HB 759 HOME Act of 2016 – SUPPORT
February 23, 2016
Testimony of Stefanie DeLuca, PhD.
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Department of Sociology
My name is Stefanie DeLuca and I am an associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins. My research examines the effects of neighborhoods on family and child well-being, as well as the role of housing policies and landlords in shaping where families live and send their children to school. For over fourteen years, I have conducted fieldwork with hundreds of low-income families, children and landlords in five different cities, including Baltimore. I am testifying in support of HB 759, the Home Act of 2016, which will prohibit housing and rental discrimination based on a person’s source of income. I support the HOME Act because it has the potential to reduce concentrated poverty and remove a real barrier to families’ access to safer neighborhoods with better schools, which can promote upward mobility; thus, the HOME Act may have a positive impact on the long-term educational and socioeconomic prospects of poor children.
