June 4 2015 News release from Brainerd HRA. www.brainerdhra.org
Brainerd, Minnesota---The Brainerd Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) ranked with the nation’s best after earning a score of 98 percent in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2014 Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) review and 100 percent in Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP).
Created by HUD to evaluate the overall performance of housing authorities in an objective, uniform, and verifiable manner, PHAS is a rating and scoring tool that reviews four areas referred to as PHAS indicators—an agency’s physical condition, financial condition, management operations, and capital fund. Each area is assigned a specific point value, totaling a possible score of 100 points. HUD calculates a final score for each PHAS indicator following the housing authority’s independent audit and is then given a performance level designation based on its PHAS scores. A public housing agency is designated as a High Performer if it achieves an overall score greater than 90 percent.
The Section Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) measures the performance of public housing agencies that administer the Housing Choice Voucher program in 14 key areas. SEMAP helps HUD target monitoring and assistance to public housing authority programs that need the most improvement.
Rick Fargo, Brainerd HRA Board Chair, commended the Brainerd HRA, “According to HUD, the national average PHAS score is 90 percent. This 98 percent score reflects the employees’ hard work and dedication to the HRA and the residents in our public housing community.”
“I’m so incredibly proud of our organization. Our staff works extremely hard to maintain high performance standards. This is no easy feat,” stated Jennifer Bergman, Executive Director of the Brainerd HRA.

About Brainerd HRA:
The Brainerd HRA’s mission is to provide redevelopment and affordable housing opportunities to strengthen our neighborhoods. The Brainerd HRA owns and manages 325 units of affordable housing and 320 Housing Choice Vouchers within the Section 8 program. For more information, visit www.brainerdhra.org.