Consulting firm praises HUD's management reform plan

The Housing and Urban Development Department's three-year old plan to improve customer service and restore the public's trust in the agency has won the praise of a private consulting firm in a new report. But the firm also urged HUD officials to focus more on engaging employees in the reform process.

Public Strategies Group (PSG) Inc.-a consulting firm headed by reinventing government expert David Osborne-evaluated HUD's 2020 management reform plan at Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo's invitation. PSG found that the agency has made progress through its customer-service oriented Community Builders program and its Enforcement Center, which cracks down on waste, fraud and abuse in the housing industry.

In 1997, Cuomo launched the HUD 2020 plan to reorganize the department and repair HUD's reputation as a scandal-ridden and mismanaged agency. PSG first assessed the department's reform plan in 1998 and identified various management problems facing HUD, including ineffective enforcement policies, a lack of useful performance information and accountability for results, and fragmented financial systems.

Community Builders are HUD's liaisons in local communities. They are designed to provide information on the department's programs to customers and to help local communities meet their housing needs. HUD's Enforcement Center focuses on eradicating waste, fraud and abuse in the housing industry. In the past two years, the center has recovered $40 million in civil penalties and settlements from property owners.

PSG's report commended HUD's workforce for its contributions to the department's massive reform plan, which has affected virtually every part of the organization.

"HUD employees should be proud of the work they have done to implement the HUD 2020 reforms in such a short period of time. They have helped turn HUD around from an organization that many believed could not be trusted with scarce tax dollars to one that has improved the results it delivers to citizens," the report said.

PSG said that although many employees have become energized by the reform, others are tired from the pace of change and are anxious about their future at the agency. The report urged HUD to work with the department's senior career leadership in holding face-to-face forums on management reform with employees across the country, allowing them to share their concerns and ideas.

"This formal process--led by career managers who will carry over into the next administration--can help set the stage and a positive framework for improving the HUD 2020 reforms and institutionalizing them," said the report.

Other agency reform initiatives lauded by PSG include improved procurement practices, a streamlined financial management system and the creation of a real estate assessment center that oversees performance by property owners and promotes sound assessment practices in public housing.

The inspector general's office at HUD has been critical of the department's 2020 management reform plan, particularly the Community Builders program. In a 1999 report, the IG's office said that the program increased the number of people at the department who are not part of any specific program and whose jobs are tied to the agency's political management.

An official in the IG's office said the office had no comment on the new report on HUD's management reforms.

The General Accounting Office has reported that although HUD has made progress overcoming its management challenges, top leaders must continue their commitment to reform to sustain those efforts and work harder to involve employees in reform initiatives.