Exceeding Expectations - Oakland Housing Authority

Creating Employment
In 2011, the Oakland Housing Authority expanded our goals related to residents’ employment beyond
the HUD Section 3 requirements. The Authority provides job training, employment and contracting
opportunities for low- and very low-income residents, a priority of the OHA Board of Commissioners.
An Authority-wide effort was made, involving multiple departments, to link qualified and trained workers
to job opportunities created through OHA contracting and development activities. As a result, we have
surpassed HUD requirements making us a nationally recognized leader.
The Contract Compliance and General Services department (CCGS) manages OHA’s procurement process
and facilitates adherence to Section 3 requirements. The Family & Community Partnerships department (FCP)
works, in part, to assist OHA residents with job training, resumé writing and online job searches. FCP used
technology to develop an innovative referral solution, recognizing that the key to meeting OHA’s workforce
goals was to quickly link trained and experienced job candidates to job opportunities that fit their training
and experience. The outcome is a database of candidates that is regularly updated through outreach and
assessments of resident job readiness. FCP uses the database to refer ready-to-work residents to our
contractors. Collaboration and coordination between our contracting and development efforts, and our
resident hiring goals, put 94 OHA and other low-income Oakland residents back to work during the past
fiscal year.
OHA will continue to reach out and up to exceed our own past performance to help our residents become
more economically self-sufficient and to build a more prosperous community.
Learn about contracting opportunities with OHA
Learn about employment opportunities with OHA
Oakland Housing Authority Annual Report 2011