U.5. Department of Housing
and Urban Development
Washington, D.C, 20410-5000
OFFICE OF
THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY
FOR PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING
MEMORANDUM
FOR Barbara Edwards, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resource
Management,
AR
FROM:
Michael Liu, Assistant Secretary, Office of Public and Indian Housing, P
SUBJECT:
Restructuring of the Office of Troubled Agency Recovery (OTAR) and the Field
Operations Staff (FOS)
This is to notify you of my intent to change the
structure of the OTAR and FOS by consolidating the Office of Troubled Agency
Recovery into the Field Operations Staff thereby creating a new Office to be
named the Office of Field Operations. The consolidation of these two offices
will improve field-based coordination and program implementation and oversight
of Public Housing Agencies to better address the Department's mission,
objectives and its clients.
The new organization will consist of two Divisions,
the Field Monitoring and Evaluation Division and the Coordination and Compliance
Division. A new Recovery and Prevention Corps (RPC) will be created and report
to the Coordination and Compliance Division Director. This Corps will
centralize recovery and procurement activities for the Public
Housing Hub and Program Center Offices in the field to more efficiently deploy
and coordinate troubled and near troubled Public Housing Agency recovery and
prevention efforts. The two Troubled Agency Recovery Centers, located in
Cleveland, OH and Memphis, TN, will be dismantled with staff and resources
reassigned to various identified locations in the Public Housing Hubs or
Program Center Offices in the field or in the new RPC.
Attached are the current and proposed organizational
charts that include the newly established Divisions in Headquarters and the
Recovery and Prevention Corps. In addition there are charts of the current and
proposed staffing plan that denote "bargaining unit" status
employees. Each one of the Article 5 Requirements is addressed in this
proposal.
At your earliest convenience, I would like Paula
Blunt, General Deputy Assistant Secretary, to meet with you to discuss this
proposed change. In the meantime, should you
have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact David R, Ziaya,
Director, Field Operations Staff at extension 4212.
Overview of Proposed PIH
Reorganization:
FROM |
TO |
Field Operations
Staff |
Office of Field Operations |
Deputy Assistant Secretary
for the Office |
Merged into new Office of
Field |
of Troubled Agency Recovery |
Operations |
N/A |
(New) Field Monitoring and
Evaluation |
|
Division |
N/A |
(New) Coordination
and Compliance |
|
Division |
N/A |
(New) Recovery
and Prevention Corps, |
|
Washington DC |
Public Housing Assessment
System |
Eliminated and functions
merged into |
Operations Division |
Office of Field Operations |
TARC Operations Division |
Eliminated and functions
merged into |
|
Office of Field Operations |
Cleveland Troubled Agency
Recovery |
Dismantled and staff
reassigned to various |
Center |
Office of Public Housing Hub
or Program |
|
Center Offices or the
Recovery and |
|
Prevention Corps |
Memphis Troubled Agency
Recovery |
Dismantled and staff
reassigned to various |
Center |
Office of Public Housing Hub
or Program |
|
Center Offices or the Recovery
and |
|
Prevention Corps |
The
Office of Field Operations Staff and Office of Troubled Agency Recovery
Realignment Plan
I. Purpose
The Office of Public and Indian
Housing (PlH) proposes to restructure the Office of Troubled Agency Recovery (OTAR) and the Field Operations Staff to
provide PIH with concentrated and efficient operations to address the
Department's mission, objectives and its clients. The proposal
is designed to consolidate the functions of the Office of Troubled Agency
Recovery and the Field Operations Staff into one office, the Office
of Field Operations, to improve field-based coordination and program
implementation and oversight.
II. The Current Organization
Office of the Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Troubled Agency Recovery (OTAR)
The fundamental mission of the
Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Troubled Agency Recovery (OTAR) is
to coordinate and support the recovery of troubled Public Housing Agencies
(PHAs), thereby ensuring the provision of decent, safe and affordable housing
for all public housing residents. To effectively fulfill this primary
responsibility, OTAR also has a liaison office to provide close interaction
with the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) on issues effecting troubled PHAs including the Public Housing Assessment System
(PHAS).
Troubled Agency Recovery Centers (TARCs)
OTAR assists troubled Public Housing Agencies (PHAs)
improve performance through the development and implementation sustainable
solutions. To address these needs, .the Troubled Agency Recovery Centers
(TARCs) were created; one in Cleveland, Ohio and the other in Memphis, Tennessee.
A management team that includes a Director, two Deputy Directors, a
Management Information Systems Supervisor, and four Supervisory Public Housing
Revitalization Specialists (PHRS) leads each of these field offices. The TARCs
are responsible for administering specialized technical assistance to PHAs
within. their portfolio and monitor each PHAs progress towards recovery. These
centers lend focus to the recovery process and provide direct support to ensure
sustainable recovery.
The Troubled Agency Recovery headquarters'
staff support the TARCs recovery
efforts by providing guidance in securing technical assistance funds and
contractors, developing training programs, analyzing data on national trends
and recovery strategies, developing policy guidance and materials, and
coordinating issue resolutions between Troubled Agency Recovery and other PIH
functional areas.
The
TARC Directors report to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Troubled Agency
Recovery. Further, the Director of Troubled Agency Recovery Operations, the
Director of PHAS Operations, the Senior Advisor and the Program Assistant
report directly to the DAS for Troubled Agency Recovery. The DAS for Troubled Agency Recovery
reports to the General Deputy Assistant Secretary.
The
remainder of the headquarters staff consists of two Troubled Agency Recovery
Program Managers (1 position is vacant), two PHAS Operations Program Managers,
one Management Analyst, two program analysts (1 position vacant), one Senior
Advisor, and one Staff Assistant. The PHAS Operations Program Managers report
to the Director of PHAS Operations. All other staff reports to the Director of
Troubled Agency Recovery Operations.
The mission of PIH Headquarters Field Operations Staff is to oversee field office Hub and Program Center program administration and implementation and monitor field office resource management and performance. Field Operations also serves as an ombudsmen for the field by representing their interests in Headquarters policy decisions; troubleshooting problems experienced by field staff; coordinating activities that impact the field structure and/or workload and providing direct communication to the field regarding policy and administrative provisions. Field Operations Staff is the Headquarters primary point of contact for the 27 Hubs and 16 Program Centers. As delegated by the Assistant Secretary, the Director, Field Operations Staff directly supervises the 27 Hub Directors and conducts personnel and performance management activities of the Hub Directors.
The
Field Operations Staff is staffed with a Director, eight (8) Desk Officers (1
position is vacant), one (1) Senior Advisor, two (2) Public Housing
Revitalization Specialists, one (1) Program Analyst, one (1) Program Assistant
and one (1) clerk who's term expires September 30, 2002. The Director, reports
directly to the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian
Housing in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
and has direct supervisory responsibility for all 14 staff in Field Operations
listed above and the 27 Field Office Hub Directors.
The
mission of the PIH Field Office Hubs and Program Centers is to coordinate with
all HUD disciplines to support Public Housing Agencies (PHAs), residents and
communities in the efficient and effective delivery of HUD programs, as well as
to protect the investment of the taxpayers and ensure the public trust in the
programs.
The
objective of the Hubs and Program Centers is to ensure the appropriate level of
technical assistance, oversight and
expertise to PHAs. Though Hubs and Program Centers are ultimately accountable
for PHA delivery of programs in accordance with statutes and program
regulations, they target limited resources on a risk management basis to
address the highest risk performance and compliance issues within their
jurisdiction including targeted interventions if necessary. Through the
direction of Department's Annual Performance
Plan and subsequent Management Plan, they coordinate work between themselves
and the management centers and other program disciplines
as necessary, to further ensure responsive to the concerns of the
community in which the PHA operates.
III. The
Proposed Organization
The proposed changes to the
organizational structure are designed to consolidate the functions of the
Office of Troubled Agency Recovery and the Field Operations Staff into one office,
the Office of Field Operations, to improve field-based coordination, program
implementation and oversight.
Under the new structure, the following offices will
be renamed and the functions reassigned to the new offices and/or divisions:
• Field Operations Staff and the Office of Troubled Agency
Recovery will be merged into one office - the Office of Field Operations.
• There will be two divisions under the
Office of Field Operations to coordinate and manage
field office technical assistance and oversight:
l. The Coordination and Compliance Division which will coordinate all planning activities for
the Office of Field Operations, develop and coordinate training activities for
the field and the Office, coordinate the field-based elements of the Management
Plan and Departmental coordination initiatives such as the Quality Management
Review (QMR) program, develop policy for field office program implementation,
manage information related to labor/management issues, manage the Office Web
site, manage contract assistance for troubled and near-troubled agency
technical assistance provision in the field and oversight of troubled and
near-troubled agencies, monitor compliance efforts of PHAs and field procedures
to improve compliance, analyze performance trends and analyze data pertaining
to recovery efforts for Headquarters.
2. The Field Monitoring and
Evaluation Division which will oversee field office performance and evaluate
program implementation by field staff including analysis of field office
performance trends. This Division will coordinate information dissemination to
the field as well as communication from the field to Headquarters, participate
on QMR reviews of field offices as part of
their field monitoring function, coordinate activities impacting field workload,
review field office performance indicators, monitor field office resource
management and oversee Management Plan activities carried out by the field. The Division Director for Field
Monitoring and Evaluation will become the first line supervisor for Field
Office Hub Directors with the Director of Field
Operations becoming the second line supervisor.
• A Deputy Director will report directly to the Director of Field
Operations and supervise the two Division Directors.
• The two
Division Directors will supervise the employees in each Division.
• Public Housing Hub Office Directors will report to the Division
Director of Field Monitoring and Evaluation through their assigned Desk
Officers
• Program Center Coordinators will report to
their assigned Public Housing Hub Office Director.
• The Recovery and Prevention Corps staff will report to the
Coordination and Compliance Division Director.
The Divisions designated under the Office of Field
Operations have responsibilities as follows:
The Coordination and Compliance Division will
develop policy for field office program implementation and oversight of troubled and near-troubled agencies including
management performance programs and compliance efforts, coordinate all administrative and resource management
functions for the Office, develop and coordinate training and other
organizational development and enhancement activities for the field and the
Office, ensure accurate information for the field is available, oversee labor/management
issues that arise in the field, coordinate
field-centered Departmental coordination initiatives such as the Quality
Management Review (QMR) program and the field office Management Plans and
perform analyses of performance trends and oversight activities using available
PIH data systems. The Coordination and Compliance Division will also oversee
the Recovery and Prevention Corps and track and evaluate field office compliance efforts. This
includes the implementation of policies relating to PHA recovery, troubled
agency prevention, the provision of technical assistance and ensuring
regulatory and statutory compliance. This Division would analyze recovery and
prevention data, perform trending analysis, manage all field office compliance
issues and serve as the liaison to
OGC on these issues and monitor technical assistance contracts. In addition, the Division will manage
contracting for independent assessments and technical assistance to meet the
needs of the field offices through the Recovery and Prevention Corps. Eight
existing OTAR and Field Operations Staff members including a Management
Analyst, one of the Public Housing Revitalization Specialists, two Program
Analysts, three Program Managers and one Program Assistant will staff the
positions in this Division.
Field Monitoring and Evaluation
Division
The Field Monitoring and Evaluation Division will
perform general oversight and performance evaluations of Public Housing field
offices. The Division will evaluate program implementation by field staff including analysis of field office
performance trends. The Division will coordinate information dissemination to
the field as well as communication from the field to Headquarters by serving as
ombudsmen for Public Housing field office
issues and concerns. Desk Officer staff in the Field Monitoring and Evaluation
Division will participate on QMR reviews of field offices as part of their
field monitoring function, coordinate activities impacting field workload, conduct field office performance
evaluations, monitor field office resource
management and oversee Management Plan activities carried out by the field. The
Division Director for Field Monitoring and Evaluation will become the first
line supervisor for Field Office Hub Directors with the Director of Field
Operations becoming the second line supervisor. The Division will be staffed
with eight Desk Officers, one Program Analyst and one Program Assistant for
administrative support.
Structure of the Field Offices (Hubs and Program
Centers) -The structure of each Field Office will essentially remain the same.
Except that the responsibility of recovering troubled public housing agencies
will be the responsibility of the respective Hub Director. The Hubs and Program
Centers will receive additional staff in accordance with, each office needs
after examining the workload - the number of PHAs assigned to a particular office, implementation of new
initiatives and the number of PHAS and SEMAP troubled
and near-troubled agencies.1 The Hub Director will utilize the additional staff in the roles best
suited for their skill sets. This may mean that some staff that worked with the
Troubled Agency Recovery Centers in the past will not be utilized in that
fashion in the future. Conversely, staff previously not assigned duties
associated with recovery work over the last four years could be assigned to
participate in recovery efforts. The determination of assignments will be left
to the discretion of the Hub Director
who will consult with interested
parties and experts including staff in the
Office of Field Operations and the Assistant Secretary to receive
recommendations and implement effective staff and resource deployment.
Accompanying this discretion is the responsibility for recovering PHAs within
the statutory prescribed timeframes - a PHA must achieve recovery or
substantially improve its performance within one year of its initial troubled
designation and must recover within two years. Recovery is measured by the
achievement of a passing score on the Department's assessment system. In order
to assist Hub Directors with the recovery efforts, PIH has restructured its
headquarters office as illustrated above. After a housing agency is designated
troubled the Hub Director can seek an independent assessment through the Office
of Field Operations. The Headquarters office staff in the Coordination and
Compliance Division as well as staff within the Recovery and Prevention Corps
will manage the contracting process. Once the independent assessment is
performed, the Hub Director will determine the necessary technical assistance
to effectuate recovery. The Hub Director may utilize his own staff or apply for
a consultant through Field Operations. No matter the methodology to assist a
PHA, that PHA's field office is responsible for the recovery within the
prescribed timeframes.
The Troubled Agency Recovery Centers will be
dismantled and the staff will be
reassigned to Hubs and Program Centers based upon the need. Other staff will be
reassigned to the Recovery and Prevention Corps. The Department will pay all
relocation costs resulting from the reassignments. In order to effectuate the reassignments, there will be
a match program for employees within the Centers to
-----------------------------------
1 The FY 2003 Budget request
supported the need for an additional 272 FTEs within
the Hubs and Program Centers based on a thorough third-party workload analysis and projections of staff
required to implement priority
Departmental efforts such as the Rental Housing Integrity Improvement Program
(RHIIP). The new proposed staffing levels of Hubs and Program Centers are
included with this proposal as Figure
1.
to relocate to an identified
position within a Hub or Program Center Office. Each employee
will be given the opportunity to select his/her position and location. A list
of those positions in the Hubs, Program Centers, and Recovery and Prevention
Corps is attached. The employee will be asked to submit their top three choices
(or more) for reassignment. On a first come first served basis, staff will be
assigned to their selected positions with the approval of the Hub or Program
Center Director. Any staff remaining after the match program will be directly
reassigned based upon need. Only employees that would be required to relocate
as a result of the restructuring are eligible to participate in the match
program. As stated above, staff previously assigned to recovery efforts would
not necessarily be so designated after the reassignment. The Hub Director or
the Program Center Coordinator will determine the duties of each
staff member.
PIH will create a Recovery and Prevention Corps (RPC) to
assist the Hub Directors and Program Center Coordinators
with the recovery of PHAS and SEMAP troubled agencies (346
PHAs identified) and prevention efforts geared toward near-troubled PHAs (Low
Rent and Section 8) to stave off their decline in performance. The Corps will
be located in Washington, DC and consist of 37 employees. The Washington DC
locale will ensure closes coordination with senior management staff in
Headquarters to design and implement effective recovery and prevention
strategies for troubled and near-troubled PHAs. Corps staff will consist of 24
expert recovery staff whose main responsibility is to provide
technical assistance and support at the request of Hub
Directors via the direction of the Office of Field Operations through the
Coordination and Compliance Division, 4 Contract Specialists to facilitate and
monitor the use of Technical Assistance monies to field staff for PHA recovery
and prevention efforts and. 9 managerial or administrative Support staff.
A Director will lead the Recovery Corps and there will be
two Recovery Team Division Directors and one Contracting Division Director. A
Program Analyst, a Management Information Specialist and a Program Assistant
will report directly to the RPC Director. Two Program
Assistants will report to a respective Recovery Team Division Director and will
provide administrative and program support to the Divisions. Each Recovery Team
Division will have four teams, each team composed of a PHRS, a Financial
Analyst and a Facilities Management specialist. The Contracting Division will
have four Contract Specialists to facilitate and monitor technical assistance
contracts. Some of the Corps resources could be out stationed in other
locations other than the RPC base office but all will be mobile and ready for
deployment in a short period of time.
The RPC would be available to support the Hubs and
Program Centers for major PHA recovery efforts when the respective
Hub Director determines local resources are unavailable or inadequate to effectively
improve troubled PHA performance. However, the RPC will have a routine
workload of providing coordinated training to field staff in recovery
and prevention efforts; implementing new monitoring or technical
assistance initiatives before full field mobilization such as the Rental
Housing Integrity Improvement monitoring program, Moving to Work or other
demonstration programs and enhanced compliance and PHA
ethics training or technical assistance; and developing
performance contracts and evaluation tools for measuring PHA recovery and
evaluating successful recovery and prevention procedures for dissemination to
all field offices. The RPC can provide assistance to Hubs and Program Centers
as requested to the extent of full resource utilization in areas such as
performing initial on-site assessments; SEMAP confirmatory reviews;
developing Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs); Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) and
Improvement Plans (IPs); developing enforcement actions and performing
assessments of PIH programs. Other assistance the RPC may provide includes
developing SOWs, providing contract oversight, on-site technical assistance to
PHAs and training to Hub and Program Center staff on recovery techniques.
After an agency is designated
PHAS or SEMAP troubled, the Hub Director can request
the assistance of the RPC through their Desk Officer who will coordinate with
the Field Operations' Coordination and Compliance Division Director if he or
she does not have the current staff capacity or expertise to successfully
recover the troubled PHA. The Hub Director may need specific expertise in one
area of PHA management or may have all available expert staff assigned to other
troubled PHAs thereby requiring his or her need for immediate additional
resources. The RPC will also provide support to Field Offices by handling
contracting activities for Technical Assistance (IQCs, etc.,) for troubled
and near-troubled PHAs.
Based upon the Hub Director's request, staff from the RFC will be
"contracted in" and deployed. Although the Corps is a direct
resource to assist the Hub Directors, the recovery
of the PHA is still the responsibility of the Hub Director by virtue of the Hub
Director "contracting in" the needed services through
the Coordination and Compliance Division in Headquarters. The management
of all requests will be handled through Headquarters
and monitored by the Director of Field Operations.
This specialized group provides a sorely needed resource
to the field offices and takes advantage of the "lessons learned"
and training provided to the TARC staff. It addresses the issues raised
by the OIG Audit of the Memphis TARC by ensuring
full utilization of staff through the routine work assignments as
explained above. It also provides for the use of expert staff to be immediately
deployed at the request of the Field Office Hub Directors to augment their
resources for recovery efforts. Oftentimes a field office does not have a large
number of staff and is not able to dedicate the necessary number of staff to
effectuate the recovery. In addition, the location of troubled PHAs
change from year to year. If staff were deployed based on the number of PHAs
and troubled PHAs assigned to a field office then they would
have to be reassigned every year to make sure staff are located where there is
a need. With this new resource and its mobility, recovery issues could be
addressed quickly and efficiently.
It is expected that over time the number of troubled
agencies will diminish. Therefore, PM will re-evaluate the size and
function of the Recovery Corps every two years. RPC staff may provide technical
assistance to near troubled agencies time permitting and/or focus on
"hot" or high priority efforts as needs arise.
In addition
to providing technical assistance, independent assessments and technical
assistance contracts will be managed by the Corps. The TARCs have dedicated
staff experienced in this area whose skills and expertise will smoothly
transfer to this function. These employees will be reassigned to the Corps to
provide the same services to all field offices. The same applies to the MIS
staff person that would provide specialized support and technical assistance in
this area to Field Offices and PHAs, as needed.
IV. Article 5 Requirements
(a) Name, grade, title and position of affected
bargaining unit employees: See both the attached proposed and current
staffing plans
(b) Impact, if any, upon upward mobility
and/or career ladder positions: None
(c) Employees
who will have a different first or second line supervisor as a result of the
reorganization:
As noted in the attached organization charts, the current Field Operations
Staff Desk Officers and Hub Directors will report to the Division Director for
Field Monitoring and Evaluation and the current Office of Troubled Agency
Recovery staff will report to the Division Director for Coordination and Compliance.
All TARC staff will report to a Hub Director, Program Center Coordinator
or the Director of the Recovery and Prevention Corps as determined through the
relocation match program.
(d) Impact, if any, upon employee's receipt of performance
rating;
There will be no impact upon employee's receipt of performance rating.
(e)
Copies
of position descriptions for new positions if different from current position:
Existing position descriptions will be used for staff reassigned to Hubs and
Program Centers. New position descriptions will be created for Recovery and
Prevention Corps staff. A draft of those position descriptions will be sent
under separate cover.
(f)
Names
of any employees detailed in connection with the reorganization: No
employees are being detailed in connection with the reorganization.
(g)
Any
new positions created as a result of the reorganization: New positions
created by this reorganization include:
Director, Office of Field Operations;
Deputy Director, Office of Field Operations;
Division Director, Office of Field
Operations Coordination and Compliance
Division;
Division Director, Office of Field Operations Field Monitoring and Evaluation
Division;
Special Assistant to the Director, Office of field
Operations Director, Recovery and Prevention Corps;
Division Directors for Recovery Team I and II, Recovery and Prevention
Corps;
Contracting Division Director, Recovery and
Prevention Corps;
Contract Specialists (4), Contracting Division, Recovery and Prevention Corps.
(h) Names of
any employees who will be downgraded or separated as a result of the
reorganization:
No employees will be
downgraded or separated as a result of this reorganization.
(i) Names of any employees who will be
moved as a result of the reorganization: A final list of names of bargaining
unit staff who will be moved as a result of the reorganization will not be
determined until the completion of the relocation match program. Once
completed, that information will be provided as requested.
(j)
Copy of before and after organization charts:
See attached charts.