Advanced Notice of EnVision Center Demonstration, 58441-58444 [2017-26684]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2017 / Notices
HUD is not required to post the
Suspension for public comment, this
notice solicits comment for a period of
30 days. At the expiration of the 30-day
period, HUD will review the comments
and consider if any further changes to
the Suspension are necessary. Interested
parties can find the Suspension in the
Supporting Documents section of the
docket associated with this notice, at
www.regulations.gov, and on HUD’s
website at https://www.huduser.gov/
portal/datasets/fmr/smallarea/
index.html.
Dated: December 1, 2017.
Dominique Blom,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office
of Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 2017–26695 Filed 12–11–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR 6069–N–01]
Advanced Notice of EnVision Center
Demonstration
Office of the Secretary, HUD.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Through this notice, HUD
solicits comment on a demonstration
designed to test the effectiveness of
collaborative efforts by government,
industry, and nonprofit organizations to
accelerate economic mobility of lowincome households in communities that
include HUD-assisted housing through
EnVision Centers, centralized hubs for
supportive services focusing on the four
pillars of Economic Empowerment,
Educational Advancement, Health and
Wellness, and Character and
Leadership. Approximately 10
communities, selected from across the
country, are anticipated to participate in
the demonstration. The purpose of the
demonstration is to explore the
potential of a new service-delivery
mechanism to provide HUD-assisted
households the ability to benefit from
life-changing opportunities that the
advancement of the four pillars affords.
DATES: Comment Due Date: February 12,
2018.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit comments responsive
to this notice to the Office of General
Counsel, Regulations Division,
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room
10276, Washington, DC 20410–0001. All
submissions should refer to the above
docket number and title. Submission of
public comments may be carried out by
hard copy or electronic submission.
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SUMMARY:
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1. Submission of Hard Copy
Comments. Comments may be
submitted by mail or hand delivery.
Each commenter submitting hard copy
comments, by mail or hand delivery,
should submit comments to the address
above, addressed to the attention of the
Regulations Division. Due to security
measures at all federal agencies,
submission of comments by mail often
results in delayed delivery. To ensure
timely receipt of comments, HUD
recommends that any comments
submitted by mail be submitted at least
2 weeks in advance of the public
comment deadline. All hard copy
comments received by mail or hand
delivery are a part of the public record
and will be posted to https://
www.regulations.gov without change.
2. Electronic Submission of
Comments. Interested persons may
submit comments electronically through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
https://www.regulations.gov. HUD
strongly encourages commenters to
submit comments electronically.
Electronic submission of comments
allows the commenter maximum time to
prepare and submit a comment, ensures
timely receipt by HUD, and enables
HUD to make comments immediately
available to the public. Comments
submitted electronically through the
https://www.regulations.gov website can
be viewed by other commenters and
interested members of the public.
Commenters should follow instructions
provided on that site to submit
comments electronically.
No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile
(fax) comments are not acceptable.
Public Inspection of Comments. All
comments submitted to HUD regarding
this notice will be available, without
charge, for public inspection and
copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Eastern Time, weekdays at the above
address. Due to security measures at the
HUD Headquarters building, an advance
appointment to review the public
comments must be scheduled by calling
the Regulations Division at 202–708–
3055 (this is not a toll-free number).
Individuals with speech or hearing
impairments may access this number
through TTY by calling the Federal
Relay Service at 800–877–8339 (this is
a toll-free number). Copies of all
comments submitted are available for
inspection and downloading at https://
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ariel Pereira, Associate General Counsel
for Legislation and Regulations, Office
of General Counsel, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, 451
Seventh Street SW, Room 10282,
PO 00000
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58441
Washington, DC 20410–7000, telephone
number 202–402–5132 (this is not a tollfree number). Persons with hearing or
speech impairments may access this
number through TTY by calling the
Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339
(this is a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Under the leadership of President
Donald J. Trump, the Administration is
committed to reforming government
services and expanding opportunities
for more Americans to become selfsufficient. The EnVision Center
demonstration focuses on empowering
people to leave HUD-assisted housing
through self-sufficiency to become
responsible homeowners and renters in
the private market. By doing so, HUD
will be able to make those resources
available to others and help more
Americans.
The EnVision Centers demonstration
is premised on the notion that financial
support alone is insufficient to solve the
problem of poverty. Intentional and
collective efforts across a diverse set of
organizations are needed to implement
a holistic approach to foster long-lasting
self-sufficiency. EnVision Centers will
provide communities with a centralized
hub for support in the following four
pillars: (1) Economic Empowerment, (2)
Educational Advancement, (3) Health
and Wellness, and (4) Character and
Leadership. The Economic
Empowerment pillar is designed to
improve the economic sustainability of
individuals residing in HUD-assisted
housing by empowering them with
opportunities to improve their economic
outlook. The Education pillar seeks to
bring educational opportunities directly
to HUD-assisted housing and includes
partnering with public and private
organizations that approach education
in non-traditional ways on nontraditional platforms. The Health and
Wellness pillar is designed to improve
access to health outcomes by
individuals and families living in HUDassisted housing. The Character and
Leadership pillar is designed to enable
all individuals and families residing in
HUD-assisted housing, especially young
people, to reach their full potential as
productive, caring, responsible citizens
by encouraging participation in
volunteer and mentoring opportunities.
Through results-driven partnerships
with federal agencies, state and local
governments, non-profits, faith-based
organizations, corporations, public
housing authorities (PHAs), tribal
designated housing entities (TDHEs)
and housing finance agencies, EnVision
Centers will leverage public and private
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resources for the benefit of individuals
and families living in HUD-assisted
housing. HUD anticipates that positive
outcomes for individuals and
households will generate additional
positive impacts at the community-wide
level. EnVision Centers will also break
down the silos of government, and colocate government services that lead to
self-sufficiency.
A January 2011 report from the
Government Accountability Office
(GAO) that focused on Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families,
Employment Services and Workforce
Investment Act Adult employment
programs funded by the U.S.
Departments of Labor, Education, and
Health and Human Services, found that
while it would be a challenge,
efficiencies in offering government
services could be achieved by colocating services and consolidating
administrative structures.1 EnVision
Centers will bring together in one place,
federal, state and local government
services, community based organization
services, non-profit mission based
organization services and faith based
organization services that lead economic
self-sufficiency and ultimately, greater
economic mobility.
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II. Demonstration
Every resident living in public or
assisted housing should have access to
the opportunities economic mobility
can provide. This demonstration is
designed to encourage and create a
platform for communities to collaborate
with community supportive service
providers, other businesses,
foundations, nonprofit organizations,
educational leaders, job training and
workforce development organizations,
and others to advance economic
mobility in their communities and to
test the effectiveness of a collaborative
set of actions that address all barriers to
economic sufficiency. The
demonstration will build upon existing
partnerships and continue collaborative
work to improve the lives of residents
housed with HUD assistance by
providing a forum by which cross-sector
organizations can come together to
design and implement local
interventions to advance economic
mobility.
1. Process and Criteria for Participation
HUD’s goal is to identify a sample of
diverse communities from different
geographies and of varying sizes that
have the capacity to effectively and
expediently implement the
demonstration to serve HUD-assisted
1 https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1192.pdf.
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families. HUD seeks the interest of
communities where local leadership has
already taken steps to support the goals
of the demonstration, as measured by
both the community’s participation in
other complementary Federal initiatives
supporting economic mobility, as well
as local plans and strategies for
addressing the four pillars.
Participation in the demonstration by
these communities will build upon
existing efforts already underway to
expand economic mobility, thereby
building the comprehensive and
coordinated set of resources that will
result in the long-term, sustainable
employment that places individuals and
families on track to become selfsufficient.
As part of this demonstration, HUD
will provide technical assistance,
evaluation and monitoring, access to
online resources such as the EnVision
Center mobile application, access to
stakeholder offerings made available to
participating communities and a
network of support from HUD’s
departments to ensure that all relevant
HUD knowledge resources are made
available to participating communities.
HUD believes that communities
participating in the EnVision Center
demonstration will benefit from the
collaboration made possible under this
demonstration with: Local, state and
federal government services, community
based organization services, non-profit
mission based organization services and
faith based organization services that
will lead to the development of
economic self-sufficiency and
ultimately, greater economic mobility
for those most in need within these
communities.
HUD will use the following criteria to
assess communities that have expressed
an interest in participating in the
demonstration:
(1) The mayor or equivalent executive
elected official of the community, and
the PHA’s or TDHE’s executive leader,
must formally announce a commitment
to enhance economic mobility and in so
doing identify skills gaps that exist in
their community among distinct
neighborhoods and demographics, the
resolution of which will support longterm, sustainable employment that
places individuals and families in HUDassisted housing on track to become
self-sufficient.
(2) Communities should commit to
developing and implementing a plan to
promote and expand economic mobility.
The development of this plan will serve
as a vehicle for bringing various
stakeholders together and providing
them with a tangible path for achieving
the goals of the demonstration. As an
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example, the plan could specify and
formalize the participation of
community stakeholders, describe gaps
in current service delivery models,
identify a physical location(s) which
can act as a shared services site to house
the EnVision Center, and/or outline
specific benchmarks and goals for the
EnVision center. Communities’
participation plans will be expected to
describe the goals of the community’s
participation in the demonstration and
provide, to the extent possible, objective
goals regarding the number of
partnerships established with state and
local government, non-profits, faith
based organizations, and private and
philanthropic organizations.
(3) To ensure the presence of local
support and leverage HUD
infrastructure for implementation of this
demonstration, communities should be
currently participating in one or more
Federal place-based initiatives, such as:
The Promise Zones program; PHAs
participating in the Moving to Work
Demonstration, the Byrne Criminal
Justice Innovation program; the Strong
Cities, Strong Communities program;
the JobsPlus program; the Family SelfSufficiency program and the Resident
Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency
(ROSS) program; the ConnectHome
program; existing Neighborhood
Networks sites; existing Family
Investment sites; the ROSS for
Education Program; the Energy and
Economic Development program
(SEED); or the Building Neighborhood
Capacity program.
(4) Communities should be broadly
committed to realizing the Office of
American Innovation 2 vision,
especially, developing ‘‘workforce of the
future’’ programs, modernizing
government services and information
technology, improving services to
veterans, creating transformational
infrastructure projects, implementing
regulatory and process reforms, creating
manufacturing jobs, and addressing the
drug and opioid epidemic.
(5) As a condition of participation,
selected entities are required to
cooperate in full with HUD staff and/or
any contractors affiliated with HUD, in
the implementation and evaluation of
this program.
(6) After selection, HUD will finalize
a set of measurement tools to evaluate
the program’s impact and effectiveness.
Selected respondents will be required to
keep records to document how the
Demonstration is being implemented,
cooperate with the evaluation, and
2 https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/
2017/03/27/president-donald-j-trump-announceswhite-house-office-american.
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cooperate in [any] the formal
independent evaluation of the
Demonstration.
These criteria are meant to create
optimal conditions to accelerate the
adoption and use of the EnVision Center
model. However, the criteria may be
applied with reasonable flexibility to
ensure that a diverse set of communities
are considered for participation in this
demonstration. Approximately 10
communities are anticipated to initially
participate in the demonstration. As the
demonstration proceeds, HUD will
assess expressions of interest from
communities and the availability of
HUD staffing resources to support
additional participation. Additionally,
as the demonstration proceeds, HUD
will assess the effectiveness of the
participation criteria on an ongoing
basis. As a result of these assessments,
HUD may expand the number of
participating communities, revise the
participation criteria, or both to reflect
HUD’s experience in implementing the
demonstration.
3. Stakeholder Meetings
In advance of commencement of the
demonstration, HUD will sponsor or cosponsor one or more meetings of
communities, cross-sector entities, and
other stakeholders to facilitate the
sharing of information and identify
communities interested in participation
in the demonstration. HUD will reach
Information collection
Number of
respondents
out to communities that have formally
declared a commitment to advance
economic mobility and otherwise meet
the criteria described above to
participate in those meetings. HUD also
invites interested communities to reach
out to HUD to note their interest and
request attendance at a stakeholder
meeting. HUD therefore encourages
interested communities to take the
necessary steps to meet the criteria as
quickly as possible in order to be best
positioned to realize the benefits of
these discussions.
HUD may partner with an existing
entity that has a national organizational
presence sufficient to provide a strong
coordinating function across
communities, government, and the
private and nonprofit sectors. The entity
should have significant expertise in
community services, economic mobility
and the four pillars. It should possess
strong existing relationships with
industry, foundations, universities, and
nonprofit and non-governmental
agencies. Finally, it should have
community project experience,
including educational and outreach
activities in underserved populations.
III. Demonstrating Interest in
Participating/Information Collection
Approval
Communities interested in
participating in this demonstration must
submit a written commitment by the
Frequency of
responses
Responses
per year
Burden hours
per response
mayor or equivalent executive elected
official of the community (municipality,
county, tribal nation or state), and the
PHA or TDHE executive leader, to
advancing economic mobility and
empowering HUD-assisted households
to become self-sufficient. This
commitment, must also respond to the
items outlined in Section II.1. above, as
well as identification of the Federal
place-based initiatives in which it is
involved, as requested by Section
II.1.(3.) above. In addition, HUD will
require submission of an EnVision
Center plan that outlines specific
benchmarks and goals for the EnVision
Center as outlined in Section II of this
notice. Communities seeking to
participate in this demonstration must
submit this information to
EnVisionCenterDemonstration@
hud.gov.
The information collection
requirements contained for the EnVision
Center Demonstration will be submitted
to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520). In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act, an agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of
information unless the collection
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Annual
burden
hours
Hourly
costs per
response
Annual cost
1,650
1,650
1
1
1,650
1,650
.25
2
412.5
3,300
$28.85
28.85
$11,900.63
94,050
Totals ....................
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Commitment Letter ......
Action Plan ...................
1,650
1
1,650
2.25
3,712.5
........................
105,950.63
In accordance with 5 CFR
1320.8(d)(1), HUD is soliciting
comments from members of the public
and affected agencies concerning this
collection of information to:
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated collection
techniques or other forms of information
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technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Interested persons are invited to
submit comments regarding the
information collection requirements in
this notice. Comments must refer to the
proposal by name and docket number
(FR–6069) and must be sent to:
HUD Desk Officer, Office of
Management and Budget, New
Executive Office Building, Washington,
DC 20503, Fax: (202) 395–6947, and,
Office of Legislation and Regulations,
Office of General Counsel, Department
of Housing and Urban Development,
Room 10282, 451 7th Street SW,
Washington, DC 20410.
Interested persons may submit
comments regarding the information
collection requirements electronically
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
at https://www.regulations.gov. HUD
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strongly encourages commenters to
submit comments electronically.
Electronic submission of comments
allows the commenter maximum time to
prepare and submit a comment, ensures
timely receipt by HUD, and enables
HUD to make them immediately
available to the public. Comments
submitted electronically through the
https://www.regulations.gov website can
be viewed by other commenters and
interested members of the public.
Commenters should follow the
instructions provided on that site to
submit comments electronically.
IV. Evaluating the Demonstration
HUD will work with entities across
the government and the broader
research community to rigorously
measure outcomes associated with the
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2017 / Notices
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efforts resulting from this demonstration
to advance economic mobility. With this
research, HUD intends to improve and
build on the demonstration, with the
goal of extending the demonstration on
a nationwide basis. The participating
communities and cross-sector entities
are expected to participate in any HUDsponsored evaluation and other efforts
designed to identify and share best
practices from the demonstration with
other HUD-assisted communities. In
addition, participating communities and
entities will be required to
collaboratively develop and
subsequently measure and report
outputs and outcomes.
V. Solicitation of Public Comment
In accordance with section 470 of the
Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act
of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 3542), HUD is
seeking comment on the demonstration.
Section 470 provides that HUD may not
begin a demonstration program not
expressly authorized by statute until a
description of the demonstration
program is published in the Federal
Register and a 60-day period expires
following the date of publication, during
which time HUD solicits public
comment and considers the comments
submitted. The public comment period
provided allows HUD the opportunity to
consider those comments during the 60day period, and be in a position to
commence implementation of the
demonstration following the conclusion
of the 60-day period.
While HUD welcomes comments on
the entirety of the demonstration, it asks
that commenters consider the following
specific questions:
(1) In administering and evaluating
the demonstration, how should HUD
define ‘‘economic mobility’’?
(2) How can HUD tailor the Economic
Empowerment Pillar of the
Demonstration to identify and focus on
families and individuals residing in
HUD-assisted housing that are able to
work, and not those who are elderly or
include persons with disabilities;
(3) How can HUD and identified
partners (state and local entities, private
sector, philanthropic, non-profit and
other entities) best maximize existing
programs and efforts across agencies in
a coordinated and holistic approach?
(4) What impediments exist for
achieving the four pillars, including
institutional, organizational, legal or
statutory, and behavioral impediments?
Is it necessary to the success of the
demonstration that communities link all
four pillars, and if not, would it be
sufficient for a community to identify in
its participation plan the barriers to
including a specific pillar? Are there
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additional pillars that contribute to selfsufficiency and economic mobility that
should be made part of the
demonstration?
(5) What incentives and programs
have worked in the past to achieve the
four pillars?
(6) What elements and level of detail
should HUD require in a community’s
participation plan?
(7) How should HUD define and
measure economic mobility over time
and space? How should HUD measure
quality of life for residents that remain
in assisted housing?
(8) What data sources or data linkage
is needed to develop outcome metrics
such as, return on investment,
involvement of local institutions of
higher learning, employment and
economic opportunities for Section 3
residents and businesses, and a public
process for reviewing outcomes and
lessons learned?
Dated: December 5, 2017.
Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017–26684 Filed 12–11–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057;
FXES11130600000–178–FF06E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: HabitatBased Recovery Criteria for the
Northern Continental Divide
Ecosystem
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability;
request for comments; notice of public
workshop.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a draft Supplement to the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: HabitatBased Recovery Criteria for the Northern
Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE).
The draft supplement, which will be
appended to the Grizzly Bear Recovery
Plan upon finalization, proposes to
establish habitat-based recovery criteria
for the NCDE grizzly bear population. In
addition, the Service hereby gives notice
that a public workshop will be held to
review the habitat-based recovery
criteria for the grizzly bear in the NCDE.
The workshop will allow scientists and
the public to submit oral and written
comments. The Service solicits review
SUMMARY:
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and comment from the public on this
draft supplement.
DATES: Comment submission: Comments
on the draft Supplement to the Grizzly
Bear Recovery Plan must be received on
or before January 26, 2018.
Public meeting: The public workshop
will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 3, 2018, at
the Double Tree Hotel, 100 Madison
Street, in Missoula, Montana.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: An
electronic copy of the draft Supplement
to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan is
available at https://www.regulations.gov
in Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057,
and also at https://www.fws.gov/
mountain-prairie/es/grizzlyBear.php.
Hard copies of the draft habitat-based
recovery criteria are available by request
from the Grizzly Bear Recovery Office,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
University Hall, Room 309, University
of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812;
telephone 406–243–4903.
Comment submission: Submit
comments on the draft Supplement to
the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan via any
one of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal:
www.regulations.gov. In the Search box,
enter the docket number for this notice,
which is FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057. Then
click on the Search button. You may
submit a comment by clicking on
‘‘Comment Now!’’
(2) U.S. mail or hand delivery: Public
Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS–R6–ES–2017–0057; U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC; 5257
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041–
3803.
Public meeting: The public workshop
will be held on at the Double Tree
Hotel, 100 Madison Street, Missoula,
Montana 59812.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Hilary Cooley, Grizzly Bear Recovery
Office (see ADDRESSES), 406–243–4903.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service),
announce the availability of a draft
Supplement to the Grizzly Bear
Recovery Plan: Habitat-Based Recovery
Criteria for the Northern Continental
Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The draft
supplement, which will be appended to
the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan upon
finalization, proposes to establish
habitat-based recovery criteria for the
NCDE grizzly bear population. In
addition, the Service hereby gives notice
that a public workshop will be held to
review the habitat-based recovery
criteria for the grizzly bear in the NCDE.
The workshop will allow scientists and
the public to submit oral and written
comments. The Service solicits review
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58441-58444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26684]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR 6069-N-01]
Advanced Notice of EnVision Center Demonstration
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Through this notice, HUD solicits comment on a demonstration
designed to test the effectiveness of collaborative efforts by
government, industry, and nonprofit organizations to accelerate
economic mobility of low-income households in communities that include
HUD-assisted housing through EnVision Centers, centralized hubs for
supportive services focusing on the four pillars of Economic
Empowerment, Educational Advancement, Health and Wellness, and
Character and Leadership. Approximately 10 communities, selected from
across the country, are anticipated to participate in the
demonstration. The purpose of the demonstration is to explore the
potential of a new service-delivery mechanism to provide HUD-assisted
households the ability to benefit from life-changing opportunities that
the advancement of the four pillars affords.
DATES: Comment Due Date: February 12, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments responsive
to this notice to the Office of General Counsel, Regulations Division,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room
10276, Washington, DC 20410-0001. All submissions should refer to the
above docket number and title. Submission of public comments may be
carried out by hard copy or electronic submission.
1. Submission of Hard Copy Comments. Comments may be submitted by
mail or hand delivery. Each commenter submitting hard copy comments, by
mail or hand delivery, should submit comments to the address above,
addressed to the attention of the Regulations Division. Due to security
measures at all federal agencies, submission of comments by mail often
results in delayed delivery. To ensure timely receipt of comments, HUD
recommends that any comments submitted by mail be submitted at least 2
weeks in advance of the public comment deadline. All hard copy comments
received by mail or hand delivery are a part of the public record and
will be posted to https://www.regulations.gov without change.
2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
https://www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to
submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments
allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment,
ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make comments
immediately available to the public. Comments submitted electronically
through the https://www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other
commenters and interested members of the public. Commenters should
follow instructions provided on that site to submit comments
electronically.
No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (fax) comments are not acceptable.
Public Inspection of Comments. All comments submitted to HUD
regarding this notice will be available, without charge, for public
inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time,
weekdays at the above address. Due to security measures at the HUD
Headquarters building, an advance appointment to review the public
comments must be scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 202-
708-3055 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with speech or
hearing impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339 (this is a toll-free number).
Copies of all comments submitted are available for inspection and
downloading at https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ariel Pereira, Associate General
Counsel for Legislation and Regulations, Office of General Counsel,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW,
Room 10282, Washington, DC 20410-7000, telephone number 202-402-5132
(this is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech
impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the Federal
Relay Service at 800-877-8339 (this is a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, the
Administration is committed to reforming government services and
expanding opportunities for more Americans to become self-sufficient.
The EnVision Center demonstration focuses on empowering people to leave
HUD-assisted housing through self-sufficiency to become responsible
homeowners and renters in the private market. By doing so, HUD will be
able to make those resources available to others and help more
Americans.
The EnVision Centers demonstration is premised on the notion that
financial support alone is insufficient to solve the problem of
poverty. Intentional and collective efforts across a diverse set of
organizations are needed to implement a holistic approach to foster
long-lasting self-sufficiency. EnVision Centers will provide
communities with a centralized hub for support in the following four
pillars: (1) Economic Empowerment, (2) Educational Advancement, (3)
Health and Wellness, and (4) Character and Leadership. The Economic
Empowerment pillar is designed to improve the economic sustainability
of individuals residing in HUD-assisted housing by empowering them with
opportunities to improve their economic outlook. The Education pillar
seeks to bring educational opportunities directly to HUD-assisted
housing and includes partnering with public and private organizations
that approach education in non-traditional ways on non-traditional
platforms. The Health and Wellness pillar is designed to improve access
to health outcomes by individuals and families living in HUD-assisted
housing. The Character and Leadership pillar is designed to enable all
individuals and families residing in HUD-assisted housing, especially
young people, to reach their full potential as productive, caring,
responsible citizens by encouraging participation in volunteer and
mentoring opportunities.
Through results-driven partnerships with federal agencies, state
and local governments, non-profits, faith-based organizations,
corporations, public housing authorities (PHAs), tribal designated
housing entities (TDHEs) and housing finance agencies, EnVision Centers
will leverage public and private
[[Page 58442]]
resources for the benefit of individuals and families living in HUD-
assisted housing. HUD anticipates that positive outcomes for
individuals and households will generate additional positive impacts at
the community-wide level. EnVision Centers will also break down the
silos of government, and co-locate government services that lead to
self-sufficiency.
A January 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) that focused on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,
Employment Services and Workforce Investment Act Adult employment
programs funded by the U.S. Departments of Labor, Education, and Health
and Human Services, found that while it would be a challenge,
efficiencies in offering government services could be achieved by co-
locating services and consolidating administrative structures.\1\
EnVision Centers will bring together in one place, federal, state and
local government services, community based organization services, non-
profit mission based organization services and faith based organization
services that lead economic self-sufficiency and ultimately, greater
economic mobility.
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\1\ https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1192.pdf.
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II. Demonstration
Every resident living in public or assisted housing should have
access to the opportunities economic mobility can provide. This
demonstration is designed to encourage and create a platform for
communities to collaborate with community supportive service providers,
other businesses, foundations, nonprofit organizations, educational
leaders, job training and workforce development organizations, and
others to advance economic mobility in their communities and to test
the effectiveness of a collaborative set of actions that address all
barriers to economic sufficiency. The demonstration will build upon
existing partnerships and continue collaborative work to improve the
lives of residents housed with HUD assistance by providing a forum by
which cross-sector organizations can come together to design and
implement local interventions to advance economic mobility.
1. Process and Criteria for Participation
HUD's goal is to identify a sample of diverse communities from
different geographies and of varying sizes that have the capacity to
effectively and expediently implement the demonstration to serve HUD-
assisted families. HUD seeks the interest of communities where local
leadership has already taken steps to support the goals of the
demonstration, as measured by both the community's participation in
other complementary Federal initiatives supporting economic mobility,
as well as local plans and strategies for addressing the four pillars.
Participation in the demonstration by these communities will build
upon existing efforts already underway to expand economic mobility,
thereby building the comprehensive and coordinated set of resources
that will result in the long-term, sustainable employment that places
individuals and families on track to become self-sufficient.
As part of this demonstration, HUD will provide technical
assistance, evaluation and monitoring, access to online resources such
as the EnVision Center mobile application, access to stakeholder
offerings made available to participating communities and a network of
support from HUD's departments to ensure that all relevant HUD
knowledge resources are made available to participating communities.
HUD believes that communities participating in the EnVision Center
demonstration will benefit from the collaboration made possible under
this demonstration with: Local, state and federal government services,
community based organization services, non-profit mission based
organization services and faith based organization services that will
lead to the development of economic self-sufficiency and ultimately,
greater economic mobility for those most in need within these
communities.
HUD will use the following criteria to assess communities that have
expressed an interest in participating in the demonstration:
(1) The mayor or equivalent executive elected official of the
community, and the PHA's or TDHE's executive leader, must formally
announce a commitment to enhance economic mobility and in so doing
identify skills gaps that exist in their community among distinct
neighborhoods and demographics, the resolution of which will support
long-term, sustainable employment that places individuals and families
in HUD-assisted housing on track to become self-sufficient.
(2) Communities should commit to developing and implementing a plan
to promote and expand economic mobility. The development of this plan
will serve as a vehicle for bringing various stakeholders together and
providing them with a tangible path for achieving the goals of the
demonstration. As an example, the plan could specify and formalize the
participation of community stakeholders, describe gaps in current
service delivery models, identify a physical location(s) which can act
as a shared services site to house the EnVision Center, and/or outline
specific benchmarks and goals for the EnVision center. Communities'
participation plans will be expected to describe the goals of the
community's participation in the demonstration and provide, to the
extent possible, objective goals regarding the number of partnerships
established with state and local government, non-profits, faith based
organizations, and private and philanthropic organizations.
(3) To ensure the presence of local support and leverage HUD
infrastructure for implementation of this demonstration, communities
should be currently participating in one or more Federal place-based
initiatives, such as: The Promise Zones program; PHAs participating in
the Moving to Work Demonstration, the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation
program; the Strong Cities, Strong Communities program; the JobsPlus
program; the Family Self-Sufficiency program and the Resident
Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) program; the ConnectHome
program; existing Neighborhood Networks sites; existing Family
Investment sites; the ROSS for Education Program; the Energy and
Economic Development program (SEED); or the Building Neighborhood
Capacity program.
(4) Communities should be broadly committed to realizing the Office
of American Innovation \2\ vision, especially, developing ``workforce
of the future'' programs, modernizing government services and
information technology, improving services to veterans, creating
transformational infrastructure projects, implementing regulatory and
process reforms, creating manufacturing jobs, and addressing the drug
and opioid epidemic.
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\2\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/27/president-donald-j-trump-announces-white-house-office-american.
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(5) As a condition of participation, selected entities are required
to cooperate in full with HUD staff and/or any contractors affiliated
with HUD, in the implementation and evaluation of this program.
(6) After selection, HUD will finalize a set of measurement tools
to evaluate the program's impact and effectiveness. Selected
respondents will be required to keep records to document how the
Demonstration is being implemented, cooperate with the evaluation, and
[[Page 58443]]
cooperate in [any] the formal independent evaluation of the
Demonstration.
These criteria are meant to create optimal conditions to accelerate
the adoption and use of the EnVision Center model. However, the
criteria may be applied with reasonable flexibility to ensure that a
diverse set of communities are considered for participation in this
demonstration. Approximately 10 communities are anticipated to
initially participate in the demonstration. As the demonstration
proceeds, HUD will assess expressions of interest from communities and
the availability of HUD staffing resources to support additional
participation. Additionally, as the demonstration proceeds, HUD will
assess the effectiveness of the participation criteria on an ongoing
basis. As a result of these assessments, HUD may expand the number of
participating communities, revise the participation criteria, or both
to reflect HUD's experience in implementing the demonstration.
3. Stakeholder Meetings
In advance of commencement of the demonstration, HUD will sponsor
or co-sponsor one or more meetings of communities, cross-sector
entities, and other stakeholders to facilitate the sharing of
information and identify communities interested in participation in the
demonstration. HUD will reach out to communities that have formally
declared a commitment to advance economic mobility and otherwise meet
the criteria described above to participate in those meetings. HUD also
invites interested communities to reach out to HUD to note their
interest and request attendance at a stakeholder meeting. HUD therefore
encourages interested communities to take the necessary steps to meet
the criteria as quickly as possible in order to be best positioned to
realize the benefits of these discussions.
HUD may partner with an existing entity that has a national
organizational presence sufficient to provide a strong coordinating
function across communities, government, and the private and nonprofit
sectors. The entity should have significant expertise in community
services, economic mobility and the four pillars. It should possess
strong existing relationships with industry, foundations, universities,
and nonprofit and non-governmental agencies. Finally, it should have
community project experience, including educational and outreach
activities in underserved populations.
III. Demonstrating Interest in Participating/Information Collection
Approval
Communities interested in participating in this demonstration must
submit a written commitment by the mayor or equivalent executive
elected official of the community (municipality, county, tribal nation
or state), and the PHA or TDHE executive leader, to advancing economic
mobility and empowering HUD-assisted households to become self-
sufficient. This commitment, must also respond to the items outlined in
Section II.1. above, as well as identification of the Federal place-
based initiatives in which it is involved, as requested by Section
II.1.(3.) above. In addition, HUD will require submission of an
EnVision Center plan that outlines specific benchmarks and goals for
the EnVision Center as outlined in Section II of this notice.
Communities seeking to participate in this demonstration must submit
this information to [email protected].
The information collection requirements contained for the EnVision
Center Demonstration will be submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520). In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, an agency may
not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a
collection of information unless the collection displays a currently
valid OMB control number.
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Number of Frequency of Responses per Burden hours Annual burden Hourly costs
Information collection respondents responses year per response hours per response Annual cost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commitment Letter....................... 1,650 1 1,650 .25 412.5 $28.85 $11,900.63
Action Plan............................. 1,650 1 1,650 2 3,300 28.85 94,050
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Totals.............................. 1,650 1 1,650 2.25 3,712.5 .............. 105,950.63
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In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), HUD is soliciting comments
from members of the public and affected agencies concerning this
collection of information to:
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of responses.
Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding the
information collection requirements in this notice. Comments must refer
to the proposal by name and docket number (FR-6069) and must be sent
to:
HUD Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, Fax: (202) 395-6947, and, Office
of Legislation and Regulations, Office of General Counsel, Department
of Housing and Urban Development, Room 10282, 451 7th Street SW,
Washington, DC 20410.
Interested persons may submit comments regarding the information
collection requirements electronically through the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages
commenters to submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of
comments allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a
comment, ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them
immediately available to the public. Comments submitted electronically
through the https://www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other
commenters and interested members of the public. Commenters should
follow the instructions provided on that site to submit comments
electronically.
IV. Evaluating the Demonstration
HUD will work with entities across the government and the broader
research community to rigorously measure outcomes associated with the
[[Page 58444]]
efforts resulting from this demonstration to advance economic mobility.
With this research, HUD intends to improve and build on the
demonstration, with the goal of extending the demonstration on a
nationwide basis. The participating communities and cross-sector
entities are expected to participate in any HUD-sponsored evaluation
and other efforts designed to identify and share best practices from
the demonstration with other HUD-assisted communities. In addition,
participating communities and entities will be required to
collaboratively develop and subsequently measure and report outputs and
outcomes.
V. Solicitation of Public Comment
In accordance with section 470 of the Housing and Urban-Rural
Recovery Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 3542), HUD is seeking comment on the
demonstration. Section 470 provides that HUD may not begin a
demonstration program not expressly authorized by statute until a
description of the demonstration program is published in the Federal
Register and a 60-day period expires following the date of publication,
during which time HUD solicits public comment and considers the
comments submitted. The public comment period provided allows HUD the
opportunity to consider those comments during the 60-day period, and be
in a position to commence implementation of the demonstration following
the conclusion of the 60-day period.
While HUD welcomes comments on the entirety of the demonstration,
it asks that commenters consider the following specific questions:
(1) In administering and evaluating the demonstration, how should
HUD define ``economic mobility''?
(2) How can HUD tailor the Economic Empowerment Pillar of the
Demonstration to identify and focus on families and individuals
residing in HUD-assisted housing that are able to work, and not those
who are elderly or include persons with disabilities;
(3) How can HUD and identified partners (state and local entities,
private sector, philanthropic, non-profit and other entities) best
maximize existing programs and efforts across agencies in a coordinated
and holistic approach?
(4) What impediments exist for achieving the four pillars,
including institutional, organizational, legal or statutory, and
behavioral impediments? Is it necessary to the success of the
demonstration that communities link all four pillars, and if not, would
it be sufficient for a community to identify in its participation plan
the barriers to including a specific pillar? Are there additional
pillars that contribute to self-sufficiency and economic mobility that
should be made part of the demonstration?
(5) What incentives and programs have worked in the past to achieve
the four pillars?
(6) What elements and level of detail should HUD require in a
community's participation plan?
(7) How should HUD define and measure economic mobility over time
and space? How should HUD measure quality of life for residents that
remain in assisted housing?
(8) What data sources or data linkage is needed to develop outcome
metrics such as, return on investment, involvement of local
institutions of higher learning, employment and economic opportunities
for Section 3 residents and businesses, and a public process for
reviewing outcomes and lessons learned?
Dated: December 5, 2017.
Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-26684 Filed 12-11-17; 8:45 am]
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