IMPACT

In 2019 the City of Norfolk, Virginia got a phone call they weren’t expecting. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had found some issues with how they were budgeting and repurposing their funds. If it wasn’t fixed, Norfolk would soon be assigned a HUD-Technical Assistant specialist to oversee the resolution. Instead of waiting for the government to step in, the City of Norfolk appointed an interim director and engaged Capital Access to consult on the changes necessary for their Regulatory Office of Budget and Strategic Planning Department to address their compliance issues.

Capital Access moved quickly to get to the root of the problem and worked closely with the City to build a bond of trust, provide oversight, and collaboratively craft a plan that would serve their needs, appropriate funds correctly, and rectify their HUD compliance issues. Through the process of findings, payback, and discovery, Capital Access realized that staff training was a significant issue – prioritizing that as the first step in the process.

Capital Access trained staff on Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS) functions and reporting and assisted with their response to the HUD findings. Additionally, the team identified and coordinated adjustments to non-compliant programs, conducting annual funding application reviews, scoring matrix, and recommendations for funding internal and external organizations.

Our involvement resulted in developing clearly defined funding initiatives, comprehensive program policy guidelines, and improved internal controls so that Norfolk’s programs and activities were aligned with their local government and community-based goals. 

In addition to providing a range of CDBG and HOME compliance and financial management clean-up services, the City of Norfolk also engaged Capital Access to:

• Manage the process of drafting their 5-year 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plans
• Revise their Citizen Participation and Engagement Plans
• Provide consultation with their Section 108 loan portfolio

HUD approved the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plans and revised their Citizen Participation and Engagement Plans without any material objections.