Evaluation of Housing Assistance Plans. Volume IV: The Adequacy of HAP (Housing Assistance Plan) Content and Design

摘要

This evaluation examined all Housing Assistance Plan (HAP) documents filed with HUD to determine the adequacy of the form used and the type of community response it inspired. Most communities genuinely attempted to comply with HAP requirements. Most prepared data describing local conditions, provided documentation, and developed local program goals. However, many communities failed to complete specific data matrices because the data either were not available or were not available in the form requested by the HAP. Failure to provide methodology documentation was widespread, particularly documentation of the data source for each cell and the structure of local surveys used. Except for larger cities, communities presented scant documentation for goal priorities. There were few violations of the 10 percent rule holding beneficiary composition of total goals proportional to total assistance needs but many communities proposed new construction in spite of rental vacancy rates above 6 percent. The HAP document itself is criticized for containing many meaningless cells, for failing to ask about overcrowded units and other significant information, and for confronting the municipality with confusing columns of totals and subtotals. Because it is a static document it fails to elicit data about changing conditions. Because data collection methods are not comparable, it cannot be used to provide aggregate totals. The general instructions and guidelines are also called confusing. Statistical tables, copies of completed HAP's, and other supporting data are included.