2009 HUD Partners Surveys

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

HUD Survey of Fair Housing
Initiatives Program
Organizations
This brief survey solicits your opinion—as a spokesperson for your organization—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
organization 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 organization’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 organization, 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 organization 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.

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HUD has several different responsibilities. On one hand, it provides various forms
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4.

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
1

5.

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
organization (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

b.

The timeliness of the information you currently receive from HUD

c.

The timeliness of decision-making by HUD (such as requests for waivers,

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rulings, and approvals)

d.

6.

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

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. The National Fair Housing Training Academy
d. HUD-sponsored training programs conducted by contractors
e. HUD’s Webpage
f. HUD’s Webcast training
g HUD participation in panel discussions and training sessions set up by nonHUD groups

7.

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

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messages)

b. HUD’s Website postings
c. HUD’s E-mail (individual correspondence to or from a HUD employee)

8.

Some FHIP organization officials say they would like to build closer partnerships
with Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agencies with respect to (a), (b),
and/or (c) below. Others say this is not necessary or appropriate. What do you
say?
a. Enforcement
b. Testing
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c. Education activities/outreach
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9. Please indicate your level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with each of the
following
as it relates to your organization. Check “Not
applicable” if the situation does not apply.
a. The amount of support & technical assistance you receive related to
addressing predatory lending
b. The quality of support & technical assistance you receive related to
addressing predatory lending
c. The monitoring of your FHIP grant
d. How complaints are handled when you file them with HUD

10. If your organization 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

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b. Better think through activities to achieve your desired objectives
c. Better manage your HUD grant
11. Discrimination complaints referred by FHIP agencies directly to HUD for processing
sometimes take a long time to close. Here are some possible reasons why. For each
one, please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement based on your
organization’s experience.
a. HUD requirements for complaint processing are too restrictive.

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b. Lack of HUD staff knowledge and expertise.
c. Insufficient HUD staff to process cases.
d. Time lag between when a FHIP organization refers a case and HUD’s initial
response.
e. Time lags in communications between HUD staff and FHIP staff after the initial
communication.
f. Internal HUD processing delays (i.e. such as time for legal counsel review)
g. Lengthy investigation time by HUD.
h.

No HUD “fast tracking” of “open and shut” cases.

i.

Disagreements between FHIP and HUD staff.

j.

FHIP cases are inherently complex.

k.

Insufficient funding of FHIP organizations.

l.

Lack of FHIP staff time or competing demands leads to delays in responding to
HUD requests for information.
m. Other reason (please specify): ________________________________________________
12. In order of importance, which of the above reasons would you say are most responsible for FHIP referrals
sometimes taking a long time to close? (Please write in the letter preceding the reason.)
_____ Most important reason
_____ Second most important reason
_____ Third most important reason
_____ I don’t know
13. Grants.gov (formerly eGrants) is intended to be a simple, unified electronic
storefront for interactions between grant applicants and Federal
ed
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agencies—providing information about grant opportunities and facilitating
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grant applications. How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Grants.gov—
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considering such things as ease of use, usefulness etc.? Check “Have not
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used” if you haven’t used Grants.gov.
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14.

How would you characterize relations between your organization and HUD
today? Are they very good, good, bad or very bad?

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15. At present, taking everything into consideration, how satisfied or dissatisfied are
you with HUD’s overall performance?
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16. Please indicate the title/position of the person (or persons) who answered these questions:
Organization Director

Organization Deputy Director

Other Organization Employee

Other:____________________________ ___________

17. 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?

Other Organization Senior Official

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1
1

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s
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4

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6

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s
7

–

9

a
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10

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18. Which field office or offices does your organization 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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