When a good process leads to a positive outcome and government becomes more accountable to taxpayers and to local communities, it’s time to take notice.

Public housing, and in particular state-funded public housing, is a critical housing resource in our state that doesn’t get much attention unless there is controversy. It is a little surprising, because there are almost 50,000 units of this type of housing located in 70 percent of Massachusetts’s cities and towns.

Those living in state-funded public housing units include families and the elderly, lifelong Bay State residents and newcomers to our state. What is surprising is that there are 242 separate authorities that look after the housing needs of those citizens.

There are huge inefficiencies in terms of how these properties operate. Massachusetts is one of only four states that have state-funded public housing, which is distinct from federally funded public housing. Some of Massachusetts’s smaller authorities oversee 30 units of housing or less.

Beyond that, the numerous decentralized authorities also create an opportunity for mischief for a few individuals who took advantage. The most prominent case emerged in 2011 and involved the former head of the Chelsea Housing Authority, who was compensated more than $360,000 annually, some of which went unreported. A U.S. District Court judge said that the director had been “picking the pockets” of public housing tenants to enrich himself; he was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

In essence, the system was broken, but given its complexity, the remedy was not clear. What to do about these local authorities, most of which weren’t corrupt, but were riddled with inefficiencies and overwhelmed with management issues?

In addition, while these local housing authorities have similar missions and challenges (for example, meeting tenant needs while having reduced resources to invest in properties), they barely talked to each other. As a result, intense discussions began around what to do about the multiple mini-bureaucracies scattered across the state.

The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Housing, chaired by Rep. Kevin Honan and Sen. James Eldridge, took a critical role working with Gov. Deval Patrick, local communities, and a variety of other organized interests to create legislation that builds on the strengths of the current system and borrows best practice ideas from other states.

“They wanted to get on the road and hear what’s working and not working and make things better,” said Kurt Stiegel, research director for the Joint Committee on Housing. The resulting bill was signed into law this month – encouraging news for housing advocates and watchdogs alike.

The new law:

• Increases transparency and accountability in the local authorities. The state will establish performance standards that will cover areas like property maintenance, staff and board training, vacancy rates and financial accountability. The state can even appoint a manager to fix things if they’re broken.
• Encourages efficiency of operations with the creation of three capital assistance teams, each overseeing about 70 of the authorities. It will provide technical assistance and planning to help smaller authorities that lack adequate staff.
• Focuses on resident services – and making the life experience better for those who live in public housing. A slot for a resident representative will be reserved on every housing authority board. Residents will now be surveyed annually to better understand their concerns.
• Creates a regional innovation pilot program that offers major financial incentives for local authorities to invest in their properties and to join together to manage their properties and to work on new initiatives.

The new law represents a transformative change that ensures a capable housing system that is more accountable both to taxpayers and local communities. It is a housing investment that will pay dividends.

“What is significant about this bill is it creates an infrastructure for a sustainable public housing system,” said Brenda Clement, executive director of the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association.

Strengthening this system and building capacity to invest in these public resources also brings concrete benefits to local communities. Look at the town of Brookline to understand the potential of moving from sustainability to growth. There, an entrepreneurial housing authority saw the potential for an underutilized parking lot that it owned to be transformed into 32 units of new affordable housing in a community with a desperate need for it. It secured resources and recently broke ground on its first new development in 35 years, with plans to identify more opportunities in the future.

We are now laying the foundation for real progress. The next step will be finding the resources to invest and increase these housing assets for generations to come.

Susan Gittelman is executive director of B’nai B’rith Housing, a nonprofit, nonsectarian developer and operator of affordable and mixed-income housing serving families and elders in communities of Greater Boston. BBH is currently working on developments in Sudbury and Andover.