Dothan Housing Spoke at the 2024 Moving to Work (MTW) Conference & Awarded $10 million in Housing Choice Voucher Funding

Dothan Housing New Landlord Incentives Postcard

Dr. Threatt_MTW Landlord Incentives Panelist

Dothan Housing Landlord Rental Rehab Program

Dothan Housing recently launched the Rental Rehab Program through a Partnership with the City of Dothan to Revitalize Neighborhoods as a New Landlord Incentive

DOTHAN, AL, UNITED STATES, June 24, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Dothan Housing’s significant impact at the 2024 Moving to Work (MTW) Conference, particularly during the Landlord Incentives Panel, is a testament to its innovative strategies. The agency’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dr. Michael C. Threatt, a beacon of Dothan Housing’s success, represented the organization during the MTW Expansion Roundtable: Cohort #3 Landlord Incentives at the 2024 MTW Conference in Washington, DC. As an MTW Expansion Agency, Dothan Housing stands tall amongst the country’s top 4% of PHAs (i.e., 139 PHAs out of 3200).

Dr. Threatt’s invaluable research has played a pivotal role in shaping Dothan Housing’s strategies and driving its success. His recommendations, incorporated into Dothan Housing’s MTW Landlord Incentives application and supplement plans, have positioned the agency as a leader in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. This is evident from the $10 million funding announcement for the agency and its HCV Program. Dr. Threatt’s research, rooted in evidence-based practices, has inspired the agency and instilled confidence in its stakeholders about its future initiatives.

Dothan Housing’s Innovative Landlord Incentives

While the rest of the country loses 10,000 landlords annually, Dothan Housing has added 130 new units and 65 new landlords to its HCV Program over the past two years. Dothan Housing’s initiatives have significantly expanded housing opportunities for voucher holders to live in high-opportunity neighborhoods through landlord monetary incentives and nonmonetary incentives.

The landlords’ monetary incentives include signing bonuses, security deposits, damage claims, application fees, vacancy payments, renter’s insurance, direct deposit, and the new rental rehab program (i.e., pays up to $15,000 for a rehab). The nonmonetary incentives include the landlord portal, the latest online Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA), the Certified Renter Program (Ready to Rent), and the Landlord Liaison position.

According to the recently published first interim report, HUD highlighted that 44% of the MTW Landlord Incentive Cohort PHAs had a landlord liaison on staff. Dothan Housing is still Alabama’s only public housing authority (PHA) with a landlord liaison position. During the MTW Landlord Incentive Cohort panel discussion, Dr. Threatt explained the importance of having this position on the staff and how it has been essential in the success of Dothan Housing’s HCV Program.

The agency is proud to see highlights of its conversation with the Abt Global researchers regarding how “landlord liaisons listen to landlords’ issues, opinions, and concerns regarding the bureaucratic red tape” in HUD’s Policy Development & Research (PD&R) First Interim Report for the Moving to Work Landlord Incentives Cohort. Dothan Housing is excited about the landlord research with HUD’s PD&R coming to fruition as the HCV Program celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Dothan Housing Celebrates the HCV Program’s 50th Anniversary

Speaking of policymakers and the HCV Program celebrating 50 years, Dothan Housing proudly recognizes Alabama Senator John Sparkman, who introduced the Housing and Community Development Act as S. 3066 on February 27, 1974. Later, President Gerald Ford signed the bill into law on August 22, 1974. This housing policy catalyzed the paradigm shift to increase affordable housing options in the community through public-private partnerships with landlords. Like Senator Sparkman, Dothan Housing believes in the power of housing legislation to help “cut the red tape” of HUD programs such as the HCV Program.

Dothan Housing is proud that policymakers are leveraging the research and proven success of Dothan Housing’s MTW Landlord Incentives Cohort to drive housing policy reform, such as the Choice in Affordable Housing Act. The PHA also believes this legislation would be a massive win for all PHAs in Alabama, those in the Wiregrass Metro Area (WMA), and around the country. The Choice in Affordable Housing Act provides bonus funding for PHAs with landlord liaisons on their staff.

HCV Funding Announcement benefits Dothan Housing and SEACH Merger

The $10 million in HCV funding is not just a financial boost for Dothan Housing but will allow the PHA to flex its muscles as an MTW Agency with its funding flexibility. Dothan Housing’s MTW designation encourages innovation and funding flexibility. This will enhance the recent merger with the agency’s new nonprofit Continuum of Care (CoC), the Southeast Alabama Coalition for the Homeless (SEACH), to provide homeless services and rapid rehousing in the five counties of Houston, Geneva, Dale, Henry, and Coffee.

SEACH provides homeless services in the same five counties, whereas Dothan Housing provides housing vouchers under the Wiregrass Regional Voucher Program (WRVP). Housing Vouchers are the most effective intervention to reduce homelessness and housing instability. We are humbled to have the best of both worlds under one roof as a Moving to Work (MTW) Landlord Incentives Cohort #3 Expansion Agency and as a new HUD-approved Continuum of Care (CoC) under SEACH, said Samuel P. Crawford, CEO at Dothan Housing. The merger will allow Dothan Housing to apply its MTW flexibility and Special Purpose Vouchers (SPVs) to address homelessness in the region.

Some of these SPVs include:

• Shelter Plus Care (S+C) for mental health and homeless individuals

• Family Stability Vouchers (FSVs)/ Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs) for individuals who are homeless, fleeing, or attempting to flee, victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability, and veterans

• Family Unification Program (FUP)/ Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) for youth aging out of foster care

• Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) for veterans

• Mainstream Voucher Program (MVP)/ Non-Elderly Disabled (NED) for non-elderly persons with disabilities

• Housing Opportunities for People Living with AIDS (HOPWA) for individuals with HIV/AIDS

Community Preservation & Revitalization (CPR) Initiative

Dothan Housing is also excited about launching the new Rental Rehab Program by partnering with the City of Dothan to revitalize neighborhoods as a new landlord incentive. This program will help Dothan Housing continue its efforts to revitalize the Baptist Bottom neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods through its Community Preservation & Revitalization (CPR) initiative and living up to its slogan, “breathing life back into the community.” This initiative will be a catalyst for the agency’s nonprofit community development corporation, Our Community, Inc., to increase housing options.

Jamie Bienvenu
Dothan Housing
+1 334-794-6713
[email protected]
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Instagram
YouTube

Dothan Housing, SEACH collaborating to end homelessness