Lesson 1: What AYBR is and how the money flows

Reading

Welcome to the AYBR Program Administration course. By the last lesson you should be able to run a Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) Amy Young Barrier Removal (AYBR) project from the first call to the closeout file, and to prove every step with a document. This first lesson gives you the big picture: what the program is, whose money it is, who it helps, how much one household can receive, and who does what.

What AYBR is

AYBR "provides one-time grants in combined Hard and Soft Costs to Persons with Disabilities" (10 TAC 26.20). In plain words, TDHCA pays for accessibility work in the homes of people with disabilities who have low incomes. The rule says the purpose is to increase accessibility and eliminate substandard conditions. The 2026 AYBR NOFA adds the words "life-threatening hazards," and the AYBR Program Manual (May 2025) describes the work as "making accessibility modifications and eliminating life-threatening hazards or unsafe conditions."

Think of the priority this way. Accessibility comes first: ramps, handrails and similar changes that let the person with the disability live safely in the home. Life-threatening hazards and unsafe conditions are fixed too, but the rule limits how much of the budget they may take. Lesson 8 covers that limit (10 TAC 26.27(d)).

Whose money it is: the Texas Housing Trust Fund

AYBR is paid for with state money, not federal money. The 2026 NOFA says the program is funded through the Texas Housing Trust Fund (HTF), and the 2026-2027 HTF Biennial Plan says AYBR is funded from the 2026-2027 state appropriation. The Plan and the Program Manual both say the HTF was established in 1991 by the 72nd Texas Legislature in Senate Bill 546.

This matters more than it sounds. Some rules in 10 TAC Chapter 20 are written only for Administrators that receive federal funds. Because AYBR money is state money, those provisions are not required as written. You will meet that point again in Lessons 2 and 4.

A few numbers show the scale. The state appropriated $1,727,974 for AYBR in state fiscal year 2026 and $1,729,741 for 2027, a biennium total of $3,457,715. After the Department's own administration, the funds for programming are $1,555,177 and $1,556,767. The 2026 NOFA began with exactly the 2026 programming figure: $1,413,798 for projects plus $141,379 for administrative fees, which adds up to $1,555,177. The NOFA was amended July 23, 2026 to add $2,575,405 ($2,341,278 for projects and $234,127 for administration) from repayments to or deobligation from the Texas HTF. That brings the 2026 NOFA to about $4,130,582. The Plan also promises each state region at least $100,000 in each year of the biennium.

Who is served

There are two people-tests, both in the rule. At least one household member must be a Person with Disabilities (10 TAC 26.25(a)), and the Household must be Low-Income (26.25(b)). The Household may own or rent: the Program Manual says "Households may be tenants or homeowners," and the Plan says the same about homeowners, tenants and members of their households. Lesson 6 covers income limits, assets and the property rules for rentals.

The grant is one-time. The sources do not describe a look-back period for earlier help. If an applicant mentions prior assistance, check the current Program Manual, ask TDHCA, and put the answer in the Activity File.

How much one household can receive

The NOFA allows "one-time grants of up to $22,500" per household (2026 AYBR NOFA, section 3). The Plan, the manual and the Reservation System User Guide agree on the same limit. The grant is the combined Project Costs, which come in two kinds (10 TAC 26.21):

• Hard Costs are site-specific costs of construction: permits, a jobsite toilet, a dumpster, demolition, materials and labor.
• Soft Costs are costs related to a specific unit other than construction costs. The manual's examples are Administrator staff or consultant time with the household, Administrator staff mileage, a septic inspection and lead testing.

Soft Costs are optional and cannot exceed 10 percent of Hard Costs. The easy way to remember it is to divide the total by 11. At the maximum, the Department's default budget is Hard $20,455 and Soft $2,045 (Program Manual p9; HTF Reservation System User Guide). Reserve the full amount only when the job needs it. If you draw less than you reserved, the Soft Costs you request still cannot exceed 10 percent of the Hard Costs you request.

Two practical notes on Soft Costs. Contracting out the inspection or the work write-up is itself a Soft Cost. And every Soft Cost is claimed on the Activity Soft Cost Invoice and documented in that household's Activity File, so keep the time sheets and mileage logs from day one (Program Manual p9 and p23).

The administrative fee goes on top

The Administrator is paid for managing the project. The fee is 10 percent of the Project Costs, meaning combined Hard and Soft Costs, paid to the Administrator upon completion (10 TAC 26.21(1) and 26.24(g)). The manual says it is paid "in addition to the grant amount." Three points trip people up:

• It is 10 percent of the Hard plus Soft Costs actually drawn, not of the amount reserved.
• It is not 10 percent of Hard Costs alone.
• It is paid on top of the grant, so the most the fee can be on a $22,500 project is $2,250.

The Department, not the Administrator, enters the fee at reservation (Program Manual p17).

Who does what

An Administrator is also called a Reservation System Participant, or RSP. The rule lists these types: Colonia Self-Help Centers, Councils of Government, Units of Local Government, Nonprofit Organizations, Local Mental Health Authorities and Public Housing Authorities, and the NOFA may limit the list further (10 TAC 26.23(a)). The 2026 NOFA lists the same types except Colonia Self-Help Centers. It also says HOME Participating Jurisdictions, meaning cities and counties with a direct HUD HOME award, are ineligible unless no other AYBR Administrator served that jurisdiction in the prior state fiscal year (NOFA section 6(b)).

The work happens in an online system called the Reservation System, also called the Housing Contract System (User Guide p3). Lesson 3 walks through it.

The Department pays by reimbursement. For each project there is one project payment, requested at closeout, and the administrative fee is drawn at 10 percent of that same project draw. Lesson 11 shows the draw package.

The life of one project at a glance

Every household project follows the same path, and the rest of the course teaches it in order. First comes outreach and intake (Lessons 4 and 5), then the eligibility checks on the household and the property (Lesson 6). Next the Administrator asks the Department to reserve funds, which is Stage 1 of the Reservation System (Lesson 3). After Stage 1 is approved the Department issues the Household Assistance Contract, and the clock starts: the term may not exceed 12 months from full execution unless it is amended (10 TAC 26.24(g)).

Inside that term the project moves through three more stages. Stage 2 is the inspection, work write-up and cost estimate (Lesson 8). Stage 3 is procurement, where the Department reviews the selected line-item bid (Lesson 9). Stage 4 is construction, completion and the draw (Lessons 10 and 11). All construction must be finished before the HAC expires, and the draw is due not more than 60 calendar days after it expires (10 TAC 26.28(a)). Lesson 12 covers monitoring and ties the whole course together.

Notice the pattern: the Department approves one stage before the next begins, the Household signs at key points, and every approval leaves a document in the file. That habit of "which document proves it?" is the heart of running AYBR correctly.

Three mix-ups to avoid

• Reserved is not drawn. A reservation sets aside up to the maximum. What you draw, and therefore what the fee is based on, is what the finished project actually cost.
• The $22,500 does not include the fee. If you describe the program to a household or a partner, say "up to $22,500 for the project, with the administrative fee paid separately to the Administrator."
• State money is not a lesser rulebook. The rules that apply are different from federal programs, not fewer. Fair housing, records, cost principles, procurement and monitoring all still apply, as the next lessons show.

The NOFA also states the same totals the other way around: $3,755,076 for projects plus $375,506 for administration, which adds up to the same $4,130,582 (2026 AYBR NOFA section 5(a)). If you ever need to quote the size of the program, use the NOFA figure and say that it was amended July 23, 2026.

Where GCHS fits (GCHS procedure)

GCHS provides construction management, inspections and estimating across TDHCA Region 6. It does not provide hands-on repair labor, so the repair work is always done by independent contractor firms. GCHS signed RSP Agreement #2026-9014 and now carries the Administrator role. Three GCHS rules apply from the very first lesson:

• GCHS charges applicants no fees. The administrative fee comes from the Department, on top of the grant.
• GCHS staff who inspect or estimate a job never bid on it.
• Contractors are independent firms, not GCHS staff or affiliates.

GCHS also keeps its files in two places. Applicant records such as Social Security numbers, income and citizenship documents live only in the GCHS Restricted SharePoint library. Program forms and policies live in the shared AYBR Working-Files folder. Before any staff member reserves funds, the manual expects them to have reviewed the Program Rules, the RSP Agreement, the HAC, the NOFA and the manual itself (Program Manual p17).

A worked example

Meet the Delgado household, a made-up example. Ms. Delgado uses a wheelchair and owns her home in Montgomery County. Her inspection and work write-up call for a ramp, a widened bathroom doorway, grab bars and replacement smoke alarms, and the Hard Costs come to $18,000. GCHS can claim Soft Costs of up to $1,800 for things like staff time with the household and staff mileage, so Project Costs are $19,800. The Department pays the administrative fee of $1,980 on top. Ms. Delgado signs the work write-up before bids go out and signs the final inspection and payment request at the end. She pays GCHS nothing. TDHCA reimburses the project once, and the four parties in the chain each did one job.

Practice questions

Glossary

AYBR

The TDHCA Amy Young Barrier Removal Program, which makes one-time grants for accessibility work.

Texas HTF

The Texas Housing Trust Fund, the state fund that pays for AYBR.

Hard Costs

Site-specific construction costs such as permits, demolition, materials and labor.

Soft Costs

Unit-specific costs other than construction, optional and capped at 10 percent of Hard Costs.

Project Costs

The grant itself: Hard and Soft Costs combined, up to $22,500 per household.

Administrative fee

Ten percent of the Hard plus Soft Costs drawn, paid to the Administrator on top of the grant.

Administrator

The approved organization that runs AYBR projects under a signed agreement with TDHCA.

RSP

Reservation System Participant, the Administrator with a signed RSP Agreement.

HAC

Household Assistance Contract, the contract TDHCA issues for each household project.

Person with Disabilities

A person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.

Low-Income

A Household whose income is within the program limit, set by the greater of 80 percent of area or state median.

NOFA

Notice of Funding Availability, the yearly document that sets AYBR amounts, dates and limits.