The Office of Affordable Housing Programs is now pleased to announce the introduction of its new Certified HOME Program Specialist training initiative. The Certified HOME Program Specialist training initiative will use a modified 'Building HOME' primer course as its foundation. Two and one-half days of training will be provided followed by a certification test. The training and testing will focus on the HOME regulations. Attendees completing the course and passing the exam will receive a formal certificate acknowledging their designation as a “Certified HOME Program Specialist – Regulations”.

Initially, the sessions will be open only to state and local PJ staff, other public agency and state recipient staff with at least one year of experience with HOME, and also available to HUD field office staff. Over time, this will be expanded to include staff from Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs), nonprofits, other subrecipients, and technical assistance providers funded by HUD. Registration for these courses will be available through the CPD Training website. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis with no geographic preference for registrants offered. No more than two attendees from a single PJ or other entity will be allowed at each delivery.

An invitation letter from Mimi Kolesar of HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Programs and a copy of the brochure are available in PDF format. In the coming weeks, you will receive a printed version of this brochure in the mail, along with a brochure for HUD’s other demand-response training courses.