanda

Funk, Real Estate Assessment Center,

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 1280 Maryland Avenue,

SW., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024;

telephone the Technical Assistance

Center at 1–888–245–4860 (this is a toll

free number). Persons with hearing or

speech impairments may access that

number via TTY by calling the Federal

Information Relay Service at (800) 877–

8339. Additional information is

available from the REAC Internet Site,

http://www.hud.gov/reac.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Purpose of this Notice

The purpose of this notice is to

provide additional information about

the scoring process for PHAS Indicator

#4, Resident Service and Satisfaction.

The purposes of the Resident Service

and Satisfaction assessment are to

measure the level of resident

satisfaction with living conditions at

their public housing agency (PHA), to

facilitate positive interaction and

communication between public housing

agencies and residents, and to guide

PHAs in recognizing areas of concern

identified by residents in survey

responses. The Resident Service and

Satisfaction assessment is an important

indicator of a PHA’s performance.

Of the total 100 points available for a

PHAS score, a PHA may receive up to

ten points under PHAS Indicator #4.

Unlike PHAS Indicators #1, #2, or #3,

PHAs will not be designated as

‘‘troubled’’ for a failing score under

Indicator #4 in accordance with 24 CFR

902.67. The Resident Service and

Satisfaction score, however, is included

in the aggregate PHAS score.

The information provided in this

notice was originally published on May

13, 1999 (64 FR 26236) and updated on

June 23, 1999 (64 FR 33712). HUD

solicited public comment on both the

May 13, 1999, and June 23, 1999,

notices. This Resident Service and

Satisfaction Scoring Process notice,

published in this edition of the Federal

Register, has been revised from the June

23, 1999, notice, to reflect the public

comments received on the previous

notices and to reflect the changes made

to the PHAS regulations by the final rule

published on January 11, 2000 (65 FR–

1712).

This notice includes the following

major revisions and additions to the

June 23, 1999 version:

• A detailed explanation of the weightedaverage scoring methodology used to

calculate PHA scores has been added.

• A table providing the weights assigned to

each question and the scores assigned to each

response has been provided. See Appendix 1.

• The threshold which exempts a PHA

from the requirement to submit a Follow-up

Plan has been changed from 90% to 75%.

• The manner in which the Survey Followup Plan is submitted to HUD has been

changed. A PHA will receive three points for

certifying that the Follow-up Plan will be

developed as a supplement to its Annual

Plan.

2. Elements of Scoring

The score of the Resident Service and

Satisfaction assessment for all PHAs

will be based upon two components,

plus a threshold requirement.

First Component. The first component

will be the aggregate score of the survey

results.

Second Component. The second

component will be a score based on the

PHA’s certifications that plans for

survey implementation and follow-up

corrective actions have been prepared

by the PHA and have or will be acted

upon. HUD’s PHAS regulation at 24 CFR

902.53 provides that the second

component will be a point score based

on the level of implementation and

follow-up or corrective actions based on

the survey results.

Each of the components is worth five

points, for a total of ten points, as

outlined under Indicator #4 in the

PHAS final rule (24 CFR 902.53). A PHA

will receive a passing score if it receives

at least six points of the available ten

points. As noted earlier in this notice,

however, a failing score under this

Indicator will not cause a PHA to be

designated as troubled.

Threshold Requirement. A PHA will

not receive any points under PHAS

Indicator #4 if the survey process is not

managed as directed by HUD, the survey

results are determined to have been

altered, or the unit addresses are not

updated and verified as described at 24

CFR 902.51. The threshold requirement

is subject to verification.

The following chart shows the scoring

components and point range.

Scoring components Point range

Component One—Survey Results (5 points):

Maintenance and Repair Section ............................................................................................................................................................ 0–1

Communication Section ........................................................................................................................................................................... 0–1

Safety Section .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 0–1

Services Section ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 0–1

Neighborhood Section ............................................................................................................................................................................. 0–1

Component Two—Implementation/Follow-Up Plan (5 points):

Survey Implementation Plan .................................................................................................................................................................... 0 or 2

Survey Follow-up Plan ............................................................................................................................................................................. 0 or 3

Total Possible Score ........................................................................................................................................................................ 10

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 28, 2000 / Notices 40035

3. Scoring Process

The scoring process for the Resident

Service and Satisfaction Indicator is

dependent upon electronic updating,

submission, and certification of

information by PHAs. Although this

notice discusses these electronic steps

in terms of requirements, HUD has

made allowance for manual submission

of information, as discussed later in the

notice.

Unit Address Update and

Verification. The scoring process for

PHAS Indicator #4 begins with ensuring

accurate information about the PHA’s

units. PHAs will be required to

electronically update unit address

information initially obtained by the

REAC from the recently revised form

HUD–50058, Family Report. The REAC

will supply a list of current units (listed

by development) to PHAs via the

internet. PHAs will be asked to make

additions, deletions, and corrections to

their unit address list. After updating

the list, PHAs must verify that the list

of unit addresses under their

jurisdiction is complete. Any incorrect

or obsolete address information will

have a detrimental impact on the survey

results. A statistically valid number of

residents cannot be selected to

participate in the survey if the unit

address information is incorrect or

obsolete. If a PHA does not verify the

address information within two months

of submission of the list of current units

to the PHA by the REAC, and the

address information is not valid, the

REAC will not be able to conduct the

survey at that PHA. Under those

conditions, the PHA would not receive

any points for the PHAS Resident

Service and Satisfaction Indicator.

Electronic Update of Address List.

The preferred method for updating a

unit address list is electronic updating.

If a PHA does not have this capability

in-house, the PHA should consider

utilizing local resources, such as the

library or another local government

entity that has internet access. In the

event local resources are not available,

the PHA may go to the nearest HUD

Public and Indian Housing (PIH)

program office and assistance will be

given to transmit the unit address

information. The PIH office will assist

the PHA in electronically updating and

transmitting its unit address list to the

REAC. If circumstances preclude a PHA

from updating and submitting its unit

address list electronically, HUD will

consider granting approval to allow a

PHA to submit the updated unit address

list information manually. A PHA that

seeks approval to update its unit

address list manually must ensure that

the REAC receives the PHA’s written

request for manual submission 1

calendar month before the submission

due date. The written request must

include the reasons why the PHA

cannot update the list electronically.

The REAC will respond to the PHA’s

request within 15 calendar days of

receipt of the request.

Sampling. A statistically valid

number of residents will be chosen to

receive the Resident Service and

Satisfaction Survey. These residents

will be randomly selected using a

computerized program based on the

total number of occupied and vacant

units of the PHA. The Resident Service

and Satisfaction assessment takes into

account the different properties

managed by a PHA by organizing the

resident sampling based on the resident

representation of each development in

relation to the size of the entire PHA

resident population. This procedure is

known as stratified sampling. For

example, if a PHA houses five percent

of its residents in a given development,

then five percent of the sample will be

chosen from that development. A PHA’s

score, however, will represent the entire

population within that agency. Results

will not be statistically valid for each

development at this time. HUD is

committed, however, to developing this

capacity in the near future.

Survey Distribution. The Resident

Service and Satisfaction Survey will be

distributed to the randomly selected

sample of residents of each PHA by a

third party organization (referred to as

the ‘‘survey administrator’’) designated

by HUD. The survey administrator will

also be responsible for collecting,

scanning, and aggregating results of the

survey, and transmitting the survey

results to HUD for analysis and scoring.

HUD will keep individual responses to

the survey confidential.

Component One—Survey Results (5

Points). The Resident Service and

Satisfaction Survey form that will be

used for the first annual assessment was

published in the Federal Register on

November 23, 1998, with OMB approval

No. 2507–0001. Following the first year

of the process, the survey form may be

modified for subsequent assessment

years (any significant modifications to

the form will be published in the

Federal Register in accordance with the

PHAS regulations). The modifications

may include, but are not limited to,

rewording of specific questions and

possible elimination of some questions.

No additional scored questions will be

added to the existing Resident Service

and Satisfaction Survey without the

opportunity to comment as provided in

the PHAS regulations. In addition, the

five survey sections, as described in 24

CFR 902.53, will not be modified.

Weights have been assigned to

individual questions. Answers to some

questions on the survey will be used for

informational purposes only and will

not be calculated into the score for the

PHA. For example, questions regarding

overall satisfaction with the PHA will

not be calculated into the final survey

score. The only questions that will be

included in the score for the PHA will

be questions that are directly related to

compliance with the regulations or

statutes applicable to the management

of public housing. The score for the

Resident Service and Satisfaction

Survey will be based on a total possible

score of five points.

Five Survey Sections. There are five

survey sections as follows:

(1) Maintenance and repair (e.g., work

order response);

(2) Communication (e.g., perceived

effectiveness);

(3) Safety (e.g., perception of building

security measures);

(4) Services (e.g., management

response to service problems); and

(5) Neighborhood appearance.

Scores for each survey section will be

calculated in the following manner.

Each section will be given a score

between zero and one. For example, if

the maintenance and repair survey

section has 83 percent of the possible

points for that section, then it would be

given a score of .83. The total survey

score will be the sum of the five survey

section scores. Thus, there are five

possible points for the survey results.

This part of the score will be presented

in a numeric format with one decimal

place (e.g., 4.3).

These section scores are calculated

based upon weights, ranging from 0 to

0.25, assigned to each question. Within

each question, the response categories

are assigned values ranging from 0% to

125%. Responses are given a value of

125% if the resident indicates that the

PHA has exceeded the regulatory

requirement on which the question is

based.

Specifically, section scores are

computed as follows:

(1) The numeric values associated

with the responses given by a resident

are averaged, based on the question

weights, to obtain the respondent’s

section score. Although some responses

may be valued 125%, these section

scores are limited to 100% of the

section’s total points.

(2) The section scores of all

respondents in each PHA are averaged,

based on the weight of the questions

that each resident answered, to obtain

the PHA section score.

40036 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 28, 2000 / Notices

The scores assigned to each answer

and the weights assigned to each

question are provided as Appendix 1 to

this notice.

Component Two—Implementation

and Follow-Up Plans (5 Points). Points

awarded for component two are based

on the level of implementation of the

survey and follow-up on its results,

when necessary.

Survey Implementation Plan.

Although, as noted earlier, a survey

administrator will be responsible for

distributing and collecting the survey

results, the PHA will be responsible for

disseminating information about the

survey to its residents based on a Survey

Implementation Plan provided by HUD.

The Survey Implementation Plan will

explicitly outline required marketing

activities. The PHA must certify to the

dates the implementation activities are

carried out. Activities will include, but

are not limited to, displaying posters

supplied by HUD; conducting meetings

with residents; and distributing flyers.

If the PHA certifies to having

completed the above activities prior to

the date set by HUD, the PHA will

receive the full two points for this

section. All implementation activities

should take place prior to residents’

receipt of the survey. HUD will set

deadlines for electronic submission of

Survey Implementation Plans by PHAs.

All Survey Implementation Plans

received past the deadline will not be

considered, and the PHA will not

receive any points for this component.

Survey Follow-up Plan. HUD will

require PHAs to develop a Survey

Follow-up Plan, if appropriate, based on

the results of the survey by section.

Follow-up Plans will be required for the

lowest-scoring sections based upon

thresholds determined by HUD. If a

PHA scores .75 (i.e., 75% of the possible

points) or higher on a section of the

survey, a Follow-up Plan will not be

required for that section. If a PHA scores

.75 or higher on all sections of the

survey, no Follow-up Plan will be

required and the PHA will receive the

additional three points.

A PHA that is required to develop a

Follow-up Plan will do so as part of its

Annual Plan. Once the PHA receives its

survey results, the PHA must

electronically access a template to

certify that it will complete its required

Follow-up Plan as part of its annual

plan. Follow-up actions will be directly

related to the five survey sections listed

above. The PHA will be able to develop

its Survey Follow-up Plan based on

areas identified by the survey which

need improvement. As part of the

Survey Follow-up Plan, the PHA will

need to specify the following:

• Actions to be taken in the next fiscal

year;

• The target date of completion; and

• The funding source (if required) that will

be utilized.

A PHA will receive the full three

points for this section by completing its

Survey Follow-up Plan certification and

developing a Follow-up Plan as part of

its Annual Plan. Where appropriate,

Field Office staff may offer technical

assistance to a PHA regarding the

Survey Follow-up Plan. Survey Followup Plans shall be retained in the PHA’s

office for three years, and available for

review by HUD auditors or

representatives of a duly constituted

resident organization. No points will be

awarded for this component if a PHA

fails to certify and develop its Survey

Follow-up Plan.

Audit. Where appropriate, the Survey

Follow-up Plan will be subject to audit.

If the auditor finds that the plan is not

appropriate or that the PHA is not

following its plan in good faith, the PHA

will not receive the three points for the

Survey Follow-up Plan portion of the

Resident Service and Satisfaction

assessment score.

Submission of Resident Service and

Satisfaction Certification. Through the

Resident Service and Satisfaction unit

address, implementation, and follow-up

certifications, the PHA certifies that the

resident survey process has been

managed as directed by HUD. PHAs are

required to electronically submit their

Resident Service and Satisfaction

certifications. If a PHA does not have

this capability in-house, the PHA

should consider utilizing local

resources, such as the library or another

local government entity that has internet

access. In the event local resources are

not available, the PHA may go to the

nearest HUD PIH program office and

assistance will be given to the PHA to

transmit its Resident Service and

Satisfaction certifications.

If circumstances preclude the PHA

from reporting electronically, HUD will

consider granting approval to allow a

PHA to submit its Resident Service and

Satisfaction certifications manually. A

PHA that seeks approval to submit the

certifications manually must ensure that

the REAC receives the PHA’s written

request for manual submission 2

calendar months before the submission

due date of the respective Resident

Service and Satisfaction certification.

The written request must include the

reasons why the PHA cannot submit the

certification electronically. The REAC

will respond to the PHA’s request and

will manually forward its determination

in writing to the PHA.

Technical Review of the Resident

Survey. The REAC will consider

conducting a technical review of a

PHA’s resident survey results in cases

where the contracted survey

administrator can be shown by the PHA

to be in error. The burden of proof,

however, rests with the PHA to provide

objectively verifiable evidence that a

technical error occurred. Examples

include, but are not limited to, incorrect

material being mailed to residents; too

few survey forms sent, which could

render the sample size invalid; or the

PHA’s unit addresses were incorrect due

to the survey administrator’s error, such

as unit numbers being omitted from the

addresses. A PHA that does not update

its unit address list as described above

will not be eligible for a technical

review based on incorrect addresses.

Dated: June 20, 2000.

Donald J. LaVoy,

Director, Real Estate Assessment Center.

BILLING CODE 4210–01–P

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 28, 2000 / Notices 40037

Appendix 1—Survey Answer Scores and Question Weights

Detailed below are the weights assigned to each question in the Resident Service and Satisfaction Survey. These

weights are used to determine the score for the survey portion of the Resident Service and Satisfaction Survey. The

Resident Service and Satisfaction Survey is worth a total of five points. Sections 2 through 6 of the survey are each

worth one point. Section 1 and Section 7 are not included in the scores of the survey and will be used for data

gathering purposes. Several questions in Sections 2 through 6 are also not included in the survey score. The questions

that are included in the score are identified below.

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[FR Doc. 00–16157 Filed 6–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–01–C