Public and Indian Housing Youth Apprenticeship Program; Notice of Demonstration; Notice DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

SUMMARY: This Notice announces the Department's intention to contribute

up to $1.5 million from the Youth Apprenticeship Program to the

Philadelphia Housing Authority to demonstrate ways of promoting,

through Youth Corps and a joint labor/management/community consortium,

the long-term welfare of youths living in public and assisted housing.

This demonstration will provide Youth Corps and joint labor/management/

community consortium initiatives designed to focus on job training and

ensured employment opportunities that lead to self-sufficiency. The

Department advised in a Notice of Funding Availability published on

August 18, 1994, that it would be publishing a notice of this

demonstration. This notice provides guidelines for the use of these

funds and invites comments on the proposed demonstration.

DATES: Comments due date: October 14, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding

this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room

10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the

above docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not

acceptable. A copy of each communication submitted will be available

for public inspection and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

weekdays at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paula Blunt, Office of Resident

Initiatives, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh

Street SW., Room 4112, Washington, DC 20410, Telephone Number (202)

708-4214 (This is not a toll free number). Hearing- or speech-impaired

persons may use the Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD) by

contacting the Federal Information Relay Service on (202) 708-9300 or

1-800-877-8339) for information on the program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

The information collection requirements contained in this notice

have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1990 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and assigned

OMB control number 2577-0199.

Authority

The Youth Apprenticeship Program is funded under the Departments of

Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent

Agencies Appropriations Act for 1994 (Pub.L. 103-124, approved October

28, 1993) (the 1994 Appropriations Act).

On August 18, 1994 (59 FR 42740), the Department published a Notice

of Funding Availability (NOFA) announcing the first competition for

grant funds under the program. In the August 18, 1994 NOFA, the

Department stated as follows:

The Department intends to use $1.5 million for purposes of

demonstrating ways of promoting, through Youth Corps and a joint

labor/management community consortium, the long-term welfare of

youths living in public and assisted housing. The funding will be

awarded to a HOPE VI grantee with a distressed public housing

community undergoing a concentrated effort of local revitalization

to train public and assisted housing residents to participate in the

rehabilitation of distressed and vacant public housing units with

guaranteed employment in construction jobs. The Department expects

that this funding will demonstrate the importance of job training,

followed by assured employment, in contributing to the local

neighborhood revitalization. FR-3649-N-01 (August 18, 1994, 59 FR

42741).

In accordance with the requirements of section 470(a) of the

Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 3542), this

notice describes the proposed demonstration and invites public comment.

Any changes made in this demonstration as a result of the Department's

consideration of public comments, and any extension of time for the

commitment of funds that may be necessary because of these changes,

also will be published in the Federal Register.

The Department will not commit funds for the proposed demonstration

until after the latest of: (1) the date the Department has considered

any comments received in response to this notice; (2) November 14,

1994, which is 60 days after today's publication date; and (3) the date

the Department has received and approved an application that meets the

requirements set forth in this notice and any subsequent notice

announcing changes in the demonstration.

Background of Demonstration

The City of Philadelphia is experiencing a serious housing crisis

with an estimated sixty thousand (60,000) families in need of housing

assistance. The city's biggest landlord--the Philadelphia Housing

Authority--currently has fifteen thousand (15,000) families on its

conventional public housing waiting list, and has closed its waiting

list to future applicants.

Further compounding this housing crisis is the dual designation of

the Philadelphia Housing Authority as a ``troubled housing authority''

and a ``troubled modernization authority,'' which suggests among other

things an inability to repair and modernize its units. In fact, the

housing authority has several thousand units that are vacant and in

need of major repair and rehabilitation. The scope of the needed

rehabilitation project is substantial; many of the vacant units are

abandoned shells, or otherwise unfit for human habitation. Repairing or

renovating these units can play an important role in abating the

housing crisis in Philadelphia, perhaps even enabling the Philadelphia

Housing Authority to re-open its waiting list to new applicants who

seek decent and affordable public housing.

Through a labor/management/community consortium involving the

Philadelphia Housing Authority, the Laborers' International Union of

North America (``LIUNA''), the Housing Association of Delaware Valley,

Youth Corps through the National Association of Service and

Conservation Corp (NASCC,) and experienced construction contractors, a

demonstration project will be developed involving the rehabilitation of

one thousand (1,000) distressed and vacant public housing units of the

Philadelphia Housing Authority. An important element of this

demonstration will be the recruitment, training, mentoring and job

placement of public and assisted housing residents in the

rehabilitation of these public housing units.

For purposes of this demonstration, the Department will make up to

$1.5 million available to the Philadelphia Housing Authority for use in

establishing a Youth Apprenticeship Program in Philadelphia. The

funding will be used in accordance with the statutory requirements of

the Youth Apprenticeship program for youth apprenticeship training

activities for joint labor-management organizations in HOPE VI

communities. This demonstration will bring together the skills needed

for the successful operation of a program that will restore distressed

units to the housing inventory in a cost-effective manner, while

providing skills training and work opportunities to public and assisted

housing residents.

Under this demonstration, LIUNA will have responsibility for

coordinating manpower needs for the project and providing skills

training; management expertise will be provided through experienced

construction contractors; community participation, and outreach and

training for public and assisted housing residents will be coordinated

by the Housing Association of Delaware Valley; life and work skills

development along with training and community service will be provided

through Youth Corps; and the housing authority will have major

responsibility in the area of community relations and recruitment of

public and assisted housing residents for the training programs

implemented as part of the demonstration.

This demonstration will be a new and innovative approach to solving

long-standing problems in the public housing system. The demonstration

combines the construction talents of LIUNA's existing membership with

the union's social commitment to recruiting, training and placing

women, minorities, public and assisted housing residents, and other

disadvantaged persons in construction jobs. By joining forces with

experienced construction management and established community leaders,

this initiative will serve as a model for accomplishing solid results

in housing rehabilitation (returning currently vacant, uninhabitable

public housing units to the inventory of usable housing in a timely,

efficient and cost effective manner) while also promoting the long-term

welfare of public and assisted housing residents.

Following initial basic skills training under this program, program

participants will be enrolled in an apprenticeship program for

construction laborers. LIUNA will provide the facilities of the

Philadelphia regional training center and its tools and equipment as an

in-kind contribution to this project. It will also supply journeymen

laborers to contractors who will be engaged to perform the

rehabilitation work. They also will work in close coordination with

other building trades organizations that are deemed necessary for the

rehabilitation project. LIUNA laborers and apprentices will perform

work traditionally performed by construction craft laborers, including

demolition, lead paint abatement and asbestos removal work. They also

will perform any other work that is deemed necessary for the successful

completion of the rehabilitation project.

The Department will allocate up to $1.5 million to the Philadelphia

Housing Authority to carry out this demonstration, pending receipt and

approval of an application that is consistent with program and

submission requirements as established in this notice and any

subsequent notice issued after the comment period has closed.

Applicable Requirements

In order to receive the funding proposed in this notice, the

Philadelphia Housing Authority will be required to meet the applicable

programmatic and application requirements set forth in the NOFA for the

Public Housing Youth Apprenticeship Program published on August 18,

1994 (59 FR 42740) and any subsequent notice that is published after

the comment period has closed.

When applicable, the certifications, findings, determinations, and

requirements listed by the Department under the ``Other Matters''

section of that NOFA also apply to this notice.

Dated: September 7, 1994.

Joseph Shuldiner,

Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.

[FR Doc. 94-22682 Filed 9-13-94; 8:45 am]

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