Public Housing Authorities Directors Association (PHADA) is a nonprofit association representing public housing authority directors before Congress and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). PHADA provides input on legislation and federal regulations to increase funding for public housing and seeks to change laws and regulations to make public housing qualifications simpler and streamlined.

PHADA has argued that increases in public housing funding will fight global warming and promote racial equity. PHADA advocates for equity, promotes Black Lives Matter, and opposes race-neutral policies in public housing, though it opposed equity measures by the Obama administration citing the potential to shift grant money away from core cities and to suburbs.

History

Public Housing Authorities Directors Association was founded in 1979 in Columbus, Ohio, by the executive director of the Columbus Housing Authority as a leading founding member. ¹ PHADA opened its first office in Washington, D.C., with the intention of increasing membership among public housing authority directors, providing training, furthering the association’s relationship with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and becoming an advocate before Congress. ² PHADA ended its first year with a membership of 177 executive directors from around the country and has expanded to over 1900 housing authorities representing over 1.9 million low-income housing units across the country. ³

Organization and Activities

Public Housing Authorities Directors Association members include housing authorities that run public housing programs, offer housing choice vouchers, provide rental assistance, and conduct other public-private partnerships. ⁴ In addition to advocating for association members before Congress and HUD, PHADA offers professional development, insider access to information, position papers and analysis on current topics and developments, breaking news, and discounts to conferences and publications. ⁵

PHADA offers an annual national conference and exhibition, a yearly legislative conference, and provides webinars for members throughout the year. ⁶ PHADA has partnered with Rutgers University to offer a yearly Executive Director Education Program with courses focusing on technical, managerial, and strategic competencies needed by an executive director. ⁷ Public Housing Authorities Directors Association also awards three scholarships for high school seniors entering college that reside in a member jurisdictions. ⁸

Issues

Public Housing Authorities Directors Association advocates for simplified changes to federal rules and laws that create a complex qualification system and penalize work. ⁹ Under the current system, individuals with the same income that need public housing may pay different rents depending on source of income and types of expense. ¹⁰ PHADA advocates changes to laws that create family instability by penalize two-parent households when seeking public housing and potentially incentivize not reporting all family members. ¹¹

Public Housing Authorities Directors Association advocates for increasing public housing funding to fight global warming. ¹² Arguing that more extreme weather conditions are being caused by global warming, PHADA seeks to reduce conventional fuel consumption by utilizing solar and wind-power generation for public housing, installing energy efficient windows and appliances, and adopting water conservation measures and modifications to increase recycling. ¹³

PHADA states that not funding public housing at higher levels leads to racial inequity. ¹⁴ Citing half of public housing residents are minorities, PHADA advocates for increased funding to reduce lead-based paint risks, mold, and allergy triggers that disproportionately affect black families. ¹⁵ PHADA has a section on its website discussing racial equity with statements on systemic racism, advocating against de facto and de jure racism and race-blind policies, and provides a website link to Black Lives Matter on organizing to protect black lives. ¹⁶

In 2009, under the Obama administration, HUD developed the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) to set up regional governments and demote the influence of suburbs in order to promote equity. ¹⁷ SCI led to HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. ¹⁸ AFFH stated that in a city-suburbs region, towns with different racial  percentages needed to be at par with each other to receive HUD grant money under the program. ¹⁹

The Obama administration rule required that in a region, towns with different racial percentages needed to be at par with each other to receive HUD grant money under the program. ²⁰ Under rules for SCI and AFFH, governments applying for grant money needed to prove regional equity. ²¹ New York City argued that requiring every jurisdiction to have the same number of whites in the region as a whole would require displacement of a large portion of its eight million residents. ²² The Obama administration rule promoted technical assistance from PolicyLink, Minnesota Housing Partnership, and the Kirwin Institute with funding from the left-of-center Ford Foundation, George Soros’ foundations, and Tides Foundation. ²³

Finances

In 2019, Public Housing Authorities Directors Association had net assets of $3,870,776. ²⁴ According to the organization’s tax returns, in 2019 PHADA recorded $2,349,745 in revenue and $2,139,791 in expenses. ²⁵ In 2018, Public Housing Authorities Directors Association had $2,665,014 in revenue and $2,367,806 in expenses. ²⁶

Leadership

Timothy Kaiser has been executive director of Public Housing Authorities Directors Association since December 1995. ²⁷ Kaiser has a master’s degree in history and government from George Mason University and a B.A. in public administration and government from St. John’s University. ²⁸

1. “The History of PHADA.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. 2002. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/history.pdf?ver=2018-08-16-160923-463.
2. “The History of PHADA.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. 2002. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/history.pdf?ver=2018-08-16-160923-463.
3. “The History of PHADA.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. 2002. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/history.pdf?ver=2018-08-16-160923-463; “About PHADA.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Member-Center/About-PHADA.
4. “About PHADA.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Member-Center/About-PHADA; “PHADA Affiliate Members.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Member-Center/PHADA-Affiliate-Members.
5. “Why Join PHADA?” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Member-Center/Member-Benefits/Why-Join-PHADA.
6. “Upcoming Conferences.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Events/Upcoming-Events; “PHADA Webinars.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Conferences-Education/PHADA-Webinars.
7. “Executive Director Education Program (EDEP).” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Conferences/Executive-Director-Education-Program-EDEP.
8. “PHADA Scholarship Program.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 9, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Conferences-Education/PHADA-Scholarship-Program.
9. “Rent Reform: Fair and Simple Solutions.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. 2005. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/rentreform.pdf?ver=2018-08-16-161209-137.
10. “Rent Reform: Fair and Simple Solutions.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. 2005. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/rentreform.pdf?ver=2018-08-16-161209-137.
11. “Rent Reform: Fair and Simple Solutions.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. 2005. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/rentreform.pdf?ver=2018-08-16-161209-137.
12. “Funding Public Housing Through an Infrastructure Bill.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/publications/Infrastructure_FINAL.pdf.
13. “Funding Public Housing Through an Infrastructure Bill.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/publications/Infrastructure_FINAL.pdf.
14. “Funding Public Housing Through an Infrastructure Bill.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/publications/Infrastructure_FINAL.pdf.
15. ^[1] “Funding Public Housing Through an Infrastructure Bill.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/publications/Infrastructure_FINAL.pdf.
16. “Racial Equity Resources Library.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Legislation-Advocacy/Racial-Equity-Resources-Library; “PHADA Racial Equity Subgroup Recommendations.” Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/RacialEquityResourcesLibrary/SubgroupRecommendations.pdf.
17. Luke Rosiak. “Race to the Bottom.” (New York: Broadside Books, 2022), 231-232.
18. Luke Rosiak. “Race to the Bottom.” (New York: Broadside Books, 2022), 223.
19. Luke Rosiak. “Race to the Bottom.” (New York: Broadside Books, 2022), 223.
20. Luke Rosiak. “Race to the Bottom.” (New York: Broadside Books, 2022), 223.
21. Luke Rosiak. “Race to the Bottom.” (New York: Broadside Books, 2022), 232.
22. Luke Rosiak. “Race to the Bottom.” (New York: Broadside Books, 2022), 235.
23. Luke Rosiak. “Race to the Bottom.” (New York: Broadside Books, 2022), 223-235
24. Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2019.
25. Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2019.
26. Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2018.
27. “The History of PHADA.” Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. 2002. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.phada.org/Portals/21/pdf/history.pdf?ver=2018-08-16-160923-463.
28. “Timothy Kaiser.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-kaiser-400b8a12/.