Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Housing

Options For Jobs Legislation: Providing $1 Billion To Prevent Homelessness

As part of the economic recovery act signed into law in February, Congress approved $1.5 billion in temporary housing assistance for families that are homeless or at risk of losing their homes due to job loss or other financial hardship. These funds were distributed to local agencies through the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP).

Unfortunately, the employment outlook has worsened considerably since February, and the number of people falling into poverty appears to be rising sharply. Concurrently, reports from various agencies administering HPRP assistance indicate that requests for housing aid are far exceeding the available resources. To address this unmet need, Congress should consider providing an additional $1 billion in funding for HPRP as part of a forthcoming “jobs bill.” Read more

Podcast: Homelessness and Rental Assistance in the Recession

Topics

Basics

Policy Basics: The Housing Voucher Choice Program:
The Housing Choice Voucher Program, (“Section 8”), the nation’s largest federal low-income housing program, provides roughly 2 million low-income families with vouchers they can use to rent housing of their choice in the private market.

Policy Basics: Introduction to Public Housing:
The nation’s 14,000 public housing developments, generally owned and operated by local agencies, provide homes to more than 2 million low-income Americans, most of whom are elderly or have a disability.

Featured Experts

Will Fischer

Reports | Bio
Douglas Rice

Reports | Bio

The Center works with state and local housing agencies and advocates to improve the effectiveness of federal low-income housing programs — particularly the Housing Choice Voucher Program. We also examine the role that well-designed housing assistance programs can play in advancing goals such as reducing the concentration of poverty.