12036 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Office of the Assistant Secretary for

Public and Indian Housing

[Docket No. N–95–3874; FR–3849–N–01]

NOFA for the Rental Voucher Program

and Rental Certificate Program

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Public and Indian

Housing, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of fund availability

(NOFA) for FY 95 and procedures for

allocating funds and approving housing

agency (HA) applications.

SUMMARY: The purpose of the rental

voucher and the rental certificate

programs is to assist eligible families to

pay the rent for decent, safe, and

sanitary housing. This notice states the

FY 95 fund allocations available for

award for all subprograms of the rental

voucher and rental certificate programs.

The Department has decided in the

interest of convenience and timeliness

to publish all information on each

subprogram of the Section 8 rental

voucher and certificate programs in one

NOFA for FY 95. Please review the table

of contents in this NOFA and then refer

to the separate sections of this NOFA for

specific information on each

subprogram. For ease of reference, the

term ‘‘HUD Office’’ will be used

throughout this NOFA to mean the HUD

State Office, HUD Area Office and the

HUD Native American Programs Office.

If a particular type of HUD Office needs

to be identified, e.g., the HUD Native

American Programs Office, the

appropriate office name will be used.

This notice also:

(1) Invites Public Housing Agencies

(PHAs) and Indian Housing Authorities

(IHAs), herein referred to as housing

agencies (HAs), to submit applications

for housing assistance funds;

(2) Provides instructions to HAs

governing the submission of

applications; and

(3) Describes procedures for rating,

ranking, and approving HA

applications.

DATES: Refer to Section I.(B) of this

NOFA for a summary of the deadline

dates for applications for all subprogram

applications.

ADDRESSES: See section I.(B) of this

NOFA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gerald J. Benoit, Director, Operations

Branch, Rental Assistance Division,

Office of Public and Indian Housing,

Room 4220, Department of Housing and

Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street,

S.W., Washington, D.C. 20410–8000,

telephone (202) 708–0477. Hearing- or

speech-impaired individuals may call

HUD’s TDD number (202) 708–4594.

(These telephone numbers are not tollfree.) Copies of this NOFA will be made

available on tape or large print for those

with impaired vision that request them.

Inquiries requesting clarification of

items in this NOFA or requesting

application materials should be directed

to the Public Housing Director in the

HUD Office serving the HA’s

jurisdiction.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

The information collection

requirements contained in this notice

have been approved by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB), under

section 3504(h) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501–

3520), and have been assigned OMB

control number 2577–0169.

Table of Contents

I. NOFA General

(A) Authority

(B) Subprogram Funding and Summary of

Application Deadline Dates

(C) Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program

Requirement

(D) Application Submission

Requirements—General

(E) Selection Criteria—General

(F) Local Government Comments

(G) Corrections to Deficient Applications—

General

(H) HUD Corrections to Rating and Ranking

FY 94 Applications

(I) Notification of Funds Awarded

II. Fair Share Allocations

(A) Fair Share Application Deadline Date

(B) Fair Share Allocation Amounts

(C) Fair Share Application Submission

Requirements

(D) Fair Share Application Rating Process

(E) Corrections to Deficient Fair Share

Applications

(F) Fair Share Application Selection

Process

III. Family Unification/Foster Care Program

(A) Family Unification Application

Deadline Date

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description of

Family Unification Program

(C) Family Unification Allocation Amounts

(D) Family Unification Application

Submission Requirements

(E) Family Unification Application Rating

Process

(F) Corrections to Deficient Family

Unification Applications

(G) Family Unification Application

Selection Process

IV. Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Service

Coordinators

(A) FSS Service Coordinators Application

Deadline Date

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description of

Funding for FSS Service Coordinators

(C) FSS Service Coordinators Allocation

Amounts

(D) FSS Service Coordinators Application

Submission Requirements

(E) Corrections to Deficient FSS Service

Coordinators Applications

(F) Application Selection Process for FSS

Service Coordinators

V. Section 8 Counseling

(A) Application Deadline Date for Section

8 Counseling

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description of

Section 8 Counseling

(C) Allocation Amounts for Section 8

Counseling

(D) Application Submission Requirements

for Section 8 Counseling

(E) Corrections to Deficient Applications

for Section 8 Counseling

(F) Application Selection Process for

Section 8 Counseling

VI. NOFA for Mainstream Housing

Opportunities for Persons With

Disabilities (Mainstream Program)

(A) Mainstream program Application

Deadline Date

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description or

Mainstream Program

(C) Mainstream Program Allocation

Amounts

(D) Application Submission Requirements

for Mainstream Program in Conjunction

With Submission of Designated Housing

Allocation Plans

(E) Application Submission Requirements

for General Mainstream Program for

Persons With Disabilities

(F) Corrections to Deficient Applications

(G) Mainstream Program Application

Selection Process

VII. Subprogram for Persons With HIV/AIDS

(A) Application Deadline Date for Persons

With HIV/AIDS Subprogram

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description of

Subprogram for Persons With HIV/AIDS

(C) Allocation Amounts for Persons With

HIV/AIDS

(D) Application Submission Requirements

for Persons With HIV/AIDS Subprogram

(E) Corrections to Deficient Applications

for Persons With HIV/AIDS Subprogram

(F) Application Selection Process for

Persons With HIV/AIDS Subprogram

VIII. Subprogram for Homeless Families

(A) Application Deadline Date for

Homeless Families Subprogram

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description of

Homeless Families Subprogram

(C) Allocation Amounts for Homeless

Families Subprogram

(D) Application Submission Requirements

for Homeless Families Subprogram

(E) Corrections to Deficient Applications

for Homeless Families Subprogram

(F) Application Selection Process for

Homeless Families Subprogram

IX. Other Allocations

(A) Relocation, Demolition and Disposition

(HOPE I, II, Section 5(h), Section 18.

HOPE VI and ‘‘OPT-OUTS’’

(B) Rental Voucher and Rental Certificate

Renewals

(C) Section 23 Conversions

(D) Section 8 Amendments

(E) Housing Agency Portability Fees

(F) Headquarters Reserve

(G) Property Disposition

(H) FY 94 NOFA for Homeless Person With

Disabilities
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12037

(I) FY 94 NOFA for Homeless Veterans

With Severe Psychiatric or Substance

Abuse Disorders

(J) FY 94 NOFA for Family Unification

(K) FY 94 NOFA for FSS Service

Coordinators

X. Other Matters

(A) Environmental Impact

(B) Federalism Impact

(C) Impact on the Family

(D) Section 102 of the HUD Reform Act:

Documentation and Public Access

Requirements

(E) Section 103 of the HUD Reform Act

(F) Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities

(G) Section 112 of the HUD Reform Act

I. NOFA General

(A) Authority

The regulations governing the rental

certificate and the rental voucher

programs are published at 24 CFR parts

882 and 887, respectively, and 24 CFR

Part 982. The regulations for allocating

housing assistance budget authority

under section 213(d) of the Housing and

Community Development Act of 1974

are published at 24 CFR part 791,

subpart D.

(B) Subprogram Funding and Summary

of Application Deadline Dates

The application deadline for each

subprogram under this NOFA is 3:00

p.m., local time. The local HUD Office

is the official place of receipt for all

applications on the date shown below

except for applications for Section 8

Counseling (see Section V. of this

NOFA). The local HUD Native

American Programs Office is the place

of official receipt for IHA applications

except for applications for Section 8

Counseling (see Section V. of this

NOFA). An IHA also must submit, at the

same time, a copy of its application to

the local HUD State or Area Office that

has jurisdiction over the portion of the

State in which the IHA is located. Local

HUD Offices are responsible for

notifying their HAs of the exact address

and room number where applications

are to be submitted.

Subprogram

area

Number

of units

(approximate)

Deadline

dates

Fair Share Allocations.35,000 May 2, 1995.

Mainstream

Housing.

2,500 June 1, 1995.

Homeless Families (Non-competitive Process).12,000 Do.

Persons with

AIDS (Noncompetitive

Process).

3,000 Do.

Subprogram

area

Number

of units

(approximate)

Deadline

dates

Section 8 Counseling.N/A May 2, 1995.

FSS Service Coordinators.N/A May 17, 1995.

Family Unification.2,000 Do.

The above-stated application

deadlines are firm as to date and hour.

In the interest of fairness to all

competing HAs, HUD will treat as

ineligible for consideration any

application that is not received before

the application deadline. Applicants

should take this practice into account

and make early submission of their

materials to avoid any risk of loss of

eligibility brought about by

unanticipated delays or other deliveryrelated problems. HUD will not accept,

at any time during the NOFA

competition, application materials sent

via facsimile (FAX) transmission.

Other allocations of Section 8 funds,

including the FY 94 funding and those

allocations without specific application

deadlines, are listed in Section IX. of the

NOFA.

(C) Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS)

Program Requirement

Unless specifically exempted by HUD,

all rental voucher or rental certificate

funding reserved in FY 95 (except

funding for renewals or amendments)

will be used to establish the minimum

size of an HA’s FSS program.

(D) Application Submission

Requirements—General

(1) General

The provisions of this section I apply

to all subprograms covered by this

NOFA. Applications must meet the

requirements of this section I as well as

the requirements for each subprogram as

shown in the pertinent section of this

NOFA for the subprogram. Refer to the

subprogram section for the specific

application submission requirements.

Except as provided for Indian

Housing Authorities or unless otherwise

specified for a subprogram, only an

original application and one copy

should be submitted. It is not necessary

to submit additional copies of the

application.

(2) Application Procedures for HUDDesignated Housing Agencies with

Major Program Findings

HUD will establish a pass or fail

threshold for all HAs and those HAs

that fail the threshold will not be

eligible to apply without a contract

administrator. Some housing agencies

currently administering the Section 8

rental voucher and certificate programs

have, at the time of publication of this

NOFA, major program management

findings that are open and unresolved or

other significant program compliance

problems (e.g., HA has not implemented

mandatory FSS program). HUD will not

accept applications for additional

funding from these HAs as contract

administrators if, on the application

deadline date, the findings are not

closed to HUD’s satisfaction. If these

HAs want to apply for any of the

subprograms listed in this NOFA, the

HA must submit an application that

designates another housing agency, nonprofit agency, or contractor, that is

acceptable to HUD and includes an

agreement with the other housing

agency or contractor to administer the

new funding increment on behalf of the

HA. The Office of Public Housing in the

local HUD Office will notify,

immediately after the publication of this

NOFA, those HAs that are not eligible

to apply. Applications submitted by

these HAs without an agreement from

another housing agency or contractor,

approved by HUD, to serve as contract

administrator will be rejected. Other

agencies may be notified by HUD at

other times as HUD deems appropriate.

(3) Forms

Application forms may be obtained

from the local HUD Office. Applications

for all of the subprograms must include,

unless otherwise specifically excepted:

(a) Form HUD–52515.

An Application for Existing Housing,

Form HUD–52515, must be completed

in accordance with the rental voucher

and certificate program regulations. An

application for rental vouchers or

certificates must include the

information in Section H, Average

Monthly Tenant Payment, of Form

HUD–52515 in order for HUD to

calculate the amount of Section 8

budget authority necessary to fund the

requested number of units. HAs may

obtain a copy of Form HUD–52515 from

the local HUD Office. (Not applicable to

subprograms for Family Self-Sufficiency

Coordinators or Section 8 Counseling.)

(b) Certification Regarding Drug-Free

Workplace.

The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988

requires grantees of Federal Agencies to

certify that they will provide a drug-free

workplace. Thus, each HA must certify

(even though it has done so previously)

that it will comply with the drug-free

workplace requirements in accordance

with CFR part 24, subpart F. HAs may

obtain a copy of this form from the local

HUD Office.
12038 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

(c) Certification Regarding Lobbying.

Section 319 of the Department of the

Interior Appropriations Act, Public Law

101–121, approved October 23, 1989,

(31 U.S.C. 1352) (the ‘‘Byrd

Amendment’’) generally prohibits

recipients of Federal contracts, grants

and loans from using appropriated

funds for lobbying the Executive or

Legislative Branches of the Federal

Governments in connection with a

specific contract, grant or loan.

The Department’s regulations on these

restrictions on lobbying are codified at

24 CFR part 87. To comply with 24 CFR

87.110, any HA submitting an

application under this announcement

for more than $100,000 of budget

authority must submit a certification

and, if applicable, a Disclosure of

Lobbying Activities (SF–LLL). IHAs

established by an Indian tribe as a result

of the exercise of the tribe’s sovereign

power are excluded from coverage of the

Byrd Amendment, but IHAs established

under State law are not excluded from

the statute’s coverage. HAs may obtain

a copy of the certification and the Form

SF–LLL from the local HUD Office.

(d) Application Requirements for

Subprograms.

HAs must also comply with the

additional application requirements for

each subprogram identified in the

section of the NOFA for the specific

subprogram.

(e) HA Eligibility.

All HAs that meet the eligibility

requirements for the various

subprograms, other than those HAs

notified under the provisions of

paragraph I.(D)(2) of this NOFA and

those with certain civil rights or

program violations or deficiencies as

specified in section I.(G)(2), are eligible

to apply for funding.

(E) Selection Criteria—General

Each subprogram section of this

NOFA has specific selection criteria to

evaluate the applications submitted.

Refer to the specific subprogram section

in this NOFA for the selection criteria.

(F) Local Government Comments

Section 213 of the Housing and

Community Development Act of 1974

requires that HUD independently

determine that there is a need for the

housing assistance requested in

applications, and solicit and consider

comments relevant to this determination

from the chief executive officer of the

unit of general local government. The

HUD Office will obtain Section 213

comments from the unit of general local

government in accordance with 24 CFR

part 791, subpart C, Applications for

Housing Assistance in Areas Without

Housing Assistance Plans. Comments

submitted by the unit of general local

government must be considered before

an application can be approved. The

Section 213 requirements do not apply

to applications for the FSS Service

Coordinators and Section 8 Counseling

subprograms.

For purposes of expediting the

application process, the HA should

encourage the chief executive officer of

the unit of general local government to

submit a letter with the HA application

commenting on the HA application in

accordance with Section 213. Since

HUD cannot approve an application

until the 30-day comment period is

closed, the Section 213 letter should not

only comment on the application, but

also state that HUD may consider the

letter to be the final comments and that

no additional comments will be

forthcoming from the unit of general

local government.

(G) Corrections to Deficient

Applications—General

(1) Acceptable Applications—General

To be eligible for processing, an

application must be received by the

appropriate HUD Office no later than

the date and time specified in Section

I.(B) of this NOFA. The HUD Office will

initially screen all applications and

notify HAs of technical deficiencies by

letter.

If an application has technical

deficiencies, the HA will have 14

calendar days from the date of the

issuance of the HUD notification letter

to submit the missing or corrected

information to the HUD Office. Curable

technical deficiencies relate only to

items that do not improve the

substantive quality of the application

relative to the rating factors. The 14

calendar day technical correction period

does not apply to NOFAs for Section 8

Counseling, Mainstream Housing

Opportunities, Persons with HIV/AIDS

and Homeless Families.

All HAs must submit corrections

within 14 calendar days from the date

of the HUD letter notifying the applicant

of any such deficiency. Information

received after 3 p.m. local time (i.e., the

time in the appropriate HUD Office), of

the fourteenth calendar day of the

correction period will not be accepted

and the application will be rejected as

incomplete.

(2) Unacceptable Applications—General

(a) After the 14-calendar day technical

deficiency correction period, the HUD

Office will disapprove HA applications

that it determines are not acceptable for

processing. The HUD Office notification

of rejection letter must state the basis for

the decision.

(b) Applications that fall into any of

the following categories will not be

processed:

(i) There is a pending civil rights suit

against the HA instituted by the

Department of Justice or there is a

pending administrative action for civil

rights violations instituted by HUD

(including a charge of discrimination

under the Fair Housing Act).

(ii) There has been an adjudication of

a civil rights violation in a civil action

brought against the HA by a private

individual, unless the HA is operating

in compliance with a court order, or

implementing a HUD approved resident

selection and assignment plan or

compliance agreement designed to

correct the areas of noncompliance.

(iii) There are outstanding findings of

noncompliance with civil rights

statutes, Executive Orders, or

regulations, as a result of formal

administrative proceedings, or the

Secretary has issued a charge against the

applicant under the Fair Housing Act,

unless the applicant is operating under

a conciliation or compliance agreement

designed to correct the areas of noncompliance.

(iv) HUD has denied application

processing under Title VI of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964, the Attorney

General’s Guidelines (28 CFR 50.3), and

the HUD Title VI regulations (24 CFR

1.8) and procedures (HUD Handbook

8040.1), or under section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and HUD

regulations (24 CFR 8.57).

(v) The HA has serious unaddressed,

outstanding Inspector General audit

findings, Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity monitoring review

findings, or HUD Office management

review findings for one or more of its

Rental Voucher, Rental Certificate, or

Moderate Rehabilitation Programs, or, in

the case of an HA that is not currently

administering a Rental Voucher, Rental

Certificate, or Moderate Rehabilitation

Program, for its Public Housing Program

or Indian Housing Program. The only

exception to this category is if the HA

has been identified under the policy

established in section I.(D)(2) of this

NOFA and the HA makes application

with a designated contract

administrator.

(vi) The HA is involved in litigation

and HUD determines that the litigation

may seriously impede the ability of the

HA to administer an additional

increment of rental vouchers or rental

certificates.

(vii) An HA application that does not

comply with the requirements of 24 CFR

882.204(a) or 887.55(b) and this notice,
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12039

including the drug-free workplace

certification and the anti-lobbying

certification/disclosure requirements,

after the expiration of the 14-calendar

day technical deficiency correction

period will be rejected from processing.

(viii) An HA application submitted

after the deadline date for the

subprogram of rental vouchers or

certificates will be rejected from

processing.

(ix) An HA must have achieved 90

percent lease-up of units in its HUDapproved budget for the HA fiscal year

prior to application for funding in each

of its rental voucher and certificate

programs. Applications from HAs that

have failed to achieve the 90 percent

lease-up will be rejected from

processing.

(H) HUD Corrections to Rating and

Ranking FY 94 Applications

HUD is aware that a few HA

applications submitted under the FY 94

NOFAs were not funded due to HUD

field staff incorrectly rating and ranking

some HAs’ applications. Although the

number of errors were limited, HUD

believes that the errors must be

corrected; therefore, HUD Offices that

failed to fund certain HA applications

for FY 1994 funding due to these errors

by the HUD Office may correct those

errors as follows:

(1) The HUD Office will reconstruct

the FY 94 ranking process to include the

application(s) missing from the original

ranking process due to the error; and

(2) The HUD Office will determine the

number of units and Section 8 budget

authority that would have been awarded

to the application(s) subject to the FY 94

funds available at the time and the

funding selection process utilized in the

FY 94 competition.

The HUD Office will correct the error

by funding the FY 94 applications from

the FY 95 fair share allocation for the

same allocation area prior to the FY 95

competition. The funds for the

allocation area remaining after

correcting the FY 94 ranking error will

be available for the FY 95 competition.

The correction of the FY 94 error for an

HA will not affect the HA’s ability to

compete for the remaining FY 95 funds

and the FY 95 application will be

considered as though no error had been

made.

(I) Notification of Funds Awarded

(1) After the HUD Offices have

reviewed, rated, and ranked

applications, and the HUD Offices have

approved the applications, each HUD

Office must submit to Headquarters a

list of all approved applications for each

subprogram in this NOFA. The

application approval list is due in

Headquarters (ATTENTION: Rental

Assistance Division, Office of Public

and Indian Housing) on the tenth

working day following the date set by

Headquarters for completion of

application ranking and selections.

(2) The HUD Offices must provide the

following information for each

application approved:

(a) The name and address of the HA;

(b) The project number, and the

number of rental vouchers and the

number of rental certificates, as

applicable, approved for the HA; and

(c) The amount of contract authority

and budget authority, stated separately

for rental vouchers and rental

certificates.

The Field Offices of Native American

Programs (FONAPs) also must send to

Headquarters Office of Native American

Programs a list of all approved IHA

applications for each subprogram in this

NOFA.

II. Fair Share Allocations

(A) Fair Share Application Deadline

Date

The deadline date for applications for

the Fair Share allocation is listed in

Section I.(B) of the NOFA.

(B) Fair Share Allocation Amounts

(1) Housing Needs Formula

In FY 95, approximately $1.2 billion

of budget authority for the rental

voucher and certificate programs is

available for fair share formula

allocation. Of this amount,

approximately $600 million is for rental

vouchers and approximately $600

million is for rental certificates. This

budget authority is being allocated to

each HUD Office under this NOFA,

using the housing needs factors

established in accordance with 24 CFR

791.402. In addition, approximately

$151 million is retained in a

Headquarters Reserve that will not be

allocated by formula.

(2) Metropolitan/Non-Metropolitan Mix

Separate housing needs factors were

developed for the metropolitan and nonmetropolitan allocation areas within

each HUD Office jurisdiction. On a

nationwide basis, approximately 90

percent of the FY 1995 ‘‘fair share’’

budget authority for the Rental Voucher

Program and Rental Certificate Program

is designated for allocation to

metropolitan areas. The metropolitan

housing needs factors were applied to

the housing assistance budget authority

available for metropolitan areas and the

non-metropolitan housing needs factors

were applied to the housing assistance

budget authority available for nonmetropolitan areas.

The allocation areas were established

by the HUD State and Area Offices to

ensure sufficient competition among

HAs (including State and regional or

multi-county HAs) operating housing

programs within the HUD-established

allocation areas.

(3) Program Type

This notice announces the fair share

allocation of housing assistance budget

authority (See Attachment 1) for the

Rental Voucher Program and for the

Rental Certificate Program to each

allocation area, based on the housing

needs factors. The allocation of housing

assistance budget authority to each

allocation area, however, is the total for

both programs. The allocations have

been structured to give HUD Offices

flexibility in approving HA applications

for funding of rental vouchers or rental

certificates. This Notice also provides an

estimate of the total number of rental

vouchers and rental certificates that

could be funded from the housing

assistance available in the allocation

area based on the national average cost

of rental assistance for a two-bedroom

unit. The actual number of units

assisted within each HUD Office will

vary from the estimates prepared by

Headquarters for each HUD Office since

the actual costs of rental assistance for

each HA vary from the average.

(4) Reimbursement for Portability Units

The Department has decided that it is

appropriate to use up to 50 percent of

the fair share allocation for each

allocation area as reimbursement to HAs

for the costs associated with families

that have moved under the portability

procedures of the programs. Each HA

must designate, in an attachment to

Form HUD–52515, the number of units

that it is requesting as reimbursement

for portability billings or absorptions. A

receiving HA that currently bills an

initial HA for the cost of rental

assistance for a family and receives

funding under this NOFA for

reimbursement of the rental assistance

must discontinue billing the initial HA

upon execution of the amendment to the

annual contributions contract (ACC).

The initial HA will then be able to

reissue the rental assistance to another

family on the initial HA’s waiting list.

Attachment 2 to this NOFA provides

a suggested format for the receiving HA

to list the number of units and to certify

to the number of families assisted under

the portability provisions. In order to be

eligible for reimbursement for

portability, the HA must have billed,

during the most recent month prior to
12040 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

the HA application to HUD for

reimbursement, another HA for the cost

of the families’ rental assistance,

including administrative fees, or have

absorbed the families into its own

program at any time during the last HA

fiscal year. A receiving HA may apply

for the number of rental vouchers or

certificates for which the HA billed

another HA during the most recent

month prior to application or the

number of rental vouchers or certificates

for families absorbed at any time during

the HA fiscal year.

HUD will, for each allocation area,

fund HAs with the highest ratio of rental

vouchers or certificates billed and

families absorbed in the HA’s total

rental voucher and certificate program.

HUD will divide the total number of

rental vouchers and certificates billed

and families absorbed by the total

number of rental vouchers and

certificates on the most recent HUDapproved budget in an HA’s program.

The resulting percentage (rounded to

four decimal places) will be used to

rank HAs for funding. Receiving HAs

will be ranked in descending order

based on the percentage of portable

rental vouchers and certificates. When

funds are not available to fund the last

ranked HAs with the same percentage,

the HUD Office will distribute the

balance of the funds evenly to the HAs

with the same percentage.

(5) Potential Additional Funding

If additional rental voucher or rental

certificate funding becomes available for

fair share use during FY 95, the

Department plans to distribute any

additional funding to HUD Offices using

the same percentage distribution as

reflected in Attachment 1 to this NOFA.

Any additional funding will be used

under the competitive requirements of

this NOFA to fund HA applications

which were approvable but not funded,

or approved and funded at less than 100

percent of the requested amount.

(C) Fair Share Application Submission

Requirements

(1) All the items in Section I.(D),

Application Submission

Requirements—General, of this NOFA

must be included in the application

submitted to the HUD Office.

(2) The application should include a

narrative description of how the

application meets, or will meet, the

application selection criteria. Failure to

submit a narrative description is not

cause for application rejection; however,

the HUD Office can only rate and rank

the application based on information

the HUD Office has on-hand.

(3) Attachment 1 to this notice lists

the HUD Offices and an estimate of the

number of rental vouchers and

certificates and budget authority

available for each allocation area within

the HUD State or Area Office

jurisdiction. HAs should limit their

applications for the ‘‘fair share’’

program to a reasonable number of

rental vouchers and rental certificates,

based on the capacity of the HA to leaseup within 12 months of ACC execution.

The number of rental vouchers or

certificates on the HA application,

excluding those designated as

portability reimbursements, may not

exceed the lesser of: (a) ten percent

(10%) of the total rental vouchers and

rental certificates on the most recent

HUD-approved budget for the HA; or (b)

50 percent of the number of units

available for the allocation area.

(4) Each HA that intends to apply for

rental vouchers or certificates as

reimbursement for families that

exercised their rights to portability must

attach the portability certification (See

Attachment 2 to this NOFA) to its fair

share application (Form HUD–52515).

Otherwise, the HA application will be

considered only for fair share funding.

HAs must provide the following

portability information to be considered

for this special funding:

(i) List the number of units by

bedroom size for all rental vouchers and

certificates for which the receiving HA

billed another HA and for all families

that an HA absorbed into its program.

(ii) List the number of rental vouchers

and certificates by bedroom size that the

HA is requesting under the fair share

funding.

(iii) Provide the certification as to the

number of rental vouchers or certificates

for which the receiving HA is billing

under portability or the number of

families it has absorbed.

(5) HAs may submit only one

application (Form HUD–52515) for an

allocation area and must submit a

separate application for each allocation

area. The total number of rental

vouchers or certificates for which an HA

applies may not exceed the lesser of ten

percent of its program size or 50 percent

of the rental vouchers and certificates

available for the allocation area.

(6) The HUD Office will reduce the

number of rental vouchers and

certificates requested in any application

that exceeds the established application

limit to the lesser of ten percent of the

total rental vouchers and rental

certificates on the latest HUD-approved

budget or 50 percent of the units

available for the allocation area.

(D) Fair Share Application Rating

Process

The HUD Office must use the

Selection Criteria shown below for the

rating of applications submitted in

response to this NOFA. The maximum

score under the selection criteria for fair

share funding is 120.

(1) Selection Criterion 1: Unmet

Housing Needs (50 points)

(a) Description: This criterion assesses

the unmet housing need in the primary

area specified in the HA’s application

compared to the unmet housing need for

the allocation area. Unmet housing need

is defined as the number of very lowincome renter households with housing

problems based on 1990 Census, minus

the number of Federally-assisted

housing units provided since the 1990

Census.

In awarding points under this

criterion, HUD will, to the extent

practicable, consider all units provided

since the 1990 Census under the Section

8 Rental Voucher and Certificate

programs, any other Section 8 programs,

the Public and Indian Housing

programs, the Section 202 program, and

the Farmers Home Administrations’s

Section 515 Rural Rental Housing

program.

(b) Rating and Assessment: The

number of points assigned is based on

the percentage of the allocation area’s

unmet housing need that is within the

HA’s primary area. State or Regional

Housing Agencies will receive points

based on the areas they intend to serve

with this allocation, e.g., the entire

allocation area or the localities within

the allocation area specified in the

application. The HUD Office will assign

one of the following point totals:

• 50 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is greater than 50

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 45 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 50 percent but greater than 40

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 40 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 40 percent but greater than 30

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 35 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 30 percent but greater than 20

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 30 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 20 percent but greater than 10

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12041

• 25 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 10 percent but greater than 5 of the

allocation area’s unmet need.

• 20 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing is equal to or less than

5 percent (but greater than zero) of the

allocation area’s unmet need.

• 0 points. If the HA has no unmet

housing need (zero percent). The HUD

Office will not consider for funding any

HA application receiving zero (0)

points.

In accordance with Notice PIH 91–45,

the HUD Office will notify the Farmers

Home Administration (FmHA) of

applications it receives and ask that

FmHA provide advisory comments

concerning the market for additional

assisted housing or the possible impact

the proposed units may have on FmHA

projects. Applications for which FmHA

has provided comments expressing

concerns about market need or the

continued stability of existing FmHA

projects, with which HUD agrees, will

receive zero points for this criterion.

(2) Selection Criterion 2: Efforts of HA

to Provide Area-Wide Housing

Opportunities for Families (60 points)

(a) Description: Many HAs have

undertaken voluntary efforts to provide

area-wide housing opportunities for

families. The efforts described in

response to this selection criterion must

be beyond those required by federal law

or regulation such as the portability

provisions of the Section 8 rental

voucher and certificate programs. HAs

in metropolitan and non-metropolitan

areas are eligible for points under this

criterion. The HUD Office will assign

points to HAs that have established

cooperative agreements with other HAs

or created a consortium of HAs in order

to facilitate the transfer of families and

their rental assistance between HA

jurisdictions. In addition, the HUD

Office will assign points to HAs that

have established relationships with nonprofit groups to provide families with

additional counseling, or have directly

provided counseling, to increase the

likelihood of a successful move by the

families to areas that do not have large

concentrations of poverty.

(b) Rating and Assessment: The HUD

Office will assign point values for any

of the following assessments for which

the HA qualifies and add the points for

all the assessments (maximum of 60

points) to determine the total points for

this Selection Criterion:

• 10 points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it participates in an

area-wide rental voucher and certificate

exchange program where all HAs absorb

portable Section 8 families.

• 10 Points—Assign 10 points if the

HA certifies that its administrative plan

does not include a ‘‘residency

preference’’ for selection of families to

participate in its rental voucher and

certificate programs or the HA certifies

that it will eliminate immediately any

‘‘residency preference’’ currently in its

administrative plan.

• 10 Points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it has established a

contractual relationship with a nonprofit agency or the local governmental

entity to provide housing counseling for

families that want to move to lowpoverty or non-minority areas. The five

HAs approved for the FY 93 Moving to

Opportunity (MTO) for Fair Housing

Demonstration and any other HAs that

receive counseling funds from HUD in

settlement of litigation involving

desegregation may qualify for points

under this assessment, but these HAs

must identify all activities undertaken,

other than those funded and required

under the MTO Demonstration or the

court-ordered plans, to expand housing

opportunities.

• 10 Points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it requested from

HUD, and HUD approved, the authority

to utilize exceptions to the fair market

rent limitations as allowed under 24

CFR 882.106(a)(4) to allow families to

select units in low-poverty or nonminority areas.

• 10 Points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it participates with

other HAs in using a metropolitan wide

or combined waiting list for selecting

participants in the program.

• 10 Points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it has implemented

other initiatives that have resulted in

expanding housing opportunities in

areas that do not have undue

concentrations of poverty or minority

families.

(3) Selection Criterion 3: Local

Initiatives (10 points)

(a) Description: The application must

describe the extent to which the HA

demonstrates locally initiated efforts in

support of its Rental Voucher and

Rental Certificate Program or

comparable tenant-based rental

assistance programs. Evaluation of a

locality’s contribution is measured

competitively by the extent to which a

locality is able to provide services or

cash contributions or demonstrate its

intention to provide this kind of support

in the future, as compared to services or

contributions provided by other

localities of like program size.

(b) Rating and Assessment: The HUD

Office will assign one of two pointvalues, as follows:

• 10 points: The State or locality

provides significant local support (e.g.,

financial, manpower for inspection

services) to its Rental Voucher or Rental

Certificate Program.

• 0 points: The State or locality does

not provide support to the HA’s Rental

Voucher or Rental Certificate Program.

(E) Corrections to Deficient Fair Share

Applications

(1) Acceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(1) of this NOFA.

(2) Unacceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(2) of this NOFA.

(F) Fair Share Application Selection

Process

(1) Maximum Funding Allowed

Excluding rental vouchers or

certificates for portability

reimbursements, the HUD Office may

approve maximum funding for an HA

under this NOFA that does not exceed

the lesser of 10 percent of the HA rental

vouchers and rental certificates on the

latest HUD-approved budget or 50

percent of the number of rental

vouchers and certificates available in

the allocation area, whichever is less.

(2) Funding Procedure

The HUD Office must develop a

procedure for approving applications

(including applications rated by the

Native American Programs Office) in

rank order until all the housing

assistance budget authority is used. The

HUD Office may elect to approve

applications for 100 percent of the

rental vouchers or certificates requested,

or the maximum number allowed for

each HA under this NOFA (not to

exceed the lesser of ten percent of the

HA’s program size or 50 percent of

rental vouchers and certificates

available for the allocation area), in all

applications that score above a HUD

Office-determined funding cut-off. The

HUD Office may elect to approve all

applications using a lower percentage,

but may not approve applications at less

than 80 percent of the rental vouchers

and certificates requested in all

applications that score above the HUD

Office-determined funding cut-off.

The HUD Office may elect to divide

applications into two categories and to

approve a different percentage of

requested rental vouchers and

certificates for applications in each of

the two ranking categories, but not less

than 80 percent of the rental vouchers

and certificates requested in all

applications. The higher percentage of

rental vouchers and certificates

requested would be approved for all
12042 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

applications in the higher category and

a lower percentage of rental vouchers

and certificates requested would be

approved for all applications in the

lower category. The HUD Office must

approve the same percentage (at least 80

percent) of each application within each

of the two ranking categories.

Where a HUD Office funds

applications at 100 percent or 80

percent of the rental vouchers and

certificates requested according to rank

order, only to find it has some number

of rental vouchers or certificates left but

not enough to fund the next fundable

application, the next rated application,

or applications receiving the same score,

can be funded to the extent of the

number of rental vouchers or certificates

available provided that each application

receives the same percentage even

though it is less than 80 percent.

If an HA applies for a specific

program (i.e., rental vouchers or rental

certificates) and funding for the

specified program is not available in the

metropolitan allocation area or nonmetropolitan allocation area, the HUD

Office will award the available form of

assistance, even though not specifically

requested by the applicant.

The HUD State or Area Office must

promptly notify the applicable Native

American Programs Office for each

allocation area as to the status of any

applications from IHAs and, if

applicable, the amount of budget

authority to be made available for IHA

applications that were rated high

enough to receive funding. The HUD

State or Area Office must promptly

notify Headquarters (Attention: Budget

Division, Office of Public and Indian

Housing) of any IHA to be awarded

funding so that the funds may be reassigned to the appropriate Native

American Programs Office.

(3) Reallocations of Funds

Each HUD Office must make every

reasonable effort to use all available

funds. It may be necessary, however, to

reallocate funds from one HUD Office to

another when the funds are not likely to

be used in the HUD Office to which they

were initially assigned. In such cases,

the following procedures shall be

followed:

(a) Reallocations within the Same

State. If the allocation of funds to a HUD

Office cannot be awarded within the

office jurisdiction during Fiscal Year

1995, funds will be reallocated to

another HUD Office within the same

State where they can be used during

Fiscal Year 1995.

(b) Reallocations Between States. If a

HUD Office cannot use funds within the

same State, those funds will be reallocated to another HUD Office for use

in a State where they can be used during

Fiscal Year 1995.

(c) Reallocations Between

Metropolitan and Non-metropolitan

Areas. The HUD Office must follow the

original fund assignments for

metropolitan and non-metropolitan

areas. If there are not enough approvable

applications for the designated

metropolitan or non-metropolitan

budget authority, the HUD Office may

switch the budget authority between a

metropolitan and non-metropolitan area

within the same State, provided that an

offsetting switch can be made in another

State within the HUD Office. If an

offsetting switch cannot be made and

the metropolitan or non-metropolitan

amounts require changes to the fund

assignments, the approval of the Budget

Division, Office of Management and

Policy, Office of Public and Indian

Housing, must be obtained before

switching budget authority between a

metropolitan and a non-metropolitan

area.

(d) Requests for Reallocations. A

request for approval of a reallocation

between States or between metropolitan

and non-metropolitan areas must

explain the reasons that funds cannot be

used in the original State, or

metropolitan and non-metropolitan

area, the amount being withdrawn, the

program type, and the metropolitan/

non-metropolitan mix, and the amount

to be reallocated. These requests must

be submitted to Headquarters

(ATTENTION: Budget Division, Office

of Management and Policy, Office of

Public and Indian Housing) for

approval.

III. Family Unification/Foster Care

Program

(A) Family Unification Application

Deadline Date

The Deadline date for the Family

Unification Program application is

listed in Section I.(B) of the NOFA.

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description

of Family Unification Program

(1) Authority

Section 8(x) of the U.S. Housing Act

of 1937, 42 U.S.C. 1437f(x). The

regulations governing the section 8

rental certificate program are codified at

24 CFR parts 882 and 982. This NOFA

announces the availability of Family

Unification funding under the VA,

HUD-Independent Agencies

Appropriations Act of 1995 (Pub.L. 103–

327, approved September 28, 1994).

(2) Background

The Family Unification Program is a

program under which Section 8 rental

assistance is provided to families for

whom the lack of adequate housing is a

primary factor which would result in:

(a) The imminent placement of the

family’s child, or children, in out-ofhome care, or

(b) The delay in the discharge of the

child, or children, to the family from

out-of-home care.

The purpose of the Family Unification

Program is to promote family

unification by providing rental

assistance to families for whom the lack

of adequate housing is a primary factor

in the separation, or the threat of

imminent separation, of children from

their families.

Rental certificates awarded under the

Family Unification Program are to be

administered by HAs under HUD’s

regulations for the Section 8 rental

certificate program (24 CFR parts 882

and subpart E of part 982). The HA may

issue a rental voucher (24 CFR part 887

and subpart E of part 982 ) to a family

selected for participation in the Family

Unification Program if the family

requests a rental voucher and the HA

has one available.

(3) Eligibility of HAs

HAs currently administering a rental

voucher or certificate program in the

following sixteen states are eligible to

apply except those HAs determined

unacceptable under section I.(D)(2) of

this NOFA: California, Florida, Georgia,

Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,

Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New

Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,

Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.

Applications were limited to HAs in

eleven States by Congress under the VA,

HUD-Independent Agencies

Appropriations Act of 1992, and the

Senate Committee Report for the VA,

HUD-Independent Agencies Act of 1993

allowed HUD to expand the program to

five additional States. The selection of

the five additional States was based on

the caseload of families with children in

foster care within the States. The

information concerning families with

children in foster care was provided to

HUD by the Administration for Children

and Families at the U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services (HHS).

(4) Program Guidelines

(a) Definitions: For purposes of the

Family Unification Demonstration

Program:

(i) Family Unification eligible family

means a family that:

(A) The public child welfare agency

has certified is a family for whom the
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12043

lack of adequate housing is a primary

factor in the imminent placement of the

family’s child, or children, in out-ofhome care, or in the delay of discharge

of a child, or children, to the family

from out-of-home care; and

(B) The HA has determined is eligible

for Section 8 rental assistance.

(ii) The lack of adequate housing

means a situation in which a family:

(A) Is living in substandard housing or

homeless, as defined in 24 CFR 982.212

and 982.213, or

(B) Is, or will be, involuntarily

displaced from a housing unit because

of actual or threatened violence against

a family member under the

circumstances described in 24 CFR

982.211.

(iii) Public child welfare agency

(PCWA) means the public agency that is

responsible under applicable State or

Tribal law for determining that a child

is at imminent risk of placement in outof-home care or that a child in out-ofhome care under the supervision of the

public agency may be returned to his or

her family.

(b) HA Responsibilities.

HAs must:

(i) Accept families certified by the

PCWA as eligible for the Family

Unification Program. If the HA has a

closed waiting list, it must reopen the

waiting list to accept Family Unification

applicant families. The HA is not

required to review its waiting list for

eligible families. The HA upon receipt

of the PCWA list of families currently in

the PCWA caseload must compare the

names with those of families already on

the HA’s Section 8 waiting list. Any

family on the HA’s Section 8 waiting list

that matches with the PCWA’s list must

be assisted in order of their position on

the waiting list in accordance with HA

admission policies;

(ii) Determine if any applicants on its

waiting list are living in temporary

shelters or on the street, and refer such

applicants to the PCWA;

(iii) Determine if families referred by

the PCWA are eligible for Section 8

assistance and place eligible families on

the Section 8 waiting list;

(iv) Amend the administrative plan in

accordance with applicable program

regulations and requirements;

(v) Administer the rental assistance in

accordance with applicable program

regulations and requirements; and

(vi) Assure the quality of the

evaluation that HUD intends to conduct

on the Family Unification Program, and

cooperate with and provide requested

data to the HUD office or HUD-approved

contractor responsible for program

evaluation.

(c) Public Child Welfare Agency

(PCWA) Responsibilities. Public child

welfare agencies must:

(i) Establish and implement a system

to identify Family Unification eligible

families within the agency’s caseload

and to review referrals from the HA;

(ii) Provide written certification to the

HA that a family qualifies as a Family

Unification eligible family;

(iii) Commit sufficient staff resources

to ensure that Family Unification

eligible families are identified and

certified in a timely manner; and

(iv) Cooperate with the evaluation

that HUD intends to conduct on the

Family Unification Program, and submit

a certification with the HA’s application

for Family Unification funding that the

PCWA will agree to cooperate with and

provide requested data to the HUD

office or HUD-approved contractor

having responsibility for program

evaluation.

(d) Section 8 Rental Certificate

Assistance.

The Family Unification Program

provides assistance under the Section 8

rental assistance programs. Although

HUD is providing a special allocation of

rental certificates, the HA may use both

rental vouchers and certificates to assist

families under this program.

HAs must administer this program in

accordance with HUD’s regulations

governing the Section 8 rental certificate

and rental voucher programs. The HA

may issue a rental voucher to a family

selected to participate in the Family

Unification Program if the family

requests a rental voucher and the HA

has one available. If Section 8 assistance

for a family under this program is

terminated, the rental assistance must

be reissued to another Family

Unification eligible family during the

five-year term of the ACC for the Section

8 rental certificates provided under this

program.

(C) Family Unification Allocation

Amounts

This NOFA announces the availability

of up to $76 million for the Family

Unification Program which will support

assistance for about 2,000 families. Each

HA may apply for funding for a

maximum of 50 units.

The amounts allocated under this

NOFA will be awarded under a national

competition based on demonstrated

need for such assistance and a lottery

for selection from all approvable

applications. The Family Unification

Program is exempt from the fair share

allocation requirements of section

213(d) of the Housing and Community

Development Act of 1974, and from 24

CFR part 791, subpart D, the HUD

regulation implementing section 213(d).

(D) Family Unification Application

Submission Requirements

(1) Letter of Intent and Narrative

All the items in this Section and

Section I.(D), Application Submission

Requirements—General, must be

included in the application submitted to

the HUD Office. The application must

include an explanation of how the

application meets, or will meet,

Threshold Criteria 1 through 4 in

Section III.(E)(2) below.

The application must also include a

letter of intent from the PCWA stating

its commitment to provide resources

and support for the Family Unification

Program. The PCWA letter of intent

must explain:

(i) The method used to identify

eligible families,

(ii) The process to certify eligible

families,

(iii) The PCWA assistance to families

to locate suitable housing,

(iv) The staff resources committed to

the program, and

(v) PCWA experience with the

administration of similar programs

including cooperation with an HA.

The PCWA serving the jurisdiction of

the HA is responsible for providing the

information for Threshold Criterion 4,

PCWA Statement of Need for Family

Unification Program, to the HA for

submission with the HA application.

The application must include a

statement by the PCWA describing the

need for a Family Unification Program.

This should include a discussion of the

case-load of the PCWA and information

about homelessness, family violence

resulting in involuntary displacement,

number and characteristics of families

who are experiencing the placement of

children in out-of-home care as a result

of inadequate housing, and the PCWA’s

experience in obtaining housing through

HUD assisted housing programs and

other sources for families lacking

adequate housing. A State-wide Public

Child Welfare Agency must provide

information on Threshold Criterion 4,

PCWA Statement of Need for Family

Unification Program, to all HAs that

request data; otherwise, HUD will not

consider applications from any HAs

with the State-wide PCWA as a

participant in its program. The HA must

state in its cover letter to the application

whether it will accept a reduction in the

number of rental certificates and the

minimum number of rental certificates

it will accept since the funding is

limited and HUD may only have enough

funds to approve a smaller amount than
12044 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

the number of rental certificates

requested.

(2) Evaluation Certifications

The HA and the PCWA in separate

certifications must state that the HA and

Public Child Welfare Agency agree to

cooperate with HUD and provide

requested data to the HUD office or

HUD-approved contractor delegated the

responsibility for the program

evaluation. No specific language for this

certification is prescribed by HUD.

(E) Family Unification Application

Rating Process

(1) General

The HUD Office is responsible for

rating the applications, and HUD

Headquarters is responsible for selection

of applications (including applications

rated by the Native American Programs

Office) that will receive assistance

under the Family Unification Program.

The HUD Office will initially screen all

applications and determine any

technical deficiencies based on the

application submission requirements.

Each application submitted in

response to the NOFA must receive, in

order to be eligible for funding, at least

30 points for Threshold Criterion 1:

Unmet Housing Needs; at least 10 points

for Threshold Criterion 2: Efforts of HA

to Provide Area-Wide Housing

Opportunities for Families; and must

meet the requirements for Threshold

Criterion 3: Coordination between HA

and Public Child Welfare Agency, and

Threshold Criterion 4: Public Child

Welfare Agency Statement of Need for

Family Unification Program.

(2) Threshold Criteria

(a) Selection Criterion 1: Unmet

Housing Needs (50 points).

(i) Description: This criterion assesses

the unmet housing need in the primary

area specified in the HA’s application

compared to the unmet housing need for

the allocation area. Unmet housing need

is defined as the number of very lowincome renter households with housing

problems based on 1990 Census, minus

the number of Federally-assisted

housing units provided since the 1990

Census.

In awarding points under this

criterion, HUD will, to the extent

practicable, consider all units provided

since the 1990 Census under the Section

8 Rental Voucher and Certificate

programs, any other Section 8 programs,

the Public and Indian Housing

programs, the Section 202 program, and

the Farmers Home Administration’s

Section 515 Rural Rental Housing

program.

(ii) Rating and Assessment: The

number of points assigned is based on

the percentage of the allocation area’s

unmet housing need that is within the

HA’s primary area. State or Regional

Housing Agencies will receive points

based on the areas they intend to serve

with this allocation, e.g., the entire

allocation area or the localities within

the allocation area specified in the

application. The HUD Office will assign

one of the following point totals:

• 50 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is greater than 50

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 45 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 50 percent but greater than 40

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 40 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 40 percent but greater than 30

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 35 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 30 percent but greater than 20

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 30 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 20 percent but greater than 10

percent of the allocation area’s unmet

need.

• 25 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing need is equal to or less

than 10 percent but greater than 5 of the

allocation area’s unmet need.

• 20 points. If the HA’s percentage of

unmet housing is equal to or less than

5 percent (but greater than zero) of the

allocation area’s unmet need.

• 0 points. If the HA has no unmet

housing need (zero percent). The HUD

Office will not consider for funding any

HA application receiving zero (0)

points.

In accordance with Notice PIH 91–45,

the HUD Office will notify the Farmers

Home Administration (FmHA) of

applications it receives and ask that

FmHA provide advisory comments

concerning the market for additional

assisted housing or the possible impact

the proposed units may have on FmHA

projects. Applications for which FmHA

has provided comments expressing

concerns about market need or the

continued stability of existing FmHA

projects, with which HUD agrees, will

receive zero points for this criterion.

(b) Selection Criterion 2: Efforts of HA

to Provide Area-Wide Housing

Opportunities for Families (60 points).

(i) Description: Many HAs have

undertaken voluntary efforts to provide

area-wide housing opportunities for

families. The efforts described in

response to this selection criterion must

be beyond those required by federal law

or regulation such as the portability

provisions of the Section 8 rental

voucher and certificate programs. HAs

in metropolitan and non-metropolitan

areas are eligible for points under this

criterion. The HUD Office will assign

points to HAs that have established

cooperative agreements with other HAs

or created a consortium of HAs in order

to facilitate the transfer of families and

their rental assistance between HA

jurisdictions. In addition, the HUD

Office will assign points to HAs that

have established relationships with nonprofit groups to provide families with

additional counseling, or have directly

provided counseling, to increase the

likelihood of a successful move by the

families to areas that do not have large

concentrations of poverty.

(ii) Rating and Assessment: The HUD

Office will assign point values for any

of the following assessments for which

the HA qualifies and add the points for

all the assessments (maximum of 60

points) to determine the total points for

this Selection Criterion:

• 10 points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it participates in an

area-wide rental voucher and certificate

exchange program where all HAs absorb

portable Section 8 families.

• 10 points—Assign 10 points if the

HA certifies that its administrative plan

does not include a ‘‘residency

preference’’ for selection of families to

participate in its rental voucher and

certificate programs or the HA certifies

that it will eliminate immediately any

‘‘residency preference’’ currently in its

administrative plan.

• 10 points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it has established a

contractual relationship with a nonprofit agency or the local governmental

entity to provide housing counseling for

families that want to move to lowpoverty or non-minority areas. The five

HAs approved for the FY 93 Moving to

Opportunity (MTO) for Fair Housing

Demonstration and any other HAs that

receive counseling funds from HUD in

settlement of litigation involving

desegregation may qualify for points

under this assessment, but these HAs

must identify all activities undertaken,

other than those funded and required

under the MTO Demonstration or the

court-ordered plans, to expand housing

opportunities.

• 10 points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it requested from

HUD, and HUD approved, the authority

to utilize exceptions to the fair market

rent limitations as allowed under 24

CFR 882.106(a)(4) to allow families to
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12045

select units in low-poverty or nonminority areas.

• 10 points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it participates with

other HAs in using a metropolitan wide

or combined waiting list for selecting

participants in the program.

• 10 points—Assign 10 points if the

HA documents that it has implemented

other initiatives that have resulted in

expanding housing opportunities in

areas that do not have undue

concentrations of poverty or minority

families.

(c) Threshold Criterion 3:

Coordination Between HA and Public

Child Welfare Agency to Identify and

Assist Eligible Families.

The application must describe the

method that the HA and the public

child welfare agency will use to identify

and assist Family Unification eligible

families. The application must include

a letter of intent from the PCWA stating

its commitment to provide resources

and support for the program. The PCWA

letter of intent and other information

must be comprehensive and must

include an explanation of the method

used to identify eligible families, of the

PCWA’s certification process for

determining Family Unification eligible

families, of the responsibilities of each

agency, of the PCWA assistance

provided to families in locating housing

units, of the PCWA staff resources

committed to the program, of the past

PCWA experience administering a

similar program, and of the PCWA/HA

cooperation in administering a similar

program.

(d) Threshold Criterion 4: Public

Child Welfare Agency Statement of

Need for Family Unification Program.

The application must include a

statement by the PCWA describing the

need for a program providing assistance

to families for whom lack of adequate

housing is a primary factor in the

placement of the family’s children in

out-of-home care, or in the delay of

discharge of the children to the family

from out-of-home care in the area to be

served, as evidenced by the caseload of

the public child welfare agency. The

PCWA must adequately demonstrate

that there is a need in the HA’s

jurisdiction for the Family Unification

program which is not being met through

existing programs. The narrative must

include specific information relevant to

the area to be served, about

homelessness, family violence resulting

in involuntary displacement, number

and characteristics of families who are

experiencing the placement of children

in out-of-home care or the delayed

discharge of children from out-of-home

care as the result of inadequate housing,

and the PCWA’s past experience in

obtaining housing through HUD assisted

programs and other sources for families

lacking adequate housing.

(F) Corrections to Deficient Family

Unification Applications

(1) Acceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(1) of this NOFA.

(2) Unacceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(2) of this NOFA.

(G) Family Unification Application

Selection Process

After the HUD Office has screened HA

applications and disapproved any

applications unacceptable for further

processing (See Section I.(G)(2) of this

NOFA), the HUD Office will review and

rate all approvable applications,

utilizing the Threshold Criteria and the

point assignments listed in this NOFA.

Each HUD Office will send to HUD

Headquarters the following information

on each application that passes the

Threshold Criteria:

(1) Name and address of the HA;

(2) Name and address of the Public

Child Welfare Agency;

(3) State Office, Area Office, or Native

American Programs Office contact

person and telephone number.

(4) The number of rental certificates

in the HA application and minimum

number of rental certificates specified in

the HA application and the

corresponding budget authority

acceptable to the HA; and

(5) A completed fund reservation

worksheet for the number of rental

certificates requested in the application.

All Field Offices of Native American

Programs also must send to

Headquarters Office of Native American

Programs the information listed in

Section III.(G) (1)–(5) for each IHA

application that passes the threshold

criteria.

Headquarters will select eligible HAs

to be funded based on a lottery. All HAs

identified by the HUD Offices as

meeting the Threshold Criteria

identified in the NOFA will be eligible

for the lottery selection process. As HAs

are selected, the costs of funding the

applications will be counted against the

total funds available for the Family

Unification program. In order to achieve

geographic diversity, HUD Headquarters

will limit the number of applications

selected for funding under the lottery

for any State to ten percent of the budget

authority made available under this

NOFA.

Applications will be funded in full for

the number of rental certificates

requested by the HA in accordance with

the NOFA. However, when remaining

rental certificate funds are insufficient

to fund the last HA application in full,

HUD Headquarters may fund that

application to the extent of the funding

available and the applicant’s

willingness to accept a reduced number

of rental certificates. Applicants that do

not wish to have the size of their

programs reduced may indicate in their

applications that they do not wish to be

considered for a reduced award of

funds. HUD Headquarters will skip over

these applicants if assigning the

remaining funding would result in a

reduced funding level.

IV. Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS)

Service Coordinators

(A) FSS Service Coordinators

Applications Deadline Date

The deadline date for the Family SelfSufficiency (FSS) Service Coordinators

subprogram is listed in Section I.(B) of

the NOFA.

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description

of Funding for FSS Service Coordinators

The FY 1995 HUD Appropriations Act

(Pub. L. 103–327 approved September

28, 1994) makes available

administrative fees under section 23(h)

of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 for the

Section 8 FSS program. Section 23(h)

establishes a fee for the costs incurred

in administering the Section 8 FSS

program and requires the Secretary to

revise the fee upon submission by the

General Accounting Office (GAO) of a

report determining the additional costs

to HAs under FSS programs. In April

1992, the GAO issued its report;

however, the report indicated that it was

premature to make a recommendation

for changes in the fee. As a result, the

Department determined to make a

sufficient fee available under this

NOFA, to enable the smaller HAs (i.e.,

those with programs of less than 1,500

total rental vouchers and certificates)

with required FSS programs of at least

25 slots, to hire up to one FSS program

coordinator for one year at a reasonable

cost, as determined by the HA and HUD,

based on salaries for similar positions in

the locality.

(1) Eligible Activity

Funds are available under this NOFA

to employ or otherwise retain the

services of up to one FSS program

coordinator for one year. A part-time

FSS program coordinator may be

retained where appropriate. Under the

FSS program, HAs are required to use

Section 8 rental assistance together with

public and private resources to provide

supportive services to enable
12046 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

participating families to achieve

economic independence and selfsufficiency. Effective delivery of

supportive services is a critical element

in a successful program.

(a) Program Coordinator Role.

HAs administering the FSS program

use program coordinating committees

(PCCs) to assist them to secure resources

for and implement the FSS program.

The program coordinating committee is

made up of representatives of local

government, job training and

employment agencies, local welfare

agencies, educational institutions, child

care providers, nonprofit service

providers, and businesses.

An FSS program coordinator works

with the PCC, and with local service

providers to assure that program

participants are linked to the supportive

services they need to achieve selfsufficiency. The FSS program

coordinator may ensure, through case

management, that the services included

in participants’ contracts of

participation are provided on a regular,

ongoing and satisfactory basis, and that

participants are fulfilling their

responsibilities under the contracts.

(b) Staffing Guidelines.

Under normal circumstances, a fulltime FSS program coordinator should be

able to serve approximately 50 FSS

participants, depending on the

coordinator’s case management

functions.

(c) Eligibility of HAs.

All HAs funded under the FY 94

NOFA that wish to obtain funding for

another year do not need to re-apply.

HUD will automatically fund the FY 94

recipients at 103 percent of the FY 94

amount unless the HA submits a new

application or notifies HUD not to fund

the HA for an FSS Service Coordinator.

All HAs which did not receive FSS

coordinator funding in FY 94 and that

currently administer a rental voucher

and certificate program of less than

1,500 total rental vouchers and

certificates and that received FY 1992

FSS incentive award funding, or FY

1993 and later rental voucher or

certificate funding (other than renewal

funding), and as a result are required to

administer an FSS program of at least 25

FSS slots are eligible to apply. HAs with

less than 1,500 total rental vouchers and

certificates and with FSS programs of

fewer than 25 slots may also apply, if

they apply jointly with one or more

other eligible HAs so that between or

among the HAs they administer at least

25 FSS slots. If eligible applicants apply

jointly, their combined total program

size may exceed 1,500 total rental

vouchers and certificates, but the

$40,000 maximum amount that may be

requested still applies. Joint applicants

must specify a lead coapplicant which

will receive and administer the FSS

program coordinator funding. A state or

regional (i.e., multi-county jurisdiction)

HA that administers a program of more

than 1,500 rental vouchers and

certificates may apply if it is required to

administer an FSS program of fewer

than 1,500 FSS slots.

HUD has limited eligibility under this

NOFA to HAs with less than 1,500 total

Section 8 rental vouchers and

certificates and to state and multicounty regional HAs that are required to

administer FSS programs of at least 25

but fewer than 1,500 FSS slots, because

the $17.3 million appropriated for FSS

program coordinators is insufficient to

fund all HAs administering FSS

programs. HUD determined that HAs

administering large Section 8 programs

are more likely than smaller HAs to

have access to other resources for FSS

program administration. State HAs

indicated an interest in FY 94 in

submitting applications for funding

under the FSS Service Coordinators

NOFA regardless of the 600 total

program size limitation in FY 94. In

response, HUD has decided to allow a

state or multi-county regional HA that

administers an FSS program in more

than one location to submit an

application if the state or multi-county

regional HA is required to administer an

FSS program of at least 25 but fewer

than 1,500 FSS slots.

HUD is requiring that applicants

under this NOFA administer FSS

programs of at least 25 FSS slots (based

on FY 1992 FSS incentive award

funding or FY 1993 and later rental

voucher and certificate funding (other

than renewal funding)) to ensure that

the limited program coordinator funds

are used in a cost-effective manner. The

Department expects that FSS programs

of less than 25 FSS slots can be

managed within HA resources.

(2) Eligible Applicants With HUD

Approved Exceptions to Mandatory

Minimum Size

If HUD has approved either a full or

partial exception to implementing an

FSS program of the mandatory

minimum size for an eligible applicant

with less than 1,500 rental vouchers and

certificates, solely because of a lack of

funds for reasonable administrative

costs, the approval of the exception is

hereby automatically rescinded, since

funding for an FSS program coordinator

is now available under this NOFA.

(C) FSS Service Coordinators Allocation

Amounts

For FY 1995, the HUD Appropriations

Act made $17.3 million available for HA

administrative fees for Section 8 FSS

Service Coordinators. Of this amount,

up to $8.7 million will be provided to

those HAs that received FY 94 funds in

response to the NOFA published on

August 29, 1994. This is the second

fiscal year of funding for FSS Service

Coordinators. All HAs that received

funding for FSS Service Coordinators

funding under the FY 94 NOFA will

receive 103 percent of the amount

awarded under the FY 94 NOFA

without submitting a new application in

response to this NOFA, unless the HA

notifies the HUD Office that it does not

want additional funding. Any

previously funded HA has the flexibility

to submit a new application in response

to this NOFA in order to change the

funded amount up to the maximums

established in this NOFA. Any other HA

with less than 1,500 total rental

vouchers and certificates may submit an

application for initial funding under

this subprogram.

An eligible HA may apply for a

maximum of $40,000 to support up to

one FSS program coordinator for one

year. An eligible state HA or multicounty regional HA may apply for a

maximum of $40,000. HUD may fund

applications at less than the requested

amount, based on the HUD Office

application review.

(D) FSS Service Coordinators

Application Submission Requirements

Each application for funding under

this NOFA must contain the following

items:

(1) Request for FSS Service Coordinator

Funds

All applications must contain the

following information stated in a letter

from the Executive Director of the HA

to the Director of the Office of Public

Housing in the local HUD Office or to

the Administrator of the Native

American Programs Office (see sample

letter format, Attachment 6A):

(a) The total number of currently

enrolled FSS families.

(b) The total number of required FSS

slots (based on FY 1992 incentive award

funding and FY 1993 and later rental

voucher and certificate funding).

(c) The annual salary proposed for the

FSS program coordinator, plus any

fringe benefits. Do not include costs of

training, transportation, clerical

support, equipment, supplies, or other

administrative costs or overhead. The

service coordinator salary should be set

as follows:
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12047

(i) Determine the salary level, taking

into consideration salaries for

comparable jobs, modified by the hours

worked.

(ii) Set the annual salary, including

any fringe benefits that pertain to the

job.

(d) Evidence that demonstrates salary

comparability with similar positions in

the local jurisdiction.

(e) Joint applicants must indicate

which HA will be the lead applicant

and will receive and administer the FSS

program coordinator funding.

(2) Required Certification Form

The HA must submit the Certification

Regarding Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity included as Attachment 6B

to this NOFA.

(E) Corrections to Deficient FSS Service

Coordinators Applications

(1) Acceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(1) of this NOFA.

(2) Unacceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(2) of this NOFA.

(F) Application Selection Process for

FSS Service Coordinators

The funds available under this

subprogram are not being awarded on a

competitive basis. The Department

anticipates that there may be sufficient

funds available under the NOFA to fund

all applications that meet the NOFA

requirements. Applications will be

reviewed by the HUD Office to

determine whether or not they are

technically adequate based on the

NOFA requirements.

Upon completion of the HUD Office

review, a list of all technically adequate

applications, each applicant’s total

program size and FSS program size, and

the amount approved for each applicant

will be forwarded by the HUD Office to

the Rental Assistance Division in HUD

Headquarters which will then allocate

the available funding among approvable

applications. All technically adequate

applications will be funded to the extent

funds are available. If HUD receives

applications for funding greater than the

amount made available under this

NOFA, HUD will fund applications

from the smallest HAs first (i.e., those

HAs with the smallest combined rental

voucher and certificate programs, or, in

the case of state and multi-county

regional HAs, smallest FSS program

size) and will not fund applications

from the larger HA applicants. The size

of a State or multi-county regional HA’s

program will be determined based on

the number of FSS slots it plans to

administer with the funds for the FSS

Coordinator.

V. Section 8 Counseling

(A) Application Due Date for Section 8

Counseling

Applications for Section 8 Counseling

are to be submitted directly to HUD

Headquarters at the following address:

Mr. Laurence Pearl, Office of Program

Standards and Evaluation, Fair Housing

and Equal Opportunity, Room 5226, 451

Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC

20410. The deadline date for

applications for the subprogram for

Section 8 Counseling is listed in Section

I.(B) of the NOFA.

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description

of Section 8 Counseling

(1) General

This NOFA announces the availability

of approximately $150 million for HA

administrative fees for Section 8

Counseling to facilitate a wide range of

housing options for rental voucher and

certificate holders and program

participants. HUD has determined that

families assisted under the Section 8

program frequently have a lack of

knowledge of the rental market and this

has limited the housing options of these

families. HUD has decided to set-aside

a portion of the FY 95 Section 8 funding

(See Attachment 5) for administrative

fees for housing agencies (HAs) to

establish counseling services programs

to assist families in expanding housing

opportunities for families. The set-aside

is designed to provide eligible families

with information about a wide range of

housing options in neighborhoods

throughout a metropolitan area so that

the families may make informed

decisions about the selection of housing

units. This goal will be accomplished by

a combination of intensive counseling

and outreach to landlords. Each HA

funded under this NOFA for Section 8

Counseling must use the counseling

funds only for those families eligible

under this NOFA and may not counsel

families for which the HA is funded

from other sources, e.g., funds provided

by HUD to assist and to counsel families

benefiting from the settlement of

litigation or involving desegregation.

(2) Housing Agency/Non-Profit

Organization Partnership

The HA identified on Attachment 5 is

designated as the lead HA for the

metropolitan area for which funds are

allocated. The lead HA must form a

partnership with other HAs within the

metropolitan area that have a high

proportion of families living in poverty

concentrated census tracts and with a

non-profit organization (NPO) in order

to undertake the housing counseling

services on a metropolitan-wide basis

unless the HAs believe they can perform

the housing counseling. The lead HA

will submit an application to HUD on

behalf of all the HAs participating in the

Section 8 Counseling provided by the

NPO or in some cases the HAs and, the

lead HA will be responsible for

budgeting and financial management

activities. HUD will allow HAs to

undertake the housing counseling

services without an NPO only if the HA

can demonstrate in its application that

the HA has the capability and the

experience to perform the required

services on a metropolitan-wide basis.

HUD will not consider requests for ‘‘preapproval’’ of HA capability and

experience to perform these services

under this set-aside. An HA without

sufficient capability and experience that

submits an application without an NPO

must modify its application (i.e., add an

NPO) during the 30 calendar day

correction period or the HA will not be

funded under this set-aside.

(3) Housing Counseling Services

The housing counseling services to be

provided must be consistent with

current program rules and, at a

minimum, must include the services

identified below; however, it is not

necessary that each of these services be

provided to every family:

(i) Outreach to private landlords in

low-poverty neighborhoods (i.e.,

neighborhoods where the concentration

of families at or below the poverty is

less than 10 percent) throughout the

metropolitan area, and counseling and

referral services for eligible families

consistent with a policy of avoiding

unduly concentrating assisted families

in a particular neighborhood;

(ii) Review eligible families for credit,

housekeeping and criminal backgrounds

to ensure suitability for counseling

services;

(iii) Conduct home visits and escort

families to potential units selected by

the families;

(iv) Assist families in negotiating rent

incentives and inducements from

landlords during housing search;

(v) Coordinate support services and

provide counseling on opportunities for

educational, child care, medical care

and employment after families move to

new units;

(vi) Monitor activities for compliance

with fair housing laws; and,

(vii) Monitor rents in low poverty

neighborhoods and compare with the

Section 8 fair market rents (FMRs) every

six months to determine the impact of

the FMRs on the range of housing

opportunities on families.
12048 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

HUD encourages HAs to undertake

additional housing counseling activities

that have the potential of expanding

housing opportunities for eligible

families. HUD will provide funds, in

excess of the amount listed in

Attachment 5, from the $10 million setaside retained for this purpose to lead

HAs contingent upon documentation of

satisfactory performance based on

application and administrative

guidance, and review and approval by

HUD, that propose innovative housing

counseling services. HUD will

determine the amount of additional

funds based on the proposed services to

be provided.

(4) Eligible Families

A family is eligible to receive housing

counseling services under this set-aside

if the family is a current participant in

the rental voucher or certificate

programs or if the family has received

a rental voucher or certificate from the

HA to search for a unit. A family is also

eligible if it receives rental assistance

under the subprograms of this NOFA for

Persons with HIV/AIDS, Mainstream

Housing, and Homeless Families.

An HA must provide housing

counseling services to eligible families,

that are current participants or if the

family has received a rental voucher or

rental certificate from the HA to search

for a unit, in the order set forth below:

(a) Families that currently receive

income from work;

(b) Families that currently are workready, i.e., enrolled in an education or

job training program; and then,

(c) All other eligible families. The

other eligible families may be ranked at

the HA’s discretion to meet the HA’s

goals for policies established by the HA

in its administrative plan.

(5) Program Record Keeping

Requirements

In addition to the normal

documentation required for the Section

8 program, each HA must maintain

separate records for this set-aside as

follows:

(a) the amount of time that staff

devote to Section 8 counseling

activities;

(b) a general description of the

amount of landlord outreach effort for

the set-aside to include the names and

addresses of landlords contacted; the

types of units under their control or

management; whether the landlord has

accepted Section 8 previously, and the

outcome of the outreach effort;

(c) the average costs of the housing

counseling services per counseled

family;

(d) periodic surveys to measure the

satisfaction of counseled families

(customer satisfaction form to be

provided by HUD);

(e) a summary of the racial, ethnic and

income composition of families

counseled under the set-aside and

correlated with the number and location

of units shown to each family and the

neighborhood in which the family

successfully leases a unit;

(f) information on the employment or

educational training status of families at

the time of counseling and any

problems encountered;

(g) a record of all housing referrals to

landlords and the results of these

referrals; and

(h) periodic surveys to measure the

satisfaction of landlords participating in

this program for families that received

housing counseling services (landlord

satisfaction forms to be provided by

HUD).

Each HA must maintain its records to

show that NPO, or in some cases the

HA, counselled only those families

eligible for these services.

(C) Allocation Amounts for Section 8

Counseling

The availability of HA administrative

fees is based on a formula allocation and

is not a competition for funding. Each

lead HA must submit an approvable

application that identifies all the HAs

participating in the Section 8

Counseling program to receive the

administrative fee funding identified in

Attachment 5. The award of Section 8

Counseling funds is contingent upon

documentation of satisfactory

performance based on application and

administrative guidance, and review

and approval by HUD.

Section 8 Counseling funds of $115

million have been allocated to the

metropolitan areas with the highest

concentrations of persons living in

poverty-concentrated census tracts, i.e.,

census tracts where 30 percent or more

of the persons live below the poverty

level according to the 1990 census.

HUD allocated the $115 million

Section 8 Counseling funds to the

metropolitan areas using the Fair Share

factors. The remaining $10 million will

be awarded to eligible HAs, i.e., only

those HAs listed on Attachment 5, as

bonus funding to supplement the

funding for those HAs and NPOs that

have demonstrated successes in

operating counseling programs of this

type and that intend to undertake

counseling with unique features such as

innovative methods of counseling,

metropolitan-wide housing search

assistance, and other varied

combinations of services. HUD

encourages HAs to propose unique

methods for increasing the housing

opportunities for Section 8 rental

voucher and certificate holders and

participant families.

(D) Application Submission

Requirements for Section 8 Counseling

Each lead HA must submit the items

identified in Section I.(D) of the NOFA,

Application Submission Requirements -

General, and this section of the NOFA

for Section 8 Counseling.

(1) HA Application

Each HA listed in Attachment 5 to

this NOFA may submit an application

for Section 8 Counseling as the lead HA

for the metropolitan area. All other HAs

intending to participate in the Section 8

Counseling program must be identified

and must submit a letter of support for

the lead HA’s application.

(2) Counseling Services

The application must describe the

HA’s proposed counseling program over

the five-year ACC term and must

include a complete, specific statement

outlining the proposed methods of

housing counseling, landlord

recruitment and data collection. HAs

must describe the methods proposed to

provide housing counseling services

that increase housing opportunities for

rental voucher and certificate holders

and participant families beyond those

normally provided under the Section 8

program. HAs should also identify goals

for the housing counseling services,

including those performed by an NPO

subcontractor, against which their

success may be measured.

The application must include

information concerning the site at

which the housing counseling will be

conducted. An HA may provide the

housing counseling services through a

subcontract with an NPO to perform

these functions on its behalf or, under

certain circumstances, provide the

services itself. Counseling services

provided either by the HA or by a nonprofit organization (NPO) must contain,

at a minimum, the services described in

Section V.(B)(3) of this NOFA.

Any HA that proposes to undertake

housing counseling services in excess of

those required under this set-aside must

separately identify the additional

activities and additional funds

requested for the innovative services as

well as the proposed cost of the

additional services during the five-year

ACC term. HUD has not established a

maximum amount per HA to be

provided from the $10 million of the

funding for this set-aside that has been

retained for innovative services.
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12049

(3) Counseling Subcontractor

The HA must submit a letter from the

NPO with which it intends to

subcontract with its application that

describes the services, unless the HA

decides to undertake the counseling

services itself. The letter from the NPO

must explain in detail the services to be

performed on behalf of the HA and the

experience or qualifications of the

subcontractor to perform the services.

The NPO letter will explain the timing

and method of payment from the HA. In

order for HUD to evaluate the cost of the

proposed services, the HA and the NPO

subcontractor must include information

on the indirect cost arrangement to be

established between the HA and the

NPO. The NPO must submit

documentation as a part of the

application that verifies the 501(c)(3)

(IRS Code) status of the NPO and its

legal authority to operate throughout the

metropolitan area. If the HA intends to

perform the counseling services itself,

the HA must provide the details of its

capability to undertake the proposed

counseling as required by section

V.(D)(2) of this NOFA.

(4) Eligible Families

The application must describe the

order of priorities for families to receive

counseling services. Section V.(B)(4) of

this NOFA establishes the first order of

priorities of families to receive

counseling. HAs have the discretion to

establish preferences within the order of

priorities and add priorities to the end

of the list identified by HUD. The

application must also include the

number of Section 8 rental voucher and

certificate holders as well as current

Section 8 participants that are

anticipated to be eligible for housing

counseling under this set-aside and the

subprograms of this NOFA for Persons

with HIV/AIDS, Mainstream Housing,

and Homeless Families.

(5) Management and Staffing Plans and

Budget

The HA must submit a management

plan, staffing plan and complete a fiveyear budget for the housing counseling

program that, at a minimum meets the

requirements of Section V.(B)(3) of this

NOFA. The staffing plan should include

a brief resume of each principal of the

NPO and a list of its Board of Directors

or other governing body.

If the HA proposes services beyond

those required in Section V.(B)(3) of this

NOFA, the application must include a

separate and comprehensive, five-year

budget that reflects all minimum and

extra services to be provided. This

budget is not in lieu of, but is in

addition to, the budget for the minimum

services.

(6) Application Revisions After

Submission to HUD

HUD will provide the applicant an

opportunity to revise its application

after submission to HUD in response to

specific written comments from HUD.

The HA will have a thirty calendar day

period from the date of HUD’s letter to

satisfy all issues with HUD. Applicants

will be allowed to respond to HUD

comments more than once during the

thirty day correction period so long as

the negotiations are completed by the

thirty calendar day deadline.

(E) Corrections to Deficient Applications

for Section 8 Counseling

(1) Acceptable Applications

See Section V.(D)(6) of this NOFA for

the applicable provisions.

(2) Unacceptable Applications

The 14 calendar day technical

correction period does not apply to this

NOFA. See Section VIII.(D)(6) of this

NOFA for the applicable provisions.

(F) Application Selection Process for

Section 8 Counseling

(1) General

The funds available under this NOFA

are being awarded on a formula basis as

listed in Attachment 5 of the NOFA. An

HA must submit an application to

receive the Section 8 counseling funds.

Applications will be reviewed by HUD

Headquarters to determine whether or

not they are technically adequate and

responsive to the application

submission criteria based on the NOFA

requirements. An application must

receive a minimum score of 40 points

under the threshold criteria shown

below in order to be approvable for

funding. To expedite the review of

applications and the award of funds

under this subprogram, HUD

Headquarters may initiate its review of

any application received prior to the

deadline established for submission.

HUD will allocate the available

funding to the HAs identified in

technically adequate and responsive

applications. If HUD receives

applications for funding less than the

amount made available for an area

under this NOFA, due to failure of an

applicant to apply or due to technically

inadequate applications, HUD will make

these funds available to other

applicants.

(2) Application Threshold Criteria

(a) Threshold Criterion 1: Proposed

Methodology for Housing Counseling

Services (40 points).

HUD Headquarters will assign up to

40 points for the proposed

methodologies for conducting the

housing counseling program, landlord

outreach and program evaluation. The

highest assessment of points is limited

to those applications where the

applicant provides an excellent

understanding of the services to be

performed and proposed innovative

techniques to achieve the goals of the

set-aside.

(b) Threshold Criterion 2: Experience

and Capability of NPO/HA (35 points).

HUD Headquarters will assign up to

35 points for an application where the

NPO/HA providing the housing

counseling services has the capability

and experience to successfully

undertake the housing counseling

services. No points will be awarded for

an application that shows the service

provider has minimal experience or

experience only in the normal Section 8

Equal Opportunity Housing Plan

activities.

VI. NOFA for Mainstream Housing

Opportunities for Persons With

Disabilities (Mainstream Program)

(A) Mainstream Program Application

Deadline Date

The deadline date for Mainstream

Program applications is listed in Section

I.(B) of the NOFA.

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description

of Mainstream Program

(1) Purpose

The Secretary has established a

Mainstream Housing Opportunities for

Persons with Disabilities Program

(Mainstream Program) to provide rental

vouchers and certificates to enable

persons with disabilities to rent

affordable private housing of their

choice, in a nonsegregated environment.

Federal housing assistance for persons

with disabilities has generally been

provided under project-based programs

targeted for groups with special needs

(i.e., housing exclusively for persons

with disabilities or housing exclusively

for the elderly and disabled

populations). This approach partly

reflects the disparity between the needs

of persons with disabilities and the

availability of decent, affordable and

accessible housing in an integrated

setting. In addition, persons with

disabilities often face difficulties in

locating suitable and accessible housing

on the private market and linking their
12050 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

housing environment with any

supportive services that they may want

or need.

The Mainstream Program will reach

communities that have concentrations

of persons with disabilities in need of

housing assistance, including those

living in housing of an institutional

nature. The Department expects the

program to be of particular interest to

HAs with public housing reserved for

occupancy by elderly families and

disabled families that wish to provide

nonpublic housing options to some of

their disabled residents.

(a) Application Options. HUD will

award funding for rental vouchers and/

or certificates under the Mainstream

Program through two application

options: (1) An application option open

only to HAs that submit an allocation

plan to designate public housing for

occupancy by elderly families, and that

also administer a Section 8 rental

certificate, rental voucher or moderate

rehabilitation program; and (2) an

application option for general use rental

assistance for persons with disabilities,

open to all HAs which currently

administer a Section 8 rental certificate,

rental voucher or moderate

rehabilitation program. Eligible HAs

may apply for assistance under either or

both application options.

Under the first application option,

HUD will make available approximately

1,250 rental vouchers and certificates to

support approvable HA allocation plans

to designate housing for elderly

families. The rental vouchers and

certificates will enable HAs to meet the

designated housing regulatory

requirement to make available sufficient

housing resources to provide assistance

to at least the number of nonelderly

disabled families that would have been

housed by the HA if occupancy in the

designated public housing project were

not restricted to elderly households.

Applicants who choose to apply under

this option should be familiar with the

Public Housing Designated Housing

rule, published in the Federal Register

April 13, 1994 (24 CFR part 945). HUD

intends to fund all approvable

applications under the designated

housing allocation plan application

option, unless HUD receives

applications for more funding than

available for this option. In that case,

HUD will select applications for funding

by lottery.

Under the second application option,

for general use rental assistance for

persons with disabilities, HUD will

make available approximately 1,250

Section 8 rental vouchers and

certificates for HAs to increase the

supply of mainstream housing

opportunities available to persons with

disabilities. HUD will select HA

applications for funding under the

general use application option by

lottery.

(b) Limit on Rental Assistance

Requested. An eligible HA applying

under the general use application option

may apply for up to 150 rental vouchers

and/or certificates. An HA applying in

conjunction with submission of a

designated housing allocation plan may

apply for only the number of units

needed to meet the requirements of the

allocation plan to provide housing

resources for persons who otherwise

would have received public housing, up

to a maximum of 150 rental vouchers

and certificates.

(2) Guidelines

(a) Definitions.

Allocation plan. A HUD-approved

allocation plan required of HAs seeking

to designate a project for occupancy by

elderly families. See 24 CFR 945.203.

Disabled Family. A family whose

head, spouse or sole member is a person

with disabilities. The term ‘‘disabled

family’’ may include two or more

persons with disabilities living together,

and one or more persons with

disabilities living with one or more

persons who are determined to be

essential to the care or well-being of the

person or persons with disabilities. A

disabled family may include persons

with disabilities who are elderly.

Person with disabilities. A person

who—

(a) Has a disability as defined in

section 223 of the Social Security Act

(42 U.S.C. 423), or

(b) Is determined to have a physical,

mental or emotional impairment that:

(i) is expected to be of long-continued

and indefinite duration;

(ii) substantially impedes his or her

ability to live independently; and

(iii) is of such a nature that such

ability could be improved by more

suitable housing conditions, or

(c) Has a developmental disability as

defined in section 102 of the

Developmental Disabilities Assistance

and Bill of Rights Act (42 U.S.C.

6001(5)).

The term ‘‘person with disabilities’’

does not exclude persons who have the

disease of acquired immunodeficiency

syndrome (AIDS) or any conditions

arising from the etiologic agent for

acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

(HIV).

Section 8 Counseling. Services to

increase access by program participants

to housing units in a variety of

neighborhoods and to assist participants

in locating and obtaining a unit suited

to their needs. See Section V of this

NOFA.

Supportive services. Assistance that

addresses the needs of eligible persons,

provides appropriate services or assists

such persons in obtaining appropriate

services, including health care, mental

health treatment, substance and alcohol

abuse services, child care services, case

management services, counseling,

supervision, education, job training and

placement, and other services essential

for achieving and maintaining

independent living. Inpatient acute

hospital care does not qualify as a

supportive service.

Supportive service provider (or service

provider). A person or organization

(including peer support and consumerrun organizations) licensed or otherwise

qualified to provide supportive services

either for profit or not for profit that has

been in existence for at least one year

and delivers some or all of the above

services to a client population.

(b) Eligible HAs.

(i) Rental assistance in conjunction

with designated housing allocation

plans. HAs that submit an allocation

plan to designate public housing for

occupancy by elderly families, and that

also administer a Section 8 rental

certificate, rental voucher or moderate

rehabilitation program.

(ii) General use rental assistance for

persons with disabilities. HAs which

currently administer a Section 8 rental

certificate, rental voucher or moderate

rehabilitation program.

(iii) Additional Eligibility

Requirements. See sections I(D)(2) and

I(G)(2) of this NOFA.

(c) Eligible Participants.

(i) Rental assistance in conjunction

with designated housing allocation

plans. Only persons with disabilities

and disabled families who live in public

housing that has been designated for

occupancy by the elderly, or disabled

families who are on the HA’s public

housing waiting list, may receive a

rental voucher or certificate awarded

under the application option in

conjunction with designated housing

allocation plans. Nonelderly persons

with disabilities and disabled families

who live in public housing designated

for the elderly in accordance with an

allocation plan submitted in response to

this NOFA, need not be listed on the

Section 8 waiting list in order to be

offered and receive Section 8 rental

assistance as an incentive for a

voluntary transfer from the designated

project. These families may be admitted

to the Section 8 program as a special

admission (24 CFR 982.203).

(ii) General use rental assistance for

persons with disabilities. Only persons
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12051

with disabilities and disabled families

may receive a rental voucher or

certificate awarded under the general

use application option. However, in

selecting disabled applicants from the

Section 8 waiting list, HAs must provide

assistance on a priority basis to

nonelderly disabled persons who reside

in public housing reserved for

occupancy by elderly families and

disabled families, or who are on the

public housing waiting list and will not

be housed because a public housing

project has been designated for elderly

families.

(d) Rental Voucher and Certificate

Assistance.

(i) Section 8 regulations. HAs must

administer the Mainstream Program in

accordance with HUD regulations

governing the Section 8 rental voucher

and certificate programs.

(ii) Section 8 admissions

requirements. Section 8 assistance must

be provided to eligible applicants in

conformity with applicable rules

governing the Section 8 program

including the federal preference rules,

and in accordance with the terms of the

HA’s designated housing allocation plan

where applicable, and with HUDapproved administrative and equal

opportunity housing plans.

If there is an insufficient pool of

persons with disabilities and disabled

families on the HA Section 8 waiting

list, an HA may conduct outreach to

encourage eligible persons to apply for

the general use Mainstream Program.

Outreach may include contacting

independent living centers, disabled

advocacy organizations, and medical,

mental health, and social service

providers for referrals of persons

receiving such services who would

benefit from the general use Mainstream

Program.

If the HA’s Section 8 waiting list is

closed, and if the HA has insufficient

applicants on its Section 8 waiting list

to use all awarded Mainstream Program

rental vouchers and certificates, the HA

may open the waiting list to only those

who qualify for the Mainstream

Program.

(iii) Turnover. When a rental voucher

or rental certificate under this program

becomes available for reissue (e.g., the

individual or family initially selected

for the program drops out of the

program or is unsuccessful in the search

for a unit), the rental assistance may be

used only for another individual or

family eligible for assistance under this

program during the five-year term of the

ACC for the Mainstream Program.

(e) HA Responsibilities. In addition to

normal HA responsibilities under the

Section 8 programs and under HUD

regulations for nondiscrimination based

on handicap (24 CFR 8.28), HAs that

receive rental voucher or certificate

funding under the Mainstream Program

must:

(i) assist program participants to gain

access to supportive services available

within the community, and to identify

public or private funding sources for

accessibility features, when participants

request such assistance;

(ii) not deny persons who qualify for

rental assistance under the Mainstream

Program other housing opportunities for

which they are eligible;

(iii) not deny other housing

opportunities, or otherwise restrict

access to HA programs, to eligible

applicants who choose not to participate

in the Mainstream Program; and

(iv) not require eligible applicants to

accept supportive services in order to

participate in the Mainstream Program.

(C) Mainstream Program Allocation

Amounts

This NOFA announces the availability

of up to $85.7 million of budget

authority that will support

approximately 2,500 rental vouchers or

certificates for the Mainstream Program.

The Mainstream Program includes an

option for HAs to apply for rental

vouchers and certificates in conjunction

with submission of an allocation plan to

designate public housing for elderly

families. HUD will make available

approximately $42.9 million of the

$85.7 million total, to support

approximately 1,250 rental vouchers

and certificates, for the application

option to support designated housing

allocation plans. Remaining funding of

approximately $42.9 million will

support approximately 1,250 rental

vouchers and certificates for general use

rental assistance for persons with

disabilities and disabled families. In the

event HUD receives insufficient

approvable applications for the

designated housing allocation plan

option, the surplus funding will be

made available to the general use

Mainstream Program applicants.

(D) Application Submission

Requirements for Mainstream Program

in Conjunction With Submission of

Designated Housing Allocation Plans

Note that a separate application is

required for each application option

under the Mainstream Program. An HA

may request only the number of rental

vouchers and certificates supported by

the designated housing allocation plan,

not to exceed 150. Each application

must include the items identified in

Section I.(D) of the NOFA, Application

Submission Requirements—General,

and items in this section of the NOFA

for the Mainstream Program in support

of designated housing allocation plans.

(1) Approvable Designated Housing

Allocation Plan

The application must include an

approvable allocation plan to designate

housing for the elderly in accordance

with 24 CFR 945.203.

(2) Description of Need for Mainstream

Program Rental Vouchers and

Certificates

The application must include a

description of how the rental assistance

is necessary to meet the requirement of

24 CFR 945.203(6)(iv) to provide

assistance to at least the number of

nonelderly disabled families that would

have been housed by the HA if

occupancy in units in the designated

project were not restricted to elderly

families. HAs may not request more

than the number of rental voucher and

certificates necessary to meet the above

obligation, up to a maximum of 150.

(3) Description of Program

Implementation

The application must include a

narrative description of how the HA

will operate its Mainstream Program.

The description must include:

(a) Eligibility. A description of which

portions of the eligible population the

HA will serve (i.e., nonelderly disabled

families on the public housing waiting

list, nonelderly disabled families

currently residing in housing designated

for the elderly, or both).

(b) HA Assistance in Obtaining

Accessibility Features. A description of

how the HA will carry out its

responsibilities under 24 CFR 8.28 to

assist recipients in locating units with

needed accessibility features. A

description of the assistance the HA will

provide to identify public or private

funding sources (including any HA

resources) for accessibility features such

as ramps, grab bars, visual smoke alarms

and fire detectors, accessible electrical

controls, thermostats, and door

hardware, and structural changes to

dwelling units or common areas.

(c) Section 8 Counseling. A

description of the assistance the HA will

provide to eligible applicants to locate

suitable housing in the private market.

See Section V of this NOFA.

(E) Application Submission

Requirements for General Mainstream

Program for Persons With Disabilities

Note that a separate application is

required for each application option

under the Mainstream Program. An HA

may request up to a maximum of 150
12052 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

rental vouchers and certificates under

the general use Mainstream Program.

Each application must include the items

identified in Section I.(D) of the NOFA,

Application Submission

Requirements—General, and items in

this section of the NOFA for the general

use Mainstream Program.

(1) Description of Need for Mainstream

Program Rental Assistance

The application must demonstrate a

significant need for Mainstream

Program rental vouchers and

certificates, and demonstrate that the

demand for such housing would equal

or exceed the requested number of

units.

(2) Mainstream Program Operating Plan

The application must include a

description of an adequate plan for

operating a program to serve eligible

persons with disabilities, including a

description of how the HA will carry

out its responsibilities under 24 CFR

8.28 to assist recipients in locating units

with needed accessibility features.

(3) Supportive Services Plan

The application must describe an

adequate plan to assist recipients of

Mainstream Program rental assistance,

should they request such assistance, to

gain access to supportive services

available within the community. The

application must demonstrate that the

HA has identified service providers who

will assist recipients to overcome

impediments to success in the

Mainstream Program. Such provider

may include nonprofit organizations

able to fund accessibility renovation and

supportive services providers able to

assist recipients to meet such lease

obligations as adequate housekeeping

and timely rental payments.

(F) Corrections to Deficient Applications

(1) Acceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(1) of this NOFA.

(2) Unacceptable Applications

See Section I.(G)(2) of this NOFA.

(G) Mainstream Program Application

Selection Process

(1) Application Option in Support of

Designated Housing Allocation Plans

(a) HUD Office Review. Upon receipt,

the Office of Public Housing in the HUD

Office will screen HA applications and

stop processing any applications found

unacceptable for further processing.

Immediately after screening an

acceptable application, the Offices of

Public Housing and Fair Housing and

Equal Opportunity in the HUD Office

will review the applicant’s designated

housing allocation plan in accordance

with 24 CFR 945.203.

If, within the 45-day or 90-day review

period provided under 24 CFR

945.203(e)(2), the HUD Office finds an

allocation plan approvable, subject to

receipt of the requested rental

assistance, the Offices of Public Housing

and Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity will review the rest of the

Mainstream Program application to

determine if the application is

technically adequate and responsive to

the requirements of the NOFA. If the

HUD Office determines that an

allocation plan is approvable, and that

the remainder of the Mainstream

Program application is technically

adequate and responsive, it will

recommend to HUD Headquarters that

the application be funded.

If the HUD Office disapproves an

allocation plan submitted in response to

this NOFA, the HA’s application under

the Mainstream Program will be rejected

and the HA will not be eligible for the

rental vouchers and certificates

available under this Mainstream

Program NOFA. However, the HA may

continue to pursue its plans to designate

housing for elderly families if it can

identify other additional housing

resources that it will need to meet the

designated housing allocation plan

requirements under 24 CFR 945.203.

(b) Funding. Headquarters will fund

all applications that are recommended

for funding by the HUD Offices, unless

HUD receives approvable applications

for more funds than allocated for the

designated housing allocation plan

application option. If HUD receives

approvable applications for more

funding than is available for the

allocation plan option, HUD will select

applicants to be funded by lottery. All

HAs identified by the HUD Offices as

having submitted technically adequate

and responsive applications will be

included in the lottery. As HAs are

selected, the cost of funding the

applications will be subtracted from the

funds available. In order to achieve

geographic diversity, HUD Headquarters

will limit the number of applications

selected for funding from any state to 10

percent of the budget authority available

for the designated housing allocation

plan application option.

(2) Application Option for General Use

Mainstream Program

After the HUD Office has screened HA

applications and disapproved any

applications found unacceptable for

further processing (see Section I.(G)(2)

of this NOFA), the HUD Office will

review all acceptable applications to

ensure that they are technically

adequate and responsive to the

requirements of the NOFA. Each HUD

Office will send to HUD Headquarters

the following information on each

application that is found technically

adequate and responsive:

(a) Name and address of the HA;

(b) HUD Office contact person and

telephone number;

(c) The completed fund reservation

worksheet, indicating the number of

units requested in the HA application

and approved by the HUD Office during

the course of its review, and the

corresponding budget authority.

Headquarters will select eligible HAs

to be funded by lottery. All HAs

identified by the HUD Offices as having

submitted technically adequate and

responsive applications will be

included in the lottery. As HAs are

selected, the cost of funding the

applications will be subtracted from the

funds available. In order to achieve

geographic diversity, HUD Headquarters

will limit the number of applications

selected for funding from any state to 10

percent of the budget authority available

for the general use Mainstream Program.

Applications will be funded for the

total number of units requested by the

HA and approved by the HUD Office in

accordance with the NOFA. However,

when remaining budget authority is

insufficient to fund the last selected HA

application in full, HUD Headquarters

will fund that application to the extent

of the funding available.

(3) Program Type

If an HA application specifically

requests funding for either rental

vouchers or rental certificates, and

funding for the specified program is not

available, HUD will award the available

form of assistance, notwithstanding the

program type specified in the HA

application.

VII. NOFA for Persons With HIV/AIDS

(A) Application Deadline Date for

Persons With HIV/AIDS Subprogram

The Deadline Date for applications for

the subprogram for Persons with HIV/

AIDS is listed in Section I.(B) of the

NOFA.

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description

of Subprogram for Persons With HIV/

AIDS

(1) General

The two subprograms for Persons

with HIV/AIDS and for Homeless

Families together provide

approximately $514 million in budget

authority for an estimated 15,000 rental

vouchers and certificates for homeless
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12053

families. Approximately $103 million,

or 3,000 rental vouchers, will be setaside for persons with HIV/AIDS and

their families who are homeless or who

are at risk of homelessness.

Approximately $411 million, or

approximately 12,000 rental vouchers

and certificates, will be made available

to provide rental assistance to homeless

families living in transitional housing or

emergency shelters. Section 8 budget

authority for each of these subprograms

is allocated by formula as described in

this section and in section VIII of this

NOFA.

The Department recognizes that the

HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a widespread and perverse impact on the

ability of communities to provide the

appropriate housing and care for their

residents who are living with HIV/AIDS.

The findings of the National

Commission on AIDS in Housing and

the HIV/AIDS Epidemic (issued in June

1992) state that there is ‘‘frequently

desperate need for safe shelter that

provides not only protection and

comfort, but also a base in which and

from which to receive services, care and

support.’’ Since 1992, the Department

has provided assistance to communities

to address these needs under the

Housing Opportunities for Persons with

AIDS (HOPWA) program. The HOPWA

program supports community planning

and coordination of public and private

efforts and supports programs that

provide housing and supportive services

for low-income persons living with HIV/

AIDS and their families. This set-aside

of rental vouchers is intended to

complement the community efforts

already underway by providing

permanent housing resources and

ensuring coordination of housing and

health-care programs with HAs,

governmental agencies and communitybased organizations.

The set-aside of rental vouchers for

persons with HIV/AIDS and their

families is an initiative of the

Department that will help communities

establish a continuum of care for this

population by creating additional

permanent housing options. This

initiative combines rental voucher

assistance to selected HAs in

conjunction with State and local

governments that have been

implementing planning efforts and

programs that provide housing and

services for persons with HIV/AIDS

under the Housing Opportunities for

Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program.

This notice stipulates the roles of the

HA, the HOPWA grantee and

community-based organizations which

provide assistance to persons with HIV/

AIDS and their families. These

community planning and program

efforts generally involve experienced

non-profit housing and service

providers engaged in connecting

housing assistance for persons with

HIV/AIDS to appropriate case

management, comprehensive health

services and other supportive services

for clients. Community-based

organizations will undertake outreach

efforts to identify eligible people with

HIV/AIDS in need of permanent

housing. The assistance will be given on

a priority basis to persons with HIV/

AIDS who are homeless and on a lower

priority basis to persons with HIV/AIDS

who are at risk of homelessness.

Community-based organizations will

also assist these clients in finding and

securing permanent housing and

provide or assist clients in accessing

appropriate supportive services.

The Department expects that HOPWA

grantees and HAs will be able to initiate

their programs within 120 days after

approval of their application. To

expedite the administration of this

program, the area’s HOPWA formula

grantee should consider how HOPWA

funds might be used in support of this

set-aside of rental vouchers, including

technical assistance and resource

identification activities to assist in the

delivery of this housing resource.

(2) Guidelines

Under this initiative HAs will provide

Section 8 rental vouchers to persons

with HIV/AIDS in conjunction with

program planning and comprehensive

supportive services from other sources

which are coordinated by the HOPWA

grantee. The initiative will be

implemented at the local level through

partnerships of grantees of the HOPWA

program, HAs and community-based

organizations. The roles and

responsibilities of each participating

entity are detailed in this notice. The

application must be submitted jointly by

an area’s HOPWA grantee and one or

more eligible HAs that the HOPWA

grantee designates and that agree to

administer the rental vouchers for use in

conjunction with services provided by

community-based organizations. The

application must designate the number

of rental vouchers for the area or

subarea to be administered by each HA.

HAs identified by HUD with certain

civil rights or major program violations

are ineligible to apply.

Rental vouchers under this

subprogram will be administered in

conjunction with existing community

planning processes for housing

assistance and supportive services for

persons with HIV/AIDS. This

connection will provide greater program

efficiencies, reduce the need for

additional planning mechanisms,

ensure coordination of the program with

other current related efforts and help

ensure an appropriate response to the

person’s or family’s individual housing

and related service needs. The HOPWA

grantee must ensure that the supportive

service component will be made

available for the term of the Section 8

funding.

(a) Definitions.

The definition of family for the

purposes of this set-aside is a definition

similar to that established for the

Housing Opportunities for Persons with

AIDS (HOPWA) program at 24 CFR

574.3.

‘‘Family’’ means a household

composed of two or more related

persons. The term family also includes

one or more eligible persons living with

another person or persons who are

determined to be important to their care

or well being, and the surviving member

or members of any family described in

this definition who were living in a unit

assisted under this program with the

person with AIDS at the time of his or

her death.

While the Department expects that

most families who apply for this setaside will be single persons, the families

of eligible persons may also be assisted.

This NOFA uses the term ‘‘person’’

frequently, although the eligible

population for this set-aside, as with the

regular rental assistance programs,

includes the family of any person

selected to participate in the set-aside.

(b) HOPWA Grantee Responsibilities.

The grantee for the 1995 HOPWA

formula allocation, or its designated

representative, will have responsibilities

that include:

(i) planning for the use of this setaside in coordination with HAs and

existing HIV/AIDS housing and services

programs and providers in the

entitlement area, including participation

by persons living with HIV/AIDS and

their families;

(ii) establishing participation

agreements with HAs to implement this

initiative; if more than one HA in an

area will be participating, deciding how

to suballocate available funding for the

service area between or among the

participating HAs;

(iii) establishing participation

agreements with community-based

organizations as service providers to

implement this initiative; these

agreements can be used to implement a

plan for the provision of supportive

services, including outreach to identify

eligible persons and assistance in

locating and securing suitable housing,

ongoing case management, health-care
12054 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

and other services; these services will be

funded from sources other than this

program; and

(iv) coordinating the submission of an

application to HUD for its service area

that designates the participating HA(s)

and community-based organizations and

is responsive to the criteria established

in the Application Submission

Requirements of this notice.

(c) HA Responsibilities. HAs are

responsible for administering the rental

voucher program in accordance with

HUD regulations and requirements,

including:

(i) conducting initial and periodic

Housing Quality Standards inspections

and contracting with landlords;

(ii) reviewing the Section 8 waiting

list to determine if there are any

individuals already on the waiting list

who may be eligible for the Section 8

set-aside for persons with HIV/AIDS

who are homeless or at risk or

homelessness and referring them to

service providers;

(iii) after proper verification of

Section 8 eligibility of individuals

referred by the service providers, adding

individuals to the Section 8 waiting list

and issuing rental vouchers;

(iv) amending its administrative plan

and equal opportunity housing plan to

provide for a preference for persons

with HIV/AIDS to participate in the

Section 8 set-aside for persons with

HIV/AIDS in a number equal to the

number of rental vouchers provided

under this subprogram for the area;

(v) provide technical assistance to

service providers and others in

understanding and utilizing this Section

8 set-aside; and

(vi) maintaining records and

providing information for evaluation

purposes, as required by HUD.

(d) Service Provider Responsibilities.

Community-based organizations that

provide housing and/or services may

agree to undertake responsibilities

which include:

(i) providing outreach to identify

participants who are eligible for the

Section 8 set-aside for persons with

HIV/AIDS who are homeless or at risk

of homelessness;

(ii) assisting HAs in verifying income

and other eligibility criteria;

(iii) referring eligible individuals to

the HAs for determination of Section 8

eligibility and placement on the Section

8 waiting list;

(iv) providing or assisting clients in

arranging for supportive services and

health care as needed, such as case

management, counseling, day care,

outpatient health services, in-home

nursing care, hospitalization and

hospice care;

(v) providing housing search

assistance, assistance in securing

housing, move-in assistance and

housing counseling as appropriate; and

(vi) maintaining records and

providing information for evaluation

purposes, as required by HUD.

(e) Participant Eligibility. Eligible

person means a person with acquired

immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or

infection with the human

immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and his

or her family who qualify as very lowincome. Assistance will be provided on

a priority basis to eligible persons who

are homeless and on a lower priority

basis to eligible persons who are at risk

of homelessness. Programs may target

assistance to eligible persons based on

additional criteria of need, such as need

for higher levels of care or disabling

conditions, but not persons

institutionalized or hospitalized.

(f) Rental Voucher Assistance. HAs

must administer this program in

accordance with HUD’s regulations

governing the Section 8 rental voucher

and certificate programs. The HA may

issue a rental certificate instead of a

rental voucher to an individual selected

to participate in the initiative if the

individual requests a rental certificate

and the HA has one available. If Section

8 assistance for a participant under this

demonstration ends during the five-year

term of the ACC for the Section 8 rental

vouchers provided under this

demonstration, the rental assistance

must be reissued to another eligible

person with HIV/AIDS. In order to

receive rental assistance provided under

this Section 8 set-aside, a person or

family must:

(i) have been identified by a

participating service provider as

meeting the program criteria and

referred to a participating HA and

placed on its Section 8 waiting list; or

(ii) have been identified by the HA

from the Section 8 waiting list as an

eligible person and referred to a

participating service provider.

(C) Allocation Amounts for Persons

With HIV/AIDS

This NOFA provides approximately

$103 million for approximately 3,000

rental vouchers set aside for persons

with HIV/AIDS and their families who

are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The rental vouchers are allocated to 66

areas that have had the greatest number

of reported cases of AIDS and in which

community planning, housing

assistance and supportive services are

being provided by the governmental

agency that is administering the

Housing Opportunities for Persons with

AIDS (HOPWA) program in the area.

This notice allocates rental voucher

budget authority based on the HOPWA

formula allocation established by the

AIDS Housing Opportunities Act (42

U.S.C. 12901). That formula provides a

mechanism to provide assistance to

areas that have the highest numbers of

reported cases of AIDS and to

metropolitan areas that have a higherthan-average incidence of AIDS within

their population. The Act also

recognizes the need for the coordinated

response to AIDS within the

metropolitan area or within a State. In

FY 95, HOPWA formula allocations

were made to 66 grantees, including 43

qualifying cities in Eligible Metropolitan

Statistical Areas (EMSA) and 23 States

for areas outside of these EMSAs. Rental

vouchers under this subprogram are

allocated based on this formula for the

areas listed in Attachment 3, arranged

by HUD Offices.

(D) Application Submission

Requirements for Persons With HIV/

AIDS Subprogram

Each HA must submit the items

identified in Section I.(D) of the NOFA,

Application Submission

Requirements—General, and this

section of the NOFA for Persons with

HIV/AIDS. If more than one HA is

designated by the HOPWA grantee to

administer the rental vouchers, each HA

must submit the required information

under Section VII.(D)(1).

(1) Need for Subprogram for Persons

with AIDS

The application must describe the

need for a rental assistance program

targeted to persons with HIV/AIDS and

their families who are homeless or at

risk of homelessness as evidenced by

data which show the unmet need in the

area to be served.

(2) Program Implementation

The application must describe the

timely implementation of a plan that

will result in eligible participants

finding permanent housing. The plan

must have all of the following elements

and must link all the elements in a

consistent framework:

(a) the participating HA(s) and

participating community-based

organizations providing services are

identified;

(b) the proposed outreach and

selection efforts ensure that the targeted

population in the area to be served is

served;

(c) the plan provides housing search

assistance that will help eligible persons

obtain appropriate housing; and

(d) the plan describes an evaluation

component that will result in an
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12055

evaluation of program effectiveness by

the HOPWA grantee, the participating

HA, and the participating communitybased organizations undertaking

housing-related activities.

(3) Linkage to Supportive Services

The application must demonstrate

that supportive services will be made

available to meet the needs of the

targeted population. This is evidenced

by:

(a) the identification of participating

community-based organization(s);

(b) the identification of supportive

services that are appropriate to the

needs of the population proposed to be

served;

(c) a description of procedures to

ensure that participants have access to

these services; and

(d) a plan for monitoring and

evaluating the supportive services

provided to eligible persons to ensure

that services are appropriate to their

changing needs on an individual basis.

(4) Application Revisions After

Submission to HUD

HUD will provide the applicant an

opportunity to revise its application

after submission to HUD in response to

specific written comments from HUD.

The joint applicants will have a thirty

calendar day period from the date of

HUD’s letter to satisfy all issues with

HUD. Applicants will be allowed to

respond to HUD comments more than

once during the thirty calendar day

correction period so long as the

negotiations are completed by the thirty

calendar day deadline.

(E) Corrections to Deficient Applications

for Persons With HIV/AIDS Subprogram

(1) Acceptable Applications

See Section VII.(D)(4) of this NOFA

for the applicable provisions.

(2) Unacceptable Applications

The 14 calendar day technical

correction period does not apply to this

NOFA. See Section VII.(D)(4) of this

NOFA for the applicable provisions.

(F) Application Selection Process for

Persons With HIV/AIDS Subprogram

The funds available under this NOFA

are being awarded on a formula basis as

listed in Attachment 3 of the NOFA.

Applications will be reviewed by the

HUD Office to determine whether or not

they are technically adequate and

responsive to the application

submission criteria based on the NOFA

requirements. To expedite the review of

applications and the award of funds

under this subprogram, the HUD Office

may initiate its review of any

application received prior to the

deadline established for submission.

The Office of Public Housing in the

HUD Office will initially screen all

applications to determine if an

application is complete, technically

adequate and responsive to the general

application selection requirements. The

Community Planning and Development

(CPD) Office for the area will review the

application to determine if an

application is responsive to the criteria

for need, program implementation, and

quality of supportive services. If an

application is found to be unresponsive

to a criterion, the HUD Office will notify

the applicant of its finding and permit

the applicant to revise the application as

provided in Section VII.(D)(4).

The HUD Office of Public Housing

will approve applications that are

technically adequate and responsive

applications. If a local HA and HOPWA

grantee do not submit a joint application

by the deadline date specified in the

NOFA, or if its application is

disapproved, the allocation for that

HOPWA jurisdiction will be reallocated

to another HOPWA jurisdiction within

the same State. If no other HOPWA

grantee within the same State applied,

the allocation will be reallocated to

HOPWA grantees in other States.

VIII. Subprogram for Homeless

Families

(A) Application Deadline Date for

Homeless Families Subprogram

The deadline date for applications for

the set-aside of rental vouchers and

certificates for Homeless Families is

listed in Section I.(B) of the NOFA.

(B) Purpose and Substantive Description

of the Homeless Families Subprogram

(1) General

The two subprograms for Homeless

Families and for Persons with HIV/AIDS

together provide approximately $514

million in budget authority for an

estimated 15,000 rental vouchers and

certificates for homeless Americans.

Approximately $411 million, or 12,000

rental vouchers and certificates, will be

made available to provide rental

assistance to homeless families living in

transitional housing or emergency

shelters. Approximately $103 million,

or 3,000 rental vouchers and certificates

will be set-aside for persons with HIV/

AIDS and their families who are

homeless or who are at risk of

homelessness. These allocations of

Section 8 budget authority will each be

allocated by formula as described in the

NOFA.

Communities across the country are

developing or refining comprehensive

homeless assistance strategies following

the continuum of care approach. The

fundamental components of a

continuum of care system include: an

emergency shelter/needs assessment to

identify an individual’s or family’s

needs; transitional housing and

appropriate supportive services to help

those individuals and families who are

not prepared to make the transition to

permanent housing and independent

living; and permanent housing or

permanent supportive housing.

Permanent housing resources are

essential to the success of efforts to

alleviate homelessness. Homeless

individuals and families who lack these

resources become trapped in emergency

shelters and transitional housing,

occupying space and using limited

resources that could benefit other

homeless persons.

This program is designed to support

local homeless assistance strategies by

providing Section 8 rental vouchers and

certificates to assist homeless families

who are currently living in transitional

housing or emergency shelters and are

immediately ready for permanent

housing. The program is also designed

to ensure that the homeless families

moving to permanent housing will

receive appropriate assistance in finding

housing, moving into the permanent

housing, adjusting to their new

surroundings, and obtaining needed

services, such as day care. These

services will help the formerly homeless

families remain in permanent housing

and avoid future homelessness.

The program depends on a

partnership between the HA, the ESG

jurisdiction, and homeless provider

organizations. Homeless provider

organizations identified to participate in

the set-aside program must be chosen

through a community-wide process. The

ESG jurisdiction and the homeless

provider organizations will be

responsible for providing housing

counseling, follow-up and other

supportive services to participating

families as needed for stabilization in

permanent housing. The homeless

provider organizations will identify the

homeless families currently living in

transitional housing or emergency

shelters that are immediately ready for

permanent housing. The homeless

provider organizations will certify to the

HA that the families meet the

‘‘immediately ready for permanent

housing’’ definition. The HA will

provide rental assistance based on the

criteria established in this NOFA.

(2) Definitions

(a) Emergency Shelter Grant

Jurisdictions.
12056 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

An ESG jurisdiction is a State,

metropolitan city or urban county that

is eligible to receive a FY 95 grant under

the Emergency Shelter Grants Program,

as described in 24 CFR 576.43.

(b) Homeless Provider Organizations.

An organization, including nonprofits and others, that delivers housing

search assistance and other services to

homeless persons and families.

(c) Immediately Ready for Permanent

Housing.

A family, that prior to receipt of rental

assistance under this NOFA, has

received an intensive needs assessment

to determine if the family is

immediately ready for permanent

housing. Specifically, a family that is

immediately ready for permanent

housing has:

(i) needs that were appropriately

addressed through a transitional

housing program; or

(ii) needs that can be addressed by

receiving appropriate services and/or

treatment in permanent housing; and

(iii) the life skills needed to succeed

in the rental assistance program.

(3) ESG Grantee Responsibilities

The ESG grantee is responsible for

initiating the community-wide process

and forming the partnership with the

HA as well as identifying and involving

homeless provider organizations. The

ESG grantee is responsible for

coordinating the joint application with

the HA. The ESG grantee as part of the

ongoing partnership is responsible for

ensuring that eligible homeless

participants are being served in the

program. The ESG grantee is also

responsible for ensuring that housing

search assistance and stabilization

services are being provided by the

homeless provider organizations.

(4) Housing Agency Responsibilities

HAs are responsible for administering

the rental voucher program in

accordance with HUD regulations and

requirements, including:

(a) conducting initial and periodic

Housing Quality Standards inspections

and contracting with landlords;

(b) reviewing the Section 8 waiting

list to determine if there are any

individuals already on the Section 8

waiting list who may be eligible for the

Section 8 set-aside for Homeless

Families and referring them to homeless

provider organizations;

(c) after proper verification of Section

8 eligibility of individuals referred by

the homeless provider organization,

adding individuals to the Section 8

waiting list and issuing rental vouchers

or certificates;

(d) amending its administrative plan

and equal opportunity housing plan to

provide for a preference for Homeless

Families referred by homeless provider

organizations that meet the

‘‘immediately ready for permanent

housing’’ requirement to participate in

the Section 8 set-aside for Homeless

Families in a number equal to the

number of rental vouchers and

certificates provided under this

subprogram for the area;

(e) providing technical assistance to

homeless provider organizations and

others in understanding and utilizing

this Section 8 set-aside; and

(f) maintaining records and providing

information for evaluation purposes, as

required by HUD.

(5) Homeless Provider Organization

Responsibilities

The homeless provider is responsible

for identifying and referring eligible

families that are immediately ready for

permanent housing and for providing

housing counseling and the family

stabilization services. HUD does not

define those services in this NOFA

although the services should be

adequate to meet the needs of the

families during their search for

permanent housing and the ensuing

adjustment period after moving into

permanent housing. These services may

include move-in assistance, housing

counseling, services to help the family

adjust to new surroundings and

connecting to community-based services

and/or treatment, and any other services

needed to allow the family to remain in

permanent housing.

(C) Allocation Amounts for Homeless

Families Subprogram

The Department will make available

approximately $411 million in budget

authority to support an estimated 12,000

rental vouchers and certificates. The

Department has decided to allocate the

rental assistance budget authority for

the Homeless Families subprogram to

each jurisdiction that is eligible to

receive an Emergency Shelter Grant

(ESG) program allocation for FY 95.

Attachment 4 to this NOFA lists the

ESG jurisdictions and the allocation of

budget authority for use in each

jurisdiction based on the FY 95 ESG

formula. The ESG formula was modified

to ensure that 75 percent of the budget

authority is allocated for use in ESG

metropolitan cities and urban counties

and 25 percent of the budget authority

is allocated for use by states in other

jurisdictions not receiving a direct

formula allocation under this NOFA.

(D) Application Submission

Requirements for Homeless Families

Subprogram

The HA, in conjunction with the ESG

jurisdiction, must submit the items

identified in Section I(D) of the NOFA,

Application Submission

Requirements—General, and must

include the descriptions required by

this section and explained in further

detail in the Application Selection

section.

(1) Joint Application

HUD will make a set-aside of rental

assistance budget authority for

Homeless Families only if there is a

joint application by the housing agency

(HA) and the ESG jurisdiction that

describes the partnership among the

HA, the ESG jurisdiction and homeless

provider organizations and describes the

community-wide process for involving

homeless provider organizations in the

program. The application must

demonstrate evidence of an agreement

between the ESG jurisdiction and the

HA(s) spelling out the responsibilities of

the respective parties to achieve the

objective of this NOFA. Homeless

provider organizations help the ESG

jurisdiction identify and refer homeless

families to the HA and provide needed

housing counseling and supportive

services. At the time of application,

participating homeless provider

organizations may be identified, but this

is not required. Any HA that has the

legal authority to operate a rental

assistance program within the ESG

jurisdiction may submit, in conjunction

with the ESG jurisdiction, an

application in order to receive the

available rental vouchers or certificates.

(2) Application Content

Each ESG jurisdiction must initiate, as

a part of the application preparation, a

community-wide process to involve

homeless provider organizations in the

development and implementation of the

set-aside program. Each applicant must:

(a) Describe the Community-wide

Process.

Describe the community-wide process

used to involve homeless provider

organizations in the planning and

implementation of the rental assistance

program. The application must also

describe how participating homeless

provider organizations, that will enter

into agreements to provide services,

have been or will be identified through

a request for proposals process or other

form of selection.

(b) Identify Eligible Homeless

Families.

The method that will be used to

identify and refer to the HA homeless
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12057

families currently living in emergency

shelters or transitional housing within

the ESG jurisdiction, who are

‘‘immediately ready for permanent

housing’’ as defined in this NOFA.

(c) Section 8 Waiting List.

The method that the homeless

provider organizations and the HA will

use to verify and ensure that each

identified family meets the

‘‘immediately ready’’ criteria and is

either on the Section 8 waiting list or

will be added to the waiting list.

(d) Involvement of Homeless Provider

Organizations.

Describe the agreements with

homeless provider organizations that

will ensure each family receiving

Section 8 rental assistance under this

NOFA will receive the following:

(i) Housing search assistance,

assistance in securing housing, move-in

assistance and housing counseling, as

appropriate;

(ii) Stabilization services for a

minimum of six months to assist the

family in adjusting to their new

surroundings and connecting to

community-based services and/or

treatment, as appropriate; and

(iii) Other community-based services

and/or treatment as needed to allow the

family to remain in permanent housing.

(e) Project-Based Assistance. The

method that will be used to determine

what amount, if any, of the rental

certificate funding is proposed to be

used for project-based rental assistance

for Single Room Occupancy (SRO) in

accordance with 24 CFR part 882,

subpart G, Project-Based Certificate

Assistance rules.

(3) Application Revisions After

Submission to HUD

HUD will provide the applicant an

opportunity to revise its application

after submission to HUD in response to

specific written comments from HUD.

The joint applicants will have a thirty

calendar day period from the date of

HUD’s letter to satisfy all issues with

HUD. Applicants will be allowed to

respond to HUD comments more than

once during the thirty day correction

period so long as the negotiations are

completed by the thirty calendar day

deadline.

(E) Corrections to Deficient Applications

for Homeless Families Subprogram

(1) Acceptable Applications

See Section VIII.(D)(3) of this NOFA

for the applicable provisions.

(2) Unacceptable Applications

The 14 day technical correction

period does not apply to this NOFA. See

Section VIII.(D)(3) of this NOFA for the

applicable provisions.

(F) Application Selection Process for

Homeless Families Subprogram

The funds available under this NOFA

are being allocated on a formula basis as

listed in Attachment 4 of the NOFA.

Applications will be reviewed by the

HUD Office to determine whether or not

they are technically adequate and

responsive to the application

submission criteria based on the NOFA

requirements. To expedite the review of

applications and the award of funds

under this subprogram, the HUD Office

may initiate its review of any

application received prior to the

deadline established for submission.

The Office of Public Housing in the

HUD Office will initially screen all

applications to determine if an

application is complete, technically

adequate and responsive to the general

application selection requirements. The

Community Planning and Development

(CPD) Office will review the application

to determine if an application is

responsive to the application

submission requirements including

consistency with the locality’s homeless

assistance strategy, adequacy of

community-wide process, and the

procedures for assisting homeless

families. If an application is found to be

unresponsive, the HUD Office will

notify the applicant of its finding and

permit the applicant to revise the

application as provided in Section

VIII.(D)(3).

The HUD Office of Public Housing

will approve HA applications that are

technically adequate and responsive. If

any local HA and ESG jurisdiction does

not submit a joint application by the

due date specified in the NOFA, or if its

application is disapproved, the

allocation for that ESG jurisdiction will

be reallocated to the State in which the

jurisdiction is located. If a State does

not apply by the due date, or if its

application is disapproved, the

allocation for that State will be

reallocated to other States receiving

allocations.

IX. Other Allocations

In addition to the budget authority for

‘‘fair share’’ rental vouchers and rental

certificates, additional budget authority

(including carryover budget authority) is

available for allocation in Fiscal Year

1995 for rental vouchers and rental

certificates for the following purposes:

(A) Relocation, Demolition and

Disposition and Replacement Housing

(HOPE I, II, Section 5(h), Section 18,

and HOPE VI and ‘‘OPT–OUTS’’

Headquarters will assign funds

directly to the HUD Offices to assist

families living in public housing

projects that are being demolished or

disposed of with HUD approval; to

provide replacement housing in

connection with Section 18, HOPE VI,

or Section 5(h) activities; or relocation

assistance to families affected by HOPE

I, HOPE II, and Section 5(h) activities;

or assistance to non-purchasing families

affected by HOPE II activities.

Headquarters will also assign funds

directly to HUD Offices to assist families

living in a Section 8 New Construction

or Substantial Rehabilitation, or Loan

Management Set-Aside Projects, where

the Section 8 Housing Assistance

Payments Contract ends. HUD Office

requests for funding under this category

will be approved on a first-come, firstserved basis. HUD Office requests

should include all data pertinent to

determining the eligibility of the request

for funding under the appropriate

program and the amount of funds

required. Replacement housing

assistance will be provided in the form

of 5-year rental voucher or rental

certificate funding. (Approximately

9,425 units and $323 million in budget

authority.)

(B) Rental Voucher and Rental

Certificate Renewals

Headquarters will allocate funds

directly to the HUD Offices for the

renewal of rental voucher and rental

certificate funding increments expiring

in Fiscal Year 1995. Renewal funding

will be provided in-kind (i.e., rental

voucher funding for expiring rental

voucher increments, and rental

certificate funding for expiring rental

certificate increments). (Approximately

126,000 units and $2.9 billion in budget

authority.)

(C) Section 23 Conversions

Headquarters will allocate rental

certificate funds directly to the HUD

Offices for tenant-based rental

assistance to residents of Section 23

leased housing for which leases are

expiring. HUD Office requests for

funding under this category will be

approved on a first-come, first-served

basis. HUD Offices must include all data

necessary to determine the amount of

funds required. (Approximately 320

units and $6.5 million in budget

authority.)
12058 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices

(D) Section 8 Amendments

Headquarters will allocate Rental

Certificate Program cost amendments to

provide budget authority increases to

HA rental certificate programs.

Headquarters will allocate the funds on

an as needed basis. (Approximately

$185 million in budget authority.)

(E) Housing Agency Portability Fees

Headquarters will allocate these funds

to pay special preliminary fees to HAs

under Rental Voucher and Rental

Certificate Program portability

provisions. The Department issued a

HUD Notice PIH 92–14 (PHA), dated

April 22, 1992, that describes

administrative procedures for requesting

the special preliminary fees. These

funds will be allocated to the HAs on a

first-come, first-served basis.

(Approximately $9.5 million in budget

authority.)

(F) Headquarters Reserve

Headquarters will retain in the

Headquarters Reserve sufficient funding

to meet the requirements for the

following purposes: (1) Natural

disasters, (2) other housing emergencies,

(3) litigation, and (4) desegregation of

public housing. (Approximately 4,300

units and $151 million in budget

authority.)

(G) Property Disposition

Headquarters will assign funds

directly to the HUD Offices to assist

families living in a HUD-owned

property when it is sold. HUD Office

requests for funding under this category

will be approved on a first-come, firstserved basis. (Approximately 900 units

and $30 million in budget authority.)

(H) FY 94 NOFA for Homeless Persons

With Disabilities

HUD published a NOFA for a FY 94

Section 8 Rental Voucher Set-Aside for

Homeless Persons with Disabilities on

February 1, 1994. The February 1, 1994

NOFA is independent of any

subprogram funding published in this

NOFA. HUD expects to issue the funds

shortly to the HUD State and Area

Offices for reservation of those funds for

the HAs selected under the February 1,

1994 NOFA.

(I) FY 94 NOFA for Homeless Veterans

With Severe Psychiatric or Substance

Abuse Disorders

HUD published a NOFA for the FY 94

Section 8 Rental Voucher Set-Aside for

Homeless Veterans with Severe

Psychiatric or Substance Abuse

Disorders on July 14, 1994. The July 14,

1994 NOFA is independent of any

subprogram funding published in this

NOFA. HUD expects to issue the funds

shortly to the HUD State and Area

Offices for reservation of those funds for

the HAs selected under the July 14,

1994 NOFA.

(J) FY 94 NOFA for Family Unification

HUD published a NOFA for the FY 94

Family Unification Program on August

29, 1994. The August 29, 1994 NOFA is

independent of any subprogram funding

published in this NOFA. HUD expects

to issue the funds shortly to the HUD

State and Area Offices for reservation of

those funds for the HAs selected under

the August 29, 1994 NOFA.

(K) FY 94 NOFA for FSS Service

Coordinators

HUD published a NOFA for the

Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Service

Coordinators for the Section 8 Rental

Certificate and Rental Voucher Programs

on August 29, 1994. The August 29,

1994 NOFA is independent of any

subprogram funding published in this

NOFA. HUD expects to issue the funds

shortly to the HUD State and Area

Offices for reservation of those funds for

the HAs selected under the August 29,

1994 NOFA.

X. Other Matters

(A) Environmental Impact

A Finding of No Significant Impact

with respect to the environment for all

funding available under this NOFA has

been made in accordance with the

Department’s regulations at 24 CFR Part

50, which implement section 102(2)(C)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). The

Finding is available for public

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

p.m. weekdays in the Office of the Rules

Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel,

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, room 10276, 451 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410.

(B) Federalism Impact

The General Counsel, as the

Designated Official under section 6(a) of

Executive Order 12612, Federalism, has

determined that the policies contained

in this notice will not have substantial

direct effects on states or their political

subdivisions, or the relationship

between the federal government and the

states, or on the distribution of power

and responsibilities among the various

levels of government. As a result, the

notice is not subject to review under the

Order. This notice is a funding notice

and does not substantially alter the

established roles of the Department, the

States, and local governments, including

HAs.

(C) Impact on the Family

The General Counsel, as the

Designated Official under Executive

Order 12606, The Family, has

determined that this notice does not

have potential for significant impact on

family formation, maintenance, and

general well-being within the meaning

of the Executive Order and, thus, is not

subject to review under the Order. This

is a funding notice and does not alter

program requirements concerning

family eligibility.

(D) Section 102 of the HUD Reform Act:

Documentation and Public Access

Requirements

HUD will ensure that documentation

and other information regarding each

application submitted pursuant to this

NOFA are sufficient to indicate the basis

upon which assistance was provided or

denied. This material, including any

letters of support, will be made

available for public inspection for a fiveyear period beginning not less than 30

calendar days after the award of the

assistance. Material will be made

available in accordance with the

Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.

552) and HUD’s implementing

regulations at 24 CFR part 15. In

addition, HUD will include the

recipients of assistance pursuant to this

NOFA in its quarterly Federal Register

notice of all recipients of HUD

assistance awarded on a competitive

basis. (See 24 CFR 12.14(a) and 12.16(b),

and the notice published in the Federal

Register on January 16, 1992 (57 FR

1942), for further information on these

requirements.)

(E) Section 103 of the HUD Reform Act

HUD’s regulation implementing

section 103 of the Department of

Housing and Urban Development

Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3537a)

(Reform Act) is codified as 24 CFR part

4, applies to the funding competition

announced today. The requirements of

the rule continue to apply until the

announcement of the selection of

successful applicants.

HUD employees involved in the

review of applications and in the

making of funding decisions are

restrained by part 4 from providing

advance information to any person

(other than an authorized employee of

HUD) concerning funding decisions, or

from otherwise giving any applicant an

unfair competitive advantage. Persons

who apply for assistance in this

competition should confine their

inquiries to the subject areas permitted

under 24 CFR part 4.

Applicants who have questions

should contact the HUD Office of Ethics
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 1995 / Notices 12059

(202) 708–3815 (TDD/Voice). (This is

not a toll-free number.) The Office of

Ethics can provide information of a

general nature to HUD employees, as

well. However, a HUD employee who

has specific program questions, such as

whether particular subject matter can be

discussed with persons outside the

Department, should contact his or her

HUD Office Counsel, or Headquarters

counsel for the program to which the

question pertains.

(F) Prohibition Against Lobbying

Activities

The use of funds awarded under this

NOFA is subject to the disclosure

requirements and prohibitions of

section 319 of the Department of Interior

and Related Agencies Appropriations

Act for Fiscal Year 1990 (31 U.S.C.

1352) (the ‘‘Byrd Amendment’’) and the

implementing regulations at 24 CFR part

87. These authorities prohibit recipients

of Federal contracts, grants, or loans

from using appropriated funds for

lobbying the Executive or Legislative

Branches of the Federal Government in

connection with specific contract, grant,

or loan. The prohibition also covers the

awarding of contracts, grants,

cooperative agreements, or loans unless

the recipient has made an acceptable

certification regarding lobbying. Under

24 CFR part 87, applicants, recipients,

and subrecipients of assistance

exceeding $100,000 must certify that no

Federal funds have been or will be spent

on lobbying activities in connection

with the assistance. IHAs established by

an Indian tribe as a result of the exercise

of the tribe’s sovereign power are

excluded from coverage of the Byrd

Amendment, but IHAs established

under State law are not excluded from

the statute’s coverage.

(G) Section 112 of the HUD Reform Act

Section 112 of the HUD Reform Act

added a new section 13 to the

Department of Housing and Urban

Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3537b).

Section 13 contains two provisions

dealing with efforts to influence HUD’s

decisions with respect to financial

assistance. The first imposes disclosure

requirements on those who are typically

involved in these efforts—those who

pay others to influence the award of

assistance or the taking of a

management action by the Department

and those who are paid to provide the

influence. The second restricts the

payment of fees to those who are paid

to influence the award of HUD

assistance, if the fees are tied to the

number of housing units received or are

based on the amount of assistance

received, or if they are contingent upon

the receipt of assistance.

Section 13 was implemented by final

rule published in the Federal Register

on May 17, 1991 (56 FR 22912). If

readers are involved in any efforts to

influence the Department in these ways,

they are urged to read the final rule,

particularly the examples contained in

Appendix A of the rule. Any questions

about the rule should be forwarded to

the Director, Office of Ethics, room

2158, Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 451 Seventh Street, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20410–3000.

Telephone: (202) 708–3815 (TDD/Voice)

(this is not a toll-free number.) Forms

necessary for compliance with the rule

may be obtained from the local HUD

office.

Dated: February 6, 1995.

Michael B. Janis,

General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public

and Indian Housing.

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[FR Doc. 95–5184 Filed 2–28–95; 8:45 am]

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