Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/JenniferComey

MTO offered families living in concentrated poverty the chance to move to lower poverty areas, away from the high unemployment and high crime rates areas with the challenges and risks they present. This brief looks at whether the program was successful in helping families move away from those neighborhoods and stay away from them, noting both the reasons for subsequent moves and the characteristics of the neighborhoods to which they made those moves.

Only 37 percent of tested students in District of Columbia Public Schools and the city's public charter schools earned proficient or advanced rankings in reading in 2007, and only 32 percent reached those levels in math, Jennifer Comey told the city council. However, between 2006 and 2007, the share of all public school students testing proficient or advanced increased. In 2007, public charter school students tested slightly higher on average compared with DCPS students.

The 14th annual Fact Book is a comprehensive data source for indicators of child well-being in the District of Columbia. Over 50 data indicators are tracked over time. This publication provides a broad perspective on the status of children and youth in the District. We seek to inform and educate our readers about the issues affecting children and their families in the District. We encourage community residents, policy makers, professionals, and others who work with and/or on behalf of children and families to create conditions that foster the optimal health and development of our children.

Most HOPE VI residents have not moved back. The largest number of families – 43 percent - received Housing Choice Vouchers, and another third were still living in traditional public housing. Just five percent were living in mixed-income communities - a number likely to increase as the sites are completed. Residents who have moved to the private market or to mixed-income developments reported substantial improvements in the quality of their housing and are living in neighborhoods that are considerably lower poverty. In contrast, those who remained in traditional public housing—either their original development or a different one—experienced virtually no improvement in housing quality over time.

The 13th annual Fact Book is a comprehensive data source for indicators of child well-being in the District of Columbia. Over 50 data indicators are tracked over time. The Fact Book is organized this year to reflect the six citywide goals for children and youth in the District of Columbia. The six citywide goals are: children are ready for school; children and youth succeed in school; children and youth are healthy and practice healthy behaviors; children and youth engage in meaningful activities; children and youth live in healthy, stable, and supportive families; and all youth make a successful transition to adulthood.

This is the fifth in a series of annual reports that analyzes the most current data on housing conditions and trends in the District of Columbia and the surrounding suburbs. This year's report focuses on linkages between housing and schools in the District of Columbia and the metropolitan region. The availability and quality of public schools play a critical role in shaping demand for housing, and, correspondingly, housing market trends shape school enrollment patterns. To explore these issues, this report reviews trends in housing and public school enrollment in the Washington region, with more in-depth coverage of the District's neighborhoods.

The D.C. Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force recently released their recommendations to address the city's long-term housing needs and to ensure affordable housing exists for residents. These recommendations encompass a wide range of strategies to ensure affordable housing is built and retained in the city. Our research at the Urban Institute found that three criteria are necessary regardless of type of strategy implemented: land availability, city government responsiveness, and community involvement.

This handbook describes a wide range of strategies that local governments, developers, and nonprofit organizations can use to create and retain affordable housing in their communities. Fifteen strategies for addressing affordable housing are discussed. The strategies are divided into three categories: housing production, housing retention, and asset building. The handbook adds to the body of literature on affordable housing strategies by considering the interplay of strategy implementation and housing-market context. The document serves as a companion piece for the report, In the Face of Gentrification: Case Studies of Local Efforts to Mitigate Displacement.

This report explores strategies used by nonprofit organizations, for-profit developers, and city agencies to ensure low- to-moderate-income residents can live in revitalizing neighborhoods. Strategies used to prevent displacement are influenced by a number of factors, including housing market strength, political climate and organizational capacity. Through six case studies, researchers consider the impact of timing on strategy selection and implementation to untangle whether certain approaches work better in different housing-market contexts. See the companion document, Keeping the Neighborhood Affordable: A Handbook of Housing Strategies for Gentrifying Areas, for a discussion of additional affordable housing strategies.

The 12th annual Fact Book is a comprehensive data source for indicators of child well-being in the District of Columbia. Over 50 data indicators are tracked over time from the following topic areas: population trends, economic security, family attachment and community support, homeless children and families, child health, safety and personal security, education, and selected indicators by ward, neighborhood cluster, and region.

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