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2 Background
Pages 11-32

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From page 11...
... As described below, PD&R is able to draw on a wide range of analytical expertise and information resources to help senior HUD staff make informed policy decisions and to help develop sound budget, legislative, or regulatory proposals. In addition to its research, data, monitoring and evaluation, and policy analysis functions, PD&R has other related responsibilities, including building university partnerships to increase community and economic development activities, and running an international office charged with coordinating the department's international affairs.
From page 12...
... At the time, HUD had little in the way of technical expertise in building systems, so one of the first things that Finger did was to shore up the agency's building technology capability. HUD's various research authorities were codified in Title V of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 (P.L.
From page 13...
... It and six other categorical programs were replaced by the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)
From page 14...
... During the 1980s, PD&R's most significant research activities consisted of evaluating the new housing assistance programs enacted in 1974 (under Section 8) , and in developing policy recommendations to establish the housing voucher program, enacted as a demonstration in 1983 and a full program in 1987.
From page 15...
... . He was also appointed ex officio to the new Federal Housing Finance Board, which regulates the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.
From page 16...
... Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Institutions Assisting Communities 2. Community Development Work Study Program 3.
From page 17...
... The Community Outreach Partnership Centers, which were last funded in 2005, had been directed at improving local neighborhoods through job training and assistance to new business and community development organizations. The Community Development Work Study Program was also last funded in 2005.
From page 18...
... SOURCE: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2006)
From page 19...
... 2) The work of the office is currently undertaken by five divisions: the Economic Market Analysis Division, the Housing Finance Analysis Division, the Housing and Demographic Analysis Division, the Economic Development and Public Finance Division, and the Finance Institutions Regulation Division (see Figure 2-1)
From page 20...
... Finally, the Finance Institutions Regulation Division, with five staff, has contributed to HUD's regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by collecting data, maintaining data bases, and conducting a variety of research and analyses that relate to government-supported enterprises. With the passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, these functions and the staff will soon transfer to a new independent regulatory agency, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
From page 21...
... The mission of OREM is to "provide the highest quality information through research, program evaluation, policy analysis, and technical assistance to assist in decision-making regarding affordable housing, community development, fair housing, and building technology" (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2006, p.
From page 22...
... Between 1991 and 1998, the number of staff employed in PD&R fell about 30 percent, or by 43 positions. The drop in the mid-1990s occurred throughout HUD 160 Office of Lead-Based Paint Created 150 Number of Employees 140 With Field Economists 130 120 110 100 Without Field Economists 90 80 00 06 04 05 03 02 01 96 94 98 99 95 92 93 97 91 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 Year FIGURE 2-2  Staff levels, 1991-2006.
From page 23...
... Internally, within the three main offices, attrition has led to some reorganization, including the merging of the Policy Studies Division into the Program Monitoring Division, the abolition of the Demonstration and Technology Divisions, as well as the reassignment of some people to the Office of Lead-Based Paint. Table 2-1 also shows staffing levels of the various other units: the front office staff, management services, budget and contracts, university partnerships, and the international division.
From page 24...
... cAfter considerable attrition, the Policy Studies Division staff were folded into the Monitoring Division. dAfter considerable attrition, the Demonstration Division staff were assigned to various other divisions.
From page 25...
... To better understand the level of qualifications and experience of PD&R professional staff, the committee developed a short questionnaire that was sent to all headquarters staff in the offices of economic affairs, policy development, and research, evaluation, and monitoring. About 70 percent of employees surveyed responded to the questionnaire.
From page 26...
... . As the workforce has aged in place, the percentage of staff eligible for early retirement has fallen from 32 percent in 1993 to 11 percent in 2006, while the percentage of the workforce eligible for normal retirement, i.e., with
From page 27...
... In addition, three field economists with 90 combined years of service at HUD have also retired in the last year. These losses, together with other impending losses of expertise and institutional memory due to further impending retirements, are considerable, and the committee is concerned about the ability of PD&R to continue to provide consistently sound policy advice and research without ensuring that high-quality replacements are able to be recruited and retained.
From page 28...
... The analysis of any government department's budget is complicated, however, because of the need to keep straight the differences between authorizations, obligations, appropriations, and outlays; to be cognizant of ­rescissions and other adjustments; and to factor into any analysis such things as forward funding, specific earmarks, or other obligations. For example, after adjusting for rescissions, the research and technology budget rose in 2006 to $55.79 million, which on paper appears to represent an increase in approximately $10 million over the 2005 allocation of $45.1 million.
From page 29...
... , and other surveys, and providing various support services for the Office of University Partnerships, HUD USER, and the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse. PD&R typically refers to these expenses as "fixed costs," although in reality the office has some discretion in how the obligations
From page 30...
... SOURCE: Unpublished data from HUD, Office of Policy Development and Research. Figure 2-4, landscape
From page 31...
... Homes Placements, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, Residential Finance Survey. cNet research and technology funding for contracts, cooperative agreements, and interagency agreements (excludes obligations for surveys [e.g., AHS]
From page 32...
... For a department that spends more than $36 billion of taxpayer money each year on a variety of housing and community development programs, there is virtually no money available to the one quasi-independent office in the agency charged with evaluating how these program funds are spent, assessing their impact, and researching ways to make programs more efficient and effective. TABLE 2-6  Funds Obligated for External Research, by Year and Source of Funds (in thousands of dollars)


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