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Poverty & Race Research Action Council

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PRRAC Update: Title VI attacks; welcoming new PRRAC Board members; housing trivia quiz (December 11, 2025)

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The Justice Department’s Lawless Attack on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: On December 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published a Final Rule removing protections against disparate impact discrimination from its implementing regulations for Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. DOJ did so without adhering to notice and comment procedures, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. This move is contrary to decades of consistent agency interpretations of Title VI, and, while the Supreme Court has held that there is no private right of action to challenge disparate impact discrimination under Title VI, Title VI regulations that cover disparate impact have not been struck down. The exception to notice and comment requirements that DOJ has invoked is plainly unavailing. Because of DOJ’s coordinating role across federal agencies with respect to Title VI, it is likely that we will see copycat rulemakings across the government. Though historically underenforced, Title VI has the potential to be a bulwark against discrimination in a range of areas from transportation to the environment to school discipline.

Welcoming New Members of PRRAC’s Board of Directors: On December 5, 2025, PRRAC welcomed two new members of its Board of Directors. Audrey Wiggins is a Legal Director at Democracy Forward and a long-time civil rights lawyer. Chava Brandriss is a partner at the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and has worked on landmark Fair Housing Act cases through her extensive pro bono practice. We are thrilled to have Audrey and Chava on the Board. At the same time, we thank John Charles (Jack) Boger and John Brittain, who have transitioned off of the Board, for their decades of service to the organization. It is no exaggeration to say that PRRAC would not exist without Jack and John.

Other news and resources

HUD Revokes Harmful Continuum of Care Notice of Funding Opportunity: On December 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development revoked a harmful Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Continuum of Care program, which supports homeless services and permanent supportive housing. The NOFO represented a retreat from humane, evidence-based policies like Housing First and was not the first attempt to impose unlawful conditions on federal homelessness funding. Advocates have filed litigation challenging these steps.

A Break from the Parade of Horribles – Housing Trivia: In this Update’s installment of A Break from the Parade of Horribles, we are presenting our first housing trivia quiz. Respond by email (to tdelgo@prrac.org) with your answers by the end of the day tomorrow, December 12th. We have some great prizes, including a book and some PRRAC swag (a very nice camping mug), in store for 3 winners (either the three highest scorers or the first three highest scorers to respond). Of course, this is all on the honor system, so no Googling!

1) What community organizer organized a sit-in at the headquarters of the Boston Redevelopment Authority to protest a plan to build a parking garage on the footprint of demolished public housing in 1968, approximately five years before being sworn into the Massachusetts House of Representatives?

  • Gale Cincotta
  • Dolores Huerta
  • Saul Alinsky
  • Mel King

2) What Minnesota congresswoman was the lead sponsor of the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020, which was never enacted but would have codified a vision of COVID relief for tenants that emerged from the organizing of the Homes Guarantee campaign?

  • Betty McCollum
  • Ilhan Omar
  • Rosa DeLauro
  • Peggy Flanagan

3) Which Long Island town was the defendant in the long-running Fair Housing Act lawsuit that led to a 1988 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that announced that unjustified policies and practices that perpetuate segregation violate the Act?

  • Huntington
  • Brookhaven
  • Oyster Bay
  • Smithtown

4) Which numbered section of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 contains historically under-enforced requirements for the creation of economic opportunities for low-income community residents, including public housing residents, through HUD-funded projects?

  • 3
  • 4
  • 8
  • 9

5) What author of Modern Housing was an architect of the Housing Act of 1937 and remains an inspiration for social housing advocates, though the United States departed from her vision of social housing that serves households at a range of income levels through the passage of the Housing Act of 1949 and subsequent laws?

  • Gail Radford
  • Jane Addams
  • Catherine Bauer
  • Frances Perkins

Standing with PRRAC at a Critical Moment: As we close out the year, we want to thank you again for standing with PRRAC at a moment when civil rights protections and housing programs are under sustained attack. Your support is helping fuel the next chapter of our work: advancing strong, affirmative fair housing and education policies at the state and local levels, in close partnership with grassroots advocates across the country.

Your generosity makes it possible for PRRAC to scale our research and advocacy, respond quickly to emerging policy threats, and provide the legal and policy tools our partners need to protect tenant rights, strengthen affordable housing programs, and expand access to opportunity.

If you’re planning a year-end contribution, here are a few helpful reminders to ensure your gift is completed before December 31:

  • Checks: Must be postmarked by December 31. Please make payable to “Poverty & Race Research Action Council” and mail to PRRAC, 740 15th St NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20005.
  • Credit Cards: Gifts must be charged by December 31. You can make a secure online donation here.
  • IRAs: Qualified Charitable Distributions (for donors 70½+) must be received and deposited by December 31.
  • Donor-Advised Funds: Gifts must be initiated by December 31. PRRAC’s EIN number is 52-170507.
  • Matching Gifts: Your employer may be able to match your gift, doubling its impact.

Thank you for being a steadfast champion for racial justice and the basic rights to housing and education. We are deeply grateful to be in this work together!