[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 140 (Monday, July 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59144-59147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16039]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-6191-N-06]


Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers: Additional Implementation 
Guidance of the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration for 
Awarded PHAs

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing 
(PIH), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On July 15, 2020, HUD published a notice (Implementation 
Notice) implementing the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) mobility 
demonstration (demonstration) authorized by the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2019. The demonstration was later renamed the 
Community Choice Demonstration (CCD). Through the Implementation 
Notice, HUD made available up to $50,000,000 to participating Public 
Housing Agencies (PHAs) to implement housing mobility programs. On 
April 30, 2021, HUD announced its selection of PHAs that would 
participate in the demonstration. Those PHAs received $45.7 million in 
total funding under that award. On April 4, 2022, HUD issued ``Section 
8 Housing Choice Vouchers: Implementation of the Housing Choice Voucher 
Mobility Demonstration for Awarded PHAs, Supplementary Notice for 
Demonstration Participants'' (Supplementary Notice) which supplemented 
the Implementation Notice and described additional policies and 
flexibilities for PHAs selected to participate in the demonstration. 
Building on the implementation experience since the Supplementary 
Notice, HUD has identified further policies and flexibilities necessary 
to ensure effective PHA participation in the demonstration. 
Additionally, this notice provides requirements related to recapture 
and reallocation of funds.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Jones, Director, Housing Voucher 
Management and Operations Division, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 4214, Washington, DC 20410, 
telephone number (202) 402-2677. (This is not a toll-free number). HUD 
welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf 
or hard of hearing, as well as individuals with speech or communication 
disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible telephone 
call, please visit https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.HUD encourages submission of 
questions about the demonstration to be sent to: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On July 15, 2020, HUD published the Implementation Notice for the 
demonstration authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019. 
(85 FR 42890) Through that Implementation Notice, HUD made available up 
to $50,000,000 to participating PHAs throughout the country to 
implement housing mobility programs by offering housing mobility-
related services to increase the number of voucher families with 
children living in opportunity areas. On April 30, 2021, HUD announced 
that nine lead PHAs would participate in the demonstration and those 
PHAs were awarded new housing choice vouchers, referred to as Mobility 
Demonstration Vouchers (MDVs) and housing mobility-related services 
funding. HUD also announced that an additional four PHAs that applied 
in partnership with a lead PHA were awarded new housing choice 
vouchers. Those PHAs were to receive $45.73 million in total funding 
under

[[Page 59145]]

that award. Through the demonstration, the awarded PHAs will provide 
approximately 9,000 families with children with better access to low-
poverty neighborhoods, high-performing schools, and other strong 
community resources.
    The Implementation Notice described broad parameters for selected 
PHAs, including the set of housing mobility-related services that they 
would likely be required to provide to families participating in the 
program, the likely research design, and an estimated cost of services 
per family offered participation in the program. The Implementation 
Notice also described a required evaluation that would be conducted at 
the selected PHAs and explained that some aspects of the program and 
research design would be determined jointly by HUD (including its 
evaluation contractor and technical assistance provider) in 
collaboration with the selected PHAs.
    On April 4, 2022, HUD supplemented the Implementation Notice with a 
Supplementary Notice describing policies and flexibilities for PHAs 
selected to participate in the demonstration. (87 FR 19522) After 
publication of the Supplementary Notice, one PHA demonstration site 
(both the lead PHA and its partner PHA), and one partnering PHA, 
withdrew their participation from the demonstration. As a result of 
those withdrawals, combined with funding not initially awarded, HUD now 
has $1,814,262 in MDV assistance and $7,346,290 in funding for housing 
mobility-related services to be awarded to PHAs previously 
competitively selected under the Implementation Notice. Additionally, 
as the demonstration implementation has advanced, HUD and the PHAs have 
clarified additional policies necessary to promote the goals of the 
demonstration and have identified policies necessary to execute the 
evaluation. Finally, HUD has determined it necessary to adjust the 
anticipated timelines for implementation of the selected mobility-
related services (SMRS) treatment arm. This notice describes HUD's 
determination to delay the SMRS implementation timeline, additional 
policies necessary to implement the demonstration, and a funding award 
process.

II. Changes to SMRS Implementation Timeline

    The Implementation Notice estimated that HUD would implement a 
second treatment arm that would receive a subset of the services 
offered under comprehensive mobility-related services (CMRS) in years 
three through six of the demonstration. HUD has since determined that 
it will delay the implementation of the SMRS in order to perform 
additional analysis of the preliminary data being used to develop the 
SMRS interventions. HUD will publish an additional Federal Register 
document describing any revisions to the timelines and research design 
for the introduction of the SMRS.

III. Regional PBV Plan

    The Implementation Notice described that PHAs that received funding 
for the development of a Regional Project-based Voucher Plan (RPBVP) 
would develop the plan throughout the first three years of the 
demonstration. The plan would then be submitted to HUD at the beginning 
of the fourth year of the demonstration, which is May 1, 2025. Given 
the demands of the initial planning period for the demonstration and 
implementation, HUD recognizes that PHAs may not have had adequate time 
to develop their RPBVP. Therefore, HUD is extending the deadline of the 
RPBVP to the start of the seventh year of the demonstration, which is 
May 1, 2027.
    In addition, the RPBVP was an optional component of the 
Implementation Notice and is not being studied as part of the 
evaluation. HUD recognizes that PHAs may wish to reconsider their 
participation in this optional component. Therefore, HUD is allowing 
those PHAs awarded funding for this component to withdraw from their 
obligations to develop a RPBVP. PHAs wishing to withdraw from the RPBVP 
component must submit a written letter to HUD requesting withdrawal. 
Written requests can be submitted via email to 
[email protected]. HUD will only allow withdrawal from 
the RPBVP component for PHAs that have not already incurred substantial 
expenses (i.e., more than 60 percent of awarded RPBVP funds) under the 
RPBVP for which they are requesting reimbursement by HUD. PHAs must 
submit their withdrawal request prior to the May 1, 2027 deadline for 
plan submission. All awarded and unexpended funds from any site that 
withdraws from the RPBVP component will be reallocated in accordance 
with Section VIII of this notice.
    At this point in the demonstration, HUD also recognizes that sites 
that initially did not apply for RPBVP funding may have identified a 
new need to develop a RPBVP. Therefore, HUD is also allowing PHAs that 
were not initially awarded RPBVP funds to request funding for this 
component. Lead PHAs wishing to request RPBVP funds for a demonstration 
site must submit a written letter to HUD requesting funding. In the 
request, the PHA must demonstrate that it will be able to expend the 
requested funds and submit a final RPBVP by the May 1, 2027, deadline. 
Written requests can be submitted via email to 
[email protected].

IV. Extension of the Demonstration Participant Enrollment Period

    As described in the Implementation Notice, PHAs would enroll 
families through year six of the demonstration, which would conclude on 
April 30, 2027. However, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 
authorized the demonstration through October 1, 2028. In order to 
provide PHAs more time to enroll families and meet their commitments, 
HUD is extending the participation period for PHAs through the 
statutorily authorized date of October 1, 2028. This participation 
period extension is optional, and PHAs must inform HUD in writing if 
they want to extend their participation period. PHAs may elect to 
enroll families through April 30, 2028, or may extend for a lesser 
period of time by enrolling families through December 31, 2027.

V. Mobility Demonstration Vouchers

    Families with children receiving voucher assistance through an MDV 
that agree to participate in the demonstration are randomly assigned to 
a treatment group that receives housing mobility-related services or a 
control group that receives HCV program services already offered by the 
PHA to all HCV applicants and participants. Although most participants 
in the demonstration are existing voucher holders, each PHA has 
received an allocation of MDVs. Families that receive an MDV are 
required by statute to participate in the demonstration. A family is 
considered to be participating in the demonstration if they initially 
enrolled in the study and were randomly assigned to either the 
treatment or control group. A family that was participating in the 
demonstration and subsequently withdraws from the study, or no longer 
has children in the household, may continue to use their MDV. PHAs are 
encouraged, however, to provide a regular turnover voucher to such 
families in order to provide the MDV to a family with children actively 
enrolled in the study.
    As provided in the Implementation Notice, after October 1, 2028, 
MDVs will no longer be restricted to the purposes of the demonstration. 
The MDVs will

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then become part of a PHA's regular HCV program and continue to be 
available to the PHA upon turnover. However, due to the statutory 
language authorizing them, these vouchers will continue to be 
restricted to families with children (age 17 or younger).

VI. Eligible Uses of Funds

    Throughout the implementation of the demonstration, PHAs and HUD 
have identified additional uses of housing mobility-related services 
funding that will increase effective program implementation, especially 
the SMRS. These uses of housing mobility-related services funds were 
not directly addressed by the Implementation Notice or the 
Supplementary Notice. For the purposes of transparency and clarity, HUD 
has included a discussion of these uses of funds in this notice.
    PHAs participating in the demonstration must recruit and enroll 
families into the study. In the Supplementary Notice, HUD provided that 
each PHA site (i.e., an individual PHA or the lead PHA and its partner) 
may use up to $40,000 each year for staff time and expenses related to 
recruitment and enrollment. After working closely with PHAs to 
understand their current time commitment for these activities, HUD is 
increasing the eligible amount up to $80,000 each year.
    Under the Implementation Notice, HUD provided that PHAs may use up 
to $250,000 of their funding award for start-up costs. Many 
participating PHAs used their funds for start-up costs related to the 
CMRS. Based on the level of effort required for CMRS planning, HUD 
recognizes PHAs may need additional start-up funds to assist in 
planning for the SMRS. PHAs may use up to an additional $100,000 for 
SMRS start-up expenditures, upon written approval from HUD.
    PHAs may use their existing housing mobility-related services 
funding award to pay for these activities. PHAs must update their 
annual expenditure plans to reflect the amount of funds they intend to 
use for these purposes and begin immediately reporting these 
expenditures on their invoices and in HUD's Voucher Management System 
(VMS).

VII. Demonstration Withdrawal and Recapture of Funds

    In 2023, one PHA site (both the lead PHA and its partner PHA), and 
one partnering PHA, voluntarily withdrew from the demonstration prior 
to enrollment of any families. These PHAs remitted their funding award 
to HUD, and HUD has recaptured the funds. This recapture included 
$3,218,700 in housing mobility-related services funding and $1,814,262 
in remaining funding for MDVs.
    HUD now establishes criteria for withdrawal--whether voluntary 
withdrawal on behalf of the PHA or termination of PHA participation by 
HUD--to help ensure impacts to families and landlords are effectively 
mitigated since all participating PHAs are well into enrollment. 
Participating PHAs that wish to request to voluntarily withdraw from 
the demonstration must submit a letter in writing, with an associated 
board resolution, recommending withdrawal to HUD. The letter must state 
the key reasons for withdrawal from the demonstration and a proposed 
plan for mitigating the impact on participating families and landlords. 
Upon receipt of the letter, HUD will review the PHA's request. In 
determining whether voluntary withdrawal will be approved, HUD will 
consider the PHA's rationale, the impact on participating families and 
landlords, including any evidence that the PHA's withdrawal from the 
demonstration would have an unlawful discriminatory effect on 
participating families or otherwise violate civil rights requirements, 
and the research evaluation. HUD will make its best efforts to honor 
the PHA's request.
    Adherence to the Implementation Notice, Supplemental Notice, this 
Notice and the Statement of Responsibilities is critical to ensuring 
the success of the demonstration. PHAs that have been materially non-
compliant with demonstration requirements may be terminated from the 
demonstration and have their funding recaptured. HUD will issue a 
notice of corrective action to PHAs found to be in material non-
compliance with demonstration requirements, as defined in the Statement 
of Responsibilities. PHAs will have no fewer than six months to cure 
any material non-compliance. If after six months, the PHA is found to 
continue to be in material non-compliance, HUD may issue a notice of 
intent to terminate the PHA's participation in the demonstration. The 
PHA may respond to that notice and ask HUD to reconsider its 
determination.
    If HUD accepts a PHA's request to voluntarily withdraw or 
determines that the termination of participation is necessary, HUD will 
work closely with the PHA and the evaluator to develop a process by 
which the PHA will carefully end their participation and implement 
their plan for mitigating the impact on participating families and 
landlords. The plan must include consultation from any enrolled 
families to ensure that they are successfully transitioned out of the 
program. After that date, the PHA will submit final invoices to PIH CCD 
staff and complete final reporting in VMS, the PIH Information Center 
(PIC)/Housing Information Portal (HIP) and the demonstration's Service 
Delivery Tool. HUD's Financial Management Center (FMC) will reconcile 
and process any final invoices and determine the amount of the 
remaining grant funds. HUD FMC will then recapture the remaining funds 
from the PHA.

VIII. Additional Allocation and Reallocation of Funds

    As mentioned in the Supplemental Notice, after the funding awards 
made on April 30, 2021, HUD had $4,127,590 in remaining housing 
mobility-related services funding. After the withdrawal of one PHA 
site, and one partner PHA, HUD has a total of $7,346,290 in housing 
mobility-related services funding and $1,814,262 remaining in funding 
for MDVs.
    In any cases where a PHA that is part of a partnership site 
withdraws from the demonstration, but HUD allows the remaining PHA to 
continue their participation, HUD will reallocate the site's remaining 
housing mobility-related services funding, any awarded RPBVP funds and 
voucher assistance to the remaining PHA to support their continued 
participation in the demonstration, as they will assume the 
responsibilities of the withdrawn PHA.
    In all other cases, for housing mobility-related services funding, 
HUD will reallocate funding in two ways: (1) HUD will equally 
distribute a portion of the remaining funding to all participating 
demonstration sites; and/or (2) HUD may reserve a reasonable amount of 
remaining funding to be distributed to sites based on need or for new 
RPBVP funding, by request. HUD will review requests for need-based 
funding from sites in accordance with the process described below. HUD 
may reallocate funding, as needed, throughout the remainder of the 
demonstration to ensure that sites have the necessary support and to 
maximize utilization of available funding.
    In reallocating voucher assistance for MDVs, HUD will only 
reallocate recaptured voucher amounts based on need. Selected 
demonstration sites were required to demonstrate their need for MDVs in 
their initial applications for demonstration funding. In cases where 
one PHA withdraws from a partner site, HUD will reallocate recaptured 
voucher assistance from the withdrawn PHA to the remaining PHA, based 
on the entire site's determination of need presented

[[Page 59147]]

in its initial application. For all other recaptured voucher 
assistance, HUD will reallocate to other demonstration PHAs based on 
their jurisdictional need and, when necessary, will prioritize the 
awards to sites with the highest number of enrolled families.
    Any recaptured RPBVP funds due to a site withdrawing from their 
participation in the RPBVP component, voluntarily withdrawing from the 
demonstration, or having their participation in the demonstration 
terminated, will be recaptured and reallocated. Any unexpended RPBVP 
funds remaining after a site completes its plan will also be recaptured 
and reallocated.
    PHAs wishing to request additional housing mobility-related 
services funding or voucher assistance under the demonstration must 
submit a request in writing to HUD. The request must include a 
narrative describing the need for additional funding, as well as a 
projected budget for the remainder of the demonstration showing the 
full expenditure of the requested funds or utilization of the voucher 
assistance. If applicable, the request should also include an amendment 
of the program budget for the current year.

IX. Continued Housing Mobility-Related Services at Demonstration End

    Upon the October 1, 2028 statutory end date of the demonstration, 
HUD will work with sites to process final invoices and complete final 
reporting in VMS, PIC/HIP and the demonstration's Service Delivery 
Tool. After the demonstration ends, sites will be allowed to use 
remaining housing mobility-related services funds to continue providing 
any CMRS services, as described in the Implementation Notice and 
subsequent notices, to any family participating in a housing mobility 
program at the site. HUD will provide guidance to sites on invoicing 
procedures for these funds.
    Any waivers and/or alternative requirements implemented by HUD, 
specific to the demonstration, will terminate upon the October 1, 2028 
end date. In addition, any special uses of HCV funding or program 
flexibilities expressly allowed under the demonstration (e.g., the use 
of non-MDV housing assistance payments for security deposits) will also 
terminate upon the October 1, 2028 end date. After the end of the 
demonstration, PHAs may continue to use their awarded housing mobility-
related services funds, but the provision of services must be in 
accordance with normal HCV program rules.

Dominique Blom,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary 
for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 2024-16039 Filed 7-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P