Healthy Homes Production Grant Program for Tribal Housing | FR 6200 N 44

Healthy Homes Production Grant Program for Tribal Housing (HUD) - FAQs

1) What is the Healthy Homes Production Grant Program for Tribal Housing?

It is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that helps American Indian and Alaska Native communities reduce health and safety risks inside the home by finding, prioritizing, and fixing housing conditions that contribute to illness and injury, particularly in low-income households.

2) What is the main purpose of this program?

The program is designed to produce measurable, on-the-ground results by controlling multiple serious home-based health and safety hazards, maximizing the number of people protected and the number of housing units where hazards are actually addressed.

3) How does this relate to HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative?

This grant is part of HUD's broader Healthy Homes Initiative, which began in 1999. It reflects the idea that residents are often exposed to multiple hazards at the same time, so better outcomes come from addressing several issues together rather than focusing on one isolated hazard.

4) What kinds of hazards or risks is the program trying to reduce?

The notice emphasizes health and safety risks in the home that can contribute to illness and injury. It builds on HUD's experience with Lead Hazard Control and expands attention to other high-priority environmental health and safety hazards, especially those affecting children, elders, and other vulnerable residents.

5) Who is this funding intended to benefit?

The focus is on protecting residents in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, with an emphasis on low-income households and special attention to homes where children and elderly residents live.

6) What housing types does HUD prioritize for hazard control work?

The program prioritizes privately owned, low-income rental housing and owner-occupied homes. It also places special emphasis on units where children and elderly residents live.

7) What does "production" mean in the context of this grant?

"Production" refers to completing actual hazard control work in housing units and demonstrating measurable impact. HUD is signaling that funded activities should result in real remediation outcomes (not just planning) and should maximize both the number of people protected and the number of homes improved.

8) Is this program only about doing repairs, or are other activities expected?

Beyond direct remediation, the program expects investment in long-term capacity and prevention, including public education and outreach, as well as building a trained local workforce capable of healthy homes assessments and remediation work.

9) What is meant by a "comprehensive healthy homes approach"?

It means running a practical program that identifies priority hazards, prioritizes where to intervene, and carries out remediation using cost-effective and efficient methods that are realistic to replicate in other homes and in future years.

10) Does HUD want this to be a one-time project?

No. The description emphasizes that the approach should be structured so it can be sustained and scaled within the community over time, rather than being a one-time set of repairs.

11) How does HUD expect grantees to use resources efficiently?

The program emphasizes integration and coordination with related housing and health efforts to reduce duplication and stretch limited resources. It also encourages cost-effective and efficient hazard control methods that can be replicated.

12) What does "integration" mean for this grant?

Integration means coordinating healthy homes hazard control with related efforts such as housing rehabilitation, property maintenance, weatherization, energy efficiency improvements, and other health and safety initiatives, including lead-based paint hazard control programs.

13) Are partnerships required or encouraged?

Partnerships and coordination are strongly emphasized. Applicants are expected to build and enhance partner resources and collaborate across agencies, including encouraging data sharing and more strategic targeting between health departments and housing departments.

14) What does the grant say about data sharing and cross-agency coordination?

It explicitly encourages coordination between systems that often operate separately, including data sharing and more strategic targeting between health departments and housing departments to improve how homes and households are prioritized for services.

15) Does the program include workforce development expectations?

Yes. The grant expects communities to build a trained local workforce that can perform healthy homes assessments and remediation work, helping strengthen long-term local capacity.

16) Does the program include resident education or outreach expectations?

Yes. The grant includes public education and outreach so residents can better understand common housing-related health risks and learn how to reduce them.

17) Are there expectations about directing economic benefits back into the community?

Yes. To the greatest extent feasible, job training, employment, contracting, and other economic opportunities generated by the grant should be directed to low- and very low-income persons (including people receiving housing assistance) and to businesses that provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-income residents in the project area, consistent with requirements referenced at 24 CFR 135.

18) What civil rights and equity requirements are highlighted?

The opportunity embeds civil rights and equity requirements, including advancing environmental justice and compliance with disability nondiscrimination laws. It also highlights the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing as an ongoing program requirement.

19) How is environmental justice described in the opportunity?

Environmental justice is defined as fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in the target communities regardless of race, color, national origin, disability, or income, as it relates to environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

20) What disability-related compliance requirements are mentioned?

The notice calls for compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and implementing regulations at 24 CFR 8, as well as Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibit disability-based discrimination.

21) What does "affirmatively further fair housing" mean in this context?

The opportunity notes that affirmatively furthering fair housing is not only an objective of the funding notice, but also an ongoing civil-rights-related program requirement tied to participation in the program.

22) Who is eligible to apply for this funding?

Eligible applicants include federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments.

23) Who is the issuing agency?

The issuing agency is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

24) What type of funding instrument is this?

The funding instrument is a grant.

25) What is the program category?

The opportunity is categorized under housing.

26) What is the funding opportunity number?

The funding opportunity is listed as "Healthy Homes Production Grant Program for Tribal Housing" with Funding Opportunity Number FR 6200 N 44.

27) What is the CFDA number for this program?

The CFDA number listed for this opportunity is 14.913.

28) What is the maximum award amount?

The award ceiling is up to $1,000,000 per award.

29) How many awards did HUD anticipate making?

HUD anticipated making about 12 awards.

30) When was this opportunity posted, and when was it originally due?

The posting information shows a creation date of June 25, 2019, with an original closing date of August 9, 2019.

31) What was the application submission deadline time?

Electronic applications were due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date.

32) What is the overall approach HUD is encouraging communities to take?

HUD is encouraging a coordinated, comprehensive healthy homes approach that combines hazard identification, prioritization, and remediation with education, workforce development, partnership-building, and integration with other housing and health initiatives to achieve measurable, scalable results.