Federal Statutes and HUD Regulations Include Requirements for PHAs’ Criminal History Policies but Some Also Provide Discretion

		Federal Statutes and HUD Regulations Require PHAs to Conduct Criminal Background Checks and Mandate Denial of Housing Assistance for Certain Offenses

PHAs must follow federal statutes and HUD regulations (federal  requirements) in determining eligibility for public housing and HCV  assistance for persons with criminal history records. Specifically, PHAs must permanently  ban admissions for individuals convicted of producing methamphetamine  on the premises of federally assisted housing and individuals subject to a lifetime registration requirement under a state sex offender program. PHAs Generally Have Discretion in Establishing Their Criminal History Policies

PHAs generally have discretion in establishing their specific criminal  history policies, apart from the specific federal requirements discussed  above. Officials from PHAs  we interviewed took different approaches to allowing mitigating  circumstances and other factors. HUD Has Not Yet Updated Its Guidebooks for PHAs with Newer Criminal History Policy Guidance, and Its Compliance Reviews Do Not Address Some Requirements

		HUD Has Not Yet Updated Its Guidebooks to Reflect New Criminal History Policy Guidance

As of mid-May 2018, HUD officials stated that they were in the process of  updating HUD’s HCV Program Guidebook and Public Housing  Occupancy Guidebook (guidebooks), including updating sections of these  guidebooks with new criminal history policies. However, the  documentation HUD provided on these updates did not specifically  address criminal history policies. In addition, HUD’s checklist also does not address the requirement that  PHAs may not use arrest records as the basis for denying or terminating  assistance. The Fugitive Felon Initiative Has Led to Apprehensions, but Its Implementation and Program Oversight Have Been Inconsistent

		The HUD OIG Identified and Shared Potential Leads on Locations of Fugitives with the FBI

Through the Fugitive Felon Initiative, the HUD OIG and the FBI have  shared information that has produced thousands of potential investigative  leads on the location of fugitives who may live in HUD-assisted housing. Data from these questionnaires show that  law enforcement agencies reported 1,260 fugitive apprehensions that  were facilitated by information from the Fugitive Felon Initiative from fiscal  years 2013 through 2017. Subsequently, four of the seven HUD OIG regional offices did  not participate in the Fugitive Felon Initiative from 2012 through 2016,  according to regional officials, while the other three regional offices  participated by following-up on at least some of the potential investigative  leads. The HUD OIG Has Reporting Requirements for the Fugitive Felon Initiative, but Does Not Plan to Collect or Assess Data on Some Key Aspects of Regional Implementation

The 2018 SOP includes some added requirements for HUD OIG  headquarters to track and report some statistics related to its regional  offices’ activities, but the HUD OIG does not plan to collect or assess data  on some activities listed in the 2018 SOP that HUD OIG officials stated  regional offices are required to undertake for the Prioritized Fugitive Felon  List. The HUD OIG and the FBI Have Not Consistently Shared Results of the Initiative

The HUD OIG and the FBI have not consistently shared information on  the results of the Fugitive Felon Initiative or agreed on the type of  information that would be the most useful to share. Reporting on these  activities can help the agencies identify areas for improvement such as  policy and operational effectiveness. Jointly agreeing to any changes in HUD OIG and FBI  responsibilities under the Fugitive Felon Initiative and updating the MOU  to reflect these changes could improve collaboration between the HUD  OIG and the FBI and improve implementation of the initiative. In addition, HUD could improve its ability to  identify and address potential noncompliance by determining what  additional criminal history requirements to include in its compliance  reviews and obtaining additional information on how PHAs are  implementing their policies as part of these reviews. In its written comments, the HUD OIG disagreed with our  recommendation that it collect and assess more comprehensive  information on regional office efforts to implement activities listed in the  2018 SOP (Recommendation 3). The HUD OIG agreed with our  recommendation to update the Fugitive Felon Initiative MOU to reflect the  agencies’ current activities and responsibilities (Recommendation 5). Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report examines (1) the statutory and regulatory requirements for  public housing agencies’ (PHA) criminal history policies for public housing  and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs; (2) the extent to which the  Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides  guidance and monitors PHA implementation of criminal history policy  requirements for public housing and HCV programs; and (3) the  implementation of the Fugitive Felon Initiative by the HUD Office of  Inspector General (OIG), in coordination with the Federal Bureau of  Investigation (FBI). We also  reviewed HUD’s monitoring procedures for PHAs. To determine the extent to which the HUD OIG, in coordination with law  enforcement agencies, implements and monitors the Fugitive Felon  Initiative, we reviewed memorandum of understanding (MOU)  agreements between the HUD OIG and the FBI and between the HUD  OIG and the U.S.
Why GAO Did This Study

HUD has encouraged PHAs to balance resident safety with the housing needs of persons with criminal records when administering its rental assistance programs. PHAs are responsible for screening program applicants. The HUD OIG and the FBI implement the Fugitive Felon Initiative to identify and apprehend wanted persons receiving rental assistance.
GAO was asked to review HUD's criminal history policies and the Fugitive Felon Initiative. This report examines (1) federal requirements for PHAs' criminal history policies, (2) HUD guidance and monitoring of these requirements, and (3) implementation of the Fugitive Felon Initiative. GAO reviewed federal statutes and regulations and interviewed officials from HUD, the HUD OIG, and the FBI; analyzed Fugitive Felon Initiative data from 2013 through 2017; and interviewed staff at a nongeneralizable sample of 10 PHAs (selected based on size and other factors).

What GAO Found

Federal requirements for public housing agencies. Federal statutes and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations require public housing agencies (PHA) to conduct criminal history checks on individuals applying for rental assistance under HUD's public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs and deny assistance for six types of offenses. Mandatory denials include convictions for producing methamphetamine on the premises of federally-assisted housing and lifetime sex offender registrants. Otherwise, PHAs generally have discretion in establishing their criminal history policies and may deny assistance for other offenses or factor in mitigating circumstances.
HUD monitoring of public housing agencies. From 2011 through 2016, HUD issued new guidance to PHAs on criminal history policies, but these changes are not reflected in HUD's program guidebooks for PHAs. These guidebooks serve as key reference tools, but have not been updated in over 15 years. Updating them would help HUD more accurately communicate its criminal history policies. While HUD officials said their current efforts to update the guidebooks will reflect recent criminal history policy notices, documentation provided by the agency on these updates did not specifically address criminal history guidance. In addition, HUD's compliance reviews of high-risk PHAs do not address some criminal history policy requirements, such as the prohibition on using arrest records as the basis for determining eligibility. Further, these reviews are largely limited to examining PHAs' written policies and do not cover how PHAs implement those policies. More comprehensive compliance reviews would improve HUD's ability to identify areas of noncompliance with criminal history policy requirements.
Fugitive Felon Initiative. From fiscal years 2013 through 2017, the HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shared data through the Fugitive Felon Initiative, which led to the apprehension of more than 1,200 wanted persons who may have lived in HUD-assisted housing. However, GAO found that the HUD OIG had not defined its regional office responsibilities under the initiative and that four of the seven HUD OIG regions did not participate from 2012 through 2016. The HUD OIG revised its procedures for the initiative in April 2018 to include regional office responsibilities, such as coordinating with law enforcement agencies. According to HUD OIG officials, regional offices are now required to coordinate with law enforcement agencies on a priority list of investigative leads, which include warrants for violent felonies, sexual assault, and narcotics distribution. However, the HUD OIG does not plan to assess regional office implementation of several requirements. Collecting and assessing more comprehensive information on regional office activities would help the HUD OIG determine the extent to which regions are undertaking required activities. In addition, the HUD OIG and the FBI have not consistently shared information on the initiative's results—such as apprehension statistics and program savings—which could help evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative. Further, the HUD OIG's and the FBI's current activities to implement the initiative differ in some areas from the agreed-upon responsibilities listed in their 2012 memorandum of understanding. Updating the memorandum to reflect current responsibilities under the initiative could help improve collaboration between the agencies and improve implementation.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making seven recommendations, including that HUD update PHA guidebooks and improve monitoring procedures; that the HUD OIG assess more comprehensive information on the implementation of the Fugitive Felon Initiative; and that the HUD OIG and the FBI consistently share information on the initiative's results and update their memorandum of understanding to reflect current responsibilities. HUD and the FBI generally agreed. The HUD OIG did not agree with two of our recommendations. GAO maintains the recommendations, as discussed in the report.