Strategic Operations Plan

R E P O R T T O T H E C O M M U N I T Y

June 2014

Strategic Operations Plan Overview As a Moving to Work (MTW) agency, Home Forward has the opportunity to explore new ways to support low-income families. The deregulation flexibility afforded by the MTW program allows Home Forward to be creative and intentional about the work we do and the community we serve. Recognizing that we house varied populations, the agency has long worked to tailor programs and activities to meet the needs of all of our diverse families. In 2010, after an extensive process for community input, Home Forward adopted Framing the Future, which identified four strategic directions for the agency. These directions created a high-level strategic framework for the agency. Missing was a level of actionable detail that would integrate the framework with Home Forward’s operational functions and strengths. In 2012, Home Forward’s Board of Commissioners adopted the Strategic Operations Plan, bridging our everyday work with strategic imperatives to do business differently in order to achieve our goals. The Strategic Operations Plan (Plan) consists of four high-level goals to be achieved over a period of three to five years. Broadly, the goals address who Home Forward houses, where we house them, what services we offer to support stability and success, and how the agency positions itself to accomplish these goals. While the Plan is intended to be a living document, the goals are intended to stay consistent unless circumstances change dramatically. Success measures are the metrics we will use to show that the goals have been achieved; equity objectives will demonstrate whether key groups benefited equally or proportionally in these successes. To date, federal budget cuts related to sequestration put stress on our ability to achieve the goals, but rather than change them, we extended the timeframe of the plan. For each goal, there is a significant amount of work done in the agency that supports its achievement. Rather than attempt to name and quantify all of that work, priority initiatives are the most focused, resource-intense efforts to move the agency towards meeting the goal. These initiatives are staffed by cross-departmental teams and require executive support to succeed. They may be staged over a period of years, achieved quickly and replaced by new initiatives or changed as we learn more about what is most important to focus on. The Plan draws on our MTW flexibility and defines our commitment to be innovative and deliberate in the way we provide housing and services to our local community, promoting hope, access and the potential for a better tomorrow.

Goal 1 – We will deploy

resources with greater

intentionality and alignment

with other systems while

increasing the number of

households we serve.

Goal 2 – We will increase the

number of housing units for

our community through

preservation, development

and acquisition.

 Goal 3 – We will strengthen

our relationship with the

people we serve by increasing

mutual accountability and by

improving our ability to

connect them to vital services

in the community.

Goal 4 – We will increase

efficiency and embrace our

new identity by transforming

the organizational structure

and culture. 

S U C C E S S M E A S U R E S & E Q U I T Y O B J E C T I V E S The number of households served will increase by 5%, from 14,960 to 15,710.

New rent assistance programs will be implemented that align with the goals of systems partners and cost less than traditional vouchers.

All communities of color will be served in equal or greater proportion compared with their representation in both Home Forward’s 2012 baseline and low-income families in Multnomah County.

S U C C E S S M E A S U R E S & E Q U I T Y O B J E C T I V E S 200 new units will be added to Home Forward’s housing stock through acquisition and development.

The existing affordable and public housing stock will be demonstrably more financially and physically stable.

New housing units will align with community priorities, such as Opportunity Mapping, urban renewal areas and jurisdictional requests.

S U C C E S S M E A S U R E S & E Q U I T Y O B J E C T I V E S A Community Compact describing expectations for mutual accountability with Home Forward will be signed by every household.

Residents will report an improved sense of value in their interactions with Home Forward, an understanding of the community compact, and increased connection to community supports, based on pre/post-surveys.

All communities of color will report improvement in post-survey results that are equal to or better than aggregate results.

S U C C E S S M E A S U R E S & E Q U I T Y O B J E C T I V E S The organization will be structurally realigned in a way that supports the delivery of core programs and strategic initiatives.

The gap between operating revenue and operating expenses will be reduced from the FY2013 baseline.

Results of Home Forward’s all-staff survey will demonstrate improved outcomes equally across demographic groups.

Goal 1 – We will deploy resources with greater intentionality

and alignment with other systems while increasing the number

of households we serve.

Priority Initiative 1: Implement new waiting lists preferences and processes for designated rent assistance and public housing programs.

Priority Initiative 2: Improve Home Forward’s engagement with systems partners by building necessary infrastructure and by increasing formal relationships, such as through memoranda of understanding and contracts.

Priority Initiative 3: Develop and implement at least three different rent assistance programs for work-focused

households, in collaboration with community partners.

Priority Initiative 4: Add new programs, preferences and priorities that support the community’s “A Home for Everyone: A United Community Plan to End Homelessness in Multnomah County.”

Action As budget constraints force public agencies to do more with less, Home Forward has renewed its focus on collaboration. No single system can provide everything that a family needs in order to thrive, and attempting to do so is, at best, inefficient. Instead, Home Forward has joined our partners in leading the restructuring of services for homeless and low-income families. Each system focuses on its core expertise, and we align our services to provide a full spectrum of supports for vulnerable families. For Home Forward, serving more families with better results requires a shift away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach, which assigns limited housing subsidies via a lottery. Instead, our strategy is to align our housing resources with the services of partners and offer families the type of assistance they need based on their specific circumstances. We are doing this in our traditional programs by creating preferences that promote education and work and by prioritizing families who need to move between housing programs as their needs change due to domestic violence, age or physical health. We are also working with partners to create new short-term subsidies for people moving towards economic stability or exiting foster care, and to dedicate housing aligned with community priorities around ending homelessness.

Alder Elementary School

Home Forward dedicates nearly a half million dollars a year to support families at Alder Elementary School, which was adopted by the I Have a Dream Foundation in order to improve outcomes for the entire school. Alder has one of the highest poverty rates in Oregon: 94% of students receive free/reduced lunch and 20% are homeless. Home Forward provides rent assistance to address the school’s high student mobility rates. Our contributions leverage funds from both the County and City to support family advocates who intervene with families in crisis and offer skill-building and workforce supports. Families may receive emergency rent assistance, medium-term assistance while pursuing economic stability, or priority access to nearby permanent housing. This gives Home Forward the opportunity to expand strategic, systems-level partnerships and support the community’s priorities to improve educational outcomes.

Goal 2 – We will increase the number of housing units for

our community through preservation, development and

acquisition.

Priority Initiative 1: Evaluate and reposition existing projects, with an emphasis on preserving the public housing high rises.

Priority Initiative 2: Pursue opportunities to develop and/or acquire new units in accordance with established criteria.

Priority Initiative 3: Develop an asset management and ten-year capital planning approach to the entire

portfolio owned by Home Forward.

Action Home Forward owns over 6,400 homes, in our public housing, affordable housing and master leased portfolios. These house both working families and some of our community’s most vulnerable members, who need the security of a mission-based landlord. Preservation and development of these homes is fundamental to our role as a social housing agency. To better meet this responsibility, we are transforming our approach to managing our real estate. We have developed tools for use portfolio-wide to assess physical and financial performance and to inform capital planning, budgeting and disposition. Highlights in FY2014 included an organizational restructuring to tie asset management more closely with finance functions, development of a cross-portfolio occupancy tool, implementation of a new Capital Needs Assessment schedule and the execution of a scorecard system to analyze the health of our buildings. By planning across the portfolio, Home Forward is better positioned to balance the demands of both the preservation and development work needed to ensure a growing supply of quality, affordable homes in Multnomah County. Meanwhile, the agency continues to evaluate opportunities to develop or acquire new units. Two projects are underway: Beech Street will add 32 homes for families in NE Portland this fall, and planning has begun for a development in St. Francis Park in inner SE Portland, creating approximately 120 new homes by 2016.

85 Stories

Home Forward has launched the most important preservation project in agency history. 85 Stories involves ten high-rise apartment communities with 85 stories of homes for seniors and people with disabilities. Residents in the ten apartment communities have an average income of less than $800 a month, making affordable housing a critical necessity. While each of their stories may differ, they share an appreciation for the positive impact a stable home can have. These buildings are located in thriving neighborhoods, but have $80 million in capital needs. The federal public housing subsidy we receive for these 1,229 units is not sufficient to make the repairs. In FY2014, we launched Phase I of 85 Stories, changing the underlying subsidy at four buildings to project-based vouchers. This will allow us to leverage equity and debt to make the improvements, beginning in early 2015. By improving the physical condition of the buildings, we will reduce operating costs, enhance value and ensure affordable housing for future generations.

Goal 3 – We will strengthen our relationship with the people we

serve by increasing mutual accountability and by improving our

ability to connect them to vital services in the community.

Priority Initiative 1: Develop and implement a community compact with every household and provide engagement & relationship-building training for staff.

Priority Initiative 2: Implement the Families Forward project, with youth and adult-related initiatives.

Priority Initiative 3: Implement the Aging at Home Initiative.

Action Home Forward’s name change in 2011 reflected our

renewed commitment to providing families with not only a

home, but a way to move forward. Most housing authorities

provide crisis intervention and stability services to keep

people housed; some provide self-sufficiency services. As a

Moving to Work agency charged with increasing economic

opportunity and increasing housing choice, Home Forward

tries to do more. We are shifting our emphasis to spend less

time on administration, instead focusing our limited

resources on connecting families to the supports they need

to be stable and successful. As such, our new community

compact signals our move to a more relationship-based

approach, as we aspire to lay a foundation for profound and

positive change for individuals, families and the community

as a whole.

For our work-focused families, successes last year included

aligning the policies and outcome measures for our site-

based and traditional GOALS programs, better integrating

our various training/employment programs, and expanding

data-sharing with schools to aid in our strategies for

supporting youth. Meanwhile, for seniors and people with

disabilities, FY2014 brought an expansion of our

Congregate Housing Services Program to serve 21% more

residents with independent living services. Simultaneously,

we ventured into the creation of a new corporate entity

which will operate a Housing with Services program to

support aging residents in four of our buildings. Finally, the

Aging at Home initiative informed plans for the 85 Stories

renovation work, which will include building improvements

that will help residents to age safely in their homes.

Community Compact

Home Forward is changing our relationship with program participants, and the community compact is a tool intended to help establish a positive tone and create a spirit of engagement. While we continue to be strong stewards of scarce public resources and enforce regulations, we strive to strengthen our supportive role as well. The compact, signed by staff and participants, communicates our enthusiasm about people’s opportunities for success and our commitment to support their progress. It supports people’s efforts to become more engaged, both personally and within their community. It also highlights staff’s promise to be knowledgeable about community services and connect families with resources, and underscores the importance of partnering to ensure the success of the next generation. The community compact is being rolled out as a pilot at certain properties, including our new Stephens Creek Crossing, and with incoming Section 8 participants, marking a new era in relationship-building at Home Forward.

Goal 4 – We will increase efficiency and embrace our new

identity by transforming the organizational structure and

culture.

Priority Initiative 1: Assess critical functions and operations to determine the most sustainable and strategic business model for Home Forward in the coming years, in order to best fulfill our mission.

Priority Initiative 2: Begin planning and implementation of the following organizational development recommendations from the 2012 agency assessment: 1) staff and leadership development and 2) organizational communication.

Priority Initiative 3: Begin planning and implementation of the following organizational process

recommendations from the 2012 agency assessment: 1) outcome-based decision-making and 2) program/project development and evaluation.

Priority Initiative 4: Evaluate and modify the existing technology strategy plan, as needed, to ensure its continued alignment with evolving business models and organizational needs, including cross-departmental collaboration, data mining/analysis and business intelligence tools.

Action Although it is the final goal, Goal 4 is fundamental to the success of the entire Plan. These priority initiatives are foundational for ensuring Home Forward’s culture supports the creative thinking and steadfast resident support that is necessary to achieve the rest of the agency’s objectives. The assessment, analysis and process development work embedded in our transformational efforts is critical to ensuring that our dedicated staff has all of the business tools they need in order to be successful. Home Forward strives to become a more flexible agency, recognizing that the volatility of federal funding often forces us to balance the competing demands of increasing housing, meeting calls for expanded programs and services, maintaining our physical assets and investing in our people. Progress to date has included several structural reorganizations that increased cross-departmental collaboration and added capacity without adding new staff. We have also begun the initial planning for improving organizational communication. Next, we are preparing to launch an in-depth review of our Property Management business line, which will analyze expense drivers, staffing patterns and market forces in an attempt to increase efficiency and assess potential growth opportunities.

Culture Change

Home Forward is strengthening our spirit of active engagement within the agency. For staff and community partners, our hope is that this will increase the climate of collaboration and broaden input and transparency in decision-making. For residents, the integration of relational engagement into our regulatory responsibilities is meant to increase mutual accountability and trust so that staff members are seen as a resource in helping families meet their goals. Over the last year, 90% of Home Forward staff completed a series of intensive workshops focused on coaching and relational engagement. Additional training in understanding poverty and the diverse communities we serve will further bolster skills, while initiatives like Families Forward, Aging at Home and the Community Compact encourage new and deeper kinds of conversations between participants, staff and partners.

This community compact describes the agreements that

we make to each other in order to have a good

relat ionship. These agreements were created by listening

to residents, part icipants and staf f of Home Forward.

We wil l communicate respectfully with each other. This means doing our best to use

each other’s names, to speak kindly, and to take the time to listen and understand each other.

We wil l create strong neighborhoods together. Home Forward will do this by making

sure you have a safe, well-maintained place to live. You can do this by being a thoughtful

neighbor to those around you and by taking good care of your home.

We wil l create a community together where learning is valued and supported. Home

Forward will do this by continually increasing our skills and understanding about diversity,

poverty, housing and more. We ask that you do this in ways that are meaningful to you:

furthering your education, learning a trade, taking a class or workshop that interests you, or

volunteering in your community to learn more about your neighbors. Most importantly, we ask

that you join us in supporting children to be successful in school. Everyone can encourage

kids to attend school every day and to try their best. We especially ask that parents and

caregivers do everything they can to make sure their children have good attendance in school.

We al l commit to be honest, patient and to believe the best in each other.

Community Compact