U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments Safe and Healthy Homes Investment Partnerships (SHHIP) Designation
http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/09/14/2011-23400/safe-and-healthy-homes-investment-partnerships-request-for-comments
We are pleased to share the opportunity to provide public comments on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments new Safe and Healthy Homes Investment Partnerships (SHHIP) designation criteria. Strongly informed by the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative and other programs, SHHIP promotes local partnership alignment of health, energy and housing programs and will reward these partnerships with local designation and bonus points on upcoming NOFA's (beginning in 2013).
HUD is currently requesting public comment on the proposed SHHIP designation criteria with comments due on October 14th. We encourage you to review the proposed criteria and take the opportunity to provide input on potential challenges and barriers, opportunities and manners of which to strengthen or clarify the proposed language.
The Department believes that establishing a certification system that identifies communities that provide multiple housing based interventions and leverage non-federal resources will be the most effective way to deliver housing services for protecting the health and safety of residents. To encourage HUD applicants to formalize relationships among health, energy, and housing programs, the Department has developed a proposal to encourage the development of SHHIP communities. Toward this goal, the Department anticipates providing bonus points to SHHIP communities in the competitive distribution of HUD assistance in FY2013 and future years. Before implementing this proposal through HUD's FY2013 NOFAs, the Department is seeking comment on the process and criteria for identifying a community as a SHHIP. HUD's proposal would require applicants to demonstrate the following to the satisfaction of the Department:
1. The membership of the SHHIP will be determined by the applicant's submission requesting identification as the SHHIP, as approved by the Department. Every member of the SHHIP will receive the benefits of the certification.
2. The SHHIP must include among its members at least one unit of state or local government, and one private, non-profit partner (i.e., local philanthropic organization, community-based organization, community development corporation or redevelopment authority, etc.) The SHHIP may involve more than one unit of government and more than one private partner.
3. Within the partnership, the SHHIP must include each of the following service disciplines: housing rehabilitation, energy efficiency, and healthy home/lead hazard control. The SHHIP may involve more than one entity capable of providing each service.
Background:
In 1999, Congress appropriated fundsfor healthy homes research and demonstration, finding that, "the Healthy Homes approach appears superior to addressing these problems one by one."In the report commissioned by Congress as a part of that appropriation, it was determined that "[t]he costs of implementing multiple housing-based interventions are far lower than if they are implemented one at a time."
Building on this finding, the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control created the Healthy Homes Demonstration (HHD) and Healthy Homes Technical Studies (HHTS) grant programs to support health focused home assessment and intervention initiatives and research across the country. The HHD and HHTS grant programs funded multiple intervention models, utilizing private organizations, universities, units of local government and partnerships, and researched the effectiveness of many different intervention strategies. The results of the HHD and HHTS grant programs demonstrate the value to resident health of using several environmental intervention strategies and methodologies at once, including moisture control, allergen reduction, and integrated pest management. This work has contributed to the body of science concerning the interplay of health, housing, and the environment, and promoted the adoption of health oriented building interventions by homeowners and property managers nationally. Most of these studies and demonstration programs incorporate some form of multiple housing intervention strategy.
As the grant programs demonstrate the value to resident health of using multiple intervention strategies, pilot initiatives in several cities and counties began to formalize relationships among health, energy, and housing programs. Three of these initiatives, the National Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning/Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) (13 cities and 2 tribes nationally), the CT Efficiency Healthy Homes Initiative (Connecticut) and the One Touch Healthy Homes Intervention program (New Hampshire and Omaha, NE) successfully piloted the multiple assessment/intervention strategy. These initiatives also incorporated weatherization program interventions, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and other local agencies or utilities, into their model. Overall, these models successfully braided federal, state, local funds as well as private philanthropic support. The outcomes from these models confirm that coordinated intervention strategies lead to more economical interventions, healthier residents, and a more comprehensive and effective service delivery.
United States