Lake County Housing Authority named as ‘High Performer’

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has rated the Lake County Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program as a “High Performer” for the fiscal year 2011.

LCHA is among a select number of housing authorities, of the about 3,200 across the U.S., to achieve and maintain this prominent designation.

LCHA Executive Director David A. Northern Sr. expresses how it is “our agency’s overarching goal to achieve High Performance status each year, and it is the vision of our board of commissioners and the continued hard work and dedication of our staff that allows us to do so. This HUD recognition is a representation of our unwavering commitment to fulfilling our mission and to the residents we serve.”

Both LCHA’s Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 programs consistently have earned impressive ratings from HUD over the past years. The ranking of High Performer is the highest honor bestowed by HUD to housing authorities.

HUD requires that all housing authorities meet strict requirements and full compliance with regulations in the operations of their rental assistance programs. Annually, housing authorities undergo the Section 8 Management Assessment Program review. Fourteen key areas are evaluated in this review, including the proper selection of applicants from the Housing Choice Voucher waiting list; the sound determination of reasonable rent for each unit leased; ensuring that units comply with Housing Quality Standards; and the enrollment of families in the Family Self-Sufficiency program. Housing authorities scoring at 90 percent or higher receive the High Performer designation.

The Lake County Housing Authority learned from HUD that it had received the score of 97 percent on its annual review of its HCV/Section 8 program for 2011.