Leverage the Learning
On September 25, 2003, AHA and HUD executed AHA's Moving to Work agreement. The agreement allows AHA to replace federal rules with policies and a business plan tailored specifically to address long-standing problems in Atlanta's public housing based on lessons learned and best practices developed during the last decade.
The plan has been strengthened through extensive consultation with AHA customers, the private and business sectors, and other stakeholders and through the approval process of AHA's Board of Commissioners.
AHA is committed to maximizing the use of Housing Choice Vouchers to provide access to better housing opportunities. We recognize, however, that this tool must be managed in a manner that protects the health and vitality of our communities and neighborhoods. Before CATALYST, AHA was constrained by federal policies that mandated how the Housing Choice Program could be managed. Now, AHA has the flexibility to use the Housing Choice Voucher Program to support great housing opportunities for our customers and to enhance the economic health of neighborhoods.
AHA will implement and enforce higher standards of accountability and responsibility on landlords and families who participate in the Housing Choice Voucher Program.
CATALYST will enable AHA to expand its use of Project Based Vouchers as a development tool by working with private sector partners to create wonderful mixed income communities, with great neighborhood schools, quality services, and better employment opportunities.
CATALYST will also enable AHA to address issues that influence the health and vitality of neighborhoods. AHA intends to address the impact of voucher absorption on the host neighborhood. AHA, in consultation with advisory groups and stakeholders and fair housing experts, will develop a deconcentration plan that will help to define and, in some cases, limit absorption of Housing Choice Vouchers in Atlanta's neighborhoods, with the ultimate goal of reducing concentrations of poverty in neighborhoods in Atlanta.