New Updates on The Edge

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Message from PD&R Leadership:
Ready for Habitat III: The New Urban Agenda, the U.S. 20/20 Habitat III Report, and the Road to Quito and Beyond
HUD Secretary Julián Castro will serve as the official head of the U.S. delegation for the upcoming United Nations Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, underscoring the importance of urbanization issues to the U.S. government. Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Philanthropic Innovation Salin Geevarghese discusses the New Urban Agenda, the guiding document for the upcoming conference, and he announces publication of the U.S. 20/20 Habitat III Report, which surveys HUD's mission, efforts, and goals, from 20 years in the past to 20 years in the future.

Research:
Evaluation of HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD): Interim Report
The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) is a voluntary program authorized by Congress in 2012 that allows public housing agencies (PHAs) to convert public housing properties to project-based Section 8 contracts. It aims to provide PHAs with a more predictable long-term annual funding stream. The RAD interim report demonstrates that the program has been successfully applied to a range of existing public housing properties nationwide, and PHAs have taken advantage of outside financing sources to meet their growing need for capital improvements.

In Practice:
New Supportive Housing for At-Risk Veterans in Gary Uses Innovative Funding
In March 2016, the Broadway Area Community Development Corporation completed the Northwest Indiana Veterans Village, a 44-unit supportive housing development for veterans at risk of homelessness in Gary, Indiana. The development benefitted from a predevelopment loan from the Supportive Housing Solutions fund, which was created by the Corporation for Supportive Housing to provide capital for supportive housing developments in areas where conventional lenders rarely fund such projects.

Trending:
Building Partnerships, Building Communities: Exploring Tribal Housing Opportunities in the Northern Plains: August 2-3, 2016, Bismarck, North Dakota
HUD’s Northern Plains Office of Native American Programs and the National American Indian Housing Council hosted a two day summit in August 2016 to explore innovative models and approaches to preserving and expanding affordable housing. In this column, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Lourdes Castro Ramírez discusses the challenges and solutions that emerged from the summit, which featured five panels of tribal leaders, housing directors, and other practitioners.

Policy Update:
Neighborhoods and Violent Crime
Despite an overall decline in violent crime rates over the past 20 years in the U.S., significant disparities persist. Violent crime is concentrated in certain neighborhoods and localized “hot spots,” with a damaging effect on resident health and the neighborhood fabric. A number of evidence-based strategies have proven effective in improving neighborhood safety and health, including problem-oriented policing of hot-spots, strong community organizations and leadership, and investments that increase inclusion, education, and access to jobs.