Urban Institute: Cities and Neighborhoods

The Urban Institute's Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development: Understanding How Place Matters for Kids

paffairs@urban.org ( Susan J. Popkin, Gregory Acs, Robin E. Smith ) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A central goal of U.S. social welfare policy is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential as productive adults. Yet it is increasingly clear that where children live plays a central role in determining their life chances. This paper provides an overview of The Urban Institute's Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development, which is dedicated to understanding the relationships between neighborhood-level factors and the well-being and development of children and youth and identifying and evaluating place-based, community-wide strategies to help children grow up to reach their full potential as adults.

Family Mobility and Neighborhood Change : New Evidence and Implications for Community Initiatives

paffairs@urban.org ( Claudia J. Coulton, Brett Theodos, Margery Austin Turner ) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Americans change residences frequently. Residential mobility can reflect positive changes in a family's circumstances or be a symptom of instability and insecurity. Mobility may also change neighborhoods as a whole. To shed light on these challenges, this report uses a unique survey conducted for the Making Connections initiative. The first component measures how mobility contributed to changes in neighborhoods' composition and characteristics. The second component identifies groups of households that reflect different reasons for moving or staying in place. The final component introduces five stylized models of neighborhood performance: each has implications for low-income families' well-being and for community-change efforts.

Foreclosures in the Nation's Capital 2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

This brief, a companion to the Housing in the Nation's Capital 2009 report, describes the impact of the foreclosure crisis on the Washington metropolitan region, examining the level and trends of foreclosures, outlining potential secondary effects for families and neighborhoods, and looking towards the future of the region's housing market. It concludes with policy implications in four areas: foreclosure prevention, neighborhood stabilization, recovery assistance for displaced households, and services for children in foreclosed homes.

Housing in the Nation's Capital 2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

This is the seventh in a series of annual reports about housing in the Washington metropolitan region. It assembles and analyzes the most current data on housing conditions in the District of Columbia and the surrounding suburbs. This year's report focuses on the impact of the foreclosure crisis on the region, examining the level and trends of foreclosures, outlining potential secondary effects for families and neighborhoods, and looking towards the future of the region's housing market. It concludes with policy implications in four areas: foreclosure prevention, neighborhood stabilization, recovery assistance for displaced households, and services for children in foreclosed homes.

Rising Tide of Foreclosures and Mortage Delinquencies Will Add Turmoil to Metro DC Housing Market and Families' Lives : Pressures Mount for Prime Loans and Minorities

paffairs@urban.org ( The Urban Institute ) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

The metropolitan Washington housing market, just beginning to stabilize at midyear, will have to deal soon with tens of thousands of additional foreclosed homes thrown onto the market, an Urban Institute study forecasts.

Promoting Neighborhood Diversity: Benefits, Barriers, and Strategies

paffairs@urban.org ( Margery Austin Turner, Lynette A. Rawlings ) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

Despite substantial progress since passage of the Fair Housing Act four decades ago, neighborhoods remain highly segregated by race and ethnicity. This paper summarizes existing research evidence on both the costs of segregation and the potential benefits of neighborhood diversity. It uses decennial census data to show that a growing share of US neighborhoods are racially and ethnically diverse, but that low-income African Americans in particular remain highly concentrated in predominantly minority neighborhoods. Because the dynamics that sustain segregation today are complex, strategies for overcoming them must address not only discrimination, but information gaps, affordability constraints, prejudice, and fear.

Vulnerable Youth and the Transition to Adulthood

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

This series examines youth vulnerability and risk-taking behaviors on several outcomes for young adults, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort. Notable results suggest youth follow one of four patterns in connecting to the labor market and school in the transition to adulthood: consistently-connected, later-connected, initially-connected, or never-connected. Second generation Latinos make a fairly smooth transition to young adulthood, but are less likely to engage in post-secondary schooling than whites. Youth from low-income families, distressed neighborhoods, and youth with poor mental health engage in relatively higher levels of adolescent risk behaviors and have relatively lower earnings and levels of connectedness in early adulthood.

New Research Explores the Sometimes Rough Road to Adulthood

paffairs@urban.org ( The Urban Institute ) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Low-income African American youth engage in fewer risky behaviors than low-income white youth, a new Urban Institute analysis of federal data reveals. This research on young blacks is part of a collection of eight brief studies on vulnerable youth, risky behavior, and the transition to adulthood.

Cultural Development and City Neighborhoods

paffairs@urban.org ( Carole E. Rosenstein ) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Cities around the world are building urban cultural life as a way to develop local economies and revitalize urban centers. But they have done less to recognize and systematically promote the cultural lives of urban neighborhoods and their residents. This brief examines four characteristics of city cultural policy that affect cultural development and cultural life in neighborhoods. The brief is informed by policy forums held by The Living Cultures Project in New Orleans in 2008-2009 to address key policy issues confronting neighborhood and cultural life.

The Uncharted, Uncertain Future Of HOPE VI Redevelopments : The Case for Assessing Project Sustainability

paffairs@urban.org ( Martin D. Abravanel, Diane K. Levy, Margaret McFarland ) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

HOPE VI supports demolishing large, dilapidated public housing and replacing it with smaller-scale, more appealing properties. What makes this feasible (mixed financing; private-sector entities; and mixed-income, mixed-tenure complexes) also creates conditions that challenge and can undermine long-term sustainability. Sustainability has not yet been assessed and whether it should or can be assessed has been questioned. With input from housing practitioners and insight from a trial exploration of two HOPE VI redevelopments, this report demonstrates the need for, and feasibility of, conducting an assessment that can assist both private owners and public agencies in sustaining this valuable resource.

Fulfilling the Promise of Preschool for All : Insights into Issues Affecting Access for Selected Immigrant Groups in Chicago

paffairs@urban.org ( Gina Adams, Marla McDaniel ) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

The study involved interviews with families from Nigeria and Pakistan living on Chicago's North Side to examine their experiences and perspectives around accessing Illinois' universal preschool program, Preschool for All (PFA). Researchers conducted focus groups with parents and spoke with PFA providers for their perspective on issues families raised. The findings suggest Nigerian and Pakistani families can face numerous barriers accessing Preschool for All. While some barriers are unique to their immigration status, others are experienced by other low-income and vulnerable families as well. The report concludes with implications for policy and recommendations for future research.

Academic Perspectives on the Future of Public Housing : Before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity

paffairs@urban.org ( Susan J. Popkin ) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

Many policy makers and scholars regard the HOPE VI Program as one of the nation's most successful urban redevelopment programs (c.f. Katz 2009; Cisneros 2009). But despite its very real accomplishments, the HOPE VI program's record in meeting the needs of the original residents who endured the worst consequences of the failures of public housing is mixed. With its proposed "Choice Neighborhoods" initiative, the Obama administration has the opportunity to build on the experiences of nearly two decades of experience with HOPE VI. Incorporating intensive case management and permanent supportive housing for the most vulnerable into Choice Neighborhoods and any other comprehensive redevelopment efforts is one way to ensure that these initiatives truly meet the needs of all public housing families.

Vibrant Neighborhoods, Successful Schools : What the Federal Government Can Do to Foster Both

paffairs@urban.org ( Margery Austin Turner, Alan Berube ) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

Every parent recognizes the inextricable connections between where we live and the quality of our childrens education. Although public policies have historically contributed to disparities in both neighborhood affordability and school quality, federal programs focused on affordable housing rarely take public schools into account and school officials typically assume that they have no influence over housing patterns. This paper focuses on four principles regarding the vitality and performance of schools and communities, discussing opportunities for constructive policy interventions, summarizing what we know about their likely effectiveness, and recommending next steps for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Education.

Metropolitan Conditions and Trends: Changing Contexts for a Community Initiative

paffairs@urban.org ( Leah Hendey, G. Thomas Kingsley ) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

This brief reviews recent social and economic trends in the ten metropolitan areas that form the context for the neighborhood programs being operated as a part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative. It finds that these areas are strikingly different along a number dimensions and in are many ways representative of the diversity in conditions and trends across America's metropolitan areas. Since 2002, for example, two of these areas attained among the nation's highest rates of employment growth (Denver and Seattle) while two others experienced serious declines (Oakland and Milwaukee). Although there were important differences in magnitudes, all sites did share in a number of trends: minority groups growing as a share of total population, improvements in several social indicators (e.g., in crime and teen pregnancy) but, disturbingly, notable increases in child poverty.

The Impacts of Foreclosures on Families and Communities

paffairs@urban.org ( G. Thomas Kingsley, Robin E. Smith, David Price ) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

The foreclosure crisis is now having dramatic effects throughout America. In mid-2008, recognizing that this phenomenon was still quite new, the Open Society Institute asked the Urban Institute to scan available research to document what we know about: (1) the way foreclosures impact families; (2) how foreclosures affect communities; and (3) the efforts now underway, or being suggested, to address the crisis, focusing on actions at the local level. This report presents the results of this review. A final section offers the authors' recommendations on priorities for additional research to fill important gaps in the knowledge base.

Facts and Findings about Foreclosures, Families, and Communities

paffairs@urban.org ( The Urban Institute ) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

"The Impacts of Foreclosures on Families and Communities" details what is known about how foreclosures adversely affect households and their neighborhoods from children and the elderly to public safety and local property tax revenues. It also looks at policies, programs, and response strategies to prevent or mitigate the fallout.

New Life for US Housing and Urban Policy : Address to the opening plenary of the City Futures Conference, Madrid, June 4, 2009

paffairs@urban.org ( Margery Austin Turner ) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

Three big themes animate the Obama Administration's emerging urban policy framework: competitiveness, equity of opportunity, and sustainability. These themes recognize that the well-being of urban places and the welfare of people are inextricably linked. To achieve the new Administration's urban policy vision, enormous challenges must be overcome including jurisdictional balkanization, federal budget pressures, and macro trends whose long-term impacts can't be fully anticipated. In the face of these challenges, the research community has an opportunity to contribute hugely to the realization of the new urban agenda, but only if we are prepared to make our work genuinely useful to policymakers.

The Impact of Foreclosures on Home Ownership and Affordable Housing in the District of Columbia

paffairs@urban.org ( Peter A. Tatian ) — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 EST

In this testimony before members of the D.C. City Council, Peter Tatian, senior researcher in the Urban Institute's Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center and director of NeighborhoodInfo DC, presents recent data showing that the national foreclosure crisis has not spared households in the District of Columbia. Although the intensity of the foreclosure problem is not as severe as in other parts of the region, the nation's capital has seen a marked and steady increase in foreclosures since the beginning of the housing market downturn.

State of Washington, D.C.'s Neighborhoods

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 EST

The District of Columbia's leaders have committed to capitalizing on the city's many assets and taking advantage of its recent growth and prosperity to tackle persistent challenges of inequality and exclusion. This report, prepared for the D.C. Office of Planning, seeks to aid the city's leaders and citizens through tracking and measuring major economic and social indicators. The report provides a baseline assessment of the current situation in the city and its neighborhoods in nine subject categories: demographics; jobs and income; housing; education; health; family, youth, and seniors; safety and security; public investment; and environment.

Foreclosures and Renters in Washington, D.C.

paffairs@urban.org ( Peter A. Tatian ) — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:00 EST

Although much of the media have focused on the consequences of the foreclosure crisis for financial markets, lending institutions, and homeowners, comparatively less attention has been paid to how housing foreclosures have affected renters. This report, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and using local administrative data from NeighborhoodInfo DC, documents the extent to which foreclosures in Washington, D.C., have occurred in renter-occupied homes and apartments. The conclusion outlines several policy options for helping renters during this difficult period.

Susan Popkin to Head the Urban Institute's New Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development

paffairs@urban.org ( The Urban Institute ) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST

Susan Popkin, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and an expert on public housing, has been named the director of the Institutes new Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development.

Systems to Improve the Management of City-Owned Land in Baltimore

paffairs@urban.org ( William Ballard, G. Thomas Kingsley ) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST

Baltimore participated in a 2004 National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) pilot project to enhance local capacity to manage land markets through innovative use of parcel-level information. The city already had a program in place to acquire and re-market abandoned properties. The NNIP project focused on helping officials use the program-generated property information for more effective land management. New information systems were created to manage the complex business rules, to store the property data, and to provide staff with desktop access to information. An integrated disposition system reduced staff time, improved performance, and enhanced the city's service to its business partners.

District of Columbia Forum on Housing Options for Frequent Users of Jail and Shelter: Presentation of Urban Institute Data Analysis

paffairs@urban.org ( Sam Hall ) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

Presentation at Reentry Housing Forum, "Reducing the Revolving Door of Incarceration and Homelessness in the District of Columbia." Gives information on the number of people using jail only; shelter only; jail and shelter; jail, shelter, and Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS); multiple spells in each, days in each, and a mental illness disability, for people using the D.C. Jail between October 1, 2004 and March 31, 2008, public emergency shelters between October 1, 2005 and September 30, 2007, and FEMS between January 1 and August 31, 2008. It also presents costs to the three systems providing data.

Widening Effects of the Corporation for Supportive Housing's System-Change Efforts in Los Angeles, 20052008

paffairs@urban.org ( Martha R. Burt ) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

This, the fourth evaluation report for this project, describes extensive developments in Los Angeles during 2007-2008 and how they build on earlier work. The pipeline for permanent supportive housing is expanding, as are activities to improve the health of homeless people, smooth the transition from jail to community, and address the needs of the most vulnerable homeless people. Numerous coordinating and collaborating structures have begun or are expanding as part of these developments. Cautious optimism is in order compared to four years ago, but there is still a long way to go.

A Guide to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data

paffairs@urban.org ( Kathryn L.S. Pettit, Audrey Droesch ) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires most lending institutions to report on home mortgage loan applications, including the application outcome, loan- and applicant-related information, and property location. Annual data collected through HMDA provide a unique set of files with information at the neighborhood level. This guide describes the HMDA original source data and the HMDA indicators available on DataPlace. The guide also illustrates how HMDA indicators can be used to shed light on such issues as neighborhood investment trends, changes in the racial and economic composition of home buyers, disparities in home loan access, and subprime lending.

Community Revitalization in the United States and the United Kingdom

paffairs@urban.org ( Harris Beider, Diane K. Levy, Susan J. Popkin ) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

The flow of ideas between the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) includes approaches to housing policy, as the public sectors in both countries have turned toward the private sector to help provide affordable housing and support redevelopment activities. The Urban Institute and the Institute for Community Cohesion developed an innovative program of work to compare approaches to community revitalization, community cohesion and sustainable neighborhoods in cities across both countries. Ultimately, the purpose of the project is to influence policy and practice agendas in the UK and US by highlighting effective strategies for revitalizing communities and building community cohesion. This report describes the project, discusses contextual differences between the two countries that affect subsidized housing, and highlights lessons drawn from the exchanges that took place during the spring and summer of 2008.

Experts Debate How to Remedy the Thorny Tangle of Race and Public Housing

paffairs@urban.org ( The Urban Institute ) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Urban Institute researchers and a dozen contributors explore how public housing reform policies could overcome the persistent disadvantages facing black communities and black families and whether ignoring these disadvantages may undermine the long-term vision for public housing's transformation. Authors recount the history of racial segregation in public housing, highlight the consequences, and debate remedies.

Progress in Arts and Culture Research: A Perspective

paffairs@urban.org ( Maria Rosario Jackson ) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

New research on arts and culture points to a range of impacts in US communities. Arts and culture - including informal activities such as gatherings in parks and community centers where group traditions are maintained and/or invented, church-based artistic activity, and through the convergence of professional working artists in neighborhoods - shape communities in a variety of ways ranging from community health to community development and the creation of social capital. Planners and policymakers would do well to incorporate new research findings about arts and culture into their work on the design and revitalization of communities

Margery Austin Turner to be Vice President for Research at the Urban Institute; Maida Schifter Appointed Corporate Secretary

paffairs@urban.org ( The Urban Institute ) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Urban policy expert Margery Austin Turner will become the Urban Institute's vice president for research. Maida Schifter, a senior project manager, will serve as corporate secretary.

Legislating-for-Results Municipal Action Guides

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

The Urban Institute and National League of Cities developed this series of 10 guides for city and county elected officials, and their staffs, to help them obtain and use information about the results of their governments' services in helping their citizens. The Guides address such issues as: improving strategic planning; improving budgeting decisions; reviewing programs throughout the year; helping motivate their government's employees and contractors; and two-way communications with citizens on what citizens are getting for their money. Specific actions are suggested, and examples are provided.

Forty Years of Social Policy and Policy Research

paffairs@urban.org ( Robert M. Solow ) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Nobel Laureate Robert M. Solow, vice chairman of the Urban Institute Board of Trustees, sums up the Institute's 40 years of achievements by exploring the interaction between policy research and policy action. While social policy is sold as "leaps and bounds" research uncovers the true slow and incremental steps toward success. Yet research is indispensible for action because it weeds out bad ideas and gives policymakers objective evaluations. Solow concludes that it is in this complex but crucial interaction where the Institute's real work is done, citing several of the Institute's key accomplishments.

Understanding the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina for ACF Service Populations : A Feasibility Assessment of Study Approaches

paffairs@urban.org ( Fredrica D. Kramer, Kenneth Finegold, Daniel Kuehn ) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

This report is an analysis of alternative datasets and research approaches to assess the effects of Hurricane Katrina on populations served by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The assessment addresses four overarching research questions, with an emphasis on using existing datasets: 1) where did populations of interest go and where are they living since Katrina; what are the effects on income and employment; what are the needs for ACF programs and services; and how did the disaster affect ACF programs themselves? The report includes an extensive annotated bibliography of analyses through January 2007.

Magnetizing Neighborhoods through Amateur Arts Performance

paffairs@urban.org ( D. Garth Taylor ) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST

There is a significant correlation between the amount of amateur, informal arts activity in neighborhoods and neighborhood stability and/or improvement. This correlation is evidence of magnetization - an increase in the desirability, commitment, social integration, and quality of life in a community area. Arts create shared experience, they encourage intergenerational activity and make public spaces enjoyable, among other effects. For those reasons, components of comprehensive community development should include space for amateur and semi-professional activity.

Mapping the Childhood Obesity Epidemic : A Geographic Profile of the Predicted Risk for Childhood Obesity in Communities Across the United States

paffairs@urban.org ( Sharon K. Long, Leah Hendey, Kathryn L.S. Pettit ) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST

This study explores the link between community risk factors and childhood obesity using data on child obesity from the 1988-1994 National Health and Examination Survey, the 2002-2004 National Medical Expenditures Survey, and the 2003-2004 National Survey of Children's Health, combined with data on community characteristics from a wide variety of sources. Multivariate models that relate child obesity to the characteristics of the child's community are used to predict the "risk of childhood obesity" for communities in the United States. The report includes maps and community profiles for 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Quality Schools, Healthy Neighborhoods, and the Future of DC

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST

Over the last decade, the District of Columbia implemented bold steps to improve its public schools while also experiencing population growth, property value increases, and strong city fiscal health. But its child population (0-17 years old) remained essentially the same and a dwindling share of the city's children was attending the public schools. This policy report summarizes analysis from the Quality Schools and Healthy Neighborhoods: Research Report that describes the relationships between education, housing, and neighborhood development in the District, as well as provides policy recommendations for how to make the District of Columbia a more family-friendly city.

Quality Schools and Healthy Neighborhoods: A Research Report

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST

Over the last decade, the District of Columbia implemented bold steps to improve its public schools while also experiencing population growth, property value increases, and strong city fiscal health. But its child population (0-17 years old) remained essentially the same and a dwindling share of the citys children was attending the public schools. This research report describes in-depth the relationships between education, housing, and neighborhood development in the District of Columbia, and it is the basis for the subsequent policy research report, Quality Schools, Healthy Neighborhoods, and the Future of DC, which outlines recommended policies to make the District a more family-friendly city.

Impact of Rising Gas Prices on Below-Poverty Commuters

paffairs@urban.org ( Christopher Hayes ) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST

While the increase in gas prices has increased costs for all commuters, workers from households whose income is below the federal poverty level pay a larger proportion of their income for gas. This fact sheet uses data from the 2006 American Community Survey to quantify the relative burden of gas use for commuting.

Subprime Mortgage Lending in the District of Columbia : A Study for the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST

This report, commissioned by the D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking, examines the extent of subprime lending in the District of Columbia and the resulting impacts on residents and neighborhoods. The study found that subprime lending was concentrated in predominantly African-American, moderate-income neighborhoods, areas that are now experiencing a sharp rise in home foreclosures. The report recommends a number of actions to protect the city's homeowners and neighborhoods, including stronger monitoring of mortgage lenders, better outreach and education for home owners and home buyers, and creation of a loan fund to help persons refinance out of bad loans.

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration : Developing a New Model for Serving "Hard to House" Public Housing Families

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration is an innovative initiative designed to meet the challenges of serving the Chicago Housing Authority's (CHA) "hard to house"; residents. It involves a unique partnership of city agencies, service providers, researchers, and private foundations, all with a deep commitment to finding solutions for the most vulnerable families affected by the CHA's Plan for Transformation. The rigorous evaluation allows for continuous learning and mid-course corrections, and helped the team develop a validated model that other housing authorities can use. This report highlights the lessons learned during the first year implementation of the Demonstration.

Foreclosures in the District of Columbia : Testimony Before the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs

paffairs@urban.org ( Peter A. Tatian ) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST

This testimony discusses recent data, compiled by NeighborhoodInfo DC, on foreclosures in Washington, D.C. Foreclosures have almost doubled since 2005, and data for the first quarter of 2008 show that the problem continues to worsen. With additional adjustable-rate, subprime loans scheduled to reset over the next two years, the situation is especially serious for homeowners in wards and neighborhoods where foreclosures are concentrated.

The Community Partnership and the District of Columbia's Public Homeless Assistance System

paffairs@urban.org ( Martha R. Burt, Sam Hall ) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST

This report, the first of three completed under contract to the D.C. Department of Human Services to assess the District of Columbia's homeless assistance system, examines seven functions that The Community Partnership manages for the District. These include contracting for emergency shelter; orchestrating the District's Continuum of Care; managing and monitoring contracts between homeless service providers and DHS, HUD, and DHCD; quality assurance and program monitoring; rule setting related to provider and client rights and obligations; data collection and analysis; and performance standards and client outcomes. Findings feed into and helped shape the final recommendations offered in the second and third reports.

Transforming the District of Columbia's Public Homeless Assistance System

paffairs@urban.org ( Martha R. Burt, Sam Hall ) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST

This report is the second of three for our contract to assess the District of Columbia's homeless assistance system. It looks at the system as a whole, including the flow of people into and through the District's emergency shelter system, the overall structure of the system, and the ways that homelessness impacts D.C. government agencies and the programs they have for addressing it. One critical set of findings-that very few people account for a very large number of shelter days while most people coming in to shelter use very few system resource-leads to the major recommendations of our assessment.

Major Recommendations: Summary Report of the Urban Institute's Assessment of the District of Columbia's Public Homeless Assistance System

paffairs@urban.org ( Martha R. Burt, Sam Hall ) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST

This final report for our contract to assess the District of Columbia's homeless assistance system summarizes findings and presents major recommendations: (1) move chronically homeless people from shelters and streets into permanent supportive housing with appropriate supportive services, (2) create a process that prioritizes who gets the 2,500 new PSH units, (3) transform emergency shelters to use half the beds and specialize more, and (4) make the homeless management information system work as a tool to measure system progress by opening it and using better analytic techniques. The Mayor and Interagency Council are already making progress on the first two recommendations.

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform : Testimony to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Domestic Policy Subcommittee and the Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity

paffairs@urban.org ( G. Thomas Kingsley ) — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 EST

Neighborhoods with high concentrations of foreclosures and increasing vacancy rates are likely to generate substantial unanticipated costs for resident families and jurisdictions. Any formula distributing resources to help cover those costs must be carefully constructed if it is to be equitable. In this testimony, Kingsley makes six points related to that goal.

Hilton Foundation Project to End Homelessness for People with Mental Illness in Los Angeles : Changes in Homelessness, Supportive Housing, and Tenant Characteristics Since 2005

paffairs@urban.org ( Martha R. Burt ) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST

In 2005, the Hilton Foundation gave CSH a five-year grant to launch an initiative in Los Angeles County to reduce the number of long-term homeless people, with a special focus on people with serious mental illness. The Urban Institute, which is evaluating the grant's impact, did a baseline assessment of homelessness and permanent supportive housing in 2005. A 2007 report assessed the policy and system changes that, working with others, CSH efforts had stimulated by that time. This report documents two-year changes in the level of homelessness in Los Angeles and the availability and characteristics of PSH availability. A second policy report will be available in fall 2008.

Artist Space Development: Making the Case

paffairs@urban.org ( Maria Rosario Jackson, Florence Kabwasa-Green ) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST

The development of affordable spaces for artists to live and/or work is certainly an important matter for artists, but it can also be an important issue for people concerned with a range of social issues, including economic development, civic engagement, community collective action and community quality of life. This report considers how artist space developments have been positioned and the arguments made to garner support for them, the advocacy strategies used, and the impacts claimed or anticipated.

Artist Space Development: Financing

paffairs@urban.org ( Christopher Walker ) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST

In 2003, an Urban Institute report concluded that lack of affordable space posed critical constraints in artists ability to pursue their work effectively. Scarcity of affordable space not only made it difficult for artists to work but also disrupted entire communities of artists who relied on each other for ideas and support. In response to this finding, this report looks at both a range of ways in which more affordable artist spaces can be created and the impact of artists spaces on neighborhoods and cities.

District of Columbia Housing Monitor : Winter 2008

paffairs@urban.org ( Peter A. Tatian, G. Thomas Kingsley ) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST

The District of Columbia Housing Monitor provides a quarterly look at the Washington, D.C., housing market, tracking home prices, real estate listings, new construction, and affordable housing. This issue's special section provides the most extensive tracking to date of the city's subsidized affordable housing stock, reporting numbers of units by location, program type, ownership, and expiration of affordability restrictions.

Can Escaping from Poor Neighborhoods Increase Employment and Earnings?

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST

Is there a correlation between exposure to racially integrated, low poverty areas and employment outcomes? Does moving from a poor, inner city neighborhood to a less poor area bring greater proximity to job opportunities, or contacts with new networks of neighbors who might steer movers to jobs? Does living in a community where more people work increase motivation to work or to increase income? In examining these questions for the MTO experimental movers, this brief finds that factors in addition to where people live affect their employment and earnings.

Struggling to Stay Out of High-Poverty Neighborhoods: Lessons from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST

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.