New Updates on The Edge

Message from PD&R Leadership:
Ending family homelessness is ending child homelessness; and that is good for a lot of reasons.
President Obama’s final budget includes a 10-year, $11 billion proposal to fund additional housing vouchers and rapid rehousing assistance with the goal of ending family homelessness. Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development Todd Richardson discusses how several new studies, including a report with the three-year results from the Family Options Study, suggest positive outcomes for children in households receiving long-term housing assistance and reinforce the importance of ending family homelessness.

Research:
Family Options Study: 3-Year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families
HUD recently released the Family Options Study: Three-year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families, a report that offers critical insights about the effectiveness of various programs to address homelessness for families with children. The study followed 2,282 families randomly assigned to one of four possible interventions, which differed in the duration of housing assistance provided and/or in the intensity of social services offered, between September 2010 and January 2012 across 12 sites.

In Practice:
Rochester View Apartments Provide Affordable Housing Designed for Residents Who Are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Use ASL
In 2015, DePaul Properties completed Rochester View Apartments, a 61-unit affordable housing development in Henrietta, New York, designed with features that meet the needs of those who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or use American Sign Language. The development is close to several regional institutions that serve the Deaf, such as the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the Rochester School for the Deaf, and the National Center for Deaf Health Research.

Trending:
HUD’s New Rental Affordability Index
In response to growing interest in rental affordability, HUD developed a rental affordability index that uses quarterly rental price and income data to measure whether a typical renter household has enough income to qualify for a lease on a typical rental home at the national level. Based on the most recent price and income data, this index demonstrates that the ability to rent a home began to decline during the second quarter of 2001, reached a low point at the end of 2010, and has since moderately improved.

Policy Update:
Housing, Inclusion, and Public Safety
Neighborhood conditions influence public safety, and the planning subfield of crime prevention through environmental design has developed a substantial amount of research on ways that design elements can reduce crime. Public safety is also enhanced by effective policing strategies and when all people, particularly disconnected youth and formerly incarcerated individuals, are incorporated into the social and economic life of the community.

Please send your comments and suggestions to editor@huduser.gov.