(8) Provision for annual review of contract by HUD-HEW Regional Offices, with criteria for approval or termination. (9) Structure for an ongoing advisory committee composed of the executive directors of the LHA and the County Board of Assistance or their designees and community residents, including tenants and consumers of service. e. The proposal shall be presented to the LHA Board for approval. It shall be sent through the HUD Area Office to the Regional Office for approval by the Regional Administrator. Area Office recommendations, including those by the Financial Management Specialist, may be included when the proposal is submitted to the Regional Office. f. Following HUD clearances, the proposal is sent to the State Welfare Agency for review and approval. g. When the State Welfare Agency has approved the proposal, a written contract is drafted which will define the financial and functional responsibilities of the LHA and the local welfare agency. 6. PAST EXPERIENCE Since 1967, several joint funded social service programs in Pennsylvania housing authorities have operated successfully, providing a wide range of individual, group, and community services. The experience in these programs indicates (1) that the director of such a cooperative program should be a person skilled in community organization with experience in coordinating programs and services of multiple agencies; (2) that paraprofessional and resident staff positions be included in the program design, and (3) that monthly conferences be scheduled to review progress, policies, and procedures. Exhibit 4 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICE, OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR, Washington, D.C. To: State agencies administering social and rehabilitation service programs; State housing and development agencies; and local housing authorities. In this time of rising expectations and profound social and technological changes, we believe it is essential that all levels of government work together to find new and better approaches to improving the quality of life and the living environments of those in greatest need. Because complex housing and social problems cannot be solved nationally or by any one agency or group, we urge staffs of our constituent agencies in the States and local communities to work in concert with those of other agencies and organizations toward meeting the housing and social needs of low-income families and individuals more effectively. In order to further our common purposes, we believe it is highly desirable that arrangements be made for a continuing exchange of information and active cooperation between staff representatives of HEW and HUD agencies at Regional, State and local levels. Representatives of State and local agencies carrying programs in housing, welfare and social rehabilitation are urged to get in touch with each other as soon as possible, in order to establish common arrangements for an exchange of concerns and for mutual assistance and cooperation. Responsibility for on-going coordination of policies and programs at the Federal level will be carried by a jointly staffed HEW-HUD Policy Committee and SRS Housing-Welfare Representatives and HUD staff in the Regional offices. As experience is gained and new programs emerge, we will keep you informed through Regional offices. Attached for your information, guidance and appropriate utilization are three documents: Attachment I: Memorandum of Agreement on Housing-Welfare Cooperation between Renewal and Housing Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Social and Rehabilitation Service (SRS), Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). Attachment II: Guide for State Agencies in Joint Funding of Social Services in Public Housing. Attachment III: Local Housing Authority Responsibility in Joint Funding of Social Services. JOHN D. TWINAME, Administrator, Social and Rehabilitation Service, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Assistant Secretary, for Renewal and Housing Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development. ATTACHMENT I MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT ON HOUSING-WELFARE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE RENEWAL AND HOUSING MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE I. MUTUAL INTERESTS AND CONCERNS 1. The Office of Renewal and Housing Management of HUD and the Social Rehabilitation Service of HEW recognize areas of mutual interest with regard to meeting the housing and welfare needs of low income families. For many years the two agencies have cooperated in developing and carrying out programs designed to create more effective environments, services, and opportunities for meaningful living for families occupying low income subsidized housing. 2. The mutuality of interests is based on the following considerations: a. Both agencies serve many of the same clients. As of June 30, 1968, 33% of all families (38% of elderly and 30% of non-elderly) in public low income housing received public assistance. Forty percent of the non-elderly families were broken families, with minors and one adult, usually the mother. b. Approximately $1.1 billion a year in public funds is being spent by welfare recipients for housing, much of which is clearly substandard. In 1965, 40% of aged recipients lived in deficient housing; as of May 1968, less than 10% of all welfare recipients resided in public housing. Obviously, the supply of public housing and of decent private housing at low rentals is grossly inadequate to meet the housing needs of welfare recipients. Hence, support should be mobilized at the national, State, and local levels, to develop and implement new approaches in solving the housing problems of families and individuals on welfare. c. With the passage of the 1962 Amendments to the Social Security Act, the role of public welfare agencies was greatly broadened to provide social and rehabilitation services to public assistance recipients and former and potential recipients of such assistance. The services were broadened to include community planning with other health and social welfare agencies to fill the many gaps that existed in services and resources needed by public welfare recipients. The Social Security Amendments of 1967 specifically included a requirement for a program of family and child welfare services for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in order to strengthen family life and foster child development. The regulations issued pursuant to the 1967 Amendments list the following among the mandatory services to families and children: "Improve family living through assisting parents to overcome homemaking and housing problems." d. With the promulgation in March 1968 of national social goals for public housing and the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, the role of local housing authorities in meeting the needs and concerns of their tenants has been broadened. e. Thus, both agencies share the national goals of helping poor people obtain decent housing at rents they can afford, improve their personal, social, and economic status, and become self dependent. 3. The public interest demands that: a. Housing supported by the Federal Government be responsive to the needs of assisted families and individuals, as well as other low-income populations. This involves establishing policies which will encourage local communities to expand the supply and availability of subsidized housing, and assure financial resources sufficient to manage and maintain such properties adequately. b. Social services be available and flow to all public housing residents according to their needs. The Social and Rehabilitation Service (SRS) has a special responsibility to provide services to its recipients-the neediest of the aged, handicapped, and dependent families and children. 4. In reporting on the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969, approved December 21, 1969, the conferees requested the Secretaries of HUD and HEW to study the feasibility of developing a uniform policy concerning the rents which should be paid in public housing by families whose rents come from public assistance. A HUD-HEW Joint Task Force on National policy on Welfare Rents in Public Housing was organized June 24, 1970 to undertake this assignment. II. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICE OF HEW The Social and Rehabilitation Service has as a major goal the provision of aid to needy persons and families to assist them in achieving a decent minimum standard of living, including adequate housing, owned or rented, commensurate with community standards. To implement this goal, the SRS will urge and assist the States to define and adopt à minimum housing standard in their assistance programs and provide shelter allowances and assistance payments sufficient to enable recipients to obtain and maintain adequate housing. The Social and Rehabilitation Service, working through its Regional representatives, where appropriate, agrees to: 1. Further assist the States in Statewide and local efforts to assist welfare clients in overcoming homemaking and housing problems, and reduce the subsidizing of slums with public monies. 2. Provide more leadership, consultation, and information on housing matters to the States by use of Federal staff and by close liaison with HUD and other Federal agencies concerned with housing problems and needs of low income families and individuals. 3. Support the need for additional staff at the State level and in local units to improve housing through such measures as: a. planning, consultation, and coordination of housing services, in conjunction with community groups and organizations; b. making fuller use of available community expertise in developing low income housing. c. taking measures to facilitate home ownership by recipients and improvement of homes owned by recipients. דיי d. providing directly or through purchase such services as consultation and counseling, legal aid, relocation services, emergency housing services, homemaker and home management services, services related to home improvement and repairs, and other services related to solving housing problems. 4. In cooperation with HUD, promote research and conduct studies of housing conditions of welfare recipients, obstacles which prevent welfare recipients from obtaining adequate housing, and costs of housing available to welfare clients. Encourage qualified investigators to study the housing market in general, and in particular, costs and those other factors which inhibit the construction or improvement of low income housing or restrict home ownership by low income families. 5. Give leadership and direction to State welfare departments for the development and strengthening of all types of social services along with rehabilitation programs to serve families and elderly and handicapped persons living in public housing neighborhoods. These programs may include preventive. referral, and diagnostic health services: counseling and casework; assistance with housekeeping, homemaking, and laundry; and social and educational activities. Emphasis will be placed on securing, marshalling, and effectively delivering services most needed and desired by the residents. as determined by consultation with tenants and representative tenant organizations. Utilization will be made of Federal, State, and local public resources and of private resources including volunteer services. 6. Seek to promote cooperation among local welfare departments and other local HEW constituent agencies, local renewal and housing authorities, nonprofit and cooperative housing sponsors, and health and housing code enforcement agencies, with reference to services for displaced families and tenants, tenant selection and transfer, planning, location, design and livability of housing projects, community space, and other matters affecting the living environment of persons being served. III. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE RENEWAL AND HOUSING MANAGEMENT OF HUD The Renewal and Housing Management (RHM) includes in its objectives the achievement of a safe and decent living environment for every American, near his place of employment. To implement this goal, RHM, working through its Regional and area representatives, where appropriate, agrees to: 1. Give leadership, direction, and assistance to State and local renewal and housing authorities (LPA's and LHA's) for the development and strengthening of a balanced program of social and rehabilitation services for resident families and elderly and handicapped persons. 2. Urge and assist local housing and renewal authorities to include on their staffs persons, who, by attitude, training and experience understand how to work with low income people and help them mobilize local resources, in order to reach the extent of their capacities as persons, as earners, and as citizens. 3. Urge and assist local housing authorities to make constructive use of authorization, to admit or continue in occupancy, as the case may be, persons not otherwise eligible for occupancy, specifically, a) tenants employed by the housing authority under a special training program, and b) tenants, project employees, volunteers, and staff of public and private agencies, when qualified and assigned to provide tenant-and-neighborhood-oriented services. 4. Urge and assist local housing authorities to upgrade the quality of their housing management and project buildings and grounds; to foster meaningful tenant involvement in project management affairs and in programs designed to strengthen the self-sufficiency of tenants, and to expand project community facilities where needed to meet the requirements of the upgrading program. 5. Provide leadership and guidance to LHA's in obtaining qualified architects and social planners to advise in the location, site development, design, and rehabilitation of housing. IV. PROGRAM OF HOUSING-WELFARE COOPERATION In order to meet more effectively their common obligations and national goals, improve the housing conditions of welfare recipients, and the delivery of social and rehabilitation services to public housing residents, the two agencies will consult and work together. They will seek agreement on common policies, procedures, and implementing guidelines, and their effectuation through cooperative action and program coordination on the part of their Regional, State and local counterparts. More specifically, the two agencies agree: 1. to cooperate in developing and promulgating policies and procedures for (a) establishing equitable rents to be paid by public assistance recipients in public housing. F (b) establishing procedures whereby tenants who are recipients of public assistance and who present serious rent delinquency problems may be brought to the attention of the public assistance agency. There will be no implication that the public assistance agency is responsible for rent collection or directing expenditure of the recipients' money payments. If there are serious money management problems, the public assistance agency may consider whether protective or vendor payments are indicated under regulations governing such payments. Under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act the number of individuals for whom these types of payments are made who can be counted for Federal financial participation in any month is limited to 10 percent of the number of other AFDC recipients in the State for that month. If the public assistance agency determines that use will be made of the vendor payment, the rent may be paid by the agency directly to the local housing authority, with the recipients' knowledge. 2. to promote cooperation between local welfare departments and local housing authorities with reference to welfare rent schedules, the selection, assignment, and transfer of tenants, provision of social and rehabilitation services, referral procedures, the amount, funding, arrangement and utilization of project community space, and other matters of mutual interest. 3. to cooperate in establishing policies and guidelines and assisting State Welfare Departments and local housing authorities in the development of local social service and rehabilitation programs in public housing, financed jointly, with the local authority funds comprising, or serving in lieu of the State's share, to be matched by Federal funds available under the Social Security Act, as implemented by SRS policies. Such programs may include community organization, group work, casework, legal services, educational programs and child care, training in home economics, family planning etc., but not services which relate distinctly to housing management. (See Attachment II.) 4. to cooperate in developing model programs, making them available, with appropriate guidelines, to State Welfare Departments and local renewal and housing authorities, and utilizing HEW demonstration grant funds for such programs wherever possible. 5. to encourage the development of social service and rehabilitation programs effecting substantial numbers of welfare recipients or potential recipients in model cities and urban renewal neighborhoods. Such programs may include community organization, social service referrals, group work or case work related services to strengthen family or individual ability to achieve successful relocation or participate successfully in a housing rehabilitation program; provide homemaker services and counselling for low or moderate income home ownership; promote development and utilization of community space, preparing local residents for employment opportunities created by the project activities, as appropriate. 6. to cooperate in the periodic evaluation of on-going programs for the purpose of improving quality of operations. This cooperative program will be given urgent, immediate and continuing attention by appropriate staffs, and will be expended and implemented as rapidly as possible. All agencies concerned will consult separately and jointly with low-income groups and individuals, recipients of public assistance, residents, and other appropriate individuals and organizations in the study, review, and development of policies and programs.. ATTACHMENT II GUIDE FOR STATE AGENCIES IN JOINT FUNDING OF SOCIAL SERVICES The purpose of this document is to explain the policies, conditions and criteria under which contributions from Local Housing Authorities may be used to obtain 75% FFP (under Title I, IV-A, X, XIV or XVI of the Social Security Act) in the cost of social service units established by public welfare in public housing projects. A. BACKGROUND A plan to increase the availability of social services through joint funding and to make such services more accessible to public housing tenants by locating social services staff in the housing projects has been tested in Pennsylvania for the past several years. Among the Local Housing Authorities participating with welfare in the joint funding of social services are Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Chester, Lancaster and Harrisburg. These five housing authorities manage a total of 28,295 units. They have contributed $95,661, which, used as the State's share, has earned Federal financial participation (at the 75% rate) of $286,984. This arrangement has enabled the State welfare agency to employ a staff of 101 to serve families in these housing projects. The experience in Pennsylvania shows that improvement in family life. housekeeping standards, home management practices and community pride and participation have been the result of the services made possible through housing-welfare cooperation. Now that some basic questions have been resolved, other States may wish to profit from Pennsylvania's experience. B. PROGRAM CONSIDERATIONS 1. Scope and Coverage of Services The services to be provided and the groups eligible to receive services must be in accordance with the State's approved plans under the Social Security |