HUD News: New Resources for Multifamily FSS Materials (RHIIP Listserv Posting #455)
On January 12, 2021, HUD sent the following email to its RHIIP Tips mailing list:
RHIIP Listserv Posting #455
January 12, 2021
New Resources: Multifamily FSS Materials
HUD is pleased to announce the release of new resources for multifamily property owners and management agents on how to design, launch, and manage a Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program.
FSS is a HUD program that provides incentives and supports to help families living in multifamily assisted housing increase their earned income and reduce their dependence on public assistance programs.
Newly available resources include:
- Resources from the 2020 Technical Assistance Training Curriculum: Discover a comprehensive curriculum to launch your multifamily FSS program. This curriculum includes a series of six webinars, a program launch roadmap, and a self-assessment tool that will help you design, launch, and manage your program.
- Escrow Administration: Explore a suite of tools and guidance that will support you to plan, manage, and account for escrow savings generated by participants in the FSS program.
- Program Design and Administration: Delve into newly posted resources that will help you operate your FSS program, including an overview of the financial coaching and the employment-focused program models, and a series of foundational coaching strategies.
For more information and resources for Multifamily FSS, please visit the Multifamily Housing FSS page on the HUD Exchange.
CMS Takeaways:
What does this mean for you? If you are an Owner/Agent and have been thinking about the possibility of incorporating the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, the resources HUD has provided showcase the beginning steps to begin the program as well as explore if the FSS program is the right fit for your property.
If you are unsure of what the Family Self-Sufficiency Program is and are interested in learning more, visit the Multifamily Housing FSS Home Page. There you can watch a video explaining the program as well as review the program guidebook.
About RHIIP:
The Rental Housing Integrity Improvement Project (RHIIP) is in response to one item on the President’s Management Agenda. The objective of RHIIP is to reduce errors in the administration of HUD’s rental assistance funds by taking actions that better assure the “right benefits go to the right persons.” To help obtain that objective, HUD has created the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) System for Multifamily Housing Program Users.
Chapter 9 of the HUD Multifamily Occupancy Handbook, 4350.3 REV-1, describes in detail the requirements for using the information in the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system for verifying employment and income of tenants and for reducing administrative and subsidy errors.
For more information and to join the mailing list, visit the RHIIP Initiative page HERE.