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Delaware State Wide Association of Tenants October 4, 1999 Susan Frank, Director RE: Moving to Work Annual Plan for FY00 Dear Ms. Frank: We are writing to you in order to comment on the Moving to Work Annual Plan for FY00. We carefully reviewed the Plan and provide these comments and questions regarding our concerns, opinions and suggestions. Since we plan to attend the hearing on Wednesday, October 6, 1999 at 6 p.m., we hope that you will be able to respond to these matters at that time. The mission of the Delaware Statewide Association of Tenants is to unite all Delaware tenants under one umbrella organization as one voice. We believe that for some time now, the voices of Delaware tenants have not been heard in this State. It is our goal to make this voice heard so that tenants may have a seat at the table when decisions which affect their lives are made. The Association of Tenants is committed to the principle of moving subsidized housing tenants to the final goal of self-sufficiency and home ownership. We believe that we, the tenants need assistance in our efforts to secure employment which will help us to realize this goal. However, we maintain that a proper foundation of support must be laid before we, the tenants can secure gainful employment and move on to self sufficiency and homeownership. While making these often radical changes in our lifestyles to move toward these goals, tenants need to understand that the housing that we are living in is stable and not at risk. As we work towards independence we need predictability in our housing in such areas as rent and budgeting. In addition, we also require security in our family and neighborhood environments and in the schools and day care providers where our children go each day. After careful review of the Annual Plan, we question the commitment of DSHA to provide this foundation and support to the tenants engaged in Moving To Work. It is clear that tenants in DSHA subsidized housing will need more than just words to prepare us for self-sufficiency. We, the tenants will need both a greater commitment of resources from DSHA, as well as taking clearer responsibility should the tenants not receive the resources that are required. We note in the Annual Plan that many of the resources described by DSHA are preceded by the qualifier "may." The tenants require more security in this effort than is provided by DSHA. Three ways of implementing a process which gives more hope to us and more confidence in your sincerity about helping us "move to work" would be: (1) Initial, independent, third-party assessments of all families in MTW, as to the impediments or barriers to their success, as well as their competencies; (2) an independent, regular evaluation of family effort and progress; and (3) a strong component of research and development of economic opportunities. An examination of your budget does not reveal a significant increase of resources to the provision of new tenant services. If DSHA has contracted with other agencies to provide services to the program, these services should be identified in the Annual Plan as well. A careful review of the Annual Plan only reveals a description of agencies already providing services to our communities. These agencies work with very thin budgets. If DSHA plans to supplement these budgets in order to provide additional services to the tenants, that information should be included in the Annual Plan as well. If DSHA does not plan to augment these budgets to provide additional services, then you are merely playing a game of smoke and mirrors, not providing effective services to the tenants. The DSHA Annual Plan does not outline any process for accountability of the Authority
in this program. While the Waiver Finally, the Annual Plan is very broad and does not provide specific information concerning the implementation of the program. DSHA should develop a workbook of operating procedures for this program to which the tenant and DSHA will be held accountable. At this point in time, the program is extremely one-sided with very little responsibility placed upon DSHA. The following questions, at a minimum, should be addressed by you at the meeting on Wednesday, October 6. We respectfully request your response at that time:
Thank you for providing with us with the opportunity to comment on the Annual Plan. Very sincerely yours, Sadie Nance
Winnie Cooper Helen
Drayton Cc: William Apgar, Secretary for Housing, HUD, Washington, DC
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