HUD Announces Expansion of Program to Promote Innovations in Housing

Moving to Work Program expansion enables communities to develop creative housing solutions and resident services.

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman announced the final cohort of Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration program expansion after extensive collaboration with Congress, advocates, and industry groups. 14 selected housing agencies will evaluate MTW's impact on administrative efficiency and resident services. MTW offers flexibility to create customized solutions to help residents and increase housing choice for families.

“We are committed to finding innovative solutions that increase and preserve our housing supply and empowers families,” said Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “With this expansion complete, we look forward to learning from these communities and applying the most promising and successful ideas to inform future policy and programs.”

The program gives housing agencies the freedom to design and test local strategies, to be innovative and creative when designing and implementing policies and programs; and to come up with solutions that meet the needs of their community, and most importantly the families they serve.

HUD collaborated closely with the Federal Research Advisory Council to shape policies evaluated by the five cohorts. With this milestone, 139 MTW housing agencies now operate nationwide across 40 states and D.C. Notably, 17 states without prior MTW housing agencies now have access to flexibilities.

“Well performing housing agencies can take their operations to the next level with the administrative flexibility and the ability to be more creative in fulfilling their mission,” said Richard J. Monocchio, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing. “It’s an exciting time at HUD. With this final cohort, we now have 100 additional housing agencies leading locally-designed housing innovations that will contribute to the Department’s cutting-edge policy development that can be scaled nationally.”

First authorized by Congress in 1996, MTW is a demonstration that provides housing agencies the opportunity to redefine how they operate by giving them flexibility to try “outside the box” ideas that address local community needs in innovative ways. MTW agencies are trailblazers in driving innovation in the delivery of providing housing and services to low-income residents. The program encourages an entrepreneurial spirit to create solutions in a new way. MTW agencies have directly influenced national policy for over 25 years, paving the way for the future delivery of federally assisted housing.

The following housing agencies were selected for the MTW Flexibility II Cohort: