Introductory letter

General Introductory Letter from Acting Assistant Secretary Poethig

HUD LETTERHEAD

DATE

Dear XXX:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Policy Development and Research, has contracted with the Urban Institute, a non-profit policy research organization based in Washington, DC, to conduct the congressionally mandated Assessment of Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Housing Needs.

This needs assessment will produce national estimates of housing needs in tribal areas in the United States. The goal of the study is to understand the determinants of these needs, emphasizing trends in demographic, social and economic conditions; housing conditions; and housing policies and programs, focusing on the role of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) of 1996. 

As part of this study, the Urban Institute and its partners, NORC at the University of Chicago, Support Services International, Inc. and Econometrica, Inc. will conduct a variety of primary data collection activities: a telephone survey of tribal housing officials and tribally-designated housing entities (TDHEs), a nationally representative household survey, case studies of selected tribes and native villages, a lender survey, case studies of Native Americans living in urban areas, and a study addressing Native Hawaiian housing needs and conditions.

The [name of tribe] was selected at random from among all federally-recognized tribes to participate in data collection activities for this study. While your participation in this study is voluntary, I encourage you to participate; through your participation, you will help HUD improve housing for native families and community development in Indian Country.

I personally am very excited about the Urban Institute’s selection to lead this study, as it updates the study conducted in the mid-1990s which led to the implementation of NAHASDA. The Urban Institute has a longstanding and excellent reputation. NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent, non-partisan research organization and leader in social science research, will administer the telephone survey of the tribes and TDHEs and will lead the household survey to be conducted with 40 tribes and 1,200 households. Notably, NORC will recruit, hire, and train tribal members to conduct the interviews to ensure cultural competency and to build tribal capacity for data collection. Support Services International, a Native American professional services firm well-regarded throughout Indian Country, will support the case studies on reservations, native villages, and urban areas. Econometrica, Inc., a research and management consulting firm known for providing high-quality evaluations, will support these field efforts and as well as data collection efforts for the study of Native Hawaiian housing needs.

I am confident that you will enjoy working with them as much as we at HUD do.

The attached letter from the Urban Institute provides detailed information on the study. Should you have any concerns about participating, please do not hesitate to call G. Thomas Kingsley, the Principal Investigator at the Urban Institute, at (202) 261-5585 or tkingsley@ui.urban.org.

Sincerely,

Erika Poethig

Acting Assistant Secretary

Office of Policy Development and Research

Department of Housing and Urban Development