MTW News
Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority Selected for Admission to the Moving to Work (MTW) Program
On Friday, May 7, 2021, The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) selected Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA) for admission to the Moving to Work (MTW) program. MTW is a demonstration program for public housing authorities (PHAs) that provides them the opportunity to create and test locally designed strategies that use federal dollars more efficiently, helps residents find employment and become self-sufficient, and increases housing choices for low-income families. MTW allows PHAs exemptions from many existing public housing and voucher rules and provides funding flexibility among various HUD programs. AMHA is hoping to pioneer a number of policy interventions that demonstrate success at the local level and will subsequently roll out to the rest of the country’s housing authorities.
“[AMHA is] joining a select group of industry leaders that have created innovative local housing programs to such an extent that their experience in the MTW Demonstration Program has led to positive changes in the entire affordable housing industry,” stated General Deputy Assistant Secretary Dominique Bloom in the MTW award letter.
AMHA began the application process in June 2019. Over the last two years, AMHA has held discussions with community partners and public meetings with residents and participants to formulate an application for the demonstration program.
“This selection truly recognizes at a national level the decades of success at AMHA,” said Brian Gage, AMHA Executive Director. “Moving to Work flexibilities will make AMHA an incubator for innovation and opportunity for our families in Summit County and across the country.”
Through the MTW program, AMHA will implement rent reform to increase efficiency and make the rent calculation process easier to understand for participants. A randomly selected portion of eligible households will utilize the new rent calculation process in which AMHA will group households by their income into tiers. Each household in the tier will pay the same rent portion and will only have to undergo an income reexamination every three years rather than annually. Elderly and disabled households will not be part of the rent reform changes, and hardship policies will be in place for households that experience a decrease in their income.
AMHA envisions a MTW Program that reduces administrative burdens and costs, and ultimately enhances the quality of housing and services that empower residents to reach their full potential. More flexible regulations in spending allowances permits MTW agencies to do their jobs more efficiently, creating cost savings to the agency. These savings can then be reallocated to address the needs specific to Summit County and to collaborate with organizations to provide programs or services most needed by our participants.
