1. Housing And Welfare Reform Housing and Welfare Reform. Barbara Sard and Jennifer Daskal, Housing EmploymentPreferences and Welfare Reform, CLASP Update, December 22, 1997, pg 9. http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/98/sard.html

March/April 1998 Housing and Welfare Reform By Barbara Sard and Jennifer Daskal Although welfare and housing assistance systems are designed and administered separately from each other, their beneficiaries overlap to a substantial degree. Especially in the wake of welfare reform, this intersection presents both opportunities and challenges for welfare recipients, tenants receiving federal housing assistance, housing and welfare advocates, and administrators of both welfare and housing programs. The sweeping changes in the 1996 welfare law-which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant-reduce benefits for recipients and therefore threaten to reduce revenues for many housing authorities and assisted housing owners. According to HUD data, about one million, or nearly half, of HUD-assisted families with children received some income from AFDC/TANF in 1996. Of these approximately one million families, about 260,000 lived in public housing, 480,000 received tenant-based vouchers and certificates, and 250,000 lived in project-based Section 8 housing. In 1996, approximately one-quarter of all AFDC/TANF recipients lived in assisted housing, although this ratio varied significantly from state to state. The reason even more welfare families do not receive housing assistance is not, for the most part, that they have adequate affordable housing, but rather that the supply of housing assistance is so limited.

2. NIFL-HOMELESS 1998: Housing And Welfare Reform Housing and Welfare Reform. From Homes for the Homeless (HN4061@handsnet.org)Date Wed Feb 25 1998 133214 EST Next message Homes http://www.nifl.gov/nifl-homeless/1998/0051.html

Housing and Welfare Reform From: Homes for the Homeless ( HN4061@handsnet.org Date: Wed Feb 25 1998 - 13:32:14 EST Next message: Homes for the Homeless: "Literacy and welfare reform discussion" Previous message: Bonnie L. Dunn: "Re: [NIFL-HOMELESS:431] SHELTER RULES" Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] ... HN4061@handsnet.org > Subject: Housing and Welfare Reform Content-Length: 708 Lines: 16 I just found on-line a 2/12/98 report by Barbara Sard and Jennifer Daskal from the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities entitled "Housing and Welfare Reform: Some Background Information." The information provided is basic, but does a good job of pinpointing how welfare policy impacts housing policies. The report is rather long, but anyone interested in getting a copy can contact me directly at hn4061@handsnet.org , contact the Center at hn0026@handsnet.org , or look it up on HandsNet (if you're a subscriber) under HandsNet/HandsNet Forums/Housing-Cmty Dev/Public Policy. Kate Collignon NIFL-Homeless list co-moderator hn4061@handsnet.org

3. Welfare Reform And Housing (Welfare Information Network) Large index of publications, issue papers, links, organizations and state specific initiatives http://www.welfareinfo.org/housing.asp

This page has moved. Please update your bookmards/favorites appropriately! This page will automatically redirect you to the new location. If it doesn't please click below to continue. http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/WIN/housing.asp

4. Housing And Welfare Reform:  Some Background Information - Rev. 11/5/98 Revised November 5, 1998. housing and welfare reform Some BackgroundInformation by Barbara Sard and Jennifer Daskal. Although the http://www.cbpp.org/hous212.htm

Revised November 5, 1998 Housing and Welfare Reform: Some Background Information by Barbara Sard and Jennifer Daskal Although the welfare and housing assistance systems are designed and administered separately from each other, their beneficiaries overlap to a substantial degree. This intersection presents opportunities and challenges for welfare recipients, housing and welfare advocates, and administrators of both welfare and housing programs. It also presents potential risks for the housing programs, especially in the wake of welfare reform. Housing Assistance for Low-Income Families The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) operates three major federally-funded programs that provide housing assistance to low-income families: public housing, Section 8 certificates and vouchers, and Section 8 project-based programs. Some states also run small programs providing housing assistance. Since housing assistance is not an entitlement, there are many more eligible families than there are families provided assistance, and waiting lists for housing assistance are very long in many areas. Census data indicate that there are 5.3 million unassisted families with "worst case housing needs"; these are families that live in substandard housing or pay over half their income in rent. Housing assistance can become available to families due to turnover or through federal funding of additional subsidies. From 1995 until the recently enacted HUD appropriations act for fiscal year 1999, there was no net increase in the supply of federally subsidized housing for low income families. In fact, as some public housing units were demolished and as some Section 8 contracts expired and were not renewed, the number of households receiving federal housing subsidies declined in the last few years for the first time in the history of these programs. For fiscal year 1999, Congress has appropriated funds for 50,000 additional housing vouchers targeted on families making the transition from welfare to work.

5. WELFARE REFORM IMPACTS ON THE PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAM: A PRELIMINARY FORECAST welfare reform Impacts on the Public housing Program a Preliminary Forecast http://www.huduser.org/publications/pubasst/welfare/intro.html

What's New Publications Periodicals Data Sets ... State of the Cities Welfare Reform Impacts on the Public Housing Program: a Preliminary Forecast Title I, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, effectively ended the Aid To Families With Dependent Children program (AFDC) a long-standing entitlement to unconditional, long-term welfare assistance based only on the income eligibility of households with minor children. In its stead, households are now eligible for relatively short-term income assistance conditional on participation in work activities. In fact, even before TANF, some states obtained waivers to AFDC requirements and made the receipt of benefits conditional upon work participation; many of them have chosen to continue their waiver programs instead of shifting entirely to Federal rules under TANF. The effects of state and Federal welfare reform actions can have reverberating impacts on all programs that traditionally have taken welfare income into account. This includes all HUD multifamily programs that require beneficiaries to contribute a portion of their incomes for rent. In particular, it includes HUD's Public Housing program for which the near-term impacts of welfare reform could be significant for program beneficiaries, administering Public Housing Authorities (HAs), and the Federal government. It is recognized that welfare reform can be expected to have a significant impact not only on the Public Housing Program but on other HUD housing programs as well. The Public Housing Program seemed a reasonable starting point for assessing welfare reform because of the potential impact on the Federal budget and because public housing is not a portable subsidy, meaning that most residents face limited options since they are likely to loose housing assistance if they move to take advantage of job opportunities because they are required to seek work. The assessment methodology utilized here may have the potential to be modified and extended to other HUD programs.

6. Federal Housing Assistance And Welfare Reform Federal housing Assistance and welfare reform Uncharted Territory by G. Thomas Kingsley Number A19 in Series, "New Federalism Issues and Options for States" The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/anf19.html

Federal Housing Assistance and Welfare Reform Uncharted Territory Author(s): G. Thomas Kingsley Other Availability: PDF Order Online Printer-Friendly Version Published: December 01, 1997 Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=308023 Number A-19 in Series, "New Federalism: Issues and Options for States" The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Federal housing assistance was seldom mentioned in the mid-1990s’ debate over devolution of America’s social safety net. Yet in FY 1995, federal outlays for housing assistance to the poor ($19 billion) exceeded those for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) by $7 billion. A sizable share (about one-fifth) of households that receive AFDC also benefit from federal housing subsidies administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Moreover, those receiving HUD assistance account for a much larger share of long-term welfare recipients—those likely to have the most difficulty finding and retaining employment—than welfare families that don’t receive federal housing assistance. Among AFDC beneficiaries in 1994, for example, the median cumulative period of welfare recipiency for those who also received HUD assistance was 57 months; for those not receiving HUD assistance, the comparable period was 37 months. Whether or not welfare recipients also receive housing assistance will greatly influence the immediate circumstances and, possibly, the longer-term opportunities of those directly affected by welfare reforms and cutbacks in related social programs. Welfare reform may also have a marked impact on the financial condition of HUD’s housing programs. Tremendous variations in HUD assistance across states and localities (explained below), together with the new discretion states have been given to run their own welfare programs, mean that housing assistance and welfare interactions at the local level will significantly affect state responses to devolution.

7. Ohio Empowerment Coalition The OEC is made up of welfare rights groups from across the State of Ohio. We are the voice of those affected by welfare and welfare reform. We are the parents and the individuals who truly know what will get us out of poverty jobs at livable wages along with quality child care, quality health care and quality housing all of which need to be affordable. http://www.overtherhine.org/contactcenter/oec/

Over The Rhine Drop Inn Center ReSTOC Page Contact Center ... Site Creation Welfare Rights Coalition (WRC) and the Ohio Empowerment Coalition (OEC) The WRC is made up of recipients and former recipients who are working to improve lives of welfare recipients in Hamilton County. We are the voice of those affected by welfare and welfare reform. We are the parents and the individuals who truly know what will get us out of poverty: jobs at livable wages along with quality child care, quality health care and quality housing all of which need to be affordable. The OEC is made up of welfare rights groups from across the State of Ohio. The OEC has membership from Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Southeast Ohio, Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Warren. We are working to impact welfare policies in the State of Ohio. We are continuing to grow and become stronger. 2000 Stop the Clock Campaign On February 16, 2000, Rep. Dale Miller of Cleveland introduced HB 578 in the Ohio House. HB 578 extends the Ohio Works First three year time limit to receive public assistance (formerly AFDC) to five consecutive years. The bill calls for a moratorium on time limits if Ohio enters a recession.

8. WR&B: Welfare Reform And Housing -- Rebecca Swartz And Brian Miller Swartz, Miller, welfare, welfare reform, housing welfare reform and housing. WR B Brief 16 March 2002 http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/wrb/publications/pb/pb16.htm

Welfare Reform and Housing Rebecca Swartz and Brian Miller Download H your view After reading this policy brief, tell us what you think. We'll post the most interesting comments. send your RESPONSE read the FEEDBACK Housing is more than bricks and mortar. It is a key factor in determining a family's access to economic and educational opportunities, exposure to violence and environmental hazards, and ability to accumulate financial assets. Too few low-income families reap the positive benefits of living in stable and reasonably priced housing, and many frequently move in and out of undesirable or unsustainable housing. This lack of stable housing can create difficulties for parents trying to retain employment and can increase the likelihood that their children will have problems in school. In this policy brief, we provide an overview of the current state of housing for low-income families, describe some current government interventions, and analyze a range of proposed housing reforms that Congress should consider as it debates reauthorization of the 1996 welfare reform law. Housing Needs of Low-Income Families Roughly 20 percent of all middle- to low-income households in the U.S., over 13 million in all, live in substandard housing or pay more than half of their income in housing costs, well above the affordability standard of 30 percent of gross income established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Whereas housing quality was the major housing problem in the decades leading up to the 1970s, today the leading problem for low-income families is affordability. While it is no surprise that poor families are disproportionately unable to afford housing, it may be surprising that more than 85 percent of renter households with incomes below 30 percent of area median income (AMI) spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, with well over half of them spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing (figure 1, bar graph on far right).

9. Affordable Housing Policy And Welfare Reform Listserv, Center On Budget And Poli The Center’s research in this area seeks to clarify the implications of welfarereform for housing policy and the potential contribution of housing programs http://www.cbpp.org/pubs/housinginvite.htm

Updated September 19, 2002 Listserv on Affordable Housing Policy and Welfare Reform Listserv Info Recent Papers The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities invites you to join an electronic mailing list we have formed for the purpose of distributing information and sharing ideas on the interrelationship of affordable housing policy and welfare reform. LISTSERV To facilitate the exchange of information on the nexus of housing and welfare policy among housing and welfare professionals, researchers and policy analysts, policymakers, and foundation representatives, the Center has formed this listserv. Subscribers to the listserv will receive periodic updates from the Center on issues related to the intersection of affordable housing policy and welfare reform and will be able to send information or pose questions to the Center or to the subscriber list. Among the topics that we expect will be discussed on the listserv are: initiatives that help subsidized tenants find and retain work, the implications of housing legislative proposals for welfare reform efforts, and state and local programs that provide housing allowances to families attempting to move from welfare to work. http://www.cbpp.org

10. Salt Lake Community Action Program Nonprofit providing a variety of services aimed at helping low income people reach selfsufficiency, including homelessness prevention, transitional housing, employment services, food bank, Head Start and affordable housing referrals. Includes housing listings, programs, poverty data and welfare reform information. http://www.slcap.org

Salt Lake Community Action Program 764 S 200 West Salt Lake City, Ut 84101 (801)359-2444 (801)355-1798 (f) Cathy Hoskins Executive Director, CCAP Locations and hours of operation. Food Stamp Calculator Provides an estimate of the amount of Food Stamps you might be eligible for. Services General Information Other Links Head Start Emergency Food Weatherization HEAT ... Other Activities The Salt Lake Community Action Program (SLCAP) is a not for profit organization that provides a wide range of services aimed at helping low-income people become self-sufficient. Our Mission: To eliminate the paradox of poverty in our affluent society. Our Purpose: To create programs that empower low-income people to enhance the quality of their lives by having them design and implement strategies that will create solutions to their problems. Comments or more information State Wide Listing of Assisted Housing Units Salt Lake Rental List ... Staff Email Addresses and Phone #s Officers Board Makeup and Purpose J ames R. Russell President Cal Noyce First Vice President Kathy Webb Second Vice President Steve Taylor Treasurer Steve Mass Secretary Robert Philbrick President Emeritus The Salt Lake Community Action Program is directed by a thirty-six member tripartite Board of Directors. This unique and dynamic Board is structured to provide the Program with the broadest and most effective community representation possible. Twelve members of the board are elected by low-income residents, twelve are appointed by public officials, and twelve represent the private sector, such as employers, service providers, and community advocacy groups. The Board provides a diverse yet essential combination of resources, perspectives, and backgrounds for finding and implementing solutions to a wide range of important problems in the community.

11. Housing And Welfare Reform: Strategic Intersections In Place-Based Strategies Newman, Sandra J., ed. The Home Front Implications of welfare reform for housingPolicy. Making welfare reform Work Tips for Public housing Authorities. http://www.welfareinfo.org/housingresource.htm

/* You may give each page an identifying name, server, and channel on the next lines. */ var pageName = "Page Name" var server = "Server" var channel = "Channel" /**** DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE! ****/ var code = ' '; document.write(' '); document.write('>') Resources For Welfare Decisions Volume 3 Issue 4 August 1999 Housing and Welfare Reform: Strategic Intersections in Place-Based Strategies Perhaps half of the 2 million families with children receiving housing assistance also receive cash assistance. Many more TANF families are unassisted by housing subsidies but risk housing crises in the absence of sustained employment. Housing and welfare programs have historically had different goals, and evidence of effectively linking housing and other anti-poverty strategies is limited. Welfare reform could bring new opportunities to enhance natural linkages for at least three reasons. Second, several HUD-funded programs are explicitly aimed at promoting self-sufficiency, and preference and rent options in the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 could encourage PHAs to pursue those objectives aggressively. Other programs (e.g., Empowerment Zones, Community and Economic Development and Supportive Services Block Grants, and especially HOPE VI) can be used to access jobs and supportive services. Housing and community development programs themselves are major job generators, and recipients of most federal housing funds are mandated to hire low income residents from the area. In addition, new flexibility in final TANF regulations may allow TANF and state maintenance of effort dollars to be used to prevent homelessness and for related purposes, irrespective of cash assistance.

12. W Elfare Reform And Housing Rebecca Swartz and Brian Miller. welfare reform and housing. Executive Summary http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/wrb/publications/pb/pb16.pdf

13. The Urban Institute | Home Policy think tank that tracks welfare, Social Security, Medicare, and other domestic policy issues.Category Society Issues Poverty welfare...... to Margery Turner, lead researcher for a new US housing and Urban Changes and Challenges— During the halfdozen years since welfare reform legislation made http://www.urban.org/

Speaking Out... "What we have learned is that across the board, the participants [in drug courts ] are less likely to be rearrested," Adele Harrell , principal research associate in the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center , United Press International, April 2, 2003. In The News — Issues, Experts and Resources A Foot in the Door? — What happens to comparable African-American, Hispanic, and white customers as they begin their search for a new home or a mortgage? February's First Tuesday forum used evidence from two paired-testing studies to shed new light on the persistence of housing discrimination in urban America. Read the transcript Mixed Results from HOPE VI — Many former residents of America's most decrepit public housing now live in better homes in lower poverty neighborhoods, thanks to the HOPE VI housing program. But a large number of families face serious barriers to leaving their dilapidated homes. Letting Older Workers Work — Millions of baby boomers will begin retiring soon, dramatically slowing labor force growth. One response— phased retirement —will require a 180-degree shift in traditional benefits thinking, say Urban Institute

14. Welfare Reform Impacts On The Public Housing Program: A Preliminary Forecast welfare reform Impacts on the Public housing ProgramA Preliminary Forecast (March 1998, 113 p.) http://www.huduser.org/publications/pubasst/welrefor.html

What's New Publications Periodicals Data Sets ... State of the Cities Welfare Reform Impacts on the Public Housing Program: A Preliminary Forecast (March 1998, 113 p.) Send this to a friend FULL TEXT: HTML (*.html) President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in August 1996, ending "welfare as we know it." The new law replaces Aid to Families with Dependent Children with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Under TANF, eligible families receive relatively short-term income assistance if the adults in the family participate in work-related activities. Welfare Reform Impacts on the Public Housing Program: A Preliminary Forecast examines the implications of this new law for public housing authorities (PHAs), whose residents traditionally contribute a portion of their incomes for rent. Prepared by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, the study finds that the effects of welfare reform on tenant incomes and PHA rent revenues are expected to vary considerably. Effects will depend on the number of PHA households that include mandated residents (adults required under TANF to seek employment), their potential for finding a job, their contributions to rent revenues, and mitigating actions taken by PHAs. Substantial numbers of PHA residents have been (or soon will be) required to move from welfare to work losing all TANF assistance as they reach their time limits or find a job. Because public housing rents are tied to tenant income, a portion of PHA rent receipts will become uncertain. The resulting effect on Federal budget outlays, in the form of operating subsidies to PHAs, is also uncertain.

15. Utah Department Of Community And Economic Development -- News -- "SUCCESS" Links "SUCCESS" Links welfare reform and housing. Governor Mike Leavitt today announced the creation of a new effort to link http://utah.org/NewsCntr/DCEDNews/Releases/SUCCESS.htm

January 13, 1997 "SUCCESS" Links Welfare Reform and Housing Governor Mike Leavitt today announced the creation of a new effort to link the state's self-sufficiency, affordable housing and home ownership efforts with housing authorities across Utah. The new program is called "SUCCESS" (State of Utah's Community Collaboration for Economic Self-Sufficiency) and is the first of its kind in the nation. The program has several innovative features: Families participating in the state's Family Employment Program who are willing to enroll in a Housing Authority Self-Sufficiency program will be put on a priority waiting list for public housing. State welfare reform and Workforce Services programs will be tied to Housing Authority Self-Sufficiency programs. The state will work to provide additional affordable housing rental opportunities to SUCCESS participants. Escrow accounts will be established and aimed at eventual home ownership, with "soft second" loans available from the Olene Walker Housing Trust Fund and other funds. Utah Housing Finance Agency's highly-effective programs will assist these families.

16. Welfare Reform And Housing welfare reform and housing Resources. TFP Publications. Organizational Links. welfarereform and housing Issue Pages. housing Research and Surveys. http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/WIN/housing.asp

Welfare Information Network Home Search About IFDM Site Map ... Go To TFP Welfare Reform and Housing Resources TFP Publications Organizational Links Federal and Multi-State Programs ... General Publications Welfare Reform and Housing Issue Pages Housing Research and Surveys HUD Related Programs Litigation Related to Housing State and Local Housing Issues ... Work Related Issues to Housing If you have any questions about the content of this page, please email Julie Jakopic at jjakopic@financeproject.org General Resources Hot Topics Event Calendar Publications by The Finance Project ... www.financeproject.org. 1401 New York Avenue, NW Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 Tel. 202-587-1000 Fax. 202-628-4205 Welfare Reform and Housing The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds three primary types of federal housing assistance to low-income families: public housing, tenant-based housing and project-based programs Public Housing: Rental units owned and operated by public housing authorities (PHA). Public housing tenants pay rents directly to the PHA's. The PHA sets the amount of rent required based on income levels. The rest of the operating and maintenance costs are paid through available PHA funds. Tenant-based Vouchers and Certificates : Families can use these subsidies to rent housing in the private market. The PHA's pay to the landlords, the difference of the tenant's required rental payments and the approved rental charge.

17. Welfare-to-Work Housing Vouchers: An Innovative Approach To Welfare Reform - ^M Revised February 2, 1999 welfareto-Work housing Vouchers An Innovative Approach to welfare reform by Jeff Lubell and Barbara Sard http://www.cbpp.org/12-2-98hous.htm

Revised February 2, 1999 Welfare-to-Work Housing Vouchers: An Innovative Approach to Welfare Reform by Jeff Lubell and Barbara Sard For 1999, the President and Congress have created a promising new program to help states achieve their welfare reform objectives. Designed to help families for whom the lack of stable, affordable housing is a barrier to employment, the Welfare-to-Work Voucher Program will provide 50,000 Section 8 housing vouchers to families attempting to make the transition from welfare to work. These vouchers can be used to help families move to areas with better job opportunities or transportation networks or to provide incentives for families on welfare to secure and retain employment. In conjunction with state and local welfare agencies and local entities administering Department of Labor (DOL) welfare-to-work grants, public housing agencies (PHAs) will compete for the vouchers in a competition administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Winners of the competition will receive an allocation of new Section 8 housing vouchers, which will carry the standard administrative fee. Applicants will have substantial flexibility to design programs that meet local needs and support local welfare reform strategies. Applications for the welfare-to-work voucher program are due April 28, 1999. To obtain a copy of the request for proposals (termed a Notice of Funding Availability, or NOFA) and an application kit, contact HUD at 1-800-955-2232. The NOFA also may be obtained from the January 28, 1999 Federal Register or downloaded from the Internet at:

18. Is Housing Mobility The Key To Welfare Reform Is housing Mobility the Key to welfare reform? Lessons from Chicago'sGautreaux Program. Authors James E. Rosenbaum and Stefanie DeLuca. http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/iwin/housingmobility.htm

/* You may give each page an identifying name, server, and channel on the next lines. */ var pageName = ""; /**** DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE! ****/ var code = ' '; document.write(' '); document.write('>'); Is Housing Mobility the Key to Welfare Reform? Lessons from Chicago's Gautreaux Program Authors: James E. Rosenbaum and Stefanie DeLuca Type of publication: Report (9 pp.) Source: Brookings Institution Date of publication: September 2000 Topics: Housing, Welfare-to-Work, AFDC From 1976 to 1998, the Gautreaux program in Chicago helped thousands of inner-city low-income black families move to new neighborhoods within the city itself and in the outlying suburbs. The program was devised by the courts to address racial discrimination by the Chicago Housing Authority; it was not specifically designed to reduce welfare dependence. This study uses data from the Gautreaux program to examine neighborhoods effects on the incidence of welfare receipt. The authors found that low-income minority families that moved into communities with more-educated neighbors were much more likely to leave public assistance after the move than their counterparts in areas with less-educated residents. Interviews with Gautreaux participants revealed several factors that contributed to neighborhood effects on employment: more jobs in the suburbs, greater physical safety, and positive role models and social norms.

19. The Heritage Foundation: Research: Welfare: Housing Policy And Welfare Reform positive way. To understand the lessons of welfare reform for assistedhousing programs, six points are critical The prereform http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/Test050102.cfm

site map help contact us The Heritage Foundation ... Welfare Test050102: Housing Policy and Welfare Reform Policy Archive: view by date Policy Archive: view by issue ... Return Home Housing Policy and Welfare Reform by Robert Rector Testimony Testimony before The Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Introduction Before I begin, let me first thank the committee for the opportunity to speak before you today. While I serve as Senior Research Fellow on Welfare and Family Issues at The Heritage Foundation, I must stress that the views I express are entirely my own, and should not be construed as representing the position of The Heritage Foundation. The traditional War on Poverty was launched in the mid-1960's. War on Poverty programs (cash, food, and housing) focused on providing material support and largely ignored the behavioral causes behind poverty. The welfare reform of 1996 recognized that this old style welfare system had failed. The reform changed the nature of cash aid: in the future welfare would continue to provide material support but it would also seek to transform behavior in a positive way. To understand the lessons of welfare reform for assisted housing programs, six points are critical:

20. WR&B: Welfare Reform And Housing -- Rebecca Swartz And Brian Miller welfare reform and housing WR B Brief 16 — March 2002 Rebecca Swartz and BrianMiller Download the entire Policy Brief (PDF—307 kb). Get Acrobat Reader. http://www.brook.edu/wrb/publications/pb/pb16.htm

Welfare Reform and Housing Rebecca Swartz and Brian Miller Download H your view After reading this policy brief, tell us what you think. We'll post the most interesting comments. send your RESPONSE read the FEEDBACK Housing is more than bricks and mortar. It is a key factor in determining a family's access to economic and educational opportunities, exposure to violence and environmental hazards, and ability to accumulate financial assets. Too few low-income families reap the positive benefits of living in stable and reasonably priced housing, and many frequently move in and out of undesirable or unsustainable housing. This lack of stable housing can create difficulties for parents trying to retain employment and can increase the likelihood that their children will have problems in school. In this policy brief, we provide an overview of the current state of housing for low-income families, describe some current government interventions, and analyze a range of proposed housing reforms that Congress should consider as it debates reauthorization of the 1996 welfare reform law. Housing Needs of Low-Income Families Roughly 20 percent of all middle- to low-income households in the U.S., over 13 million in all, live in substandard housing or pay more than half of their income in housing costs, well above the affordability standard of 30 percent of gross income established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Whereas housing quality was the major housing problem in the decades leading up to the 1970s, today the leading problem for low-income families is affordability. While it is no surprise that poor families are disproportionately unable to afford housing, it may be surprising that more than 85 percent of renter households with incomes below 30 percent of area median income (AMI) spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, with well over half of them spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing (figure 1, bar graph on far right).

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