HUD Publishes MTW Expansion Application

HUD has posted pre-publication versions of the Moving To Work (MTW) Expansion Application and the MTW Expansion Operations Document. There will be multiple cohorts to the expansion with each cohort testing a different policy to be researched. The first cohort will test the overall impact of MTW flexibility. The cohorts will test the following (in no particular order, except for the first, which will test the overall impact of MTW flexibility):

• Overall Impact of MTW Flexibility – the overall effects of the MTW “bundle” will be tested.
• Rent Reform – PHAs will test different rent reform models, including “flat rents, tiered rents, and stepped-up rents.” PHAs “may also evaluate the interaction of these rent reform models with or without work requirements or time limits.”
• Work Requirements – this will be a work requirements only cohort (i.e., additional rent reforms or time limits will not be evaluated). PHAs will provide supportive services.
• Landlord Incentives – this cohort will investigate various landlord incentives (e.g., participation payments, vacancy payments, alternate inspection schedules and other methods).

The first cohort will include 30 PHAs with “1,000 or fewer aggregate public housing and HCV units.” To select applicants HUD will make sure each applicant meets eligibility requirements and certain geographic diversity requirements. Each potential cohort participant will then be selected via a lottery. These PHAs will then be randomly assigned to a treatment group (receiving MTW designation) or a control group (not receiving MTW designation). HUD will research the cost effectiveness, ability to create self-sufficiency, and ability to provide housing choice for this first cohort.

The application due date will be revealed, when the notice is formally posted in the Federal Register. NAHRO will continue to have more detailed coverage on both of these documents and the perspectives of the new administration in the coming days and weeks.

The pre-publication MTW Expansion Application can be found here.

The pre-publication MTW Expansion Operations document can be found here.