Housing Mobility Demonstration! In a small but important bipartisan victory for housing choice and integration, Congress approved a $28 million housing mobility competitive grants program in the 2019 HUD budget, which could fund more than a dozen housing mobility programs around the country, along with funds for additional Housing Choice Vouchers, and a research component. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which was instrumental in advocating for the demonstration, has posted a helpful policy brief here, and you can read the legislative language here. Our technical assistance group “Mobility Works” will be available to assist PHAs and local fair housing advocates in planning for the HUD NOFA later this year.
Next steps in federal school integration policy: On behalf of the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD), we are pleased to share NCSD’s 2019 federal policy proposals, designed to increase K-12 racial and socioeconomic school integration. These policies are the work product of a committee of integration experts from both practice and academia convened by NCSD, and provide a comprehensive roadmap for current and future school integration advocacy. NCSD will be releasing state policy proposals later this spring.
Coordinating housing and school policy: Our latest law review article, “Coordinated Action on School and Housing Integration: The Role of State Government” explores the challenges of addressing school and housing segregation, particularly across school district and municipal boundary lines. The article will be included in the forthcoming University of Richmond Law Review symposium issue on “The 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act: Past, Present, and Future.”
Other Resources
Call for Plessy papers: Our long time Board member john powell is guest editing a special issue of RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. The issue theme is “The Legacy of ‘Separate but Equal:’ Policy Implications for the 21st Century–The 125th Anniversary of Plessy v. Ferguson”.
Debating fair housing: PRRAC affiliated partners Ingrid Gould Ellen (NYU) and Justin Steil (MIT) are the editors of a new volume of collected “debates” moderated by the NYU Furman Center on key issues of housing segregation: The Dream Revisited: Contemporary Debates About Housing, Segregation, and Opportunity. A great teaching resource or introduction to central tensions in U.S. housing policy.
