All I Want for Christmas is… Regulatory Peace
A Blended Year in Review
2010 will stand out in my memory as the year that saw the birth of NCHM’s Blended Occupancy Specialist (BOS) course in the spring of the year, its early days as a program in the summer, and then its refinement into maturity in the fall. It has been a wonderful year of discovery in this regard, as my thoughts and time have been spent looking at the regulations that we train in a different, more comprehensive light.
Rather than viewing these federal housing programs as isolated entities occupying worlds unto themselves, I have had my vantage point expanded tremendously by intensively studying how these programs overlap, compare, and contrast with each other. And as all seasoned practitioners of our trade should know, this reflects our current reality as an industry as well. We operate in universe of blended properties, where knowledge of and experience with one housing program is usually not enough to ensure complete regulatory compliance.
So, if sounds like I am trying to promote our latest compliance course offering here, then you’re right – I am. Believe it or not, I’m not doing this just to advertise the benefits gained from the course content itself or the resulting certification awarded for passing the exam. In addition to these obvious merits of taking BOS, I would like to promote the tremendous amount I’ve learned from the students who have been attending this course as they have been learning from each other. If you’re not aware of it, this is one of the best parts of taking NCHM courses – the interaction and dialog between participants is often where you find the most practical solutions to dilemmas you may be dealing with at your properties. I learn something from every class I train, and again, with the new blended approach to compliance that we’ve embarked upon this year, I feel that I’ve learned in more comprehensive depth than ever before. Along with this, I feel much gratitude toward our students for all they bring to our programs.
Part of me wishes that we had all of the answers to all of the conflicting regulatory requirements that these programs present, but another part would certainly miss the challenge of piecing it all together as a result. So maybe regulatory peace between programs wouldn’t be as ideal as it sounds. In 2010, I’ve been pretty content in searching for the answers with all of you who have attend our classes and enriched our collective experiences. Indeed I look forward to another year of discovery with you in 2011 and wish you all the best for a festive holiday season!