Annual Performance Plan 508

STRATEGIES
• Promise Zones build on the Administration’s neighborhood revitalization work by accelerating
the progress of high-poverty communities whose stakeholders have joined in a collaborative
strategy with a shared commitment to results. These communities will create jobs, increase
economic activity, reduce serious and violent crime, and improve educational opportunities to
develop communities that serve as launching pads for their residents, as opposed to traps where
poor conditions and isolation undermine the potential for success.
• Choice Neighborhoods grants support locally driven strategies to address struggling
neighborhoods with distressed public or HUD-assisted housing through a comprehensive
approach to neighborhood transformation. Local leaders, residents, and stakeholders, such
as public housing authorities, cities, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits, and private
developers, come together to create and implement a plan that transforms distressed HUD
housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood. The program is
designed to catalyze critical improvements in neighborhood assets, including vacant property,
housing, services, and schools.
• Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) addresses the issue of reduced municipal capacity,
which makes it more difficult for community leaders to invest existing federal funds to their
maximum potential in economic revitalization strategies. The capacity of cities and counties
represents a crucial opportunity for federal intervention because local governments receive
direct allocations of formula grant funding and their elected leadership often exerts substantial
influence on the governance of other local bodies receiving important grant allocations. Poor
municipal capacity not only affects the quality and function of federally-funded services that
contribute to a community’s ability to attract investment and to create access to opportunity
for its residents, but also limits the quality and feasibility of locally-driven revitalization
strategies. SC2 directly supports local leaders in creating a solid foundation for economic
growth by addressing these areas. Beginning in FY2014, the National Resource Network, a
consortium of private sector, non-profit, and academic experts, expanded the SC2 model and
will reach many additional communities with on-the-ground expert advice and remote coaching.
• The Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) provides planning grants, technical assistance
and support for implementation projects to regional organizations and municipalities to
plan infrastructure and housing investments in such a way that they channel growth, reduce
transportation inefficiencies, and promote environmental quality. HUD’s Office of Economic
Resilience administers these SCI grants, which engage stakeholders and leverage public
and private investments to make neighborhoods more prosperous, enhance economic
competitiveness and resilience, and save households and businesses time and money on
transportation. These grants are a key element of the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for
Sustainable Communities.
• Community Needs Assessments provide the forum to solve locally identified issues, locally
driven community goals; focus resources on issue resolution; and provide a venue for increased
collaboration across HUD’s programs, with other federal agencies, and with local partners
to deploy resources and expertise. The goal of these assessments is to build a stronger
relationship with the communities we serve, strengthen HUD’s presence with our stakeholders
112 Retrospective: FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal Green and Healthy Homes