Operations Review of the South Bend Housing Allowance Office. Implications for On-Going Programs

摘要

HUD's Experimental Housing Allowance Program (HAP) is a rent subsidy program designed to answer a variety of questions concerning the feasibility of rent subsidies and their effect on tenants and landlords. This report on the HAP Supply Experiment in South Bend, Ind., contains the results of a review on the implications of Housing Allowance Office (HAO) cost data and procedures for ongoing housing programs, specifically the existing housing component of the Section 8 Program. The review objectives were to assess the efficiency of the HAO and determine where cost - savings could be achieved without serious detriment to program effectiveness, determine which administrative costs and procedures are research related, assess the implications of HAO costs and procedures, and make recommendations on how HAO costs could be reduced. To do this, research staff developed a detailed and comprehensive evaluation design which involved reviewing operations of the South Bend HAO, assessment of the implications of HAO review findings for ongoing programs, and preparation of a report on the basic concepts of the Section 8 and Housing Allowance Programs, administrative procedures employed at HAO, key determinants of administrative costs for agencies involved with a rent subsidy program, the effect on costs of different program assumptions and characteristics, and the Section 8 cost reimbursement methodology. Findings reveal that the administrative cost experience of the HAO is useful in understanding the general determinants of administrative costs but should not be used in direct comparisons with the costs of rent subsidy programs; factors beyond the control of the administrative agency may encourage the agency to alter program goals to reduce costs; administrative agencies can be persuaded to improve the efficiency of operations in ways which do not compromise program goals; and the current approach for reimbursing administrative costs in Section 8 has limitations which may inhibit HUD's ability to adjust to differences among agencies. Appendices contain cost analysis methodology and the HUD handbook on definitions of preliminary and ongoing administrative costs.