Welcome to the Community Planning and Development Training Website, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Community Planning and Development. The website includes information on nearly two dozen courses designed to share information with community development professionals, HUD staff, and other stakeholders as they work together to improve and renew America’s communities.

HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing and HUD’s Office of Block Grant Assistance are pleased to invite you to attend training on the HOME and CDBG programs. The Office of Block Grant Assistance is pleased to invite grantees to attend Basically CDBG. This is a foundation course on key CDBG program elements such as national objectives, eligible activities, program administration, financial management, other federal requirements such as Davis Bacon, environmental review, and acquisition/relocation, IDIS, performance measurement, reporting, and recordkeeping.

The Office of Block Grant Assistance is also pleased to announce CDBG Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS) courses in early 2008. State CDBG IDIS Training will be available for State staff in only two locations. The purpose of this training is to cover how to set up, update, and complete activities within IDIS based upon guidance from the Office of Block Grant Assistance’s State and Small Cities Division. While the course will focus on IDIS, the agenda also covers important topics such as collection of data, data integrity, and reporting accomplishments which are important topics for program staff, regardless of their experience with IDIS.

The Office of Affordable Housing Programs offers two types of national training under the CPD Institute. First, PJ staff are invited to attend the Certified HOME Specialist Program – a nationwide initiative designed to recognize outstanding HOME Program expertise. Under this initiative, experienced PJ staff can attend an overview training course and then take an exam on HOME regulations basics. Attendees who pass this exam will be designated by HUD as a Certified HOME Program Specialist – Regulations.

OAHP is also pleased to continue its National Demand-Response Training Delivery system. All classes will be listed on this website and a PJ or eligible nonprofit can register for a variety of classes nationwide. You can continue to use this website to explore the variety of courses offered, find training sessions, and register for training sessions online.

In a field as dynamic as community planning and development, continued education is critical. We hope that you have occasion to attend our training sessions and that you visit this site frequently to stay informed of new seminars and new course dates and locations.

Sincerely,

Nelson R. Bregón
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development
Office of Community Planning and Development
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development