Vallejo Housing Authority reports improved Section 8 performance, petitions HUD to adjust score

Vallejo Housing Director Alicia Jones reported to the Vallejo Housing Authority that the agency's performance under the federal Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) has improved significantly after internal cleanup of program records, and staff have petitioned the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to adjust the agency's official score.

Jones, who leads the city's Housing and Community Development Department, said the authority's internal review raised its rating from roughly 63% in 2023—24 to 81% this year. She said staff have asked HUD to recognize further corrections that would raise that figure to 89%, placing Vallejo one percentage point shy of the federal "high performer" threshold. Jones said the agency completed record cleanups going back to 2019 and that the improvements reflect concerted work by the voucher team.

SEMAP is HUD's scoring system for housing authorities that evaluates performance across a set of indicators used to manage the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program. Jones told the board the program has a total of 145 available points and that agencies are categorized by HUD as "high performer," "standard performer" or "troubled performer" based on the percentage of points earned. She described indicators the authority scores on, including: selection from the waiting list; rent…