U.5. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Washington, D.C, 20410-5000

AUG 19 2002

 

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:

Office of Field Operations

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.

 

Field Operations Staff

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.

 

Office of Public Housing Field Office Hub and Program Center Offices

 

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:

 

Coordination and Compliance Division

 

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.

 

 

Hub and Program Center Field Offices

 

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.

Troubled Agency Recovery Centers

 

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.

The Recovery and Prevention Corps

 

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.