The Housing Mobility Services NOFO is out: HUD has released a $25M notice of funding to support 5-year regional housing mobility programs at approximately 11 PHAs. The funding notice, pursuant to Congress’s direction in the 2022 Appropriations Act, prioritizes assistance to families with children, PHAs with high concentrations of families with vouchers in high poverty neighborhoods, and regions with a reasonable percentage of rental units in low poverty areas that are within permissible voucher payment standards. The application deadline is August 30. See the funding notice here.
Department of Education weighs in on school diversity: Last month, in response to a 2021 request from Congress, the Department released “The State of School Diversity in the United States,” a report that summarizes research on the harms of segregation and the benefits of integration; explains the availability of Title I funding for school transportation to support integration in different scenarios; describes the benefits of and funds available to support educator diversity, and documents long term trends in the resegregation of American schools following the abandonment of desegregation efforts in many parts of the country. The report follows the Notice of Funding for the $10M Fostering Diverse Schools grants program (discussed in our last update).
Exclusionary tenant screening practices: In response to a wide ranging “Request for Information” on tenant screening practices from two federal agencies (part of the recent White House effort to advance tenants’ rights), PRRAC weighed in on tenant screening practices that adversely affect families with Housing Choice Vouchers. See our comment letter here.
Other news and resources
ICYMI – more evidence on housing mobility and health:Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed proof of what mobility practitioners have long suspected – that young children with asthma often experience a significant decrease in symptoms after moving to lower poverty areas. The new study, led by Craig Pollack in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found average symptom days reduced by almost half for children who moved, and searching deeper for environmental factors associated with these declines, found that reductions in stress were a significant component. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership. See the article abstract here and an excellent article in the Baltimore Banner for a quick summary.
ICWMI – racial equity assessments for school closures in California: In Assembly Bill 1912, passed and signed last fall, California is requiring that any school closures and consolidations must include a detailed “equity impact assessment” to avoid disproportionate impacts on children of color, and in April of this year, the California Attorney General issued explanatory guidance that further points out “California’s Constitution also prohibits deprivation of equal opportunity caused by racial segregation” (citing CA cases), and indicates that potential segregation impacts should also be assessed for planned school closures, consolidations, and mergers.
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