Friday, June 4, 2010

HCD Recognized With Two National Awards

The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has received two 2010 Awards of Merit from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). The awards recognize the Tenant Collection and Cash Management Process and the successful Partnership for Permanent Housing (PPH) Program. 

NAHRO’s Award of Merit is designed to give national recognition to innovative housing and community development projects, programs, and services provided by NAHRO agency members throughout the country; to provide additional opportunities to inform the public of the best in housing and community development; and to create a resource bank of information on significant innovative activities performed by housing and redevelopment agencies and community development departments.

Partnership for Permanent Housing (PPH)
Fairfax County’s Partnership for Permanent Housing (PPH) is a successful model for moving homeless households into permanent housing and homeownership. It is a public-private partnership between the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development and Department of Family Services and three local non-profits: Northern Virginia Family Service, New Hope Housing and Reston Interfaith. 

The objective of PPH is to assist homeless families living in shelters address challenges that can prevent them from attaining stable housing and self-sufficiency with the ultimate goal of moving participating families into homeownership.  A variety of services and a caseworker provide individual attention to each family to help them overcome the barriers that led to homelessness and may prevents them from self-sufficiency. PPH serves as a component to Fairfax County’s overall Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness within ten years. Twenty-five families participate and two have successfully graduated to date.

Tenant Collection and Cash Management Process
In 2008, HCD implemented a new Tenant Collection and Cash Management Process to replace procedures that had been in place for forty years. This predominantly manual processing of approximately 1,800 monthly rent payments had involved four staff persons, considerable hours and delayed customer service. The new automated procedure has significantly improved customer service, improved efficiency by utilizing state-of-the-art imaging technology, enhanced internal controls over cash management, reduced delinquent tenant receivable accounts, and increased the timeliness of collections.

The new process has resulted in a savings of approximately 264 staff hours equaling $7,000 per month in staff time.  The values added by this new process are a quicker depositing of checks, reduced float time, increased collections, the automation of manual interfaces, and the availability of scanned images of checks to staff members that enhances their research ability for tenant inquiries.