Develop the housing policy implementation plan

Once your housing policy has been written, you’ll need to develop a plan on how you’re going to implement it.

Chief and Ccouncil will want to know that you have the resources to implement the housing policy. For example, your new policy may include sending letters to home occupants who have not paid their rent on time. To make this work, though, you need to have processes in place to record all the relevant information. You’ll also need a way to track who has not paid their rent and the letters sent to them.

Your plan should describe how you’ll inform people affected by the housing policy and how they can get more information.

Inform staff about the housing policy

Your implementation plan should describe how staff will be notified and what they need to know. Staff need to be aware of how the new housing policy will affect their jobs before it is released. It’s always a good idea to meet with staff, either as a group or individually, to review any new policies.

Distribute and communicate the housing policy

It’s important that the implementation plan outlines who will get the policy and how. For example, the policy will need to be distributed to home occupants and other stakeholders. The plan should encourage community members, especially those affected by it, to ask questions and raise concerns.

The plan should also detail what you want to tell people about the policy and the ways you’ll do that. For example, you may want to create a summary document or a set of frequently asked questions. Many people will simply want to know what their responsibilities are without having to read a lot of details.

Make the housing policy available

A policy is more effective if people have easy access to it. Your implementation plan should describe where you will keep copies of the policy so community members can easily refer to it. For example, the policy could be placed on community bulletin boards or posted to a website.

For more information, please contact your First Nation Housing Specialist.