COMPTROLLER GENERAL'S SLOW PROGRESS IN ELIMINATING SUBSTANDARD Department of the Interior Department of Housing and Urban Development DIGEST WHY THE REVIEW WAS MADE The Indian housing program is operated under the joint plans of three Government entities. --The Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior. --The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). --The Indian Health Service in the Department of Health, Education, and The primary programs involved are HUD's low-rent and mutual-help (homeownership) public housing programs and the Bureau's housing improvement program. HUD provides financial assistance through local tribal housing authorities. The Bureau provides financial assistance directly to Indian families. In the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, the Congress affirmed The current goal of the Indian housing program is to eliminate substan- FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS Indian housing program progress Progress has been slow. Unless the program is accelerated substantially, thousands of Indian families will continue to live under severe hardship conditions. (See pp. 10, 16, and 20.) In June 1968 the Bureau estimated that 68,300 Indian families were living in substandard housing; 2 years later, after construction of 4,800 houses and renovation of 5,700, the Bureau estimated that 63,000 families still were living in substandard housing. Bureau and HUD officials informed GAO that the slow progress in meeting Indians housing needs was due, in part, to the reluctance of some tribes to obtain Federal housing assistance. Bureau officials also cited delays in obtaining financing from HUD as contributing to slow progress. Other problems are inadequate identification of Indian housing needs and inadequate design, construction, and maintenance of houses. (See p. 19 and chs. 3 and 4.) HUD's fiscal year 1970 plans called for only 4,500 units to be started, although an April 1969 agreement with the Departments of the Interior and Health, Education, and Welfare called for 6,000 units to be started by HUD in fiscal year 1970. (See p. 19.) Identification of housing needs Housing needs have not been identified adequately (see ch. 3) because the Bureau --had not established guidelines for determining whether existing housing units were standard or substandard and, if substandard, whether they needed to be renovated or replaced (see p. 22); --had classified newly constructed or renovated houses as standard although they lacked basic necessities (see p. 23); --had not ensured that inventories of housing conditions and needs were taken periodically (see p. 24); --had not considered family migration, adjacent off-reservation Indian population, housing deterioration, and family size and income, in determining and planning to meet long-term needs (see p. 27). As a result of suggestions GAO made during its review, the Bureau has issued new guidelines with respect to general construction, heating, plumbing, wiring, and living space. Problems in developing and operating housing projects Although the program lags primarily because not enough houses are being built, many of the houses that have been built are inadequate because of defective design or incomplete construction. For example, new houses on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota may have to be condemned as unsafe for continued occupancy because various design and construction deficiencies resulted in cracked or bowed basement walls. An Indian woman in a new housing unit on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana described how she could watch the sunset through cracks in the walls when it was 40° below zero. As designed, the wall insulation, the attic vapor barrier, the wind barrier, and the heating systems all were inadequate. Some Indian families are living in new houses which are incomplete or which lack water and sanitation facilities, and some new houses are located in projects which lack roads and streets. Other families have declined to move into the new houses without such supporting facilities. Incomplete housing projects resulted from (1) inadequate planning by, and coordination among, the agencies responsible for ensuring that all facets of the housing projects were completed within the same time frame and (2) a lack of follow-through by the Bureau and HUD to ensure that projects were completed. (See pp. 41 to 53.) After new or renovated houses have improved family living conditions, there is little activity on the part of the local housing authorities, HUD, or the Bureau to provide assistance to families having problems in adjusting to their new living environment. As a result, many houses are deteriorating and the planned safe, sanitary, and decent living environment that the houses were designed to provide is being lost. Using a checklist developed from HUD maintenance and safety standards, GAO inspected 232 new or renovated houses on 22 reservations and found the following types of deficiencies. --Heating or ventilation facilities in 100 houses needed repair or adjustment. --Water or plumbing facilities in 90 houses needed repair. --Electrical facilities in 90 houses needed repair. --Sanitation facilities in 30 houses needed repair. --Roofs of 50 houses needed repair. The Bureau or housing authority representatives' estimates of the repair costs averaged $468 a house and ran as high as $3,500. (See p. 32.) GAO found a wide variance in the level of home maintenance assistance provided by the local tribal housing authorities and the Bureau. At one reservation which had an active maintenance assistance program, the estimated average cost to correct the maintenance deficiencies noted during GAO's inspection was only $268 compared with the overall average cost of $468. (See p. 37.) At most reservations visited, however, home maintenance assistance was quite limited. For example, at one reservation the housing authority, assisted by the Bureau, inspected a 15-unit mutual-help housing project in 1967 and identified several deficiencies. At the time of GAO's visit, however, these deficiencies still existed and some had intensified. The estimated average cost to repair these units was $734. (See p. 37.) GAO believes that the mutual-help method of construction--in which the tribe or individual Indian participant furnishes the land and the participant contributes his labor during construction--should not be encouraged, because such projects have been plagued by lengthy construction periods. It took an average 19 months to complete 40 mutual-help projects each normally consisting of 10 to 20 units compared with an average 10 months for other HUD-assisted projects each consisting of many more units. (See pp. 54 to 57.) RECOMMENDATIONS OR SUGGESTIONS The Secretary of the Interior should direct the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to (1) require Bureau field officials to ensure that periodic inventories of housing conditions are taken using the guidelines issued by the Commissioner in May 1970 and (2) expand the procedures for measuring housing needs to include consideration of variable factors, such as family migration, adjacent off-reservation Indian population, housing deterioration, and family size and income, that have an impact on Indian housing needs. (See p. 29.) The Secretary of HUD and the Secretary of the Interior should take steps to ensure (1) that maintenance inspections of federally assisted housing on all reservations are made periodically and that deficiencies identified are corrected on a timely basis and (2) that families experiencing difficulties in adjusting to their new living environment are provided with necessary training in the care and maintenance of their houses. (See p. 40.) The Secretaries of HUD and the Interior should also --strengthen the reviews of housing designs to ensure that housing plans adequately consider local climatic conditions, --place increased emphasis on inspections during construction to reduce construction problems, and --clearly establish which agency will be responsible for ensuring that known construction defects and incomplete items of construction are corrected on a timely basis. (See p. 54.) The Secretary of the Interior should coordinate the activities of the The Secretaries of HUD and the Interior should use the mutual-help program only when it is desired strongly by the Indians. The Secretary of the Interior should also ensure that, where houses are constructed under duties and responsibilities and are provided with sufficient training, supervision, and leadership. (See p. 58.) AGENCY ACTIONS AND UNRESOLVED ISSUES The Department of the Interior agreed that substandard reservation housing would not be eliminated in the 1970's without substantial acceleration of the program. HUD stated that it planned to review the goals of the Indian housing program in connection with the Secretary's recently established goals for homeownership opportunities. The Department of the Interior and HUD were in general agreement with the report conclusions and recommendations and advised GAO of the various actions to improve the program that were under consideration. (See pp. 20, 29, 40, 54, and 58.) MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE CONGRESS The goal to eliminate substandard Indian housing in the 1970's will not be achieved unless the program is improved and accelerated. |