PRRAC — Connecting Research to Advocacy

Poverty & Race Research Action Council

Housing Mobility & the Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Housing Choice Voucher program (formerly known as “Section 8”) is HUD’s largest low income housing program, providing rental assistance to families seeking housing in the private market.  Since its inception in the mid-1970s, the program has fallen short of its potential to provide real housing choice to families outside of higher poverty neighborhoods.  But in recent years, Congress and HUD have taken steps to expand families’ access to well-resourced neighborhoods – including the important “Small Area Fair Market Rent” option, which adjusts rent caps based on local submarket conditions at the zip code level, and, recently, $75 million in funding for new housing mobility programs across the country. Along with our partners in the civil rights community, we have consistently urged HUD to expand housing mobility in federal programs and to remove impediments to mobility in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (“Section 8”). Our work is motivated by the insight that the housing voucher program if administered well, is the most direct and promising means of delivering desegregated housing opportunities to low-income families of color. In 2016, PRRAC helped to organize Mobility Works, a technical assistance collaborative working with PHAs across the country.

Key documents

PRRAC Publications

Recent Developments

Housing Mobility Demonstration (July 2020)

On July 15, 2020, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the availability of $50 million for public housing agencies (PHAs) to develop programs to help low-income families with housing vouchers access low-poverty, high-opportunity areas.

The demonstration funds, appropriated through the 2019 and 2020 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Acts, will be accompanied by research grants to study best practices in housing mobility programs.

Check out the Mobility Works webinar giving an overview of the NOFA.
Read the September 2018 letter from national organizations sent to the Senate advocating for the funding, and check out the press release from Mobility Works.

Field Highlights and Stories

Small Area Fair Market Rule

The “Mobility Works” Initiative

In 2016, PRRAC launched a new technical assistance project, “Mobility Works,” a foundation-supported consortium of housing mobility practitioners, researchers, and policy experts that will assist housing agencies and non-profits seeking to develop comprehensive regional housing mobility programs. The Mobility Works team includes PRRAC, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and staff from three leading housing mobility practitioners – the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership, Housing Choice Partners (Chicago), and the Inclusive Communities Project (Dallas). We provide free technical assistance in selected jurisdictions, to help set the foundation for successful housing mobility programs, and we are also available to contract for technical assistance to PHAs and state or local government agencies. Services may include the development of regional opportunity maps, analysis of PHA policies and practices in the context of HUD requirements, model briefing and counseling materials and staff training, and standards and procedures for landlord outreach, community tours, and one-on-one counseling assistance to clients. If appropriate, we may also assist PHAs or non-profits in applying for HUD funds or other state and local funding to support the development of new mobility programs. The name “Mobility Works” comes from Betsy Julian’s 2015 Poverty & Race article calling for a federally funded housing mobility technical assistance initiative modeled on the Congressional chartered NeighborWorks community development program. We are grateful to the Kresge Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation for generous grants that helped us launch this project.” See also: www.housingmobility.org. In 2021, the Mobility Works Project was incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3).

Mobility Works Technical Assistance Overview

Section 8 Voucher Reform

Recent Policy Research

Housing Mobility Conferences 2010-2021

The 8th National Conference on Housing Mobility: On November 4, 2021, MobilIty Works, the Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC), and the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) hosted the 8th National Conference on Housing Mobility – #HousingMobility2021.

The 7th National Conference on Housing Mobility: October 16-17, 2018, Washington, DC. PRRAC, MobilityWorks, and the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) hosted the 7th National Housing Mobility Conference.  People from across the country, including public housing authority officials, researchers, and nonprofit leaders gathered to better understand how to further housing mobility and find new ways to collaborate on mobility efforts. The conference specifically recognized the pivotal moment in which we live; the housing mobility “movement” is growing and wielding greater influence: Some recent successes and notable occurrences, include bipartisan congressional support for the housing mobility demonstration bill, the growth of the MobilityWorks technical assistance group, and the release of the Opportunity Atlas from Raj Chetty and colleagues, further demonstrating the economic mobility potential of housing mobility.

The 6th National Conference on Housing Mobility – “More Choices for More Families:” July 15-16 2015, Chicago, IL. Sponsored by PRRAC, the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, and the Metropolitan Planning Council.

After Thompson: Implications for the Wellbeing of Children February 6-7, 2014

Proceedings from the 5th National Conference on Assisted Housing Mobility, June 11 and 12, 2012, Washington, DC. Co-sponsored by PRRAC and the Urban Institute

Proceedings from the 4th National Conference on Assisted Housing Mobility

Proceedings from the 3rd National Conference on Assisted Housing Mobility

Proceedings from the 2nd National Conference on Assisted Housing Mobility

Proceedings from the 1st National Conference on Assisted Housing Mobility