Detailed Information on the
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Assessment

NRC will develop geographic performance measures and outcome measures.

Use geographic performance measures in its five-year "Activities and Output Measures" plan. Continue to develop more rigorous and meaningful short-term and long-term indicators of NWO accomplishments by measuring change at individual, household, or neighborhood level.

Having identified a limited set of indicators that best describe successful community development, continue to test and refine this set of indicators. Determine targets for performance and outcome measures based on this set of indicators.

Develop Community Index to measure health of communities, such as perception of the neighborhood; data on mortgage lending and homeownership; and crime data. Projected to finalize project by the end of FY09.

The Administration proposes an increase in funds for NRC consistent with the generally good PART findings.

Measure: Total direct investments made by NeighborWork Organizations (in millions of dollars)

Explanation:Measures the direct investment made in low-income communities by 225 NeighborWorks Organizations, which are supported by NRC's network and capital grants.

Measure: Number of homeownership units constructed

Explanation:

Measure: Housing preservation of single-family homes and other housing units.

Explanation:The measure reflects post home ownership services that include home rehabs, mortgage refinance and foreclosure mitigation counseling. The measure is comprised of the counts of home rehabs, refinanced mortgages and favorable foreclosure mitigation outcomes. Other units include mixed use commercial projects (housing units only) and special projects, housing for special needs populations.

Measure: Total number of professional training certificates awarded

Explanation:These reflect the certificates of course completions by NeighborWorks Training Institute.

Measure: Total individuals provided with homeownership counseling

Explanation:Both pre- and post-purchase counseling is provided

Measure: Cost per homeownership unit produced

Explanation:NRC capital grant expenditures per units produced.

Measure: Matching of private funds to each one dollar of federal funding

Explanation:Leverage measure

Is the program purpose clear?

Explanation: NRC seeks to promote reinvestment in older neighborhoods by local financial institutions working cooperatively with community people and local government. The corporation funds selected neighborhood preservation projects which show promise as mechanisms for reversing neighborhood decline and improving the quality of neighborhood life. The NeighborhWorks network includes 225 neighborhood housing services programs in neighborhoods throughout the United States, monitors their progress, and provides grants and technical assistance. Many organizations choose quality housing opportunities as a cornerstone of their revitalization strategy.

Evidence: The Corporation's authorizing legislation (42 U.S.C. 8101-8107), which has been has been adjusted at the direction of Congress through Committee reports states, 'The Corporation shall experimentally replicate neighborhood preservation projects which have demonstrated success, and after creating reliable developmental processes, bring the new programs to neighborhoods throughout the United States which in the judgment of the Corporation can benefit there from, by providing assistance in organizing programs, providing grants in partial support of program costs, and providing technical assistance to ongoing programs.'

Does the program address a specific and existing problem, interest or need?

Explanation: NRC aims to address the problems of decline that occur in older neighborhoods. Specifically, NRC focuses on housing and homeownership as the means through which they seek to reverse neighborhood decline. The Corporation has also become involved in homebuyer training, and has agreed to fill a gap in services by establishing standards for 'training the trainers' of homebuyer education and counseling through the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling.

Evidence: While the homeownership rate in the U.S. has hit a record level of 68%, many segments of the population and areas have been left behind. The homeownership rate for whites is 75%, the African-American homeownership rate is only 48% and only 47% Latino families own their own homes. If a family's income is at or above the median, the rate of homeownership is 83.3 percent. For families earning less than the median income, the rate of homeownership is 51.3 percent. Furthermore, poverty areas (census tracts with poverty rates greater than 30 percent) have average homeownership rates of 31 percent compared to the metropolitan area average of 64 percent.

Is the program designed so that it is not redundant or duplicative of any other Federal, state, local or private effort?

Explanation: While NRC funding overlaps with other Federal assistance, NRC's approach distinguishes itself from other efforts by its chartering process for member organizations must maintain a high level of effectiveness to receive funding for neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Evidence: Similar programs include HUD's HOME 15 percent set-aside for Community Housing Development Organizations and the Living Cities initiative, which provides technical assistance and capacity building to community development corporations. While these programs have some similarities, NRC distinguishes itself by also providing training and certification for community development professionals and a mantaining a dedicated secondary market, the Neighborhood Housing Services of America (NHSA).

Is the program design free of major flaws that would limit the program's effectiveness or efficiency?

Explanation: NRC receives a flexible appropriation each year, which it uses to promote and strengthen their professional core and grassroots network. Grants are supplemented by targeted technical assistance and coupled with a program evaluation process that assist the organizations to implement proven strategies and to evaluate their results against other organizations engaged in similar lines of business. Neighborhood Reinvestment mandates a rigorous affiliation and review process that evaluates the organization's mission and target neighborhoods and populations before admitting applicants into the network.

Evidence: The emphasis on homeownership as a means for improving a families quality of life and neighborhood revitalization is supported by research. Compared to renters, homeowers are 15 percent more satisfied with their home, 20 percent happier with their neighborhood, and have a median net wealth of a low-income homeowner is over 13 times that of a similar renter. Homeowners are more stable -- more than a 33 percent of low-income renters move yearly, while less than 8 percent of homeowners do. Homeownership also improves neighborhoods: homeowners are 28 percent more likely to repair or improve their homes than renters, higher homeownership rates lead to higher home prices, and homeowners are 26 percent more likely to be involved in block clubs, parent-teacher organizations and other civic groups.

Is the program effectively targeted, so that resources will reach intended beneficiaries and/or otherwise address the program's purpose directly?

Explanation: Data suggest organizations succeed in targeting low- to moderate-income populations; however, it is unclear whether distressed neighborhoods are targeted. While affordable housing activities may target middle- or even upper class areas, where housing costs are higher. Given, NRC is primarily a neighborhood revitalization program one would expect a majority of their funding to be targeted to more distressed areas than this data indicate. During NRC's affiliations process, NWOs must declare a service area that focuses on a community need. Organizational Assessment and Field Operations Units then assess their ability to serve that area during the affiliation process. Organizations must describe their service area in terms of census tracts and describe the lines of business active in those areas.

Evidence: Several measures demonstrate the successful targeting of their activities to low-income persons: 94 percent are first-time buyers; 67 percent earn less than 80 percent of area median income; and 52 percent are ethnic/minority households. The targeting of funds to distressed neighborhoods needs to be more clearly outlined with better neighborhood-level data. For example, 47 percent of NeighborWorks organizations' service areas (census tracts) fall within 'underserved areas' designated by HUD, which is equal to the 47 percent of metropolitan areas covered by this designation.

Does the program have a limited number of specific long-term performance measures that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program?

Explanation: Neighborhood Reinvestment has several long term measures and goals, but is in the process of developing measures that focus on outcomes such as changes in neighborhoods or the lives of persons assisted. NRC has committed to developing an index of comunity development indicators to measure improvement in distressed NWO neighborhoods. This index will combine factors focusing on physical, social and economic dimensions of the community, including: resident and stakeholder perception of the neighborhood to gauge the first hand perception of improvement and confidence, HMDA data on mortgage lending to gauge investment and homeownership; and crime data to gauge community safety/security.

Evidence: Some other potential long-term measures include: homeownership rates, home equity that has accrued to homebuyers assisted by NWOs, and home price or other neighborhood trends in NWO target areas.

Does the program have ambitious targets and timeframes for its long-term measures?

Explanation: See. 2.1.

Evidence:  

Does the program have a limited number of specific annual performance measures that can demonstrate progress toward achieving the program's long-term goals?

Explanation: NRC reports several annual performance measures as part of its GPRA plans. NRC has also adopted an efficiency measure that focuses on the cost per unit produced. Annual performance measures such as the number of homeownership units produced directly contribute to NRC's long-term outcomes of neighborhood revitalization achieved through increasing homeownership for low-income families.

Evidence: Key annual output measures include: number of homeownership units contructed, total investment by NeighborWorks Organizations, total number of professional training certificates awarded, total number of housing rehab and other units produced. The efficiency measure is the cost per unit produced, broken down by hoemownership unit, mutual housing and multi-family unit, and single-family rehab units.

Does the program have baselines and ambitious targets for its annual measures?

Explanation: These annual measures have been projected and tracked in Neighborhood Reinvestment's plan and budget documents (Budget submission, GPRA, Budget Justification) each year, with consistent increases each year

Evidence: See targets in measure tab.

Do all partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) commit to and work toward the annual and/or long-term goals of the program?

Explanation: The NeighborWorks network participates directly in establishing and achieving the annual and long-term goals articulated by Neighborhood Reinvestment. Through programmatic 'steering committees' associated with key program initiatives, Neighborhood Reinvestment consults actively with the leadership of NeighborWorks organizations to ensure that 100% of corporate goals align with NeighborWorks organizations' goals.

Evidence: Through the annual submission of their organizational plans and requests for services and resources, 100 percent of NeighborWorks organizations outline their own goals, including their capacity-building goals, their goals in terms of services to families and individuals. In the new Organizational Underwriting system (which will be fully rolled out by 2006). NWOs set community-level goals, which NRC will review and use to make decisions on which projects to fund. The NeighborWorks organizations then report their progress against these goals through regular production reports and annual updates of their plans/goals.

Are independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality conducted on a regular basis or as needed to support program improvements and evaluate effectiveness and relevance to the problem, interest, or need?

Explanation: NRC has agreed to complete a sufficiently rigorous evaluation over the next year. Several studies have been done on various aspects of NRC operations and a series of regular independent evaluations have been conducted to assess short- and longer-term results of various components of the overall programmatic spectrum of the NeighborWorks network. The evaluation method will provie the most rigorous evidecne of the program's effectiveness that is appropriate and available. It will also examine the underlying cause and effect relationship between the program and achievement of performance targets. The evaluation will focus on the relative effectiveness of the NeighborWorks network in contributing to positive change in their target communities against comparable communities not served by NeighborWorks organizations.

Evidence: A recent study entitled, 'Individual and Neighborhood Impacts of Neighborhood Reinvestment's Homeownership Pilot Program' begins to evaluate the fundamental question regarding NRC's impacts on neighborhoods. However, the study focused on only a few 'high producing' NWOs. More comprehensive studies are needed to determine impact and effectiveness of Neighborhood Reinvestment network.

Are Budget requests explicitly tied to accomplishment of the annual and long-term performance goals, and are the resource needs presented in a complete and transparent manner in the program's budget?

Explanation: Neighborhood Reinvestment's Budget Justification identifies performance targets for each major function (capacity building, preserving homeownership and private rental housing/equity capital, organizational assessment, training and informing, secondary market) in an activities and output measures table.

Evidence: The estimated cost of achieving these targets is provided in a functional budget breakdown. Further detailed programmatic and cost information for each function, including current and future year goals, and prior year results, is provided in the 'major functions' section of the Justification. Several budget tables and analyses are presented in the Congressional justifications The annual audit presents the actual costs, by major function, including allocation of overhead across functional areas.

Has the program taken meaningful steps to correct its strategic planning deficiencies?

Explanation: A comprehensive strategic planning process was undertaken in 2000-2001, which resulted in several substantive improvements. For example, NRC developed more clear and measurable articulation of corporate goals, linking outcome goals to corporate goals, and overhauled performance plans for individual staff members.

Evidence: NRC created a COO position and reorganized reporting lines to coordinate better across key functional divisions to support more integrated service delivery. Two years ago, an internal review staff noted that 45% of the shortcomings of network organizations related to inadequate Board oversight. As a result, NRC established measurable goals for our own network and designed training specifically targeted to Board Treasurers. Senior management also meet quarterly to review status and adjust strategies as needed.

Does the agency regularly collect timely and credible performance information, including information from key program partners, and use it to manage the program and improve performance?

Explanation: The Corporation collects quarterly production and annual organizational data from 100% of NeighborWorks affiliates, as well as annual A-133 financial audits. The NWOs submit annual reports and consultants surveys NWOs each year to NRC for review.

Evidence: Since 1991, NRC has gathered performance data from all NeighborWorks organizations quarterly to track progress toward annual performance goals. This regular performance data is analyzed in the aggregate and also at the district and program initiative levels to allow for follow up. Progress toward annual goals is monitored and influence NRC award decisions. See measures sheet for specific measures.

Are Federal managers and program partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) held accountable for cost, schedule and performance results?

Explanation: The Corporation, its grantees and its contractors are all held accountable by annual reviews, legal letters of agreement that clearly articulate 'deliverables', and evaluations by Neighborhood Reinvestment managers. The use of Neighborhood Reinvestment capital is tracked through careful review of the required A-133 annual audit, which each network member must submit to the Corporation along with any management letters provided by external auditors.

Evidence: Rigorous annual performance reviews include evaluations of corporate managers by supervisors and direct reports, as well as measurable progress toward goals of each department. All sub-grantees are assessed on an annual or more frequent basis to determine and address any areas of risk through NRC's Organizational Health Tracking System. Neighborhood Reinvestment uses a Request of Qualifications and Proposals process to manage the acquisition and use of professional services to ensure that these services are obtained and managed in the most cost-effective manner.

Are funds (Federal and partners') obligated in a timely manner and spent for the intended purpose?

Explanation: Neighborhood Reinvestment's Budget justification includes analyses of actual spending compared to estimates and plans submitted in prior justifications. Department budget managers have real-time access to the corporation's computerized accounting system, providing them the most up-to-date budget vs. actual information. Over the past 5 years, the carry-forward from the federal appropriation (excluding set-asides) and other unrestricted sources such as interest and training registration fees ranged from one to three percent.

Evidence: Every month the Corporation's budget analyst monitors budget to actual performance corporate-wide, including analysis of total expenditures by cost category against the Congressionally-approved operating plan. When organizations are disaffiliated, the Corporation's Office of General Counsel takes action to recapture unspent funds in the organization's revolving loan fund.

Does the program have procedures (e.g. competitive sourcing/cost comparisons, IT improvements, appropriate incentives) to measure and achieve efficiencies and cost effectiveness in program execution?

Explanation: Program has been able to demonstrate efficiencies over time. Neighborhood Reinvestment has formed an Information Management Investment Committee that is comprised of the direct reports of the CEO and COO; the committee is dedicated to aligning IM's work with corporate strategic plans, establishing priorities for investment and ensuring cross-functional coordination on IM issues.

Evidence: The Corporation's personnel policies provide cash awards as incentives to managers who can document 'efficiencies and innovations resulting in saved time and money.' Other IT-related improvements designed to increase cost effectiveness include: a data management project with goals of eliminating data redundancy and improving data integrity;implementation of e-commerce applications to provide efficiencies in customer service; and, a portal for efficient document sharing and knowledge sharing across the organization.

Does the program collaborate and coordinate effectively with related programs?

Explanation: Founded on a partnership model of public sector, private business and residents, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and its affiliates coordinate with other federal agencies and with national and regional nonprofit organizations. Directors from the five financial regulatory agencies and HUD comprise the Board of Directors for Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. All NeighborWorks organizations involve government, business and residents in leadership.

Evidence: On average, all governmental contributions/grants per NeighborWorks organization in 2002 amounted to 37 percent of their total operating budget. Furthermore, NRC has raised funds from a variety of private sectors sources such as banks and mortgage companies ($1.2M), national foundations ($.4M), retail stores ($3.6M), government sponsored entities ($1.7M), and insurance companies ($.3M). The Corporation is a HUD Housing Counseling intermediary and partnered with the Corporation to deliver training to Public Housing Authorities on the Housing Choice Voucher program nationwide and achieved results in support of the administrations minority homeownership initiative.

Does the program use strong financial management practices?

Explanation: The Corporation's policies and procedures that manage daily operations are consistent with generally accepted accounting procedures. In addition, the Corporation's internal auditor conducts regular reviews of significant internal systems and processes (financial, administrative and programmatic). During the last year, the internal auditor has reviewed time and expense procedures, the payroll process, and procedures for managing outside funds.

Evidence: From 1998-2003, the external auditors noted no material internal control weaknesses in the Corporation's annual audits -- 'Report on Compliance and on Internal Control over Financial Reporting Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Preformed in Accordance with Government Auditing Standards' and 'Report on Compliance with Requirements Applicable to Each Major Program and Internal Control over Compliance in Accordance with OMB Circular A-133.'

Has the program taken meaningful steps to address its management deficiencies?

Explanation: In July 1992, the General Accounting Office reviewed the operations of Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and found several areas that needed improvement, most notably, oversight of NeighborWorks Organizations and grant management practices. In response, the Organizational Health Tracking System for all NeighborWorks organizations was created to provide regular on-site program reviews.

Evidence: Neighborhood Reinvestment is moving toward an organizational underwriting model where investment decisions are based on a multi-year plan for the NeighborWorks organization to strengthen in measurable ways the neighborhoods which it serves. In 2003, 98.26% of financial audits of 225 NWOs were in compliance, which is the highest rate ever.

Does the program have oversight practices that provide sufficient knowledge of grantee activities?

Explanation: Neighborhood Reinvestment's practices support strong oversight of NeighborWorks organizations (grantees) activities and management consultants provide programmatic oversight and assistance. NRC uses its PROMPT reviews to rate each organization as exemplary, stable or vulnerable based on ratings in the following areas: planning; resource management; organizational oversight; financial, contract, and personnel management; production/program services; and technical operating systems. If an organization is found to be vulnerable, an action plan is jointly developed and closely monitored until corrective actions are resolved. NRC can place an organization's membership charter in provisional status or permanently revoke it and recapture funds.

Evidence: All NeighborWorks organizations submit comprehensive organizational reports and independent audits annually and production reports quarterly. As a result of the PROMPT reviews, the Corporation has disaffiliated more than 24 organizations and revoked charters of 40 over the past five years due to management deficiencies, changed missions or other types of non-compliance with the chartering agreement. Capital funds were recaptured from three NWOs in FY2003 for a total of $457,000.

Does the program collect grantee performance data on an annual basis and make it available to the public in a transparent and meaningful manner?

Explanation: Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation collects annual and quarterly performance data from grantees, which is made public through the Corporation's website. Accomplishment information is updated annually and made available on the web for each NWO.

Evidence: All NeighborWorks organizations submit comprehensive production reports annually, and more specific reports on specific programs are collected quarterly. These reports are aggregated to track progress toward numeric goals for the NeighborWorks system, and the level of future grants to NeighborWorks organizations is tied to performance. The progress toward goals can be compared across NeighborWorks organizations by examining the organizations' profiles on www.nw.org.

Has the program demonstrated adequate progress in achieving its long-term performance goals?

Explanation: Program received a yes on question 2.1 and a no on 2.2. However, NRC has committed to developing an index of community development indicators and hold NWOs accountable for measuring the index over time.

Evidence:  

Does the program (including program partners) achieve its annual performance goals?

Explanation: Recent GPRA annual reports have indicated that Neighborhood Reinvestment and the NeighborWorks network consistently met or exceeded the annual performance goals, except where external conditions (e.g. economy, financial and housing markets, and security threats) have affected meeting these goals.

Evidence: For example, in FY 2003, the Corporation exceeded eight of its thirteen aggressive 'stretch' goals. The five exceptions were the result of the external conditions, and in every case, the 2003 results surpassed 2002 achievements.

Does the program demonstrate improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness in achieving program goals each year?

Explanation: Data suggest that Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation has been successful at enhancing their productivity and leveraging federally appropriated funds.

Evidence: The ratio of outputs (key performance measures) compared to inputs (staffing and congressional funding) demonstrates improved efficiency in achieving program goals. From 1993 to 2003, the Federal appropriation has grown 260 percent and staff has grown 17 percent; however, the number of home-ownership units increased 600 percent and training contract hours increased 299 percent and affordable multifamily, mutual or rental housing units increased 91 percent. Targeting remained as strong or stronger.

Does the performance of this program compare favorably to other programs, including government, private, etc., with similar purpose and goals?

Explanation: NRC uses federal appropriations to leverage outside private investment to fund new innovations and initiatives and then disseminates lessons learned. Neighborhood Reinvestment and the NeighborWorks network repeated pilot new products, test new approaches and convene internal and external practitioners on matters of concern to the industry. Neighborhood Reinvestment shares a focus on capacity building with Living Cities, but Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation is more fully engaged, through an intensive chartering process of NeighborWorks organizations, annual organizational health reviews and financial audits, providing financial assistance through organizational underwriting, extensive data collection on impact indicators, on-site technical assistance, specialized training and peer learning opportunities.

Evidence: For every federal $1, NeighborWorks organizations leverage $19.40 in private funds. In comparison, the federal government invested $254 million in Living Cities investments, which leverage $2.2 billion in private investment, indicating that each $1 of federal investment in Living Cities generates $8.66 in private investment.

Do independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality indicate that the program is effective and achieving results?

Explanation: Several evaluations of specific programs of the Corporation indicate strong accomplishments and results. Moreover, independent surveys of grantees show grantee and stakeholder satisfaction. The independent evaluations have validated the effectiveness of program strategies and implementation by Neighborhood Reinvestment and the NeighborWorks organizations. However, NRC has agreed to research and develop a study with a wider scope to analyze the effectiveness of a greater percentage of the Corporation's programs.

Evidence: The study entitled, 'Individual and Neighborhood Impacts of Neighborhood Reinvestment's Homeownership Pilot Program' begins to evaluate and demonstrate the fundamental question regarding NRC's impacts on neighborhoods. Another study, "Estimating the Economic Benefits of NeighborWorks Homebuyer Programs, estimates a variety of benefits for families becoming homeowners, helping families mantain homeownership, and benefits from the contruction activity. Several others have focused on aspects such as their multi-family extremely low income pilot program and NRC grantmaking.