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Over one hundred affordable housing executives, and policy and program experts, foundations and federal agency officials gathered on April 17 and 18, 2007, to hear experts discuss their perspectives on challenges in financing family resident services in family affordable housing. The ultimate goal of the symposium was to reach consensus among affordable housing development leaders on a realistic -- but bold policy agenda for achieving sustainable funding for family resident services.
Symposium speakers included
- Doris Koo, Enterprise Community Partners CEO
- Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks
- Ralph Boyd, Chair of the Freddie Mac Foundation
- Jim Kelly, CEO of Providence Community Housing and Catholic Charities in New Orleans
- Paul Brophy, Enterprise Trustee, was the facilitator
- Marilyn Melkonian spoke about her private sector experience in providing and vision for family resident services
- Dee Walsh discussed her challenges in delivering and financing housing-based family services
- Ron Ashford who oversees resident services funding at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Gary King who heads the Connecticut Housing Finance Agency and executives of large nonprofit developers including National Church Residences, The Community Builders and Community Preservation
and Development.
Recommendations of the affordable housing leaders at the conference included:
- Effective strategies for systems change to improve access to services dollars; to underwrite for resident services in new housing operating budgets; and to create new federal and state funding for family resident services.
- Expansion of current federal resident services funding for resident services coordination to include developments financed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits; and creation of a federal demonstration program to prove impact of services on families and property performance; and/or create a new federal funding program.
- Options for the affordable housing industry to increase funds for services by lowering capital costs, aggregating management of assets locally, and accessing underutilized federal funding for services.
Enterprise received enthusiastic, positive feedback from symposium participants and will work with the National Resident Services Collaborative to build on the momentum created at the policy symposium to advance policies and practices for effective resident services for families in affordable housing.
Enterprise’s next steps include:
- Developing a summary of the symposium to share with participants and the community development field through the Enterprise website and the National Collaborative website.
- Working with the National Resident Services Collaborative to review the symposium’s recommendations and developing a policy agenda and advocacy strategy that will guide its work over the next several years.
- Research on the Impact of Family Services (PDF, 24K). This paper discusses the challenges and possibilities for measuring the impact of family services on both the families served and on the housing property's performance.
- Federal Services Funding and Partnerships for Family Resident Services (PDF, 31K): This group discussion paper summarizes programs that nonprofit housing organizations have used to help support the cost of resident services.
- Federal Policy Options for Expanding Support for Family Services Coordination (PDF, 28k): This discussion group paper briefly describes several options for expanding direct federal support for offering family resident services.
- Report on State Policies Related to Resident Services for Families Financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (PDF, 20K). This discussion group paper presents a summary review of 23 state housing Qualified Allocation Plans for 2006 and their allocations that support family resident services in properties financed with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
- Point Incentives and Requirements under LIHTC QAP for Family Resident Services in Affordable Housing in Selected States (PDF, 32K). This table breaks out the resident-services related incentives offered by states' in their Qualified Allocation Plans for the Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
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