Four Housing Agencies Chosen for HUD’s Moving to Work Program

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan recently announced that public housing agencies in Columbus, Ga.; Fairfax, Va.; Holyoke, Mass.; and Reno, Nev. have been selected to participate in HUD’s Moving to Work (MTW) program.

HUD selected these housing agencies for this innovative program that Congress authorized in 1996 through a competitive process. The MTW program is designed to provide local housing authorities with added flexibility to create and test innovative strategies to use federal funding more efficiently to assist families either living in public housing or who are assisted through HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. Congress authorized four additional designations in 2011 and 2010.

HUD’s MTW program has given selected housing agencies the opportunity to create and study original, locally developed housing and self-sufficiency strategies that encourage public housing or HCV families to become self-sufficient. The recently selected housing agencies will join 35 others across the U.S. that have flexibility to use their federal funds to help families “move to work” by providing incentives such as job training and educational programs that lead to employment and, ultimately, self-sufficiency. The agencies were selected from among a dozen that applied for MTW designation earlier this year. Ultimately, the program aims to make HUD’s largest rental assistance programs more cost effective, while providing families with children more housing choices and incentives to move toward economic self-sufficiency.