2009 HUD Partners Surveys

OMB Approval No.: 2538-0116
Expires: 02/29/2012

HUD Survey of Community
Development Departments
This brief survey solicits your opinion—as a spokesperson for your agency—of the service being provided to you by the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Please answer the questions by placing an “x” in the
box of the response that comes closest to describing your experiences with HUD. If you deal with more than one HUD
program, office, or employee, please take all of your experiences into consideration when answering the questions.
Be assured that the information you provide will be combined with all other answers and that neither you nor your
agency will be identified in reporting the survey findings to HUD or anyone else. We request that you do not tell us
your name. The survey is being conducted by Silber & Associates, an independent, non-partisan research
organization.
Please complete the questionnaire this week and return it in the enclosed envelope. If you need assistance, you may
telephone Silber & Associates toll-free at 1-888-SILBER-1 (888-745-2371) or e-mail [email protected].
1.

How frequent have your agency’s contacts been with HUD during the past twelve months?
Very frequent (PLEASE GO TO Question 2)
Somewhat frequent (PLEASE GO TO Question 2)
Not very frequent (PLEASE GO TO Question 2)
None at all
Don’t know

On behalf of your agency, are you in a position to assess and comment on the
performance of HUD’s organization and programs?
Yes (CONTINUE)
No
Don’t Know

2.

PLEASE FORWARD TO APPROPRIATE PERSON, OR RETURN
QUESTIONNAIRE IF THERE IS NO SUCH PERSON

During the past twelve months has your agency had contact with:

Yes

No

Don’t Know

a. HUD personnel in HUD’s Washington DC Headquarters office
b. HUD personnel in one or more of HUD’s field offices
c. HUD personnel in a specialized HUD Center or Hub (such as the Real Estate Assessment Center,
Section 8 Financial Management Center, Troubled Agency Recovery Center (TARC), Multifamily Property
Disposition Center, HUD Homeownership Centers, FHA Resource Center, HUD Center for Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives)

d. A contractor working for HUD

3.

4.

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HUD has several different responsibilities. On one hand, it provides various forms of
support (for example, funding, technical assistance, information) and, on the other, it
has a regulatory responsibility (that is, it makes rules, assures compliance with those
rules, makes assessments). In your agency’s relationship with HUD, would you say HUD
is mainly providing support to you, mainly regulating you, or doing both about equally?

Thinking first about HUD programs with which you currently deal and then about
how HUD runs those programs, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you, in general, with:

a. The HUD programs you currently deal with
b. The way HUD currently runs those programs
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Now, more specifically, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way HUD
runs the:
a. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program
b. HOME Investments Partnership program
c. Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program
d. Housing Opportunity for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program

6.

Listed below are different ways to think about your relationship with HUD.
For each item, indicate your level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction at the present point
in time. Check “Not applicable” if the situation does not apply to your agency (for
example, if you do not currently receive information from HUD).
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you, in general, with…?
a. The quality of the information you currently receive from HUD

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b. The timeliness of the information you currently receive from HUD
c.

The timeliness of decision-making by HUD (such as requests for waivers, rulings,
and approvals)

d. The quality of guidance you currently get from HUD
e. The consistency of guidance you currently get from HUD
f.

The clarity of HUD rules and requirements that apply to your agency; in
other words, how easy they are to understand

g.

The responsiveness of the people with whom you currently deal at HUD

h.

The competence of the people with whom you currently deal at HUD

i.

The extent to which HUD employees have the knowledge, skills, and ability
to do their work

j.

Your ability to reach the people at HUD whom you need to contact

k.

The time commitment required to comply with HUD reporting requirements
(e.g., the Integrated Disbursement and Information System [IDIS])

7.

HUD provides training and technical assistance through different methods. For
each method listed below, please indicate how useful or not useful you’ve found
it. Check “Have not used” if that applies.
a. HUD-sponsored conferences

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b. HUD-sponsored satellite broadcasts
c. HUD-sponsored training programs conducted by contractors
d. HUD’s Webpage
e. HUD’s Webcast training
f. HUD participation in panel discussions and training sessions set up by nonHUD groups
8.

HUD has increasingly relied on electronic transmission to communicate with its
partners. Based on your experience in the past 12 months, please indicate how
effective or ineffective each of the following has been as a tool for HUD to convey
important information to you, such as notices and guidance. Check “Have not used”
if HUD hasn’t communicated with you this way.
a. HUD listserves (automated mailing lists of subscribers to which HUD sends e-mail
messages)

b. HUD’s Website postings
c. HUD’s E-mail (individual correspondence to or from a HUD employee)
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How important or unimportant is your community’s five-year Consolidated Plan
when it comes to deciding which low-income housing or community
development activities to pursue? Check “Have not developed” if
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10. Please indicate your level of satisfaction with each of the following as it relates to your
agency. Check “Not applicable” if the situation does not apply to your agency.
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with...?
a. The overall quality of the Consolidated Plan Management Process Tool
(CPMP), HUD’s computer tool for preparing your Consolidated Plan

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b. The ease of use of the CPMP
c. The technical support available from HUD for using the CPMP
d. The guidance provided by HUD for developing your Consolidated Annual
Performance Report (CAPER)
e. The ability of HUD field office personnel to consistently and reliably interpret
regulations that pertain to your community development grants and
programs
f. The quality of HUD’s monitoring (including by phone) of your Agency’s
program activities and performance
g. The overall quality of the Integrated Disbursement and Information System
(IDIS)—considering such things as clarity of instructions, ease of use,
usefulness, etc.
h. The timeliness of HUD information & technical assistance for implementing
provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008—such as those
related to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, housing counseling, or the
FHA mortgage insurance program
i. The quality of HUD support & technical assistance related to implementing
provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (see h above)
j. The quality of HUD support & technical assistance related to addressing local
and regional foreclosure issues
k. The quality of HUD support & technical assistance related to improving the
energy efficiency of housing supported by HUD programs
11. Grants.gov (formerly eGrants) is intended to be a simple, unified electronic
storefront for interactions between grant applicants and Federal agencies—
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providing information about grant opportunities and facilitating grant applications.
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12. In 2008, HUD initiated e-snaps, an online application process for the
Continuum of Care (CoC) grant competition. How satisfied or dissatisfied are
you with e-snaps—considering such things as clarity of instructions, ease of
use, usefulness etc.? Check “Have not used” if you haven’t used e-snaps.

13. If your agency put together a logic model in conjunction with a
HUD NOFA application, have you found that the logic model
helped you to. . .?
a. Better identify performance indicators
b. Better think through activities to achieve your desired objectives
c. Better manage your HUD grant
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14. At present, taking everything into consideration, how satisfied or dissatisfied are
you with HUD’s overall performance?

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15. Please indicate the title/position of the person (or persons) who answered these questions:
Agency Director

Agency Deputy Director

Other Agency Employee

Other:____________________________________________

Other Agency Senior Official

16. Taking into account all the jobs in your employment history, how many years, in
total, have you interacted with HUD as part of your job?

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17. Which field office or offices does your agency interact with on a regular basis? Mark all that apply.
REGION I
REGION II
REGION III

Bangor
Albany
Baltimore

Boston
Buffalo
Charleston

Burlington
Camden
Philadelphia

Hartford
Newark
Pittsburgh

Manchester
New York
Richmond

REGION IV

Atlanta
Knoxville

Birmingham
Louisville

Columbia
Memphis

Greensboro
Miami

REGION V

Chicago

REGION VI

Albuquerque

REGION VII
REGION VIII
REGION IX

Des Moines
Casper
Fresno
Anchorage

Cleveland
Indianapolis
Ft. Worth
Okla.City
Omaha
Fargo
Las Vegas
San Diego
Portland

Columbus
Milwaukee
Houston
San Antonio
St. Louis
Helena
Los Angeles

REGION X

Cincinnati
Grnd. Rapids
Dallas
New Orleans
Kansas City
Denver
Honolulu
Sacramento
Boise

Jackson
Nashville
San Juan
Detroit
Minneapolis
Little Rock
Shreveport

San Francisco

Seattle

Salt Lk. City
Phoenix
Santa Ana
Spokane

Providence
Syracuse
Wash., D. C.
Wilmington
Jacksonville
Orlando
Tampa
Flint
Springfield
Lubbock
Tulsa
Sioux Falls
Reno
Tucson

We welcome and appreciate any comments you may have about HUD. PLEASE PRINT. Use extra paper if needed.
PLEASE DO NOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF OR ANYONE ELSE BY NAME.

Thank You for Completing the HUD Survey of Community Development Departments.
Please return your completed questionnaire to:
HUD SURVEY, c/o Silber & Associates, P.O. Box 651, Clarksville, MD 21029-0651. A prepaid envelope is enclosed for your convenience.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SURVEY?

CALL: 1-888-SILBER-1

4

FAX: 1-410-531-3100

E-MAIL: [email protected]

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