[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 241 (Monday, December 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60029-60032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27125]



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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-6009-N-05]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records Section 811 Project Rental 
Assistance Evaluation--Phase II

AGENCY: Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of a Revision for an Existing System of Records.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, notice is hereby given 
that the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provides public 
notice regarding a revision of its System of Records for the Section 
811 Project Rental Assistance Evaluation--Phase II. This evaluation 
will assess the implementation and effectiveness of the Section 811 
Project Rental Assistance program for extremely low-income nonelderly 
adults with disabilities. Primary data collection will include 
interviews with grantees and program partners and stakeholders and 
surveys of Section 811 Project Rental Assistance and Project Rental 
Assistance Contract residents. Secondary (existing) datasets will 
include HUD administrative data, Medicare and Medicaid data from the 
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), state Medicaid data 
from six state Medicaid agencies, Project Rental Assistance and Project 
Rental Assistance Contract program documents, and neighborhood 
administrative data. The second category of user under the routine uses 
of records maintained in the SORN is revised to clarify that 
researchers will be under contract with HUD and the purpose of the 
routine use is producing a dataset to be used to support the 
``Evaluation of the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Program.'' A 
more detailed description of the system of records is contained in the 
purpose section of this notice.

DATES: Applicable January 17, 2018.
    Comments Due Date: January 17, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number HUD-
2017-[XXXX], by one of the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
    Facsimile: 202-619-8365.
    Email: [email protected].
    Mail: Attention: Privacy Office, Helen Goff Foster, The Executive 
Secretariat, 451 7th Street, SW, Room 10139, Washington, DC 20410-0001.

    Note:  All submissions received must include the agency name and 
docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.

    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Goff Foster, Senior Agency 
Official for Privacy, at 451 7th Street, SW, Room 10139; U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development; Washington, DC 20410-0001; 
telephone number 202-708-3054 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Individuals who are hearing- or speech-impaired may access this 
telephone number via TTY by calling the Federal Relay Service at 800-
877-8339 (this is a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The new System of Records will encompass 
data collected by PD&R to evaluate the Section 811 HUD Project Rental 
Assistance program. The Section 811 Project Rental Assistance program 
funds a new model of housing assistance that provides funding to state 
housing agencies to work in partnership with state human services and 
Medicaid agencies to create community-based supportive housing for 
extremely low-income nonelderly adults with disabilities, including 
those who are currently in or at risk for residing in institutions or 
who are currently (or at risk for becoming) homeless. This study is the 
second phase of a multiphase evaluation. Phase I documented the 
implementation experience of the first 12 state housing agencies that 
were awarded the first round of Project Rental Assistance grants. In 
Phase II, the evaluation is focused on 6 states selected from 28 state 
grantees from the first and second rounds of Section 811 Project Rental 
Assistance funding: California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, 
Minneapolis, and Washington. The Phase II evaluation will continue to 
follow the implementation of the program but will also assess the 
impact of the program on participants' quality of life and care, 
housing and neighborhood, and utilization and access to health services 
and supports, as well as assess the cost-effectiveness of this 
supportive housing model compared to other models of supportive housing 
for persons with disabilities.
    The new notice states the name and location of the record system, 
the authority for and manner of its operations, the categories of 
individuals that it covers, the type of records that it contains, the 
sources of the information for the records, the routine uses made of 
the records, and the types of exemptions in place for the records. The 
notice also includes the business address of the HUD officials who will 
inform interested persons of how they may gain access to and/or request 
amendments to records pertaining to themselves.
    Publication of this notice allows the Department to provide new 
information about its system of records notices in a clear and cohesive 
format. The new system of records will incorporate Federal privacy 
requirements and Department's policy requirements. The Privacy Act 
places on Federal agencies principal responsibility for compliance with 
its provisions, by requiring Federal agencies to safeguard an 
individual's records against an invasion of personal privacy; protect 
the records contained in an agency system of records from unauthorized 
disclosure; ensure that the records collected are relevant, necessary, 
current, and collected only for their intended use; and adequately 
safeguard the records to prevent misuse of such information. In 
addition, this notice demonstrates the Department's focus on industry 
best practices to protect the personal privacy of the individuals 
covered by this SORN.
    Pursuant to the Privacy Act and the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) guidelines, a report of the amended system of records was 
submitted to OMB, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform, as instructed by paragraph 4c of Appendix l to OMB 
Circular No. A-130, ``Federal Agencies Responsibilities for Maintaining 
Records About Individuals,'' November 28, 2000.
System Name and Number:
    Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Evaluation--Phase II

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    This information will not be classified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The records are maintained at the Abt Associates (contractor) 
offices at 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 and 4550 Montgomery 
Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814, and the U.S. Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20410-0001.

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SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Carol S. Star, Program Evaluation Division, Office of Policy 
Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street, SW; Washington, DC 20410; telephone number 
202-402-6139 (this is not a toll-free number).

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Sec. 501 and 502 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 
(Pub. L. 91-609), 12 U.S.C. 1701z-1, 1701z-2.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The purpose of the system is to allow the Department to collect, 
track, and study information gathered on Section 811 Project Rental 
Assistance program participants and to analyze the effectiveness of 
this rental assistance model compared to other supportive housing 
models for extremely low-income nonelderly adults with disabilities. 
This is the second of a multiphase evaluation. The evaluation is funded 
by the Program Evaluation Division in PD&R. The project will evaluate 
the implementation of the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance 
program, its impact on residents, and the cost-effectiveness of this 
new housing assistance model for persons with disabilities in six 
states: California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Minneapolis, and 
Washington.
    Phase II of the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance evaluation 
will rely on both primary and secondary sources of data to inform the 
overall evaluation. Primary data collection includes interviews with 
grantees and program's partners and stakeholders, and surveys of 
Section 811 Project Rental Assistance and Project Rental Assistance 
Contract residents. Secondary (existing) datasets will include HUD 
administrative data, Medicare and Medicaid data from CMS, state 
Medicaid data from six state Medicaid agencies, Project Rental 
Assistance and Project Rental Assistance Contract program documents, 
and neighborhood administrative data.
    Primary data collection with grantees, partnering agencies, and 
Project Rental Assistance and Project Rental Assistance Contract 
residents is necessary to describe the implementation of the Project 
Rental Assistance program, identify characteristics of successful 
program strategies, and assess the impact of the program on Project 
Rental Assistance residents compared to residents in the traditional 
Project Rental Assistance Contract program. The collection of secondary 
data is necessary to identify the outcomes of the Project Rental 
Assistance program and characteristics of Project Rental Assistance 
residents, Project Rental Assistance Contract residents, and 
individuals in the program and comparison groups, and to determine the 
effectiveness of this new model of housing assistance.
    This analysis will inform HUD leadership, policymakers, and HUD 
partners that implement supportive housing programs for nonelderly 
adults with disabilities. In addition, the records collected through 
this evaluation represent HUD's effort to assess and report to Congress 
on the implementation and effectiveness of this rental assistance 
approach. The data collected for Section 811 Project Rental Assistance 
Evaluation--Phase II will be used and stored solely for research 
purposes, and will not be used to identify individuals or make 
decisions that affect the rights, benefits, or privileges of specific 
individuals. The data in this system will include location data, which 
will be used to analyze the neighborhoods in which Section 811 Project 
Rental Assistance and Project Rental Assistance Contract residents 
live. The data in the system will also include information about 
health, housing, and quality of life measures, which will be used to 
analyze the extent to which people's lives are being improved by the 
Section 811 Project Rental Assistance program. The data in this system 
will be analyzed using statistical methods and only reported in the 
aggregate. Resulting reports will not disclose or identify any 
individuals or sensitive personal information. The Section 811 Project 
Rental Assistance Evaluation is in direct service of the mission of 
PD&R, which is to ``inform policy development and implementation to 
improve life in American communities through conducting, supporting, 
and sharing research, surveys, demonstrations, program evaluations, and 
best practices.''

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Data will be collected from households assisted by the Section 811 
Project Rental Assistance and Section 811 Project Rental Assistance 
Contract programs, other extremely low-income households including a 
person with a disability served by other HUD-assisted housing programs, 
a sample of individuals receiving Medicaid or similar state plan 
services, Section 811 housing agency grantees, and partnering agencies 
(state Medicaid agencies, property owners, service providers, and 
public housing agencies). All individuals live in the states of 
California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The data sets will contain the following categories of records:
     Responses to resident survey: Include participants' names, 
address, telephone numbers, names and contact information of proxies 
and/or legal guardians (if applicable), study identifier, information 
about their experience with the transition to HUD-assisted housing, 
subjective assessment of housing quality, subjective assessment of 
neighborhood quality, information about access to supportive services 
and unmet needs, information about help with supportive services, 
subjective assessment of quality of life and community inclusion.
     Administrative interviews: Include identifying 
information--such as full name; job title; and contact information, 
including addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers--of program 
staff and stakeholders (grantee, Medicaid agency, property owners, 
service providers, and public housing authorities), and qualitative 
responses about several aspects of the program design and 
implementation.
     HUD administrative data: Include data on individuals, 
households, and properties available through HUD administrative data. 
Collection will be brought into the dataset directly from HUD's Tenant 
Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS), Public and Indian 
Housing Information Center (PIC) Inventory Management System (IMS), and 
Integrated Real Estate Management System (iREMS). Tenant-level and 
household-level data include participants' full names, dates of birth, 
addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers; information 
pertaining to the participating family structure, household size, 
household income, race and demographics, disability status, unit 
characteristics; and information about participation in HUD programs. 
Property-level data include housing agency, property, unit 
characteristic, and financial information and contact information for 
property owners, including full names, addresses, phone numbers, and 
email addresses.
     Medicare and Medicaid data: Include data on individuals 
available through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and 
state Medicaid agencies (CMS). Collection will be brought into the 
dataset directly from CMS and state Medicaid agencies under a Data Use 
Agreement with HUD and its contractor Abt Associates. Include study 
identifier (that can be matched to

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individuals' full names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers), 
(such as diagnoses), healthcare utilization, and costs. medical record 
number, and information pertaining to the individuals' medical 
services, medical information.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    (1) Resident surveys collected directly from Section 811 Project 
Rental Assistance and Project Rental Assistance Contract residents who 
have agreed to participate in the survey; (2) Administrative interviews 
collected directly from state housing agency grantees; (3) 
Administrative interviews collected directly from partnering agencies 
who have agreed to participate in the study; Administrative data 
derived from HUD's tenant and property data systems; and Non-HUD 
administrative data, such as Medicare and historical Medicaid data; and 
state Medicaid data.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    1. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons to the extent 
that such disclosures are compatible with the purpose for which the 
records in this system were collected, as set forth by Appendix I1--
HUD's Library of Routine Uses, published in the Federal Register (July 
17, 2012, at 77 FR 41996).
    2. To researchers under contract with HUD for producing a dataset 
to be used in the Evaluation of the Section 811 Project Rental 
Assistance Program.
    3. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when: (a) HUD 
suspects or has confirmed that the security or (b) confidentiality of 
information in a system of records has been compromised; (b) HUD has 
determined that, because of the suspected or confirmed compromise, 
there is a risk of harm to economic or property interests, identity 
theft or fraud, or harm to the security or integrity of systems or 
programs (whether maintained by HUD or another agency or entity) that 
rely upon the compromised information; and (c) the disclosure made to 
such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to assist 
in connection with HUD's efforts to respond to the suspected or 
confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm for 
purposes of facilitating responses and remediation efforts in the event 
of a data breach.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Abt Associates provides all project staff with HIPAA Rules of the 
Road--Practical Information for Ensuring Compliance, IRB 101 Training, 
General Security Awareness Training, and Collaborative Institutional 
Training Initiative (CITI) Human Subjects Training. All study team 
members also undergo project-specific training on maintaining privacy 
and safe data storage and handling procedures. All study team members 
sign a nondisclosure agreement.
    All study team members will be made aware of the project-specific 
data regulations and best practices associated with handling data for 
the study. These practices are incorporated in the study protocol and 
will be detailed in training plans for interviewers, support staff, and 
data analytic staff. All staff who will have access to the data 
containing personally identifiable information (PII) or protected 
health information (PHI) will sign a confidentiality agreement pursuant 
to the requirements of all data use agreements, which will be attached 
to the data security plan. All staff will also receive an annual 
reminder of the terms of the agreement.
    Abt will guarantee this level of restricted access by only using 
secure transfer mechanisms, such as Huddle, Abt's FedRAMP Moderate 
accredited file transfer service for moving data in and out of the 
system, or another secure file transfer system (SFTP) of the 
transferring agency's choice. Abt will also only access the data 
through its restricted access folder on the Analytic Computing 
Environment, ACE 3, which meets NIST SP 800-53, Revision 4 FISMA 
Moderate Standards and utilizes FedRAMP Moderate accredited services 
from Amazon as infrastructure. Abt Associates will retain all data 
collected over the life of the study and any analysis files generated 
with those data for as long as required and only under conditions 
specified in the study protocol. At the end of the contract, Abt will 
destroy records that do not need to be retained. Abt will destroy the 
remainder of the files after the contract ends, as is required in the 
contract. The retention and disposal procedures are in keeping with 
HUD's records management policies as described in 44 U.S.C. 3101 and 44 
U.S.C. 3303 and with HUD's Records Disposition Schedule 67 PD&R, Item 6 
(https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=22256x67ADMH.pdf). Abt Associates will submit all de-
identified data over to HUD at the end of the contract, with the 
exception of the ResDAC and Medicaid data, which will not be included 
as per memorandum of understanding with these agencies.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    The study's approved data security plan describes the safeguarding 
of any hardcopy, recorded, and electronic information on human subjects 
that will be a part of the study. All study team members are aware of 
the project-specific data regulations and best practices associated 
with handling data for the study. These practices are incorporated in 
the study protocol and will be detailed in training plans for 
interviewers, support staff, and data analytic staff. All staff who 
will have access to the data containing PII or PHI information sign a 
confidentiality agreement, per the requirements of all data use 
agreements.
    Abt will guarantee this level of restricted access by only using 
secure transfer mechanisms, such as Huddle, Abt's FedRAMP Moderate 
accredited file transfer service for moving data in and out of the 
system, or another SFTP of the transferring agency's choice. Abt will 
also only access the data through its restricted access folder on the 
Analytic Computing Environment, ACE 3, which meets NIST SP 800-53 
Revision 4 FISMA Moderate Standards and utilizes FedRAMP Moderate 
accredited services from Amazon as infrastructure.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    For information, assistance, or inquiry about records, contact 
Helen Goff Foster, Senior Agency Official for Privacy, at 451 7th 
Street SW, Room 10139; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development; Washington, DC 20410-0001, telephone number 202-708-3054 
(this is not a toll-free number). When seeking records about yourself 
from this system of records or any other Housing and Urban Development 
(HUD) system of records, your request must conform with the Privacy Act 
regulations set forth in 24 CFR part 16. You must first verify your 
identity, meaning that you must provide your full name, address, and 
date and place of birth. You must sign your request, and your signature 
must either be notarized or submitted under 28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that 
permits statements to be made, under penalty of perjury, as a 
substitute for notarization. In addition, your request should:
    a. Explain why you believe HUD would have information on you.
    b. Identify which Office of HUD you believe has the records about 
you.
    c. Specify when you believe the records would have been created.
    d. Provide any other information that will help the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) staff determine which HUD office may have 
responsive records.

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    If your request is seeking records pertaining to another living 
individual, you must include a statement from that individual 
certifying their agreement for you to access their records. Without the 
above information, the HUD FOIA Office may not conduct an effective 
search, and your request may be denied due to lack of specificity or 
lack of compliance with regulations.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    The Department's rules for contesting contents of records and 
appealing initial denials appear in 24 CFR part 16, Procedures for 
Inquiries. Additional assistance may be obtained by contacting Helen 
Goff Foster, Senior Agency Official for Privacy, at 451 7th Street SW, 
Room 10139; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; 
Washington, DC 20410-0001, or the HUD Departmental Privacy Appeals 
Officers; Office of General Counsel; U.S. Department of Housing and 
Urban Development; 451 7th Street SW; Washington DC 20410-0001.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Individual wishing to determine to whether this system of records 
contains information about them may do so by contacting their lending 
institutions or contacting HUD's Privacy Officer or Freedom of 
Information Act Office at the addresses above.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:

    Dated: December 8, 2017.
Helen Goff Foster,
Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
[FR Doc. 2017-27125 Filed 12-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P