PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENTS

HOMEConnecticut Explores Reforms, Talks to Town Officials
Towns Express Interest in Housing Affordability
HOMEConnecticut’s Legislative/Policy subcommittee has embarked on an effort to identify and remove regulatory and administrative roadblocks that have delayed and ultimately deterred developers from creating housing affordable to workers and families in Connecticut. The subcommittee heard Friday from Massachusetts attorney Jonathan M. Cosco about his state’s comprehensive permitting process. Under Massachusetts law, municipalities provide developers with a “one-stop” review for all key local permits. The subcommittee is also reviewing Connecticut judicial procedures and executive permitting to determine if there are incentives or other means to hasten the permitting process.

Meanwhile, municipal officials and local groups in another set of municipalities, ranging from Suffield to Kent, have sought information in recent weeks and asked HOMEConnecticut to speak to groups of residents and planning and zoning officials about the state’s housing needs and the policy alternatives being developed by the campaign. Inquires may be directed to David Fink, policy director of the Partnership for Strong Communities, 860/244-0066, david@ctpartnershiphousing.com

HOMEConnecticut is the statewide campaign aimed at increasing the stock of affordable housing in Connecticut.  The campaign was created to preserve the quality of life and the strong, competitive economy that has distinguished Connecticut, but which is now threatened by a dramatic lack of housing affordable to working families and individuals.  The Campaign has received grants of support from TD BancNorth, RBS National Corporation, Webster Financial and the Melville Charitable Trust to fund the research, outreach and advocacy. 

For more information about the campaign: www.HOMEConnecticut.org.

Advocates Press Homelessness Fight: Hohler Delivers Stirring Address
More than 30 Connecticut housing advocates, service providers, non-profit developers and residents attended the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) annual conference July 17-19 in Washington to push for additional support in the effort to expand supportive housing and other services to end chronic homelessness.

On the morning of July 17, prior to the conference, the Partnership for Ending Long-Term Homelessness (PELTH) convened a funders’ forum entitled, “Solving the Problem of Homelessness: Philanthropy and Government in Action.”  Robert Hohler, executive director of the Melville Charitable Trust, gave the keynote address in which he told the audience, “It’s government leadership and government investment in housing and services that will end homelessness.  Philanthropy can play a vital brokering, leveraging, modeling role.  Most importantly, philanthropy can provide the voice, be a source of knowledge and a guide.”  Go to www.endlongtermhomelessness.org for more information.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the keynote address on the afternoon of July 17 that opened the conference.  Bloomberg spoke of his administration’s commitment to create 12,000 units of supportive housing that is part of his five-year plan to end chronic homelessness in New York City.  Of the city’s chronically homeless, he said “Humanely, respectfully and firmly, we’ll work to get these men and women to enter supportive housing, enroll in treatment programs or go into shelters.”

On the afternoon of July 19, Kate Kelly, Reaching Home Campaign coordinator and Tony Bonetti, Project Director at the CT Coalition to End Homelessness led Connecticut attendees in visits the offices of the Connecticut congressional delegation to lobby on moving the proposed SELHA (Services Ending Long Term Homelessness) legislation, increasing McKinney-Vento funding, and other issues highlighted by NAEH.  Advocates met with Representatives Robert Simmons, with whom they had a very successful meeting, and Christopher Shays and the staffs of Representative Nancy Johnson and Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman. 

Lyceum Hosts Center for Community Summer Program Display
The paintings and drawings of talented participants in the Center for Community’s “Summer Seeds” program will show their work and perform at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, in a special event at The Lyceum.

“Summer Seeds: Growing Community Together,” is the theme of a summer program being run by The Center for Community at Billings Forge, an initiative of the Partnership. The program serves elementary school-aged children and takes place Mondays through Fridays through August 4.  Students are residents of Billings Forge and the surrounding neighborhood.

The program features regular field trips to the 4H Learning Center at Auer Farm, Real Art Ways,  the Broad Street and Laurel Street Community Gardens  and the greenhouses at Knox Parks Foundation.  Children are practicing organic gardening, studying dance, exploring the Frog Hollow neighborhood, painting and drawing.  The Center for Community is an initiative of the Partnership for Strong Communities.

STATEWIDE DEVELOPMENTS

DECD Invites Trust Fund Proposals
The Department of Economic and Community Development has $6,246,178 for site-specific activities to develop or preserve affordable housing to be funded by the state’s Housing Trust Fund. A Request For Proposal (RFP) has been issued. Applications are due at 4 p.m. Aug. 21. Information about the RFP can be found at www.das.state.ct.us/purchase/agency or by e-mailing deborah.russo@po.state.ct.us.

CT Awarded Harvard’s Innovations Commendation
On July 10, Harvard University's Ash Institute of Government announced that the State of Connecticut's Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative is the winner of this year's 2006 Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations Award in Affordable Housing.  The initiative is one of only seven winners of the award, which comes with a $100,000 prize.  Over 1,000 programs from across the country submitted applications.  The Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative's application was submitted by Connecticut's Office of Policy and Management (OPM.)

The Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative has been a core component of the growing momentum of the Connecticut's supportive housing movement.  Since 2001, the Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative has created 424 new units of permanent supportive housing and an additional 235 units will be created.  When the Pilots Initiative is fully complete there will be 659 units. 

The Reaching Home Campaign has a goal of creating 10,000 units of permanent supportive housing in Connecticut by 2013.  The Innovations award will give the State of Connecticut, the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and the Reaching Home Campaign opportunities to highlight the innovative work being done to end homelessness in Connecticut.

Connecticut's Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative invests in housing and services for families and individuals experiencing long-term homelessness.  Connecticut's OPM has created an innovative, collaborative approach to financing and creating supportive housing, as a means of ending long-term homelessness.  It implements a cost-effective model that demonstrably cuts clients' dependence on medical, mental health, criminal justice and other public services.  Supportive housing combines decent, safe, affordable apartments with individualized health, employment and other support services.  It is a proven and effective method of reintegrating families and individuals with chronic health challenges into the community by addressing their basic needs for housing and on-going support. 

In 2000, the State of Connecticut, under the leadership of OPM, and CSH, launched an ambitious new initiative designed to produce new supportive housing units, extend the reach of supportive housing to new communities and increase the number of nonprofits providing supportive housing at the local level.  CSH, OPM, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), the Department of Social Services (DSS), the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Pilots Initiative that secured interagency agreement on the roles, responsibilities and commitments of the agencies in the supportive housing program, and outlined the process for the funding.  CSH was instrumental in developing the MOU and facilitating the collaboration that led to the success of the Pilots Initiative. 

Supportive Housing in Connecticut involves five different state agencies and has forged new and productive relationships among them and among the forty-plus community groups who help implement the program locally.  Anne Foley of Connecticut's OPM encourages other social service agencies to work with offices like hers to launch supportive housing initiatives.  "Budget officers love cost savings" she said. "We have every reason to facilitate inter-agency collaboration that benefits our bottom line."

The winners will be formally announced this evening at a dinner event in Washington, D.C.  A television show featuring the Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative and the other award winners will air on PBS sometime next year.  The Innovations in American Government Awards, founded in 1986, is a program of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The award is administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government in Washington. The prize money is awarded specifically to support winning programs in the teaching of their model to other jurisdictions. 

For more information on the Innovations in American Government program and this year's winners, visit www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu or www.excelgov.org.

FEDERAL DEVELOPMENTS

OFHEO Director Pushes for Enactment of GSE Bill in Senate
James Lockhart, the new head of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, appears to be working toward a compromise on  the Senate bill that would enable it to come to the Senate floor for a vote possibly in July, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. OFHEO regulates the housing GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In a number of recent press interviews, Lockhart has voiced support for changes in the Senate bill surrounding the portfolio issue that might bring the bill to the Senate floor. The bill is stalled over language that would regulate the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s portfolios. In an article in the American Banker of July 7, Lockhart said, “We need a little more flexibility around the portfolio, because that is the key issue.” He has not given any indication of how large the portfolios should be but has said that they should be large enough to allow the GSEs to carry out their responsibilities as mortgage investors in expanding the mortgage market as well as increasing housing opportunities for low-income families.

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL) continues to express interest in moving the bill. In an article in the American Banker of July13, Shelby said the committee has a lot of confidence in Lockhart’s views and will listen to his suggestions. But Shelby has not indicated that there is any compromise under discussion and continues to state that any legislation establishing a new regulator must be meaningful.

In a June 29 letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), the American Bankers Association expressed support for moving the Senate GSE legislation. While the ABA letter did not take a position on the controversial portfolio issue, the ABA stated that it is important for the GSEs to be governed by a responsible, independent and respected regulator and urged Senator Frist to schedule Senate action on the bill.

Resources Available

American Housing Survey Data
On June 30, HUD released the 2005 American Housing Survey National Public Use Microdata. The published tables are expected to be released shortly. These data contain results from a new set of questions on income that ask about the non-wage income of individuals within each household. Previously, the household’s non-wage income was collected by a single question. This was done so that incomes in the AHS might more closely match the Current Population Survey and American Community Survey, particularly in the reporting of non-wage income. Also, the new questions allow users to break out disability-related income, which should facilitate identifying households with a disabled member.

Users should be aware these data will likely be updated often in the first few months as users discover problems. The data and supporting documentation can be found at: www.huduser.org/datasets/ahs/ahsdata05.html.

HUD Offering Emergency Repair Grants
HUD is offering $30 million in grants on a first-come-first-served basis to help with emergency repairs for nonprofit-owned multifamily projects that have elderly residents. Grants of up to $500,000 will be awarded. They are for HUD's 202's, 221(d) and 236 projects and Sec 515. More information may be obtained at http://hudclips.org/sub_nonhud/cgi/pdf/4745.pdf

FHLBB To Offer Web Seminar on New Markets Tax Credits
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston will offer a web seminar on New Markets Tax Credits Aug. 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at no charge. The registration deadline is Aug. 1.

The New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program provides a tax incentive for community development lenders and the capital markets to invest in areas that have historically experienced poor access to capital. Specifically designed to bring private investment capital to commercial enterprises in low-income communities, the NMTC program allocates investment authority through competitive application rounds and provides a specific allocation of tax credits for purchase by eligible investors. To date, the program has awarded $12 billion.

Developed and taught by the National Development Council (NDC), topics will include the structure of NMTC transactions, project performance, and benefits realized by investors, lenders, and communities. The web seminar will also review how the Bank’s Community Development advances may be used to fund commercial loans in these transactions.

All that is needed to participate in the webinar is a computer with internet access, a web browser, and a speaker telephone. Please register today for this important educational opportunity. A copy of the program agenda is attached.  The New Markets Tax Credits Course Book noted in the agenda will be made available to registrants prior to the event. You may register online for the session at www.fhlbboston.com/events. If you have any questions or require technical assistance, please contact the housing and community investment staff at 1-888-424-3863.

The LISC Online Resource Library eNewsletter is sent via email approximately once a month to inform registrants about new resources and upcoming events.  To see archived issues or to subscribe (free) - http://www.lisc.org/resources/enews/.  LISC’s eNewsletter is packed with policy updates, links to information on best practices in housing and community development, notices of funding availability, upcoming events and webconferences, and more.

The Partnership’s website now features the following items:

• Fact Sheets – Several fact sheets have been posted on the site, including information on the recent economic study by Donald Klepper-Smith, data on the recent rise in housing costs in relation to wages, occupations that can’t afford housing in Connecticut, the outmigration of young people from Connecticut due to high housing costs, and more.  Click “Fact Sheets” on the left side.
• Upcoming Legislative Events – For committee hearings and meetings related to housing, homelessness and community development see “Legislation/Policy”.
• Partnership Legislative Testimony – For written testimony by Partnership staff presented for committee hearings see “Legislation/Policy.”