The
President's Management
Agenda mandated HUD to reduce the number and dollar amount of errors by 50
percent, from 60 percent to 30 percent, by 2005.
The Department set aggressive
interim goals in its FY
2003-FY 2008 Strategic Plan (pg. 45) of:
- A 15% reduction
by FY 2003
- A 30% reduction by FY 2004
To achieve these goals,
PIH implemented a comprehensive strategy to reduce errors. This strategy is already
producing measurable results. Based on 2003 PD&R QC study results for the
first half of FY 2003, HUD has exceeded its interim administrative error reduction
goals, as reported in the Department's
FY 2003 Performance and Accountability Report (Note 17).
The key components
of this strategy include:
Upfront Income Verification
(UIV)
Conducting upfront income verification to reduce the error rate
in applicant/tenant income reporting and rent calculations. PIH has developed
and begun testing a UIV System at 40 PHAs in 8 states.
Rental Integrity Monitoring (RIM)
Developing
on-going quality control programs to determine whether and to what extent PHAs
are accurately, thoroughly, and clearly determining family income and rent, for
the purpose of reducing subsidy errors. Thus far, PIH has conducted over 700 RIM
reviews at PHAs managing over 80 percent of PIH's funding.
Training
and Technical Assistance
Providing training and technical assistance on
occupancy issuesemphasizing income, rent, and subsidy calculationsto
ensure error reduction and correct billings to the Department. PIH has provided
occupancy training to Field Office staff and held two training sessions for PHAs
in January and February of 2004.
Program Guidance
Issuing updated occupancy guidebooks and other materials to assist administrators
of public housing and Section 8 programs. PIH released the first Public Housing
Occupancy Guidebook in 20 years.
Error Measurement
Identifying and measuring the extent of various errors and error rates to develop
effective corrective actions for discrepancy reduction.
Incentives
and Sanctions
Developing incentives and sanctions to encourage error
reduction in rent and income determinations and calculations. On December 19,
2003, PIH issued the Rental
Integrity Monitoring (RIM) Disallowed Costs and Sanctions Notice (PIH 2003-34),
which details relevant incentives and sanctions under RHIIP.
Program
Simplification
Developing viable proposals and implementation plans for
statutory, regulatory, and administrative streamlining and simplification.