This historical publication is a summary of a symposium held by the Urban Institute in the fall of 1999 on the issues of Section 8 mobility and neighborhood health. The purpose of the symposium was to assess what is known about the potential impacts of the Section 8 assisted housing program on neighborhoods and to identify implications for both policy development and future research. This report draws on the existing research literature and the symposium discussion to summarize the current state of knowledge and debate on the issues of Section 8 mobility and neighborhood health. Findings included that housing authorities and their partners needed information about best practices for addressing a wide range of challenges, such as participant screening, landlord outreach, rent reasonableness determinations, mobility counseling, and supportive services. Finally, local housing authorities needed tools and techniques they could apply to determine where Section 8 families are locating, whether they are clustering, and what neighborhoods may be adversely affected.

This report is part of the collection of scanned historical documents available to the public.