New Funding to Help Families Use Housing Vouchers in High-Opportunity Areas

CBPP and other members of the Mobility Works collaborative praised today’s announcement that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is making $50 million available for public housing agencies to develop programs to help low-income families with housing vouchers access low-poverty, high-opportunity areas.

Peggy Bailey, CBPP’s Vice President for Housing Policy, stated:

COVID-19 shined a spotlight on injustice in this country. Today, a child’s long-term outcomes can be reliably predicted based on their zip code. HUD’s Mobility Demonstration Program provides resources to right this wrong and help families, building upon research-based best practices. Families can secure housing and thrive in new neighborhoods, when agencies provide quality support services. Agencies can take steps to mitigate against barriers such as high local rent, a fear of racism and discrimination, and a lack of landlords willing to accept housing vouchers. This includes improving policies to calculate rent and proactively engaging new landlords. Thanks to this new program, families will have more choices in where they live.

Agencies can now apply for the funding to provide individualized housing mobility counseling and search assistance; landlord recruitment in low-poverty, well-resourced neighborhoods; and continued support for families after their move.

Mobility Works is a consortium of nonprofit groups, researchers, and policy experts that works to help low-income families move from poor, segregated neighborhoods into diverse communities with high-performing schools.