Saturday, June 13, 2015

2014-2015 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury Report: HOUSING AUTHORITY OF MONTEREY COUNTY PRESERVING RESOURCES FOR QUALIFIED RESIDENTS

ABSTRACT: The 2014-2015 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury Report “HOUSING AUTHORITY OF MONTEREY COUNTY PRESERVING RESOURCES FOR QUALIFIED RESIDENTS” document copy is embedded. FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS and RESPONSES REQUIRED sections are reproduced.

FINDINGS

F1. The HAMC (Housing Authority of Monterey County) does not currently have any meaningful procedure for the receipt, processing, investigation or response to complaints regarding abuse of its housing assistance programs.

F2. The Board of Commissioners has not had a formal complaint tracking mechanism.

F3. Resolution 2813, adopted by the Board in March 2015, does not provide for an ongoing complaint log that should be available to the public and staff at Board meetings,

F4. Resolution 2813 does not require a process whereby analysis of complaints by the Board is mandatory as a regular agenda item.

F5. The Executive Director of HAMC did not respond to at least one member of the public (the complainant referred to above) even though she stated in writing that she would. Therefore, this particular complaint was unresolved. There may still be ongoing violations at that particular address.

F6. HAMC staff do not respond readily to complaints about a given address, and prefer to focus on individual clients by name, despite the fact addresses can be cross-referenced on the database, and names of clients currently living at that address can be called up.

F7. HAMC staff also do not maintain a formal log of complaints received.

F8. The agency needs more staff help to investigate complaints and community concerns, for example a program integrity specialist.

RECOMMENDATIONS

R1. That Resolution 2813 be expanded to provide transparency to the public and staff as to how complaints are analyzed and managed. A log of these issues, with timelines and responses documented, should be the basis of an ongoing quality management review by the Board, thus checking their status and being responsive to the public.

R2. That the HAMC adopt a formal written complaint resolution policy and procedures. This would include of a log of incoming complaints, to whom they were assigned, and how and when they were resolved.

R3. That the HAMC respond to complaints about particular addresses where their clients are located as readily as they do to complaints about individual clients by name. They are encouraged to use all database entries available for pertinent information.

R4. That HAMC establish a Quality Management committee to review, analyze, and report on complaints received by the Agency.

R5. That the HAMC hire a program integrity staff member to work with the Housing Programs for outreach and investigation of possible fraud and mismanagement. A person in that position would assist the HAMC in fiscal management by identifying misuses. He/she would work with the DA to prosecute and recover monies.

R6. That the HAMC investigate, currently, the address that was the subject of the complaint referred to in this document.

R7. That HAMC increase interaction with Law Enforcement so that there could be cross reporting on addresses of police calls (such as when the police know the address is an HAMC project-based unit.)

R8. HAMC establish a program to create more owner/landlord awareness of current and ongoing regulations that they may need reminders about. Quarterly meetings with landlords would be useful, in addition to an HAMC newsletter.

RESPONSES REQUIRED

Pursuant to Penal Code § 933.05, the MCCGJ requests responses to all Findings and Recommendations from the following governing body:

• The Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of Monterey County
2014-2015 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury Report
HOUSING AUTHORITY OF MONTEREY COUNTYPRESERVING RESOURCES FOR QUALIFIED RESIDENTS
June 2015

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