HUD announced a greatly revamped website on March 31 with a media release claiming the site was “high quality” and “streamlined;” however, as of April 3 the website is clearly not ready for prime time. Many links for major HUD programs are non-functioning. With each change of Administration, there is usually a design change requiring frequent site users to adjust to find key information. However, this latest reorganization represents an unprecedented level of missing information, not all of it due to inoperable links. Although HUD’s media release states that the website is “the final product,” perhaps the announcement was premature and the information will eventually be posted via working links.
Here is a partial list of HUD programs listed but without working links: National Housing Trust Fund, HOME Investment Partnerships, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA), Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), Moving to Work Demonstration (MTW), Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA), Section 18 Demolition/Disposition, Public Housing Operating Fund, Public Housing Capital Fund, and Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS).
HUD’s media release claims that the previous site “was bloated with redundant, outdated, and disorganized content, making it difficult for users to access the critical information.” According to HUD there were “19 program office microsites, each with its own separate confusing navigation.” Frequent HUD website users would not disagree that the site has historically been often difficult to navigate, however HUD boasts that the new website features about a 90% reduction in content from the previous website, saving $400,000, so even if program links eventually come online it will take many months for advocates to determine what information has been eliminated.
The revamped HUD website offers users three categories to explore: “HUD Partners,” “Researchers,” and “Helping Americans.” The partial list of bad links referred to above are found under “HUD Partners.” Within program areas there are also other non-functioning links. For example under “Fair Housing,” the links for “FHEO Programs and Initiatives” do not work for eight of the ten listed programs, such as identifying organizations with Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grants, the Limited English Proficiency Initiative, Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST, and Requirements For Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Programs. FHEO stands for the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
The Housing Choice Voucher Data Dashboard link currently does not work and the Public Housing Data Dashboard is not even mentioned. The Housing Choice Voucher Guidebook link also does not work and the Public Housing Occupancy Guidebook is not mentioned. Public Housing Agency Plans (PHA Plans) and Section 3 Job Training, Employment, and Business Opportunities does not seem to be present on the HUD website. It is no longer possible to find the names of key HUD staff in the various program offices, at least those HUD staff who have not been arbitrarily and illegally fired by Elon Musk’s Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Under the second category of “Researchers” there are two options. One, “HUDuser.gov,” seems to have most if not all of the data previously available from HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R). However, under the second option, “Date.hud.gov,” a number of datasets NLIHC and PAHRC used to refresh the National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) are no longer accessible, such as the Multifamily Assistance and Section 8 Contracts Database, Public Housing Physical Inspection Scores, and Contract Renewal Information.
The third category, “Helping Americans,” does seem to be an improvement designed to provide basic information for the general public, especially people seeking housing assistance.