Section 8 Vouchers and Mobility

This research evaluated the impact on crime of the closing, redevelopment, and subsequent reopening of three public housing developments in Milwaukee, Wis., and Washington, D.C., under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s HOPE VI initiative. We found a clear indication in all three sites that crime dropped at some point during redevelopment and we generally observed a diffusion of benefits from the redeveloped sites outward. The findings suggest that large-scale public housing redevelopment initiatives like HOPE VI can create a diffusion of benefits to nearby areas, which may also experience reductions in crime levels.

There continues to be considerable interest in the potential of mixed-income housing and neighborhoods to alleviate poverty, desegregate neighborhoods in terms of household income, and revitalize neighborhoods. This annotated literature review, prepared with support from the Casey Foundation, surveys the research on mixed-income housing that focuses on the impact on low-income children and adults. The review examines definitions of mixed-income, hypothesized benefits for low-income families, evidence of benefits, and viability of mixed-income areas over time. It concludes by identifying research gaps that foundations might consider addressing through the support for future work.

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration intended to test the feasibility of providing intensive case-management services, transitional jobs, financial literacy training and mobility counseling for vulnerable families. This presentation highlights findings from briefs on the service implementation and costs, along with participant outcomes across four domains: employment, health, housing and relocation, and children and youth.

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration provided vulnerable public housing residents from two Chicago Housing Authority developments with intensive case management services, transitional jobs, financial literacy training, and relocation counseling. The Demonstration was remarkably successful in implementing a wraparound service model. The lead service provider kept residents highly engaged even as they relocated with vouchers or to mixed-income housing. Participants perceived improvements in service quality and delivery, and providers felt more effective and engaged. The additional costs for the intensive services were modest, suggesting that it would be feasible to take a carefully targeted intensive service model to scale.

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration was an innovative effort to improve the circumstances and life chances of CHA’s most vulnerable families, with the goal of ensuring stable housing in better conditions. This brief explores relocation outcomes for Demonstration participants, including their experiences with relocation services. Generally, participants live in much better housing in neighborhoods where they feel safer. However, most still live in public housing, and their new neighborhoods are still poor, racially segregated, and crime ridden. To better serve vulnerable families, relocation counseling needs to be intensive, long term, and integrated with other services.

This paper provides findings from a rapid scan of mobility programs, including interviews with program staff, from across the country. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research, including suggestions on how to design a demonstration program that tests the impact of mobility assistance program.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program serves nearly 2 million low-income households nationwide, the majority in urban areas. This literature review examines the empirical evidence on neighborhood location outcomes for voucher recipients, including research regarding housing and neighborhood preferences. Voucher holders live in most urban neighborhoods, and do not typically experience extremely high poverty rates. However, disparities by race persist, and the program is less effective than the LIHTC program in allowing poor households to reach low-poverty suburbs. Neighborhood quality is lower for nonwhite households compared to whites, but evidence suggests black households may benefit more from the voucher than whites. 

This commentary shares insights from Urban Institute research into the resident choice option for families living in public housing under HUD's new draft legislation, the Preservation, Enhancement, and Transformation of Rental Assistance Act of 2010.