Job: Regional compliance officer, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Carrollton
What I do: Geoff Parker is watching out for your tax dollars. As compliance officer for 31 counties in the northwest part of the state, he makes sure that funds for housing assistance are going to the people who need the money and not to cheaters.
"Hardly anybody knows about us," said Parker, 61. "We're the gatekeepers for a federally funded program paid for with taxes. That's what I'm entrusted with: making sure the money is spent for the right reasons."
Among its many functions, the state Department of Community Affairs distributes funds through the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program -- formerly known as Section 8 -- that provides rental assistance to low- and moderate-income people to help them afford decent housing. People in the program find their own housing and deal directly with landlords who agree to charge a set, fair-market rent. The subsidy is based on household size and income and is adjusted for the rental market.
It's up to Parker and the housing staff to make sure the applicants are eligible and follow the rules, such as reporting all the household's income, not engaging in illegal activities and not letting someone who shouldn't be there live in the house. Among the cases they've terminated were a household harboring a fugitive from justice and a Hurricane Katrina "evacuee" who was double-dipping on houses in Louisiana and Georgia.
Investigators also check up on landlords to ensure that they charge the agreed-upon rent and that the homes are in good shape.
There are about 3,500 participants in the northwest region. Parker said he is investigating about 40 cases at any time, some of which may lead to termination from the program. If violations are serious enough -- involving fraud, for example -- he will press criminal charges. He said he has sworn out about 30 warrants in five years on the job.
"We go to great lengths to protect the integrity of the program," he said.
What got me interested in this: Parker said he "always has been in a counselor/guidance mode," starting when he was a college instructor teaching economics, business law, marketing and advertising in Massachusetts, New York and Georgia.
Best part of my job: Empowering people to get off welfare. Parker spoke about a new federal program that will help subsidized renters build up savings so that they can buy a house -- "one of the best assets you can have," he said. Helping people -- especially battered women or physically and mentally challenged people -- is rewarding, he said. "Things like that just make my day."
Most challenging part: "Keeping an open mind; giving our recipients the benefit of the doubt," Parker said. If a family is terminated from the program, he said, they can end up in a homeless shelter. "I worry about the children," he said.
What people don't know about my job: Parker sometimes has to explain that the Section 8 he deals with is a housing program and not what Cpl. Max Klinger was trying to get on "M*A*S*H." He also said many people don't realize that he carries an investigator's badge.
What keeps me going: "Every person we terminate for fraud or abuse means a voucher is available for a person in need" from the waiting list, he said.
Preparation needed for this job: "Psychology, intuition and the ability to analyze all this data," Parker said. "I never know where information about potential fraud or abuse is going to come from" -- including suspicious landlords or neighbors, police investigators, members of his staff or "even relatives who are aghast at the abuse committed by their kin."
After leaving academia, Parker began working for the Community Affairs Department in 1995. He was an assistant regional administrator before becoming regional compliance officer in 2001.
Parker has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Boston University and an MBA from Suffolk University in Boston.
- By Karl Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.