(Source: HUD) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $20 million in technical assistance funding to 12 organizations that will, in turn, help local communities across this country stabilize neighborhoods hard-hit by foreclosure through HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

“This assistance can make all the difference for communities struggling against abandonment and blight,” said Mercedes Márquez, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development. “The funds we award today will offer critical assistance to NSP grantees as they work to target their funds in a way that has the greatest impact at the neighborhood level.”

The funding agreements announced today are provided through HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Program, as part of the NSP3 allocation, authorized under Dodd-Frank, and is continuation of the technical assistance provided under NSP2, authorized under ARRA. The purpose of this technical assistance is to provide the highest level of performance among NSP grantees.

NSP technical assistance and capacity building is an assessment-based and outcome-focused delivery system. Its key objectives are to improve grantees’ ability to: (1) assess conditions in the affordable segment of their local housing market; (2) design and appropriately implement neighborhood stabilization programs based upon an accurate assessment of the affordable segment of their local housing market; (3) increase organizational capacity to leverage private and public dollars; (4)’ understand and comply with statutory and regulatory requirements; and (5) impact vacancy rates in target areas. These awards allow HUD to deploy experts, based on grantee need, to achieve these objectives.

The funds awarded today are part of Office of Community Planning and Development’s new OneCPD Integrated Practitioner Assistance System. One CPD represents a fundamental change in the way HUD’s traditional program-specific technical assistance has been structured and delivered over the years. This approach is intended to build the kind of grantee management systems and capacity necessary to successfully carry out comprehensive and sustainable place-based development and revitalization strategies.

OneCPD allow allows grantees to tell their story of accomplishment by measuring not only the outputs of this technical and capacity building assistance but the outcomes and the impact on their communities as well. The technical and capacity building assistance awards announced today are provided through the Department’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD).

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