HAND is pleased to announce that it recently joined leaders of regional civic and business organizations in signing onto a letter urging the signatories of the governing compact of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to reform our regional transit system. An excerpt from the letter reads:
“We reiterate our strong conviction that any reform effort must include reforms to WMATA’s governing, financial, and operational structures. Reform of any one structure alone will not be sufficient. For instance, additional funding for Metro will only be beneficial if it is accompanied by structural changes that give WMATA’s board the flexibility to effectively allocate resources and staff the flexibility to leverage additional resources to make operational improvements.”
The following groups have signed on:
Federal City Council
Greater Washington Board of Trade
The 2030 Group
The Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA)
The Consortium of Universities
The DC Building Industry Association
DC Chamber of Commerce
The Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance
Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce
The Prince William Chamber of Commerce
Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
Virginia Chamber of Commerce
Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce
Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce
Maryland Chamber of Commerce
Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Arlington County Chamber of Commerce
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce
Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce
Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington
ULI Washington
Leadership Greater Washington
Washington Airports Task Force
Committee for Dulles
Enterprise Community Partners
Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance
The Housing Association of Non-profit Developers (HAND)
HAND encourages its members and partners to join us in supporting these reform efforts to ensure the sustainability of the Washington region’s transit system. If you are interested in signing, please contact Maura Brophy or Dana Gresham.To read the letter in full, click here. You can also find more information here.
APAH’s Holiday Gift Drive kicks off this month! Last year they gave gifts to more than 350 children thanks to their generous donors. This year they are again providing special gifts to children, which parents can come to select from donated items.
Donors have the flexibility to:
1) Donate gifts amounting to $25 each (see below.)
2) Contribute Gift cards
3) Or make a monetary contribution to APAH of any amount (Designated to the: Holiday Gift Drive)
Individuals, groups and/or organizations who are interested in participating should contact Emily Button at ebutton@apah.org or 703-276-7444 ext 115 no later than December 1st, 2015
Donations may be brought to Arlington Mill Residences at 901 S. Dinwiddie St. on their designated collection day, Saturday, December 5th, from 8am-2pm. If it is not possible to bring collections on this day please contact organizers above to make alternative arrangements for drop off.
Each gift should amount to $25*
Suggested Items for Ages 0-10:
Toys
Board Games
Puzzles
Books
Arts and Crafts
Building Sets
Learning/Educational
Sports Equipment
Suggested Items for Ages 11-18:
Arts & Crafts
Books
Board Games
Learning/Educational
Sports Equipment
Hygiene Accessories:
Girls: makeup, hair accessories, nail polish, lotion, fragrances
Boys: shaving stuff, lotion, fragrances
Retail gift cards: Recommend gift cards for department / variety stores accessible to residents i.e. Target
*Please avoid donating clothing, electronics or used items. Multicultural gifts are appreciated
By Lisa A. Sturtevant, PhD
This summer, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published the final Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule that lays out a new process (replacing the analysis of impediments) and provides a new assessment tool so that localities and states can better identify potential fair housing issues and develop solutions. Under the new rule, cities, counties and other entities that receive HUD funding will be required to use local data—including both data provided by HUD and locally-generated data—to assess areas of concentrated poverty, identify disparities in access to opportunity and evaluate unmet housing needs among certain defined subpopulations, including racial and ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities. As a result of this analysis, jurisdictions are required to identify the local (and potentially regional) factors that have contributed to the patterns of housing disparities and develop approaches for breaking down these disparities.
Local jurisdictions that receive more than $500,000 in CDBG funding are among the first that will be required to follow the new AFFH rules. These jurisdictions must submit a new five-year consolidated plan under the new rule on or after January 1, 2017. Many local jurisdictions in the Washington D.C. region will be among the first wave.
The release of the final AFFH rule comes on the heels of the Supreme Court decision earlier this year affirming a lower courts’ decision that local data on race and income can be used to show that housing and land use policies have had discriminatory effects – even if the policies were not intentionally discriminatory. The so-called “disparate impact” decision brings increased attention to local zoning regulations that may have led to segregation by race and income. Thus, the new AFFH rule will likely have implications for local land use and zoning decisions. While HUD continues to believe that land use and zoning regulations are local issues, the new AFFH rule emphasizes that local land use and zoning practices that violate fair housing or other civil rights laws are a Federal concern. The new rule may also affect the ways in which tax credits are allocated. While the distribution of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) are generally managed through a state qualified action plan (QAP) process, the AFFH rule brings increased Federal attention to the ways in which the QAP process promotes fair housing.
The AFFH rulemaking process has been on-going for several years. Many organizations—including the National Housing Conference and Enterprise Community Partners—have submitted comments about the rule and the associated fair housing assessment tool. As a result of numerous comments, HUD made several changes to the rule issued this summer.
Despite the improvements, there are still significant concerns about the implementation of the AFFH rule. Of particular concern is the amount of time, resources and expertise that will be required by local officials to complete the process. HUD has estimated that it will take a local jurisdiction 240 hours to complete its assessment of fair housing, but that is likely an underestimate of the time needed to develop meaningful strategies for meeting fair housing goals.
In addition, the new process requires more specialized knowledge and research expertise to prepare the submission. Many jurisdictions in the Washington, D.C. region have highly skilled planning and housing staff; however, smaller jurisdictions and agencies that have faced cuts recently may be especially burdened. Local jurisdictions that are already short staffed will either have to divert time and resources to the new process or will have to hire outside consultants to help with the submission.
Key to the new fair housing assessment tool are the local data and maps that HUD is making available to all local jurisdictions. The tool includes maps and data tables of race/ethnicity, national origin and limited English proficiency, disability type, age, sex, and families with children. HUD has also stated that local jurisdictions will be encouraged to make use of locally-generated data to supplement or even replace the HUD-provided data. There are concerns about the data piece of the assessment tool. Some of the most relevant data are very limited, including data on the LIHTC program and housing for persons with disabilities. The data are based on estimates from the most recent five-year American Community Survey file, which could provide an outdated look at the demographics of a fast-growing jurisdiction. Furthermore, the final rule has been unclear about the types of local data that will be required. While the data provided by HUD are helpful, there is a lot more information needed to understand how to use the HUD-provided data and what locally-generated data will be required for the new fair housing assessment process.
Finally, the new rule allows local jurisdictions to prepare a joint or regional fair housing assessment, which could lead to greater cooperation and a better approach to meeting housing needs. However, the new rule offers no specific incentives to take a regional approach to the assessment. If individual jurisdictions in the Washington, D.C. region produce individual fair housing assessments under the new AFFH rule, the region misses out on an important opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation on housing issues.
More information will be coming out on the AFFH and fair housing assessment tool from HUD, as well as from Enterprise, NHC and other housing organizations. In the near term, however, local jurisdictions in the Washington, D.C. region can start discussing the new rule and sharing information now so that they will be prepared when it comes time to develop the new fair housing assessments:
Please join Dantes Partners to celebrate the Wallbreaking Ceremony for the renovation of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA on Friday November 6th from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at 901 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001. Light refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP to adaora@dantespartners.com.
Invite Your Members of Congress To Learn More About HOME!
The HOME Coalition will release its new report, “Building HOME: The HOME Investment Partnerships Program’s Impact on America’s Families and Communities,” at a Congressional Briefing for members of Congress and their staff.
All organizations are encouraged to (1) share this invitation with your members of Congress and (2) ask them to attend the HOME Coalition Congressional Briefing on October 28th from 2 – 3 p.m. in the Congressional Visitors Center Room SVC 203.
The first-of-its-kind report analyzes the program’s economic impact in all 50 states–including job creation and local economic activity–and features more than 100 HOME Success Stories from communities across the nation. The briefing will also include practitioners who will discuss how HOME is used to attract significant public and private resources to build and preserve affordable homes locally.
In addition, please share the National HOME Sign-On Letter with as many local organizations, government officials, and advocates as possible. The deadline to sign on is November 9th. Congress is beginning to negotiate a possible budget deal, so it is critical that HOME supporters make their voice heard. To see which organizations have already signed on, check out the current list of 1,500 signers.
For additional resources, check out the HOME Coalition website and information on the #SaveHOME campaign.
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Payments: Orders placed on the event registration page are not confirmed until payment is received. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address listed in your registration. If you paid by credit card, a receipt will be sent to the email address listed in your registration. If you mail a check, all payments must be received within seven days of completing your registration form. Checks should be remitted to: HAND, PO Box 48386, Washington, DC 20002
Guest List & Dietary Preference: If your registration includes a luncheon table or multiple guests, please submit guest names and menu choices by May 1, 2020. Submit guest names here.
Housing Expo: Plan to exhibit? Download the Housing Expo FAQs here.
Omni Shoreham Hotel Room Block: For attendees looking to secure overnight accommodations on May 25th, HAND has secured a rate starting at $189 for conference attendees. There are a limited amount of rooms available, so visit this link today to reserve your room. May 10th is the last day to secure a room at the discounted rate.
Ad Submission: The artwork for advertisements should be submitted to annualmeeting@handhousing.org. You can download the ad spec sheet here. Deadline for ad submission is April 13, 2020.
Cancellations & Changes: If you wish to cancel or change your registration for the Annual Meeting & Housing Expo, please send a request in writing to annualmeeting@handhousing.org. All cancellation requests made prior to April 27th will receive a 50% refund. For cancellation requests made after April 27th, no refund will be provided.
Door Prizes: Are you interested in donating a door prize to this year’s Annual Meeting? Email annualmeeting@handhousing.org to coordinate with our team.
Mailing Address:
HAND
1330 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Suite 124
Washington, DC 20036
info@handhousing.org
202.384.3764
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