OFFICE OF HEALTHY HOMES AND LEAD HAZARD CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

AUTHORIZATION:

HUD Appropriations Acts of 1999 and 2000, Public Law 105-65, Public Law 106-74; Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, Sections 501 and 502, Public Law 91-609.

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of the Healthy Homes Initiative is to develop, demonstrate and promote cost-effective, preventive measures to correct multiple safety and health hazards in the home environment which produce serious diseases and injuries in children. HUD is interested in promoting approaches that are cost-effective and efficient and that result in the reduction of health threats for the maximum number of residents for the long run, and in particular low-income children. The overall goals and objectives of the HHI are: (1) Mobilize public and private resources, involving cooperation among all levels of government, the private sector, and community-based organizations to develop the most promising, cost-effective methods for identifying and controlling housing-based hazards; (2) Build local capacity to operate sustainable programs that will continue to prevent and, where they occur, minimize and control housing-based hazards in low and very low income residences when HUD funding is exhausted; (3) Affirmatively further fair housing and environmental justice.

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:

Project Grants.

USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:

There are three categories of grants being awarded. These are: (1) demonstration projects implementing housing assessment, maintenance, renovation and construction techniques to identify and correct housing-related illness and injury risk factors, (2) outreach projects disseminating healthy homes information and replicating successful interventions, and (3) research projects developing new methods of evaluation and control of housing-based hazards. HUD will evaluate proposals based on the elements described below. Although grantees are expected to focus efforts in one of the three categories, the activities of a proposed project may address categories other than the primary focus. Applicants are required to be specific as to the locations they are targeting their intervention activities to occur and the residents, individuals or groups targeted to receive interventions and the organizations targeted to continue to operate effective intervention strategies over the life of the award and hereafter. In addition to direct activities, administrative costs and program planning and management costs of sub-grantees and other sub- recipients are eligible for funding under this grant program. Ineligible activities are: (1) Purchase of real property; (2) Purchase or lease of equipment having a per unit cost in excess of $5,000, unless prior written approval is obtained from HUD; (3) Medical treatment costs.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant Eligibility:   Eligible applicants include: research institutions, not-for-profit institutions, for-profit firms (for-profit firms are not allowed to profit from the project), State and local governments, and Federally-recognized Indian Tribes in the United States. Federal agencies and federal employees are not eligible to apply for this program.

Beneficiary Eligibility:   Healthy Homes Initiative grants are intended to serve a broad array of beneficiaries including homeowners, rental property owners, and public housing residents.

Credentials/Documentation:   Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87 for State, local and Indian tribal governments and specific requirements of 24 CFR 85. Costs will be determined for nonprofit and educational institutions in accordance with OMB Circulars No. A-122 and No. A-21, respectively, and in accordance with the requirements of 24 CFR 84.

APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS:

Preapplication Coordination:   None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure:   Once the competitive Notification of Funding Availability is issued for fiscal year 2000 Healthy Homes Initiative Grants, application kits can be obtained by calling the SuperNOFA Information Center at 1-800-HUD-8929 or via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Award Procedure:   HUD will review each application to determine whether it is timely and meets all of the threshold requirements. Non- responsive applications will be declared ineligible for further consideration. Applications that meet all of the threshold criteria will be eligible to be scored and ranked. Each eligible application will be ranked based on the total number of points allocated for each of the rating factors.

Deadlines:   To be considered for funding, the original and a NOFA- specified number of copies of the application package should be submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Lead Hazard Control, 451 7th Street SW, Room P-3206, Washington, DC 20410, by the date and time specified in the NOFA for the Healthy Homes Initiative Grants. Announcements regarding availability of funding will be published in the Federal Register.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:   None.

Appeals:   None.

Renewals:   None.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Formula and Matching Requirements:   There are no matching requirements for the Healthy Homes Initiative grant program.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:   The Healthy Homes Initiative Grant award is for up to a three-year period. Payment is on a cost-reimbursable basis.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Reports:   Quarterly financial management and performance reports are required of participating jurisdictions.

Audits:   In accordance with CFR Part 44.

Records:   Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperatives.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Account Identification:   86-0174-0-1-451.

Obligations:   (Grants) FY 99 $10,000,000; FY 00 est $10,000,000; and FY 01 est $10,000,000. (NOTE: Amounts reported reflect allocation of new budget authority rather than obligation amounts.)

Range and Average of Financial Assistance:   Grants awarded in fiscal year 1999 ranged from $243,414 to $1,918,489. The average was $892,000. HUD will make about $6.5 million available for the Healthy Homes Initiative Grant Program in fiscal year 2000 funds. HUD anticipates that approximately 4 to 8 grants will be awarded, ranging from approximately $250,000 to approximately $2,500,000.

PROGAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

With fiscal year 1999 funds, HUD awarded $4.5 million in grants to protect families in low-income housing from health and safety hazards. The Healthy Homes Initiative grants were awarded to: City of Long Beach, CA $495,472; City of Providence, RI $1,039,204; Boston Medical Center Corp. $1,918,489; Medical and Health Research Association of New York City $763,421; and the Environmental Health Watch of Cleveland, OH $243,414.

REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:

Notice of Funding Availability and Application Kit are self-contained; all necessary information is provided; no other regulations pertain. There is some change in the content and direction of the NOFA that is issued each year, dependent on SuperNOFA format, Congressional direction, changes in emphasis among priorities, and improvements based on experience with prior NOFAs. Guidelines and applicable regulations are available through the internet at http://www.hud.gov/lea.

INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Regional or Local Office:   None.

Headquarters Office:   Ms. Ellen Taylor, Planning and Standards Division, Office of Lead Hazard Control, at the address above; telephone (202) 755-1785, extension 116, or Ms. Karen Williams, Grants Officer, extension 118 (these are not toll-free numbers). Hearing- and speech- impaired persons may access the above telephone numbers via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877- 8339. Address for Submitting Applications. For Mailed Applications. The address for mailed applications is: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Lead Hazard Control, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room P3206, Washington, DC 20410. For Overnight/Express Mail or Hand Carried Applications. The address for applications that are hand carried or sent via overnight delivery is: HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control, Suite 3206, 490 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20024.

Web Site Address:   http://www.hud.gov/lea/HHISummary.html.

RELATED PROGRAMS:

14.900, Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control in Privately-Owned Housing.

EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:

In Bedford-Stuyvesant New York, there were 733 hospitalizations due to childhood asthma in 1997, 125 hospitalizations due to injury, and a lead poisoning rate of 3.9 percent. HUD funds will be used in this community by the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc. to reduce lead, mold, asthma and injury hazards in 400 homes. In Boston Massachusetts, the lead poisoning rate was 6.1 percent in 1998, the average annual asthma hospitalization rates (from 1994 to 1997) were 11.1 percent, and unintentional injury was the third leading cause of hospitalization. HUD grants will be used by the Boston Medical Center in Empowerment Zone neighborhoods to address home hazards through a community education campaign, and a home assessment and remediation initiative.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS: