Finding 2023-003 – Low-Income Public Housing Tenant Files – Eligibility – Internal Control over Tenant Files – Noncompliance and Significant Deficiency
Corrective Action Plan:
The underlying causes of Finding 2023-03 include many, if not all, the causes underlying Finding 2023-01:
1. Pandemic effect...
Finding 2023-003 – Low-Income Public Housing Tenant Files – Eligibility – Internal Control over Tenant Files – Noncompliance and Significant Deficiency
Corrective Action Plan:
The underlying causes of Finding 2023-03 include many, if not all, the causes underlying Finding 2023-01:
1. Pandemic effects on staffing and resident habits.
2. Underinvestment in staff compensation.
3. Underinvestment in training.
4. Underinvestment in adequate staffing levels.
5. An organizational structure that diffuses accountability for compliance, including timeliness of annual recertifications.
In the Housing Management Department, all rent calculations are centralized and completed by one Central Office employee. A management system that does not hold property managers accountable for compliance and relies on one employee doing rent calculations for over 1,200 residents is likely to result in lack of compliance when other negative factors (1 to 5) come into play.
RHA’s action plan includes:
• Competitive compensation to attract and retain qualified staff.
• Increasing senior management staff so that portfolio managers will have manageable supervisory loads of no more than five property manager each.
• Reorganizing property staffing by upgrading office assistants to Housing Management Specialists, who will perform all recertication tasks, reviewed by their managers.
• All Housing Management Specialists will receive certification training on rent calculation as well as property manager certification for high-performing staff who will become eligible for promotion.
• Sites with complex social and other problems will have dedicated property managers, instead of splitting managers between sites.
• New state-of-the-art software will greatly improve efficiency in communications with residents, paperless processes, and allow managers and their staff to gauge their performance, including timeliness on an ongoing basis.
More qualified and talented property managers, supervised, mentored, and held accountable by portfolio managers, as well as supported by trained and higher qualified housing management specialists will work as a team to ensure compliance, including timely completion of recertications.
Person Responsible: Sonia Anderson Director of Housing Management, portfolio managers, and property managers.
Anticipated Completion Date: Implementation of all remedies will be completed by June 30, 2024.