DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / July 8, 2000

LUTCHER – The St. James Housing Authority board has approved a five-yearplan focusing on increasing the availability of decent, safe and affordable housing. The 200-page plan was passed June 22 by the board and includedseveral new policies dealing with de-concentration of poverty in the developments, income mixing with the residents and community service, pest eradication and pet policies, said R. M. Jackson, director of the housingauthority.

The new policies of the five-year plan will be posted around the developments, giving residents time to review them before they take effect in September, said Jackson.

Some of the new policies in the plan focus on improvement in the developments, which follow the present actions of the housing authority.

Already apartments in the Welcome Development on the west bank are being renovated for the first time since they were built in the 1960’s. Currentlysix families have been moved into the new apartments and families on a waiting list are moving into the apartments as they become available. Thehousing authority has been searching for funding and preparing to renovate the apartments for the last two years.

The annual five-year plan was prepared in accordance with the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 and Housing and Urban Development requirements. HUD’s goals outlined in the plan is to expand thesupply of assisted housing, reduce housing vacancies by 5 percent each year and to improve the quality of assisted housing.

The primary policy in the plan is the Admissions and Occupancy policy. Thisdocument covers the public housing tenant selection and assignment plan, outreach services and grievance procedures. Also in the plan are thecommitment to renovate or modernize public housing units, 10 units or 3 percent of the total on an annual basis, beginning in 2001. The St. JamesHousing Authority is already moving toward completion of that goal this year.

Other changes or updates in the plan include: The housing authority is implementing measures to de-concentrate poverty by bringing higher income public housing households into lower income developments, and security improvements include the issuing of identification cards to residents, improving lighting at the developments and providing police patrols of developments.

The housing authority will train staff and commissioners to fully understand and take advantage of opportunities in the new law and regulations to better serve residents and the community and attract services to increase the resident’s employability.

In order to reduce vacancies in the developments, the housing authority will employ effective maintenance and management policies to minimize the number of public housing units off-line, reduce the turnover time for vacated public housing units and reduce time to renovate public housing units.

New rent policies will support and encourage working residents. There willalso be screening of criminal, rental and housekeeping histories.

In order to de-concentrate the levels of poverty in the developments, admissions and occupancy policies are being revised to offer low-income families, selected in accordance with applicable preferences and priorities, units in developments where family incomes are the highest. Conversely,families with higher incomes will be offered units in developments with the lowest family incomes.

For security, more police involvement in development, implementation and on going evaluation of drug elimination plans will be added. The police will providecrime data to housing authority staff for analysis and action. Also, the policeare establishing a heightened physical presence on housing authority property.

Money from the Capitol Funds program will be focused on replacement of the apartment roofs. Other funds will be targeted toward modernizing the unitslocated within St. James Hymel, Vacherie and Brooks developments.

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