Interviews with Non-MTW (Control Group) PHAs

Appendix C. Interview Guides for Interviews with Non-MTW PHAs

C.1. Baseline Interview with Non-MTW (Control Group) PHAs

Telephone interview will be with PHA Executive Director and one or more designated staff. Pre-populated information indicated in grey. Note that we do not expect most PHAs to have to answer all the questions on this guide. Most PHAs will likely only be implementing one or two initiatives and will not have many new initiatives for year to year.

Introduction

Thank you very much for speaking with me today. I am following up on the survey you recently completed. We are interested to learn a little bit more about the activities your agency has implemented or plans to implement related to cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, and housing choice.

The questions I am going to ask you have been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The OMB control number is XXXX-XXXX, expiring XX-XX-XXXX. The interview should take no more than an hour.

The study team will use the information you provide for research purposes only, not for any audit or compliance purposes. We will be taking notes but will not be recording this call. Only members of the study team will see your individual responses. Our reports to HUD will summarize the results from the interviews but will not name individuals. If we would like to highlight your PHA in one of our reports, we will review the text with you in advance.

There may be some questions you may not be able to answer or that are more appropriate for other staff. If you are unable to answer a question, or would prefer not to answer, just let me know. You are free to skip any question you do not wish to answer.

Do you have any questions before we begin?

Activities Implemented or Underway

Ask the questions in this section only if the PHA indicated in the survey any activities underway.

You indicated in the survey that you have implemented the following activities related to cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, or housing choice (interviewer reads the list of activities):

• Implemented activity 1:_______________

• Implemented activity 2:_______________

• Implemented activity 3:_______________

• Implemented activity 4:_______________

I’d like to collect some more detailed information on each activity. Ask the following questions for each implemented activity.

1. What are the goal(s) of the activity?

2. Is the activity part of a larger PHA initiative? If so, describe.

3. Which program(s) does the activity apply to?

• Public housing

• HCV

• FSS

• Other:______________

4. [If public housing] Does it apply to all sites, or just selected sites?

• All sites

• Select sites: ______________

5. Does the activity apply to new admissions, currently assisted households, or both? (Question may not apply depending on the activity.)

• New admissions only

• Currently assisted households only

• New and currently assisted households 

• Other:______________

• N/A

6. Which household types does the activity apply to?

• All household types

• Nonelderly, nondisabled families 

• Elderly families 

• Disabled families 

• Other:_________________________

• N/A  

7. Does the PHA have a hardship policy in the event that this activity constitutes a financial or other hardship for the family? If yes, describe.

8. If yes, how many hardship requests did your agency receive in the past year? How many did your agency approve? What are the main reasons requests are denied?

9. Did you seek a separate HUD waiver to implement the activity or was it something the PHA already had flexibility to implement under the regular program rules?

10. Did the activity require a change to your Admin Plan (HCV) or ACOP (public housing)? If so, describe.

11. When did the policy or program go into effect? (If not yet in effect: What steps remain before it goes into effect?)

12. When do you expect the activity to show results related to the activity’s objectives? What are the specific results you would expect to see? How will you measure and track results?

13. Have you seen any of these results so far?

14. What are the expected (or actual) effects of this activity on subsidy or administrative costs? (Note whether the effects are expected or actual.)

15. [If the PHA expects to see or has seen an effect on costs] Can you explain the relationship between the activity and costs (i.e., how the activity affects or would be expected to affect costs)?

16. How do you measure and track changes in costs? Have you seen any effects so far?

17. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA operations; that is how the PHA runs its day to day work? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

18. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA staffing? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

19. Has the activity had any effect on public or stakeholder support for your agency or for affordable housing in the community? If not, why not? If so, describe.

Planned Activities for the Coming Year

Ask the questions in this section only if the PHA indicated in the survey any activities planned for the coming year.

You indicated in the survey that you plan to implement the following activities related to cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, or housing choice in the coming year (interviewer reads the list of activities):

• Planned activity 1:_______________

• Planned activity 2:_______________

• Planned activity 3:_______________

• Planned activity 4:_______________

I’d like to collect some more detailed information on your plans for each activity. Ask the following questions for each planned activity.

20. What is the goal of the activity?

21. Which program(s) will the activity apply to?

• Public housing

• HCV

• Other:______________

22. [If public housing] Will it apply to all sites, or just selected sites?

• All sites

• Select sites: ______________

23. [If selected public housing sites] How did you choose the sites?

24. Will the activity apply to new admissions, currently assisted households, or both? (Question may not apply depending on the activity.)

• New admissions only

• Currently assisted households only

• New and currently assisted households 

• Other:______________

• N/A

25. Which household types will the activity apply to?

• All household types

• ­­­Nonelderly, nondisabled families 

• Elderly families 

• Disabled families 

• Other:_________________________

• N/A  

26. Will the PHA have a hardship policy in the event that this activity constitutes a financial or other hardship for the family? If yes, describe.

27. Will you seek a separate HUD waiver to implement the activity or is it something the PHA already has flexibility to implement under the regular program rules?

28. When do you expect the policy or program to go into effect? What steps does the PHA have to take to implement the policy or program?

29. When do you expect the activity to show results related to the activity’s objectives? What are the specific results you would expect to see? How will you measure and track results?

30. What are the expected (or actual) effects of this activity on PHA or program costs? (Note whether the effects are expected or actual.)

31. [If the PHA expects to see or has seen an effect on costs] Can you explain the relationship between the activity and costs (i.e., how the activity affects or would be expected to affect costs)?

32. How do you measure and track changes in costs? Have you seen any effects so far?

33. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA operations; that is, how the PHA runs its day to day work? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

34. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA staffing? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

35. Do you expect the activity to have any impact on public or stakeholder support for your agency or for affordable housing in the community? If not, why not? If so, describe.

Lessons Learned / Thoughts on MTW

36. Can you identify any lessons that you have learned thus far in implementing your activities in the areas of cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, and housing choice?

37. Have you had any challenges in implementing these activities?

38. Would you still be interested in applying for MTW if given the chance?

• (If interested in applying for MTW) Why would you be interested in applying? What would you do differently if you had MTW designation?

• (If not interested in applying for MTW) Why would you not be interested in applying?

Do you have any other comments for the study team or for HUD on the MTW program or on your PHA’s efforts in the areas of cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, or housing choice?

Thanks very much for your time today. Do you have any questions for me?

C.2. Semi-Annual Telephone Interview with Non-MTW (Control Group) PHAs

Telephone interview will be with PHA Executive Director and one or more designated staff. Pre-populated information indicated in grey. Note that we do not expect most PHAs to have to answer all the questions on this guide. Most PHAs will likely only be implementing one or two initiatives and will not have many new initiatives for year to year.

Introduction

Thank you very much for speaking with me today. I am following up on the survey you recently completed. We are interested to learn a little bit more about the activities your agency has implemented or plans to implement related to cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, and housing choice.

The questions I am going to ask you have been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The OMB control number is XXXX-XXXX, expiring XX-XX-XXXX. The interview should take no more than an hour.

The study team will use the information you provide for research purposes only, not for any audit or compliance purposes. We will be taking notes but will not be recording this call. Only members of the study team will see your individual responses. Our reports to HUD will summarize the results from the interviews but will not name individuals. If we would like to highlight your PHA in one of our reports, we will review the text with you in advance.

There may be some questions you may not be able to answer or that are more appropriate for other staff. If you are unable to answer a question, or would prefer not to answer, just let me know. You are free to skip any question you do not wish to answer.

Do you have any questions before we begin?

Activities Implemented or Underway

Ask the questions in this section only if the PHA indicated in the survey any activities underway.

You indicated in the survey that you have implemented the following activities related to cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, or housing choice (interviewer reads the list of activities):

• Implemented activity 1:_______________

• Implemented activity 2:_______________

• Implemented activity 3:_______________

• Implemented activity 4:_______________

I’d like to collect some more detailed information on each activity.

Activities Discussed in Previous Interview

Ask the following questions for each implemented activity discussed in the previous interview. Pre-populate with information from previous interview as applicable.

Let’s start with the activities that we discussed when we spoke in [YEAR].

1. Does the activity have the same objective of [objective]? If not, what has changed and why?

2. Does the activity still apply to [program type]? If not, what has changed and why?

3. [If public housing] Does the activity still apply to [public housing site/s]? If not, what has changed and why?

4. Does the activity still apply to [new admissions/existing tenants]? If not, what has changed and why?

5. Does the activity still apply to [household type/s]? If not, what has changed and why?

6. Does the PHA still [have/not have] a hardship policy in the event that this activity constitutes a financial or other hardship for the family? Has the policy changed?

7. Last time we spoke, you indicated that the timeframe for implementing this activity was [schedule for implementation]. Is that still on track? If not, what challenges or obstacles have you encountered?

8. Last time we spoke, you indicated that you expected the activity to show results related to its objective(s) by [timeline] and that you would expect to see [outcomes]? Is that still your expectation? If not, what has changed?

9. Since we last spoke, has the activity had any impact on PHA operations? If not, do expect that it will in the future?

10. Since we last spoke, has the activity had any impact on PHA staffing? If not, do you expect that it will in the future?

11. Last time we spoke, you indicated that you expected the activity to have [positive/neutral/negative] cost implications. Is that what you have seen? If not, why not?

12. Have you seen any impact of the activity on how the PHA is perceived by its stakeholders in the community? What about how the community or local officials view affordable housing?

13. Has the activity had any other effects on the PHA, its residents, or the community that we have not discussed? If so, what?

Activities Not Discussed in Previous Interview

Ask these questions for each implemented activity not discussed in the previous interview but noted in the online survey.

It looks like you have implemented some activities that we did not discuss last time. What is the goal of the activity?

14. Which program(s) does the activity apply to?

• Public housing

• HCV

• Other:______________

15. [If public housing] Does it apply to all sites, or just selected sites?

• All sites

• Select sites: ______________

16. [If selected public housing sites] How did you choose the sites?

17. Does the activity apply to new admissions, currently assisted households, or both? (Question may not apply depending on the activity.)

• New admissions only

• Currently assisted households only

• New and currently assisted households 

• Other:______________

• N/A

18. Which household types does the activity apply to?

• All household types

• Nonelderly, nondisabled families 

• Elderly families 

• Disabled families 

• Other:_________________________

• N/A  

19. Does the PHA have a hardship policy in the event that this activity constitutes a financial or other hardship for the family? If yes, describe.

20. It appears that you received X hardship requests in the past year and approved Y requests? Is that correct? What are the main reasons requests are denied?

21. Did you seek a separate HUD waiver to implement the activity or was it something the PHA already had flexibility to implement under the regular program rules?

22. Did the activity require a change to your Admin Plan (HCV) or ACOP (public housing)? If so, describe.

23. When did the policy or program go into effect? (If not yet in effect: What steps remain before it goes into effect?)

24. When do you expect the activity to show results related to the activity’s objectives? What are the specific results you would expect to see? How will you measure and track results?

25. Have you seen any of these results so far?

26. What are the expected (or actual) effects of this activity on PHA or program costs? (Note whether the effects are expected or actual.)

27. [If the PHA expects to see or has seen an effect on costs] Can you explain the relationship between the activity and costs (i.e., how the activity affects or would be expected to affect costs)?

28. How do you measure and track changes in costs?

29. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA operations; that is how the PHA runs its day to day work? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

30. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA staffing? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

31. Has the activity had any effect on public or stakeholder support for the agency or for affordable housing in the community? If not, why not? If so, describe.

Planned Activities for the Coming Year

Ask the questions in this section only if the PHA indicated in the survey any activities planned for the coming year.

You indicated in the survey that you plan to implement the following activities related to cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, or housing choice in the coming year (interviewer reads the list of activities):

• Planned activity 1:_______________

• Planned activity 2:_______________

• Planned activity 3:_______________

• Planned activity 4:_______________

I’d like to collect some more detailed information on your plans for each activity. Ask the following questions for each planned activity.

32. What is the goal of the activity?

33. Which program(s) will the activity apply to?

• Public housing

• HCV

• Other:______________

34. [If public housing] Will it apply to all sites, or just selected sites?

• All sites

• Select sites: ______________

35. [If selected public housing sites] How did you choose the sites?

36. Will the activity apply to new admissions, currently assisted households, or both? (Question may not apply depending on the activity.)

• New admissions only

• Currently assisted households only

• New and currently assisted households 

• Other:______________

• N/A

37. Which household types will the activity apply to?

• All household types

• Nonelderly, nondisabled families 

• Elderly families 

• Disabled families 

• Other:_________________________

• N/A

38. Will the PHA have a hardship policy in the event that this activity constitutes a financial or other hardship for the family? If yes, describe.

39. Will you seek a separate HUD waiver to implement the activity or is it something the PHA already has flexibility to implement under the regular program rules?

40. When do you expect the policy or program to go into effect? What steps remain before it goes into effect?

41. When do you expect the activity to show results related to the activity’s objectives? What are the specific results you would expect to see? How will you measure and track results?

42. What are the expected (or actual) effects of this activity on subsidy or administrative costs? (Note whether the effects are expected or actual.)

43. [If the PHA expects to see or has seen an effect on costs] Can you explain the relationship between the activity and costs (i.e., how the activity affects or would be expected to affect costs)?

44. How do you measure and track changes in costs? Have you seen any effects so far?

45. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA operations; that is how the PHA runs its day to day work? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

46. [If not already addressed]: What impact do you expect this activity to have on PHA staffing? When would you expect that impact to happen? Have you seen any of these effects so far?

47. Do you expect the activity to have any impact on public or stakeholder support for the agency or for affordable housing in the community? If not, why not? If so, describe.

Lessons Learned / Thoughts on MTW

48. Can you identify any lessons that you have learned thus far in implementing your activities in the areas of cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, and housing choice?

49. Have you had any challenges in implementing these activities?

50. Would you still be interested in applying for MTW if given the chance?

• (If interested in applying for MTW) Why would you be interested in applying? What would you do differently if you had MTW designation?

• (If not interested in applying for MTW) Why would you not be interested in applying?

51. Do you have any other comments for the study team or for HUD on the MTW program or on your PHA’s efforts in the areas of cost efficiency, self-sufficiency, or housing choice?

Thanks very much for your time today. Do you have any questions for me?

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