CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY SEVENTH COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. R-26-11 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Renée Grout and Nichole Rogers
RESOLUTION
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Amending R-24-109 To Extend The Deadline For Implementation Of Directives Related To The City’s Housing Voucher Programs; Adding A Directive To Develop A Plan To Integrate Data Across Housing, Homelessness, And Related Service Dashboards; And Adding A Member With Lived Experience Using A Housing Voucher To The Task Force (Grout and Rogers)
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AMENDING R-24-109 TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVES RELATED TO THE CITY’S HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAMS; ADDING A DIRECTIVE TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO INTEGRATE DATA ACROSS HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS, AND RELATED SERVICE DASHBOARDS; AND ADDING A MEMBER WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE USING A HOUSING VOUCHER TO THE TASK FORCE.
WHEREAS, R-24-109, Enactment No. R-2025-003, adopted by the Albuquerque City Council on January 6, 2025, directs the Department of Health, Housing, and Homelessness (HHH) to take steps to improve the efficiency and transparency of the City’s Housing Voucher Programs; and
WHEREAS, Section 2 further provides that the implementation of the directives contained in the Resolution shall be completed within one (1) year of the submission of the implementation plan; and
WHEREAS, the EC-25-353 with the implementation plan was received and referred by Council on April 7, 2025; and
WHEREAS, the report and implementation plan required coordination among multiple City departments, nonprofit service providers, and regional partners involved in the administration of Housing Voucher Programs; and
WHEREAS, although significant progress has been made, additional time is necessary to complete implementation in a manner that ensures improvements to program transparency, efficiency, and accountability while minimizing disruption to residents currently receiving housing assistance.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
SECTION 1. R-24-109, Enactment No. R-2025-003 directed HHH to take a number of steps to increase the efficiency and transparency of its Housing Voucher Programs, including Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), Rapid Re-housing (RRH), Transitional Housing, Hotel/Motel, and Project-Based (PBV) Vouchers. Following is a summary of the directives and the status of each.
1. Convene a Housing Voucher Program Work Group. This directive is complete. The Work Group had its kick off meeting on January 27, 2025, and has been meeting regularly since that time.
2. Outline existing policies and procedures for the administration of the Housing Voucher Programs. Identify improvements and develop new and expanded procedures to improve the administration of the Housing Voucher Programs. Policies have been developed and/or updated for all Housing Voucher Program types, except for PBVs, which is still under review. A new Hotel/Motel Voucher Policy is currently being drafted.
3. Coordinate with the Coordinated Entry System (CES) contractor to identify and evaluate existing intake and referral processes for all Housing Voucher Programs. Work is ongoing and includes reviewing the CES data for duplications and overall efficiencies as well as evaluating the current Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VISPDAT). This continuing work to improve the system requires ongoing evaluation, must meet federal requirements, and receive review and approval from CES governing bodies. This work may extend beyond the deadlines in the Resolution. The Work Group will continue discussions about establishing a centralized location for individuals to contact when in need of Housing Vouchers and/or housing assistance. The Work Group will develop a plan for this resource, which will include a budget proposal and training and decision trees for any hotlines fielding calls for information that replace 768-HELP.
4. Outline existing long-term outcome goals for each of the Housing Voucher Types, identify necessary improvements, and develop long-term and short-term outcome goals, program evaluation processes, and methods for tracking and reporting individual outcomes for program participants. HHH will aggregate outputs from all current Housing Voucher Program contracts and post them on the Housing Voucher Dashboard. HHH will develop outputs for any Housing Voucher Program contract that does not currently include outputs. The Work Group will review existing outputs and advise of any updates for FY27.
5. Implement software for tracking Housing Voucher Programs to include processes for requests for reimbursement, integration with the Homeless Management Information System and the City’s financial system, Peoplesoft, development of a public facing dashboard, and a platform for participant feedback. The dashboard is live. Outcome goals will be added to the dashboard once they are complete.
6. Requests for Reimbursement Process Improvements. HHH is revising the request for reimbursement process for Housing Voucher Programs to reduce the administrative burden for providers and improve reimbursement timelines. The revised process will reduce the amount of supplemental documentation required with each reimbursement request while still maintaining necessary financial oversight and audit standards. The goal is to simplify submission requirements, allow providers to spend more time serving clients, and enable the City to process reimbursements more quickly.
7. Administrative Requirements Review. HHH is currently reviewing the City’s Administrative Requirements related to Housing Voucher Programs to ensure that the policies, documentation expectations, and compliance standards align with current program operations and federal guidance. The review is intended to identify areas where requirements can be clarified, streamlined, or updated to support efficient program administration while maintaining accountability and transparency.
8. HHH has established an internal benchmark to fully execute voucher contracts and encumber funds within 30 days of allocation. This is currently being piloted during the FY26 contracting cycle and will be tracked internally to assess process improvements.
9. Work with HHH and Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) to explore and provide a recommendation and propose a process to allow ACS to directly administer Hotel/Motel Vouchers to unhoused individuals. HHH and ACS collaborate on the use of Hotel/Motel Voucher funding in the Street Connect Contract.
SECTION 2. The Work Group shall develop a plan for integrating data between housing, homelessness, and associated service dashboards that currently exist or are planned that relate to behavioral health, substance abuse, and housing and homelessness services. The dashboards should use unique identifiers and data should be interoperable between the dashboards.
SECTION 3. The Work Group shall reconvene and include an additional member with lived experience using a housing voucher in Albuquerque.
SECTION 4. The deadline contained in Section 2 of R-24-109, Enactment No. R-2025-003, requiring that the implementation of the directives contained in that Resolution be completed within one (1) year of the submission of the implementation plan is hereby extended by nine (9) months to January 7, 2027.
SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase of this Resolution is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Resolution. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Resolution and each section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase thereof irrespective of any provision being declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.
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