“CHAC provides the professional effort, expertise and talent to craft measures that address the unique affordable housing challenges that exist in Chicago: the concentration of poverty and racial segregation.” tera usar oeputy Assistant Secretory, HUD ‘Ar the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the outlook for Chicago's public housing and Section 8 pro- grams is optimistic. The Chicago Housing Authority is soon to be returned to local con iol, and CHAC’ tumaround of Section 8 has convinced officials that Chicagoans are being served by a viable Section 8 Program. “We sce very good signs that Section 8 will be beneficial for the Chicago commu nity and is becoming a viable resource that helps many different kinds of people achieve their housing goals,” says Gloria Cousar, deputy assistant secretary for public and assisted housing delivery. Today, under CHAC’ management, Chicago's Section 8 Program is leading the ‘way in new directions for Section 8 manage ‘ment operations nationwide. CHACS per formance-based management contract with CHA is one such example. An innovative Contract ‘An innovative contract crafted by HUD. followed a competitive bid process. The ‘contract assured that CHA net income fiom Section 8 operations would be main: tained and that Quadel assumed substantial risk during both the 18-month program reinvestment/transtion period and the following oprional operations periods CHAC contract employs a fixed ppet-unit-per-month fee system, with certain additional incentives to reward good perfor- mance in areas of specific concern to HUD and CHA. Cousar credits CHAC with ree- ‘ognizing the trend toward performance- based management and implementing this approach early in its operation. HUD will require similar performance-based manage- ‘ment standards for all Section 8 programs in 1999. The Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) will ate Section 8 programs on 15 indicators, award: ing points for good performance in areas such as calculating rent reasonableness ally ucliing available rental subsidies: verifying, tenant income; handling waiting lst: and enforcing housing quality standards. Cousar credits CHAC with impressive achievements in many of these areas, and urges any pro- ‘gram preparing for SEMAP standards to take a look at Chicago’ Section 8 Program. "Any good agency is going to try 10 anticipate SEMAP and start measuring themselves internally on what SEMAP will cvaluate, That’ what CHAC has begun to do, and that’s what we consider good man- agement practice. Chicago’ Housing Challenges Tn Chicago, you have a combination of circumstances that arent present in other ‘urban areas: an inadequate supply of aford- able housing; the large number of households that pay more than 50 percent oftheir income for rent; the substandard living condi- tions that exis for low-income people who are housed; and mote recently the need to help public housing residents relocate when their units are renovated or demolished,” Cousar says. “CHAC seems to be addressing these issues in a postive way that bears watching.” “Privatization,” she says “may not be desirable or necesary in all instances, but ichas been helpful in che dffieule cixcum stances in Chicago and has brought results that otherwise could not have been achieved —costeffectively.”% é $ § F1995-1998 Major CHAC Contract Goals Achieved Created a new private organization with a staff of 175, including 98 former CHA Section 8 employees. Negotiated a contract with the Service Employees International Union Local 73. Designed and imple- mented staff recruitment, screening, testing and certification programs and a pay-for-performance compensation system. Achieved and maintained a 95 percent leased-up rate — total units under lease increased from 15,482 to 23,082. Completed accurate and timely annual recertifications and inspections. Increased the number of households living in low-poverty neighborhoods from 4,122 to 8,749. Created a Family Self-Sufficiency Program, enrolling over 900 families and assisting nearly 300 families to achieve earned income. Made timely housing assistance payments (HAP) to owners on the first day of each month. Updated the CHA waiting list of over 47,000 names in 1996; re-opened. the waiting list and added 35,000 names to the list in 1997. Established quality as a core value of the company — setting professional standards, reviewing work, tracking and correcting errors — dramatically improving the quality of the work produced in all departments. Developed all new operating policies and procedures and business systems, creating an infrastructure to support a model Section 8 Program. Managed major investments in Management Information Systems, office space improvements, equipment and furniture.