How to Pilot IPM

Every housing authority is different in size, building type, management, and residents. The person proposing integrated pest management (IPM) to the public housing authority (PHA) will need to be able to adjust to fit the PHA’s needs.

In general, the following approach works for implementing IPM at a PHA:

  1. Find a PHA. Suitable housing authorities come to our attention from news stories about pest control or the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Healthy Homes Regional Representatives. Often initial contact is made by HUD, a local health department, a task force, or and asthma association.
  2. Get buy-in from the Executive Director or Director of Public Housing for the PHA.
  3. Have PHA management pick a suitable development to receive training and pilot IPM for one year. A suitable development has both a need and the staff capacity and willingness to support a new way of doing pest control. Specifically, the property manager must be enthusiastic about the program.
  4. Send the following documents to the chosen development's Property Manager, Maintenance Head, and Head of Pest Control (if in-house) in preparation for a planning call/meeting
  5. On the planning call/meeting (~1 hour), describe the program, make sure everyone has a common understanding of IPM, and go over the four documents listed above, filling in information as-needed.
  6. Have the Property Manager "officially" commit. The property manager may commits by replying to an e-mail, stating "I ___(property manager's name)___ agree to do the following to support the IPM pilot at ___(development name)___: (Insert wording from the expectations document).
  7. Collect pertinent documents and read through them for parts that pertain to pest control.
    1. Residential lease
    2. Housekeeping standards
    3. Pest control policy (if any)
    4. Admission and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP)
    5. Pest control contract or job description of the in-house pest control staff (if any)
  8. Pick a date and invite attendees. We suggest you have representatives from the following:
    • Board of commissioners
    • Executive management
    • Procurement
    • Property management (from the pilot site)
    • Resident services (from the pilot site)
    • Maintenance (from the pilot site)
    • Resident leadership (from the pilot site)
    • Local support agencies such as someone from cooperative extension, the health department, and home-visiting medical professionals
    • The pest management firm
  9. Hold an IPM in Multifamily Housing Training.
  10. Work the the trainers and property manager to set goals for the IPM pilot year.
  11. Schedule monthly calls to check in and support IPM efforts.
  12. Collect data as funding and time allows.
  13. Once successful systems are in place, share the stories and introduce IPM to other AMPs within the PHA portfolio and neighboring PHAs.