item by item justification

Appendix B. PHA Census Item by Item Justification

Agency Contact and Program Size Information
Name and contact information of all survey respondents	This is necessary to ensure that HUD knows which person completed which sections of the survey, in case responses need to be clarified
Number of Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing units under ACC	These items allow HUD to confirm the size of the PHA’s Housing Choice Voucher and public housing programs.
Section A covers Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Vouchers.
A. 1 Waiting List for your HCV program
A. 1. 1. As of today, approximately how many households are on your agency’s waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers?	These questions are intended to capture information about the size and status of the agency’s HCV waiting list. The size and status of an agency’s waiting list may play a role in its willingness and ability to serve homeless households.
A.1.2. What is the current status of the PHA’s waiting list for HCVs? A.1.2a [ASK ONLY IF ‘open to a particular category of applicant’ IS CHECKED] What is the category of applicant? ________________ A.1.2.b [ASK ONLY IF ‘open to a particular category of application for a limited time’ IS CHECKED] What is the category of applicant? ________________
A.2 Preferences for Admission to your HCV program
A.2.1 Other than based on income targeting (for example households below 30 percent of AMI), do you have any preferences for admission to your HCV program? Please do not include any preference required for Special Purpose Vouchers. Please do not include preferences for project-based vouchers. If you have a project-based voucher program, questions about that program will be asked in a later section.	This section addresses research questions #1—the extent to which PHA activities serve homeless households—and #2—how are preferences for homeless households in the Housing Choice Voucher program defined, structured, and implemented. Understanding the preferences that agencies have in place already is central to understanding the role of preferences with regard to homeless households.
A.2.2. Have you established a limited preference for homeless households or for households referred by a program that serves them? Please do not include the VASH program. (A limited preference is a preference that is limited to a certain number of applicants who may qualify for the preference. Some PHAs may use the term “set-aside” to describe a limited preference.)	The response to this question will provide information on specific limited preferences that an agency may have in place to address homeless households.
A.2.2a What is the maximum number of HCVs allocated to the limited homeless preference?	This question quantifies the housing choice voucher resources the PHA has allotted to the limited homeless preference.
A.2.2.b. Is your limited homeless preference for a specific type of homeless applicant?	This question will provide detail on how the PHA is engaging with the homeless population, specifically if the PHA targets HCV resources to a particular category of homeless applicant.
A.2.3. Do your HCV preferences include an unlimited (no specific number) preference for one or more of the following types of homeless applicants? Check all that apply (and please note that this question is not asking about any preference tied to the VASH program or any other special purpose voucher)	This question addresses unlimited preferences, and will provide information on whether the PHA is targeting resources to any specific type of homeless household.
A.2.4. Is your preference specific to homeless households or part of a preference that can apply to both homeless households and other types of households? For example, under the mandatory federal preferences in effect until the late 1990s, a preference for homeless households was part of a preference for households in substandard housing. Some PHAs have chosen to continue to use that preference.	This question will allow HUD to understand the degree to which the PHA gives explicit preference to homeless households, or instead serves them as part of a larger category.
A.2.5. What other unlimited (no specific number or set-aside) HCV waiting list preferences do you have in effect?	This question will provide information on the other preferences the PHA has in place (other than homeless), for comparison purposes.
A.2.6. Do you rank order your preferences to establish a hierarchy of applicants within your system of preferences?	This question provides key information on how the PHA’s limited homeless preference ranks relative to other preferences.
A.2.7. How does the unlimited (no specific number) preference for homeless households fit into your ranking of preferences?	Similar to above, this question provides information on how the PHA’s unlimited homeless preference ranks relative to other preferences.
A.3. Project-Based Vouchers
A.3.1. Has the PHA implemented a project-based voucher (PBV) program?	Agencies that have PBV programs may have different waiting lists or preferences for them than for their HCV program. Thus, in order to fully understand the agencies engagement with homeless households, HUD needs to understand the factors in place in each program.
A.3.2. Does the PBV program have a waiting list (or lists) separate from the HCV waiting list? A.3.2.a Does the PBV program have one waiting list for the entire PBV program/building or separate lists for different PBV programs/buildings?	For PHAs with PBV waiting lists separate from the HCV waiting list, this question will provide information on how the latter waiting lists are implemented.
A.3.3. Does the PBV program have preferences for admission that are different from the HCV program preferences?	This question will highlight if the PBV program has different preferences, so that HUD can further understand those PBV preferences.
A.3.4. Do your PBV program admission preferences include a preference for one or more of the following types of homeless applicants?	This question will provide information on preferences for the PBV program, if different from the HCV program.
A.3.5. How many project-based voucher units are set aside for homeless households through a separate waiting list or a limited preference?	This question will provide information that will quantify the PBV resources the PHA targets to homeless households.
A.4 Use of Vouchers
A.4.1.How do the households for which you have established a limited preference use their vouchers? Please answer this question for both Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Vouchers.	This question will allow HUD to learn which options are chosen by homeless households that obtain HCV and PBV from this agency.
Section B covers public housing.
B. 1 Waiting List for your Public Housing program
B. 1. 1. As of today, approximately how many households are on your agency’s waiting list for public housing?	Section B1 provides background on the size of the agency’s public housing wait list as well as the status of the waiting list. The size and status of an agency’s waiting list may play a role in its willingness and ability to serve homeless households.
B.1.2. What is the current status of the PHA’s waiting list for public housing? B.1.2.a [DISPLAY ONLY IF ‘open to particular category/categories of applicant’ IS CHECKED] What is/are the category/categories of applicant?
B.2 Types of units in PHA’s Public Housing Program
B.2.1 Are all of your public housing developments exclusively for occupancy by elderly households or households with disabilities?	As with B1, Section B2 provides context about the agency’s public housing stock. The hypothesis for this question is that PHAs with all developments exclusively for occupancy by elderly households or households with disabilities are unlikely to serve homeless households.
B.2. 1.a. Describe your public housing inventory designated for elderly households and/or disabled households.
B.3 Preferences for admission to your agency’s public housing program
B.3.1 Other than based on income targeting (for example households below 30 percent of AMI), do you have any preferences for admission to your public housing program or to particular public housing developments?	This section addresses research question #1—the extent to which PHA activities serve homeless households—and #2—how are preferences for homeless households in the public housing program defined, structured, and implemented. It identifies any existing preferences the agency uses. It then determines whether the agency has any preferences for homeless households.
B.3.Does your PHA have site-based waiting lists? B.3.2.a [If yes] Do any of your preferences apply only to certain developments? B.3.2.b [If yes] For preferences that apply only to certain developments, is homelessness included as a preference?
B.3.3 Have you established a limited preference for admission to one or more of your public housing developments for homeless households or for households referred by a program that provides services to those households? A limited preference sets a maximum number of units that will be made available to applicants who qualify for the preference and are ready to move in. B.3.3a [If yes is checked] What is the maximum number of units to be made available under this preference
B.3.4. Do your public housing preferences include an unlimited (no specific number of units) preference for one or more of the following types of homeless applicants?
B.3.5. Is your preference specific to homeless households, or is it part of a preference for both homeless households and other types of households?
B.3.6. What other unlimited (no specific number) public housing waiting list preferences do you have?
B.3.6. Do you rank order your preferences to establish a hierarchy of applicants within your system of public housing preferences?
B.3.7. How does the unlimited (no specific number) preference for homeless households fit into your ranking of preferences?
Section C covers other programs operated by PHAs.
C.1 Please indicate whether or not you administer any of the programs displayed below, either currently or at any time within the past three years (PHA fiscal years). For those programs that you do administer, please indicate approximately how many units are for homeless households.	This series is intended to address research question #1—the extent to which PHAs serve homeless households. Here the survey identifies whether the PHA operates any additional programs and if so, how many units in each of them are targeted to serving homeless households.
HOME Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
State or locally funded rental assistance
Section 202
Section 811
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit units (no rental assistance)
HUD McKinney-Vento Supportive Housing Program
HUD McKinney-Vento Shelter Plus Care
HUD McKinney-Vento Section 8 SRO Moderate Rehabilitation
Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) –prevention
HPRP—rapid re-housing
Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation (not McKinney-Vento)
Rural Housing Service Section 515 housing
HUD multifamily private assisted housing (Section 8, 236, etc.)
Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA)
Section D asks how the PHA identifies newly admitted households as homeless.
D.1 Question 4c on the HUD Form 50058 asks whether a household was homeless at the time of admission to a housing assistance program. When answering that question, what definition of homelessness does your PHA use?	There are numerous definitions of homelessness, and it is important to the study to understand how agencies define it. This section informs research question #1, in that it allows HUD to determine both how the agency defines homelessness and also how that information is used to serve homeless households.
D.2 Is there a minimum amount of time a person has to be homeless in order to meet the PHA’s definition of homeless?
D.3 What information do you use to verify whether a newly admitted household is homeless? Check all that apply.
D.4 Do you currently provide information to the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) operated through your local homeless Continuum of Care about homeless households served by your HCV, PBV or public housing program?
D.4.a [For PHAs with HUD-VASH] Do you currently enter information into the HMIS about homeless households served by your PHA’s HUD-VASH program?
D.5 [If no to D.4] Do you have any plans to enter information on homeless households served by your HCV program or your public housing program into the HMIS?
Section E asks questions about partnerships between the PHA and community service providers serving homeless people.
E.1 Relationships with other organizations
E.1.1 Does the PHA have any formal relationships (as indicated by a Memorandum of Understanding, Memorandum of Agreement, or other such document) with public or non-profit community organizations that provide services to homeless people?	There is increasing collaboration between homeless providers, community organizations, and public housing agencies in an effort to maximize their ability to serve homeless populations. This series attempts to identify ways in which the PHA works with other agencies. It is particularly focused on interactions with Continuum of Care.
E.1.2. With how many community organizations providing services to homeless people does the PHA have formal relationships?
E.1.3 Does the PHA have any informal relationships with community organizations that provide services to homeless people?
E.1.4. With how many community organizations providing services to homeless people does the PHA have informal relationships?
E.1.5 For organizations with which the PHA has either formal or informal relationships, on what type of activities or functions do you collaborate?
E.1.7 Does the PHA participate in the local Continuum of Care (CoC)?
E.1.8. Please describe how the PHA participates and collaborates with the CoC(s):
E.1.9. Has the PHA reviewed the CoC’s Ten Year Plan?
Section F asks questions about barriers perceived by the PHA in engaging with homeless households.
F.1.1 What barriers have the PHA experienced in serving homeless households?	PHAs may face barriers, or perceive barriers, when serving homeless households. This section explores the barriers faced and where they came from. Understanding the barriers that pose the greatest challenge to PHAs can help HUD determine ways in which to help reduce them.
F.1.2. Has the PHA modified or made exceptions to tenant screening or other policies in order to provide housing assistance to homeless households?
F.1.3. [If yes to F.1.2] What were the exceptions or changes made to tenant screening or other policies, and what issues did they address?
Section G is intended for Moving to Work (MTW) Agencies only.
G.1 Programs Aimed at Homeless Households
G.1.1 Does the PHA currently (or has the PHA within the past three years) operate(d) or implement(ed) any programs specifically aimed at homeless households? G.1.1.a.IF YES: Please describe the program	MTW agencies may be allowed to develop innovative and interesting approaches to serving homeless households. This set of questions provides information on activities that MTW agencies are doing related to homeless households, and the MTW authority used to implement the activity, as well as regulatory barriers that other non-MTW agencies would face in implementing a similar activity.
G.1.2. How did authority granted to you under your MTW Agreement enable you to implement this program/these programs?
G.1.3. Could the PHA have done the same thing under current HUD rules without being an MTW site?
G.1.4.[If No] Specifically, what regulation(s) would need to be changed in order to allow non-MTW sites to implement this program/these programs?

6