It has been a busy and informational summer here at Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. We have been gathering details from other public housing agencies on their processes for Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversion and the Jobs Plus implementation. There are many similarities between the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso (HACEP) and CMHA therefore it was the perfect housing authority to gather information from regarding RAD. HACEP has a few hundred more public housing units than CMHA and all units are being converted to RAD. In fact, HACEP is the first housing authority in the country to convert its entire portfolio. HACEP will rehabilitate current properties and build new construction. The number of available units will increase by nearly 250. While in Texas we were fully educated on the processes they are using to transform the properties and community. HACEP staff informed us on how they're executing the conversion of units (4200 are completed to date), the roadblocks that were encountered and the benefits for the community and the agency. The RAD conversion has created 2,130 jobs and investments totaling $1.2 billion thus far in El Paso. HACEP is utilizing multiple partnerships and funding sources to complete the transformation and we are securing the same types of relationships for our RAD conversion.

 

The purpose of Jobs Plus is to develop locally-based, job driven approaches to increase earnings through work readiness, job placement and financial literacy among public housing residents. It involves three core components: 1) employment-related services, 2) financial incentives - earned income disregard and 3) community support for work. New York City has invested millions of dollars in the Jobs Plus program and it serves 27 developments for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). While meeting with representatives from NYCHA we learned how the program was implemented, how it's being sustained, the snares encountered as well as the successes. Some of the NYCHA objectives for participating residents include a) open an affordable bank account, b) decrease debt by 10% or more and c) compliance with child support. We are preparing now for the next HUD Jobs Plus grant submission period. I recently met with Mayor Cranley to discuss a collaboration between the City of Cincinnati and CMHA. The potential Jobs Plus sites are Findlater Gardens, Winton Terrace and Millvale. Information learned from the projects across the country are great lessons for CMHA; we are getting the best and fully preparing for Jobs Plus and RAD.  

 

Finally, I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for the accomplishments achieved over the past month. A huge THANK YOU to the Family Self-Sufficiency Department. The team worked very hard to make the Winton Terrace Resident Awareness Community BBQ a success. A record breaking number of residents were connected to resources at the June event. Also, thank you to the property owners who opened their doors to help house homeless Veterans during the 45 Day Challenge. The event was very successful with 56 Veterans securing housing. CMHA and the Cincinnati VA housed 9 homeless Veterans during that 45-day period. Property owners interested in learning more about HUD-VASH, the program for homeless Veterans, should visit the Landlords page of our website.