News from HUD User

PD&R Updates

Announcements:

Call for Papers: Cityscape Symposium on Extreme Heat in Cities

In 2025 Cityscape intends to publish several articles in a symposium on how to cool cities or mitigate the impacts of extreme heat, especially its impacts on low- and moderate-income workers and residents and socially vulnerable groups. Papers may be from any discipline but should be intelligible to a multidisciplinary audience. Articles must be original work not published elsewhere.

The symposium is intended to bring together several excellent, in-depth research papers that could be useful to cities and other actors seeking feasible and effective ways to cool down urban neighborhoods or mitigate the impacts of extreme heat.

Submitted papers deemed appropriate for the symposium will be peer reviewed and may need to be revised and resubmitted before a final decision on publication is made. To be considered for the Cityscape symposium on Extreme Heat in Cities, papers must be submitted by April 3, 2024. Submit papers to both of the following email addresses: [email protected] and [email protected].

We are also seeking reviewers. If you are interested in being a peer reviewer for this symposium, please let us know and provide a current CV so that we can match you with appropriate papers.

New Reports:

Evaluation of the Moving to Work Flexibility Cohort: First Year of MTW Eligibility

The initial assessment of the first cohort of Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) participating in the Moving to Work (MTW) expansion centers on how smaller PHAs use the newfound flexibility granted by their MTW designation to meet program objectives, examining the impact on housing agency operations and tenants. By April 2022, all 31 PHAs in the Flexibility Cohort had executed their Annual Contributions Contract amendment, formalizing their MTW agency status, but only 11 had an approved MTW Supplement to their PHA Annual Plan, making them eligible to start implementing MTW flexibilities. Despite this, all 31 PHAs progressed in refining their MTW activities and considering funding flexibility within their planning efforts during the first year. The onboarding process proved slower than expected, with the challenge of implementing significant changes in small agencies emerging as a central obstacle for these PHAs in their inaugural year of MTW designation.

Other Announcements: 

Terwilliger Center Video Release

The J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy recently released a video called Finding Home: Addressing America's Housing Crisis. The video showcases the stories of two individuals who have benefited from federal housing assistance and found affordable, stable housing through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and the Housing Choice Voucher program. You can view the video here.