The New Reidsville Housing Authority

Finding 2024-001 – Housing Choice Voucher Tenant Files – Eligibility – Noncompliance & Significant Deficiency – Housing Choice Voucher Program – ALN #14.871 Corrective Action Plan: The Agency has been in a period of transition and has seen turnover in several key positions over the last three years. In an effort to sustain Agency operations, untrained staff were placed in vacant positions. As of May 2024, the Agency has hired a certified specialist for its Housing Choice Voucher Program. With the hiring of qualified staff, the Agency has also implemented a plan to audit all Housing Choice Voucher Program tenant files and remedy deficiencies. The Agency is in the process of revising its Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Plan and establishing an internal compliance program to ensure adherence to local and federal regulations with regards to its Housing Choice Voucher Program. Person Responsible: Acie Scales, Section 8 Specialist, Nicole Jordan, Executive Director Anticipated Completion Date: The auditing of all tenant program files is scheduled to be completed by May 31, 2025. The revised Admin Plan and internal compliance program are scheduled to be implemented effective July 1, 2025.

2023-001

Finding 2024-002 – Low Income Public Housing Tenant Files – Eligibility – Noncompliance & Material Weakness – Public and Indian Housing – ALN #14.850 Corrective Action Plan: The Agency has been in a period of transition and has seen turnover in several key positions over the last three years. In an effort to sustain Agency operations, untrained staff were placed in vacant positions. As of May 2024, the Agency has hired a certified specialist for its Public Housing Program. With the hiring of qualified staff, the Agency has also implemented a plan to audit all Public Housing Program tenant files and remedy deficiencies. The Agency is in the process of revising its Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy and establishing an internal compliance program to ensure adherence to local and federal regulations with regards to its Public Housing Program. Person Responsible: Nicole Jordan, Public Housing Specialist and Executive Director Anticipated Completion Date: The auditing of all tenant program files is scheduled to be completed by May 31, 2025. The revised ACOP and internal compliance program are scheduled to be implemented effective July 1, 2025.

2023-002

Finding 2024-003 – Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List – Special Tests and Provisions – Noncompliance & Material Weakness – Housing Choice Voucher Program – ALN #14.871 Corrective Action Plan: The Agency has been in a period of transition and has seen turnover in several key positions over the last three years. In an effort to sustain Agency operations, untrained staff were placed in vacant positions. As of May 2024, the Agency has hired a certified specialist for its Housing Choice Voucher Program. The Agency is in the process of revising its Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Plan and establishing an internal compliance program to ensure adherence to local and federal regulations with regards to its Housing Choice Voucher Program. Person Responsible: Acie Scales, Section 8 Specialist, Nicole Jordan, Executive Director Anticipated Completion Date: The revised Admin Plan and internal compliance program are scheduled to be implemented effective July 1, 2025.

Finding 2024-004 – Public Housing Waiting Lists – Special Tests and Provisions – Noncompliance & Material Weakness – Public and Indian Housing – ALN #14.850 Corrective Action Plan: The Agency has been in a period of transition and has seen turnover in several key positions over the last three years. In an effort to sustain Agency operations, untrained staff were placed in vacant positions. As of May 2024, the Agency has hired a certified specialist for its Public Housing Program. The Agency is in the process of revising its Admission and Continued Occupancy Policy and establishing an internal compliance program to ensure adherence to local and federal regulations with regards to its Public Housing Program. Speaking specifically to the incident in which an immediate family member was admitted into the program, the parties involved in the incident no longer work with the Agency as a result of what transpired. The Agency has a zero tolerance policy with respect to fraud, willful misappropriation of federal subsidies and blatant disregard for Agency policy and federal regulations. Person Responsible: Nicole Jordan, Public Housing Specialist and Executive Director Anticipated Completion Date: The revised ACOP and internal compliance program are scheduled to be implemented effective July 1, 2025.

Finding 2023-001 – Housing Choice Voucher Tenant Files – Eligibility – Noncompliance & Significant Deficiency – Housing Choice Voucher Program – ALN 14.871 The New Reidsville Housing Authority suffered a tremendous loss with the passing of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and Public Housing Specialists within weeks of one another and immediately before the start of the fiscal year. As a small housing authority, the deaths of two of the five office employees who had a combined 33 years of Authority experience left a significant void in knowledge and experience. Although the two employees were cross trained on each other’s jobs, no remaining employees were fully trained or capable of assuming those positions or responsibilities. In the immediate months after the passing of the employees, temporary and consultant labor was utilized until the Authority filled the vacant positions. Unfortunately, employee turnover among the new hires created further voids in HCV personnel during and after the fiscal year. Although a comprehensive review of all tenant and participant files to ensure completeness and compliance had begun prior to the audit, the sudden declining health and subsequent passing of the Executive Director hindered efforts even further. All new and existing housing personnel have received and continue to receive housing-related training and cross training on both the Public and Housing Choice Voucher programs. Comprehensive file review, written documentation of all tasks, and an office-wide evaluation of processes will continue as the employees become accustomed to their new positions. Corrective Action Plan: We concur with this finding. We are emphasizing the importance of accurate and complete tenant file information with our staff and within their new positions. We are confident these errors and oversights will not occur in the future. An extensive tenant file review was underway but was not completed at the time of the audit. All staff are being trained in their positions, and future cross-training and peer review processes are currently being put into practice to execute an added layer of review for all tenant files. Person Responsible: Samantha Shumaker, Interim Director Anticipated Completion Date: June 30, 2024

2022-001

Finding 2023-002 – Low Income Public Housing Tenant Files – Eligibility – Noncompliance & Significant Deficiency – Public and Indian Housing – ALN 14.850 The New Reidsville Housing Authority suffered a tremendous loss with the passing of the Housing Choice Voucher and Public Housing Specialists within weeks of one another and immediately before the start of the fiscal year. As a small housing authority, the deaths of two of the five office employees who had a combined 33 years of Authority experience left a significant void in knowledge and experience. Although the two employees were cross trained on each other’s jobs, no remaining employees were fully trained or capable of assuming those positions or responsibilities. In the months after the passing of the PH Specialist, temporary labor was utilized until such time as the position was filled on a permanent basis. Although a comprehensive review of all tenant and participant files to ensure completeness and compliance had begun prior to the audit, the sudden declining health and subsequent passing of the Executive Director hindered efforts even further. All new and existing housing personnel have received and continue to receive housing-related software-specific training and cross training on both the Public and Housing Choice Voucher programs. Comprehensive file review, written documentation of all tasks, and an office-wide evaluation of processes will continue as the employees become accustomed to their new positions. Corrective Action Plan: We concur with this finding. We are emphasizing the importance of accurate tenant file information, data entry, and calculations with our staff in their new positions. We are confident these errors and oversights will not occur in the future. An extensive tenant file review was underway but was not completed at the time of the audit. A thorough tenant file audit to detect and correct any misstatements will begin as well. All staff are being trained in their positions, and future cross-training and peer review processes are currently being put into practice to execute an added layer of review for all tenant files. Person Responsible: Samantha Shumaker, Interim Director Anticipated Completion Date: June 30, 2024

Finding 2022-001 ? Housing Choice Voucher Tenant Files ? Eligibility ? Noncompliance & Significant Deficiency ? Housing Choice Voucher Program ? CFDA #14.871 This last year was an extraordinary year for the New Reidsville Housing Authority. Not only did the Authority and its employees continue to experience the effects of the COVID pandemic, but two key employees, the HCV and Public Housing Specialists with almost 33 years of combined Authority experience, passed away. As a small housing authority, the sudden declining health and subsequent passing of two of the five office employees within weeks of one another left a significant void in knowledge and experience. Although the two employees that passed were cross trained on each other?s jobs, no remaining employees were fully trained or capable of assuming those positions. Recruiting began immediately, and all employees worked together to keep the departments functioning. In the months after the employees? passing, temporary and consultant labor was utilized until the Authority was able to find permanent replacements. The new personnel have proven to be extremely capable in a very short amount of time, and the process began immediately to organize and review each tenant and participant file to ensure completeness and compliance. Unfortunately, not all the files had been reviewed by the time of the annual audit. Prior to the annual audit, all new and existing housing personnel received training and cross training on both the Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs. In addition, the Authority began discussions with staff regarding the implementation of a peer review system where the HCV and PH specialists will audit each other?s files to ensure that accurate calculations are performed and that all required components and signatures are present in each file. An added layer of Executive Director review of a sampling of the Specialists? files will occur as well. The processes of cross training continued with software and housing-related training, written documentation of all tasks, file review, and office-wide organization of all pending items within each office and department will continue. Corrective Action Plan: We concur with this finding. We have emphasized to our new staff the importance of accurate tenant file information and are confident these errors and oversights will not occur in the future. A comprehensive tenant file review was underway but not complete at audit time. All new staff have been trained and cross-trained, and a peer review system with an added layer of Executive review of all tenant files and calculations is in the process of implementation. Person Responsible: Mitchell Fahrer, Executive Director Anticipated Completion Date: June 30, 2023

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