# Notice of Funding Availability for the Welfare-to-Work Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance Program Set-Aside Sites for Fiscal Year 1999

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A99-5575

## Record

- **Collection:** Federal Register
- **Document type:** Notice
- **Published:** March 8, 1999
- **Citation:** 64 FR 11286

## Text

SUMMARY: Purpose of Program. To provide Section 8 Welfare-to-Work
rental voucher program funding, as provided by the VA/HUD and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, (99 App. Act), for local
self-sufficiency/welfare-to-work initiatives in San Bernardino County,
California; Cleveland, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Charlotte, North
Carolina; Miami/Dade County, Florida; Prince Georges County, Maryland;
New York City, New York; and Anchorage, Alaska.
Available Funds. At least $4 million to each of the eight sites
identified above.
Eligible Applicants. Housing agencies (HAs) currently administering
Section 8 rental certificate and voucher programs in any of the eight
locations identified above in this NOFA and in the 99 App. Act.
Application Deadline. The application deadline for Section 8
Welfare-to-Work Rental Vouchers under this NOFA is May 7, 1999, at the
time described in section I. of this NOFA, below.
Match. None

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you are interested in applying for
funding under this NOFA, please review carefully the following
information:

I. Application Due Date, Application Kits and Technical Assistance

Application Due Date: May 7, 1999.
Address for Submitting Applications: The application and two copies
must be submitted to your local HUD Field office HUB (Attention: HUB,
Director of Public Housing) or local HUD Field Office Program Center
(Attention: Program Center Coordinator). Throughout this NOFA, the
Field Office HUBs and Program Centers will be referred to as the local
HUD Field offices. Applicants should not submit the original or any
copies of their applications to HUD Headquarters.
(1) Mailed Applications (Other than Overnight or Express Mail
Delivery). Your application will be considered timely filed if
postmarked before midnight, local time, on the application due date and
received by the appropriate local HUD Field Office on or within ten
(10) days of the application due date.
(2) Applications Sent by Overnight/Express Mail Delivery.
Applications sent by overnight delivery or express mail will be
considered timely filed if received by the appropriate local HUD Field
Office before or on the application due date, or upon submission of
documentary evidence that they were placed in transit with the
overnight delivery service by no later than the specified application
due date.
(3) Hand Carried Applications. Applications must be delivered to
the appropriate local HUD Field Office by 6:00 pm local time on the due
date. Hand carried applications will be accepted during normal business
hours before the application due date. On the application due date,
business hours will be extended to 6:00 pm.
For Application Kits, Further Information and Technical Assistance:
When preparing applications under this NOFA, applicants must follow the
instructions for completing and organizing their applications that are
found in the application kit that has been developed for the Section 8
Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher Program under the NOFA for the national
competition for Section 8 Welfare-to-Work rental vouchers which was
published in the Federal Register on January 28, 1999 (64 FR 4495). For
an application kit and any supplemental information, please call the
Public and Indian Housing Information and Resource Center at 1-800-955-
2232. An application kit will also be available on the Internet through
the HUD web site at http://www.hud.gov. When requesting an application
kit, please refer to the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher
Program, and provide your name, address (including zip code) and
telephone number (including area code).
For answers to your questions, you may also contact the Public and
Indian Housing Information and Resource Center at 1-800-955-2232, or
contact the Director of Public Housing, the Program Center Coordinator
in your local HUD Office. Hearing-or speech-impaired individuals may
call 1-800-877-8339 (the Federal Information Relay Service TTY). (Other
than the ``800'' number, these numbers are not toll-free.) Information
can also be accessed via the Internet through the HUD web site at
http://www.hud.gov.
The HUD web site will also provide a text link to HUD's Welfare-to-
Work home page, and the Welfare-to-Work related websites of the
Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Transportation, to
assist you in coordinating your proposed program with the efforts
sponsored by these Departments.
Prior to the application deadline, staff at the numbers given above
will be available to provide general guidance, but not guidance in
actually preparing the application.

II. Amount Allocated

Of the $283 million appropriated in Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 to fund
Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental Vouchers, at least $4 million each
shall be made available under this NOFA for local self-sufficiency/
welfare-to-work initiatives in San Bernardino County, California;
Cleveland, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Charlotte, North Carolina;
Miami/Dade County, Florida; Prince Georges County, Maryland; New York
City, New York; and Anchorage, Alaska as provided by the VA/HUD and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999.

III. Program Description; Eligible Applicants; Eligible Activities

(A) Program Description. The Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental
Voucher program provides tenant-based Section 8 rental assistance to
help eligible families make the transition from welfare to work.
Tenant-based Section 8 rental assistance is to be provided in
connection with programs where the HA has demonstrated that tenant-
based rental assistance is critical to the success of eligible families
to obtain or retain employment. No additional funding is provided under
this NOFA for welfare-to-work services for families. Funding is only
for Section 8 Welfare-to-Work rental voucher housing assistance and
regular Section 8 administrative fees for administration of such
housing assistance. If appropriate, HAs may project base a portion of
the funding following the applicable Section 8 Project-Based
Certificate (PBC) program regulations (24 CFR part 983). The Section 8
Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher program must take into account the
particular circumstances of the local community. The rental assistance
provided to families through the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental
Voucher program must be coordinated with other welfare reform and
welfare-to-work initiatives.
Under this NOFA, at least $4 million will be available to fund
Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental Vouchers in each of the eight set-
aside sites identified in section II. of this NOFA, above, and in the
99 App. Act. If more than one eligible HA that administers a tenant-
based Section 8 program at a set-

[[Page 11287]]

aside site applies, the number of rental vouchers each HA receives
under this NOFA will be based on the percentage of the tenant-based
Section 8 program each HA administers in the set-aside location.
If you are an HA at a set-aside site that would receive fewer
rental vouchers under this set-aside competition than would be
available to you under the national competition for the Section 8
Welfare-to-Work rental vouchers and you wish to apply for the maximum
number of vouchers you could receive under the formula for the national
competition, you must also apply under the January 28, 1999 NOFA for
the national competition. The number of rental vouchers that you
receive under this set-aside NOFA plus any vouchers funded through the
national competition for Section 8 Welfare-to-Work rental vouchers may
not exceed the maximum that would be available to you in the national
competition.
An HA seeking welfare-to-work rental vouchers under this NOFA may
use some of its current pool of other Section 8 voucher funding to
augment the welfare-to-work vouchers in order to enlarge the pool of
vouchers available to those families qualifying for its approved
welfare-to-work program.
(B) Eligible Applicants. HAs administering Section 8 rental
certificates or rental vouchers at any of the eight set-aside sites
identified in section II. of this NOFA, above, may apply. Each
applicant HA must develop a program in consultation with the State or
local entity administering the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) program and the entity, if any, administering the Welfare-to-
Work formula and/or competitive grants allocated by the United States
Department of Labor.
(C) Eligible Activities. You may only use funds available under
this NOFA to administer a Section 8 Welfare-to Work rental voucher
program in a set-aside site identified in section II of this NOFA,
above. In the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher Program, you
will perform all normal rental voucher program activities, but you may
only provide rental assistance to families that meet all normal Section
8 program requirements and also meet the specific requirements of the
Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher Program and of this NOFA. The specific
requirements of the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work program are stated in
section IV.(A) of this NOFA, below.

IV. Program Requirements

(A) Eligibility of Families. (1) Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental
Voucher eligible families. The term ``Section 8 Welfare-to-Work rental
voucher program eligible family'' means a family that, in addition to
meeting the eligibility requirements of the normal tenant-based Section
8 assistance program, also meets the following additional requirements:
(a) When initially selected for welfare-to-work rental voucher
assistance, families must be eligible to receive, be currently
receiving, or shall have received> within the preceding two years,
assistance or services funded under the TANF program;
(b) Tenant-based housing assistance must be determined to be
critical to the family's ability to successfully obtain or retain
employment; and
(c) The family shall not already be receiving tenant-based
assistance under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937
(1937 Act--42 U.S.C. 1473f).
(2) To be eligible for selection for the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work
Rental Voucher Program, families must be on the waiting list used by
the HA for its tenant-based Section 8 program.
(B) HA Responsibilities. If your application is funded: (1) You
must modify your selection system to require the selection of Section 8
Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher program eligible families for the
program;
(2) Families on your Section 8 waiting list must be selected in
accordance with the established selection policies in your HA's
administrative plan;
(3) If you have a closed Section 8 waiting list and do not have a
sufficient number of welfare-to-work eligible families on your waiting
list, you must reopen the waiting list to accept an application from
any Section 8 Welfare-to-Work eligible applicant family that is not
currently on your waiting list for your tenant-based Section 8 program;
(4) You must administer the rental assistance in accordance with
applicable voucher program regulations and requirements and your
Section 8 administrative plan;
(5) During the term of this welfare-to-work funding, if Section 8
rental assistance for a family under this program is terminated,
available welfare-to-work rental assistance must be provided to another
Section 8 Welfare-to-Work eligible family selected from your tenant-
based Section 8 program waiting list. The term of welfare-to-work
funding is the term of the welfare-to-work ACC funding increment.
(6) Welfare-to-Work Evaluation Participation. HUD is seeking 5 to 9
HAs to participate, on a voluntary basis, in the evaluation that HUD
intends to conduct on the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher
Program. HAs who volunteer to participate as a special evaluation site
for purposes of this evaluation, if they are selected for an award
under this NOFA, will be compensated for any additional administrative
burden from the $2.83 million evaluation provided in the 99 App. Act.
In order to participate as a special evaluation site, you and your
partners must:
(a) Be awarded at least 450 units under this NOFA.
(b) Fully cooperate with random assignment of your welfare-to-work
applicants to treatment and control groups. You will be required to
follow an established protocol for determining that some eligible
families receive and some eligible families do not receive welfare-to-
work vouchers on a random basis.
(c) Assist in data collection and retrieval for the evaluation
through administration of special forms and extraction of data from
management systems.
(d) Submit a budget with reasonable and necessary costs once HUD
specifies the required activities for the evaluation.
(C) TANF and Welfare-to-Work Support. Your application must include
certifications from the State or local entity administering assistance
under the TANF program and from the entity, if any, administering the
Welfare-to-Work formula and/or competitive grants allocated by the
United States Department of Labor that these entities support your
proposed Section 8 Welfare-to-Work program and will cooperate with you,
as the administrator of the housing assistance, to assure that the
rental assistance is coordinated with other welfare reform and welfare-
to-work initiatives. If any of these entities does not respond to your
request for this certification within a reasonable time period, its
concurrence shall be assumed but you will be required to submit a copy
of your request for this certification with your application. If any of
these entities objects to the application, their concerns must
accompany the application when it is submitted to HUD so that HUD can
take the concerns into account in its funding decision.
(D) Waiver requests. Your proposed Section 8 Welfare-to-Work
program must be workable without any waivers, and will be rated and
ranked without the waiver of any requirements. Statutory waivers will
not be granted. However, your application may include requests for
waivers of any regulatory, handbook or directive requirements along
with an explanation of how the

[[Page 11288]]

waivers would improve your program. If you are selected for an award,
HUD will consider whether or not to grant your waiver request. Among
other considerations, waivers will not be granted if they have an
adverse impact on fair housing and civil rights.
(E) Program Compliance and Designation of Subcontractor.
Immediately after the publication of this NOFA, the local HUD field
office will notify, in writing, those HAs that are not eligible to
apply without a subcontractor acceptable to HUD or a proposal for
management improvements acceptable to HUD, as explained in this
section.
(1) Program compliance. Your application must designate a
subcontractor acceptable to HUD to administer the new funding increment
on your behalf, in accordance with paragraph (2) of this section, if
you have:
(a) Material weaknesses or reportable conditions outstanding from
Inspector General audit findings, or HUD management review findings for
one or more of your Section 8 rental voucher, rental certificate or
moderate rehabilitation programs;
(b) Serious underutilization evidenced by fewer than 85 percent of
budgeted rental certificates or vouchers under lease; or
(c) Significant findings in program compliance reviews.
(2) Designation of Subcontractor. If you have any of the compliance
problems listed in paragraph (1) of this section, you must designate a
subcontractor acceptable to HUD to administer the new funding increment
under this NOFA on your behalf. In such instances, your application
must include:
(a) An agreement by the subcontractor to administer the new funding
increment; and
(b) A statement that outlines the steps you are taking to resolve
the compliance problems, which may be a proposal for management
improvements that you will implement to remedy the problems.
(F) Statutory Requirements. To be eligible for funding under this
NOFA, you, the applicant, must meet all applicable statutory and
regulatory requirements. If you need copies of regulations, they are
available at the HUD web site located at http://www.HUD.gov.
(G) Threshold Requirements--Compliance with Fair Housing and Civil
Rights Laws. All applicants must comply with all fair housing and civil
rights laws, statutes, regulations, and executive orders as enumerated
in 24 CFR 5.105(a). If an applicant: (a) has been charged with a
systemic violation of the Fair Housing Act by the Secretary alleging
ongoing discrimination; (b) is the defendant in a Fair Housing Act
lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice alleging an ongoing pattern
or practice of discrimination; or (c) has received a letter of
noncompliance findings under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or section 109 of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, the applicant's
application will not be evaluated under this NOFA if, prior to the
application deadline, the charge, lawsuit, or letter of findings has
not been resolved to the satisfaction of the Department. HUD's decision
regarding whether a charge, lawsuit, or a letter of findings has been
satisfactorily resolved will be based upon whether appropriate actions
have been taken necessary to address allegations of ongoing
discrimination in the policies or practices involved in the charge,
lawsuit, or letter of findings.
(H) Additional Nondiscrimination Requirements. You, the applicant,
must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title IX of
the Education Amendments Act of 1972.
(I) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. If you are a successful
applicant, you will have a duty to affirmatively further fair housing.
You, the applicant, should include in your application or work plan the
specific steps that you will take to:
(1) Address the elimination of impediments to fair housing that
were identified in the jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments (AI) to
Fair Housing Choice;
(2) Remedy discrimination in housing; or
(3) Promote fair housing rights and fair housing choice.
Further, you, the applicant, have a duty to carry out the specific
activities provided in your responses to the NOFA rating factors that
address affirmatively furthering fair housing.
(J) Forms, Certifications and Assurances. You, the applicant, are
required to submit signed copies of the Funding Application, form HUD-
52515, which includes all the necessary certifications for Fair
Housing, Drug-Free Workplace and Lobbying Activities and the
certification required by 24 CFR 24.510. (The provisions of 24 CFR part
24 apply to the employment, engagement of services, awarding of
contracts, subgrants, or funding of any recipients, or contractors or
subcontractors, during any period of debarment, suspension, or
placement in ineligibility status, and a certification is required.)
(K) Environmental Requirements. In accordance with 24 CFR
50.19(b)(11) of the HUD regulations, tenant-based activities assisted
under this program are categorically excluded from the requirements of
the National Environmental Policy Act and are not subject to
environmental review under the related laws and authorities. In
accordance with 24 CFR 983.11(b), you must have a responsible entity
complete an environmental review and obtain a HUD release of funds
before entering into any agreement to provide project-based assistance.
(L) Notice of Repeal of Local Government Comment Requirements.
Local government comments that HUD was previously required to obtain
from the unit of general local government on HA applications for
Section 8 rental assistance under Section 213(c) of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974 are no longer required. Section 551
of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (Pub.L. 105-
276, 112 Stat. 2461, approved October 21, 1998) (QHWRA) repealed the
provisions of Section 213(c) of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1974. Although section 503 of QHWRA establishes an effective
date of October 1, 1999, for its provisions unless otherwise
specifically provided, section 503 also permits any QHWRA provision or
amendment to be implemented by notice, unless otherwise specifically
provided. Accordingly, HUD's Notice of Initial Guidance on the QHWRA,
published on February 18, 1999 (64 FR 8192), provided the notice of
immediate implementation of section 551 of QHWRA, as permitted by
section 503 of QHWRA.

V. Application Selection Process

(A) Overview of Process. Local HUD field offices will initially
review applications to ensure that they are complete. When applications
are complete, they will be forwarded to the Grants Management Center
where they will be reviewed based on the criteria listed below in
section V.(C). Although HUD expects to fund applications from all
eligible HAs currently administering Section 8 rental certificate and
rental voucher programs in any of the eight set-aside locations, an HA
will not receive funding until its application receives a rating of at
least 55 points. Scoring of applications using the five factors in
section V.(C) of this NOFA will give HUD a method of ensuring that the
HA has developed a workable plan for administering its Section 8
Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher program.

[[Page 11289]]

(B) Threshold Requirements. (1) The application is complete and
contains all required certifications, including those described in
section IV.(J), above, of this NOFA.
(2) You meet the requirements of section IV.(G) of this NOFA,
Compliance With Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws.
(3) The application designates a subcontractor in accordance with
section IV.(E), above, of this NOFA, if necessary under that section.
(C) Rating Factors. (1) Factor 1: Need for Welfare-to-Work Voucher
Program (20 points)
(a) Description: This factor examines the extent to which you
identify the community need that your proposed activities will target
and the urgency of meeting this need. You must provide evidence of the
housing need of the eligible population that will be served by this
program and demonstrate that tenant-based assistance is essential to
assist these families obtain/retain employment. If the HA plans to
project-base any of the Welfare-to-Work rental voucher funding, the HA
must explain how this would benefit the HA's Welfare-to-Work rental
voucher program. Applicants with jurisdiction outside of metropolitan
areas must address the needs of rural areas.
(b) Submission Requirements for Factor 1: You must submit a
narrative that documents that tenant-based rental assistance for which
you are applying is necessary to assist Welfare-to-Work eligible
families to obtain/retain employment. If you plan to project-base a
portion of the Welfare-to-Work rental voucher funding, the need to
develop project-based units must be explained and how this would best
meet the needs of welfare-to-work eligible families, and you must
provide an estimate of the time to occupancy.
(2) Factor 2: Soundness of Approach (20 Points).
(a) Description: This factor examines the quality of your Welfare-
to-Work voucher program. You must describe in narrative form the
proposed program developed in coordination with the TANF program and
other welfare-to-work programs and how the proposed program design
encourages and aids Welfare-to-Work eligible families to move from
welfare to work. In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the
extent to which your application demonstrates that tenant-based
assistance is critical to the success of assisting eligible families to
obtain or retain employment. HUD will also consider the extent to which
your application lays out an effective plan, with a fully developed
strategy of outreach to eligible families to ensure that all Welfare-
to-Work vouchers are under lease within a year of award, including how
your analysis of need in Factor 1 affects your outreach to families and
targeting of assistance. You should describe any innovative approaches
that will be included in your proposed program. You must address your
strategy for tenant counseling, housing search, and landlord outreach,
and specify the criteria for selecting among eligible families.
HUD will also consider the extent to which, and how well, your plan
of proposed activities is described in detail in your application;
addresses the goals and purposes of the Welfare-to-Work voucher
program; addresses the need for a Welfare-to-Work program that was
identified under Factor 1, above; will be carried out in a timely
manner, conducted in a manner that will reach and benefit members of
the target group, and will make use of services and materials that are
accessible to all persons, including persons with disabilities; and
will yield long-term results and innovative strategies or ``best
practices'' that can be readily disseminated to other organizations and
State and local governments.
(b) Submission Requirements for Factor 2:
(i) A detailed narrative describing your proposed Welfare-to-Work
voucher program developed in coordination with the TANF program and
other welfare-to-work programs; the specific tasks and subtasks to be
performed, including innovative approaches and plans for tenant
counseling, housing search and landlord outreach.
(ii) A discussion of how your application demonstrates that tenant-
based assistance is critical to the success of assisting eligible
families to obtain or retain employment.
(iii) A discussion of how your proposed activities address the
goals and purposes of the Welfare-to-Work voucher program including how
the program design encourages and aids the move to self-sufficiency,
and the criteria for selecting among eligible families.
(iv) A discussion of how your application lays out a fully
developed and effective plan with outreach to eligible families to
ensure that all Welfare-to-Work vouchers are under lease within a year
of award. Your discussion must specify how your analysis of need in
Factor 1 affects your outreach to families and targeting of assistance,
including families in rural areas if your jurisdiction includes rural
areas, unless you provide justification for not addressing rural areas.
(v) A description of the immediate benefits of your proposed
activities and how the benefits will be measured. You must describe the
methods you will use to determine the effectiveness of Welfare-to-Work
program activities.
(vi) A Section 8 Leasing Schedule.
(vii) A discussion of how the activities will reach and benefit
members of the target group and will make use of services and materials
that are accessible to all persons, including persons with
disabilities;
(viii) A description of how the proposed activities will yield
long-term results and innovative strategies or ``best practices'' that
can be readily disseminated to other organizations, communities, and
State and local governments.
(3) Factor 3: Capacity of Applicant and Relevant Organizational
Experience (20 Points)
(a) Description: This factor examines the extent to which your
organization (including individuals or organizations, such as
subcontractors or consultants, if any, that will be your partners in
carrying out the proposed activities) have the organizational resources
necessary to carry out your proposed activities in a timely manner. In
evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which you
demonstrate recent and relevant experience in, and knowledge about,
carrying out the same or similar activities as those proposed. The
overall quality of your staff, administrative ability, and fiscal
management ability will be evaluated by HUD. HUD may also rely on
information from performance reports, financial status information,
monitoring reports, audit reports and other information available to
HUD in making its determination under this factor.
Your overall administrative ability is evidenced by factors such as
leasing rates, MTCS reporting, correct administration of housing
quality standards, compliance with fair housing and equal opportunity
program requirements, assistance computation and rent reasonableness
and, if you have a mandatory Family Self-Sufficiency Program,
implementation of an FSS program of at least the minimum program size
or a smaller program size approved by HUD. Your relevant organization
experience would be evidence of a successful implementation of an FSS
program, Family Unification program, or other program that involved
coordination with other agencies and/or coordination of services for
families.
(b) Submission Requirements for Factor 3:

[[Page 11290]]

(i) Narrative description of past performance in carrying out
activities that are the same as, or similar to, the activities proposed
for funding, and demonstrate reasonable success in carrying out those
activities. You may demonstrate such reasonable success by showing that
your previous activities have been carried out as proposed and in a
timely manner. You must show that benchmarks in operation were met and
performance reports were prepared as required. You must also describe
any delays that were encountered, and the actions you took to overcome
such delays.
(ii) You must submit the proposed number of staff years necessary
to carry out the proposed activities, identifying the employees and
partners, such as co-applicants, subgrantees, contractors, consultants,
and volunteers, to be allocated to the project; the titles and relevant
professional background and experience of each employee and partner
proposed to be assigned to the project; and the roles to be performed
by each identified employee and partner. If you do not presently have
the employees and partners necessary to carry out all of the proposed
activities, you must identify the gaps in your current staffing and
describe in detail your proposed method for securing the necessary
employees and partners to carry out the project in a timely manner.
(iii) You must provide a comprehensive description of the project's
management structure. You must also describe how staff and partners
relate to the project's administrator or manager, including the lines
of authority and accountability for all the proposed activities.
(iv) You must demonstrate ability in handling financial resources
with adequate financial control procedures and accounting procedures by
providing a comprehensive description of the fiscal management
structure for the proposed project, including budgeting, fiscal
controls and accounting. HUD will also consider findings identified in
your most recent audits; internal consistency in the application of
numeric quantities; accuracy of mathematical calculations; and other
available information on financial management ability.
(4) Factor 4: Leveraging Resources. (20 Points)
(a) Description: This factor addresses the commitment of public and
private resources that will support your Welfare-to-Work voucher
program. HUD will consider the extent to which you can document firm,
written commitments of resources from the local TANF agency, and, if
applicable, from the entity administering the Department of Labor
Welfare-to-Work formula and/or competitive grant; other Federal, State
and local sources; and from other entities, such as private industry,
and for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to provide services and
assistance in the form of cash funding, in-kind contributions, services
or personnel. Such commitments may include, but are not limited to:
child care, transportation necessary to receive services or maintain
employment, remedial education, education for completion of secondary
or post-secondary schooling, job training, preparation and counseling;
substance abuse treatment and counseling; training in homemaking and
parenting skills; training in money management; counseling in
homeownership responsibilities and opportunities available for rental
and homeownership in the private housing market; and job development
and placement.
(b) Submission Requirements for Factor 4:
(i) Describe all firm commitments to the Welfare-to-Work voucher
program including cash funding, in-kind contributions, services or
personnel from other Federal, State, local and private sources.
(ii) Provide evidence of leveraging/partnerships by including in
the application, letters of firm commitments, memoranda of
understanding, or agreements to participate from those entities
identified as partners. To be firmly committed, there must be a written
agreement to provide the resources. The written agreement may be
contingent upon an application receiving funding under this NOFA. Each
letter of commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement to
participate should include the partner organization's or individual's
name, proposed level of commitment and responsibilities as they relate
to the proposed activities. The commitment must also be signed by an
official legally able to make commitments on behalf of the
organization.
(5) Factor 5: Comprehensiveness and Coordination (20 Points)
(a) Description: This factor addresses the extent to which your
proposal reflects a coordinated, comprehensive process of identifying
needs and building a system to address needs on an ongoing basis by
using available HUD funding and other resources. You must describe the
extent to which assistance under your proposed Welfare-to-Work program
will be coordinated with welfare reform and with other welfare-to-work
initiatives, including the U.S. Department of Transportation's Job
Access program. The application must include certifications from the
TANF agency and the entity, if any, administering the Welfare-to-Work
formula and/or competitive grants of the Department of Labor agency of
their cooperation and support of the proposed program or evidence of
your request for the certification of those agencies and of their
failure to respond within a reasonable time, or, if either agency
objects to your proposed Welfare-to-Work program, the objections must
be included in your application.
In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider:
(i) The extent to which you demonstrate the support and
participation of the TANF agency and the entity, if any, administering
the Department of Labor Welfare-to-Work formula and/or competitive
grant and the commitment of other public and private organizations in
the community.
(ii) The specific steps you will take to share with others
information on solutions and outcomes resulting from the Welfare-to-
Work voucher program, if funded.
(iii) The specific steps you have taken or will take to become
active in the community's Consolidated Plan process; Analysis of
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice process; Continuum of Care Homeless
Assistance planning process, if homeless persons are to be served by
the proposed activities; and to address, through these processes, the
needs that are the focus of the Welfare-to-Work voucher program.
(iv) The specific steps you have taken or will take to coordinate,
through meetings, information networks, planning processes, or other
mechanisms, your activities with other welfare-to-work activities in
the community, including the appropriate local transportation entity
(i.e., transit properties, metropolitan planning organizations, State
departments of transportation).
(b) Submission Requirements for Factor 5:
(i) Describe what role families, community leaders and
organizations and government and private entities in communities you
serve have had in planning the activities described in your application
and what role they will have in carrying out such activities.
(ii) Describe how you will share with others information on
solutions and outcomes resulting from the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work
voucher program, if funded.
(iii) Describe specific steps you have taken or will take to become
active in

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the community's Consolidated Plan process; or the process for the
Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice; or the community's
Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance planning process, if homeless
persons are to be served by the proposed welfare-to-work activities;
and to address, through these processes, the needs that are the focus
of your proposed activities.
(iv) Describe the specific steps you have taken or will take to
coordinate, through meetings, information networks, planning processes,
or other mechanisms, your activities with other proposed or on-going
activities in the community funded by HUD or other Federal, State,
local or private sources, including the appropriate local
transportation entity (i.e., transit properties, metropolitan planning
organizations, State departments of transportation.

VI. Application Submission Requirements

(A) Form HUD-52515. Funding Application, form HUD-52515, must be
completed and submitted for the Section 8 Welfare-to-Work voucher
program. This form includes all the necessary certifications for Fair
Housing, Drug-Free Workplace and Lobbying Activities. An application
must include the information in Section C, Average Monthly Adjusted
Income of form HUD-52515 in order for HUD to calculate the amount of
Section 8 budget authority necessary to fund the requested number of
voucher units. You may obtain a copy of form HUD-52515 from the local
HUD Field Office or may download it from the HUD Home page on the
internet's world wide web (http://www.HUD.gov).
(B) Response to Threshold Requirements. Your application must
respond to the threshold requirements that apply to you in paragraphs
V.(B)(1) through (3), above, in this NOFA.
(C) Narrative response to Factors for Award. Your application
package must include the narrative description and any letters,
certifications or other materials required for the each of the ranking
and rating factors from Section V.(C) of this NOFA.
(D) Waiver Requests. Your application may include requests for
waivers of any administrative requirements in HUD regulations or
directives (handbooks and notices). Statutory waivers will not be
granted. Waiver requests must include an explanation of how the waivers
would improve your program. Your proposed program must be workable
without any waivers, and waiver requests will not be considered in
rating and ranking your application. Your waiver requests will only be
considered if you receive an award under this NOFA.
(E) Program Evaluation Participation. If you would like to
participate in HUD's Welfare-to-Work program evaluation, your
application should also include a statement that you are willing to
participate as a special evaluation site in accordance with the
conditions described in section IV.(B)(6) of this NOFA, above.

VII. Corrections to Deficient Applications

After the application due date, HUD may contact you to clarify an
item in your application or to correct deficiencies.

VIII. Findings and Certifications

(A) Paperwork Reduction Act Statement. The information collection
requirements related to this program have been approved by the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and have been assigned OMB
approval number 2577-0169. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless the collection displays a valid control number.
(B) Environmental Impact. Except to the extent that recipients may
project base assistance provided under this NOFA, this NOFA does not
direct, provide for assistance or loan and mortgage insurance for, or
otherwise govern or regulate, real property acquisition, disposition,
leasing (other than tenant-based rental assistance), rehabilitation,
alteration, demolition, or new construction, or establish, revise or
provide for standards for construction or construction materials,
manufactured housing, or occupancy. To the extent that recipients
project base assistance provided under this NOFA, that assistance is
subject to 24 CFR part 983, including the environmental review
provisions set out at 24 CFR 983.11. Accordingly, under 24 CFR
50.19(c)(1) and (5), this NOFA is categorically excluded from
environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (42
U.S.C. 4321).
(C) Federalism, Executive Order 12612. The General Counsel, as the
Designated Official under section 6(a) of Executive Order 12612,
Federalism, has determined that the policies contained in this NOFA
will not have substantial direct effects on States or their political
subdivisions, or on the relationship between the Federal Government and
the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among
the various levels of government. Specifically, the NOFA solicits
applicants to help eligible families make the transition from welfare
to work, and does not impinge upon the relationships between the
Federal government and State and local governments. As a result, the
NOFA is not subject to review under the Order.
(D) Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities. You, the applicant,
are subject to the provisions of section 319 of the Department of
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 1991,
31 U.S.C. 1352 (the Byrd Amendment), which prohibits recipients of
Federal contracts, grants, or loans from using appropriated funds for
lobbying the executive or legislative branches of the Federal
Government in connection with a specific contract, grant, or loan. You
are required to certify, using the certification found at Appendix A to
24 CFR part 87, that they will not, and have not, used appropriated
funds for any prohibited lobbying activities. In addition, you must
disclose, using Standard Form LLL, ``Disclosure of Lobbying
Activities,'' any funds, other than Federally appropriated funds, that
will be or have been used to influence Federal employees, members of
Congress, and congressional staff regarding specific grants or
contracts.
(E) Section 102 of the HUD Reform Act; Documentation Requirements.
Publication of Recipients of HUD Funding. HUD's regulations at 24
CFR 4.7 provide that HUD will publish a notice in the Federal Register
on at least a quarterly basis to notify the public of all decisions
made by the Department to provide:
(1) Assistance subject to section 102(a) of the HUD Reform Act; or
(2) Assistance that is provided through grants or cooperative
agreements on a discretionary (non-formula, non-demand) basis, but that
is not provided on the basis of a competition.
(F) Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers. The Federal
Domestic Assistance numbers for this program are 14.855 and 14.857.

IX. Authority

The VA/HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999
appropriated $283 million for the Welfare-to-Work Tenant-Based
Assistance Program.

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Dated: March 3, 1999.
Harold Lucas,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 99-5575 Filed 3-5-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-33-P

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A99-5575. Public record. Not legal advice.