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Program Implementation

Tips to Implementation: The following are a few points to consider when implementing such a program.

  • Some PHAs are required to administer FSS programs because they received FSS funding for certificates or vouchers in FY 1993 or subsequent years through October 21, 1998. As a result of the Public Housing Reform Act of 1998, funding received after October 21, 1998 no longer mandates an increase in the minimum size of a PHA's FSS program.
  • For the most part, PHAs must rely on their own or other local resources to operate FSS programs. However, under the authority of annual appropriations acts, HUD has been able to provide some funding for FSS program coordinators to assist PHAs in operating housing choice voucher FSS programs. The availability of funding is announced in the Federal Register in a Notice of Funding Availability.
  • One source of funding for FSS coordinators relies on partnerships between PHAs and other entities in the community that can provide or fund case management and other services for FSS participants. Potential sources include:
    • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
    • Community action agencies
    • Head Start programs
    • Welfare to work and other workforce development funds administered through workforce investment boards
    • City government
    • Private and public foundations

Keys to Success: The housing agency has many responsibilities to fulfill for both the families it serves and for government-required record keeping. The housing agency must:

  • Provide case management services to link FSS participants with supportive services in the community. Housing agencies can provide case management services themselves or contract or partner with an agency that provides these services.
  • Maintain families' escrow accounts and invest those funds in HUD-approved investments.
  • Evaluate any request to withdraw escrow funds for purposes related to the goals of the FSS contract while the family is enrolled in FSS.
  • Determine whether a family has successfully completed the five-year FSS contract and, if so, provide the family with the funds in its escrow account plus interest.

Successes: The 2005 evaluation further found, "The typical FSS program graduate in 2000 accumulated about $3,000 in escrowed savings; and, of the households leaving FSS in 2000, 42 percent were successful program graduates."