Bal$more’s Regional Housing Mobility Program
Bal$more Regional Housing Partnership (BRHP) • Nonprofit organiza-on with approximately 40 employees • Under contract with the Housing Authority of Bal-more City • Directly administers Bal-more Housing Mobility Program • Housing Mobility Counseling and Housing Choice Voucher Program Services
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Bal$more Regional Housing Partnership • BRHP was created as the Regional Administrator of the Bal-more Housing Mobility Program under the Thompson SeJlement • Responsible for oversight of Bal-more Housing Mobility Program
• Combines high quality housing counseling services with Housing Choice Voucher assistance • Approximately 2,800 current par-cipants • Leasing 325-‐400 new par-cipants per year through 2018 • Provide opportuni-es for low-‐income, Bal-more families move to higher opportunity communi-es • Promote expansion of housing mobility opportuni-es throughout Bal-more region, na-onally 3
Bal$more Housing Mobility Program • Thompson v. HUD li-ga-on, under a Par-al Consent Decree, created ini-al Bal-more Housing Mobility program • Thompson SeJlement, combined with HABC’s Moving to Work flexibility, created long-‐term mobility program • Currently there are 2,800 par-cipants and the program will increase to approximately 4,400 by 2018
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Key Features of Bal$more Housing Mobility Program • New par-cipants choosing to par-cipate in the program agree to live in high opportunity areas
• Encourage families to choose low-‐poverty neighborhoods that have economic, educa-onal and other opportuni-es
• Prior to issuance of a Housing Choice Voucher, applicants complete a housing counseling program
• Iden-fica-on and removal of barriers to leasing in high opportunity areas • Individual Training Plans to achieve goals, credit review
• Workshops on regional communi-es of opportuni-es, home maintenance, banking and budge-ng, searching for housing 5
Key Features of Bal$more Housing Mobility Program • Security deposit assistance
• Par-cipants pay a por-on of security deposit assistance • Abell Founda-on provides generous grant support for security deposits
• Housing search assistance
• Provide referrals for families to units that are affordable and allowable • Conduct van and individual tours of communi-es of opportunity
• Post-‐move counseling services
• Regular check-‐ins with families, including home visits • Assistance with landlord/neighbor disputes • Second move counseling to support reten-on 6
Key Features of Bal$more Housing Mobility Program • Excep-on payment standards • Payment standards range from 90% to 130% of Fair Market Rent
• Regional administra-on • BRHP may administer across jurisdic-onal lines • Bal-more City, Bal-more County, Anne Arundel County, Harford County, Howard County, Carrol County
• Applicant screening criteria reflects area PHA standards • Inspec-ons standards follow each county’s “above HQS” standards
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Regional Approach
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Maps provided courtesy of Professor Stefanie Deluca of Johns Hopkins University.
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Bal$more Housing Mobility Program Research • School quality
• In new neighborhoods, an average of 33% of students are eligible for free and reduced lunch compared with 83% in the original neighborhood • 89% of seJled parents say their children appear to be learning beJer or much beJer in new schools
• Quality of Life • 83% of seJled par-cipants say their neighborhood is beJer or much beJer than their old neighborhood • Nearly 80% of par-cipants said they feel safer, more peaceful and less stressed From “New Homes, New Neighborhoods, New Schools: A Progress Report on the Bal?more Housing Mobility Program”
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Bal$more Housing Mobility Program Research • More than two-‐thirds par-cipants chose to live in their new neighborhoods for longer than the required period and some remained there eight years later. • Aeer families had relocated, about 60 percent of parents experienced a shie in how they decided where to live, placing a higher value on certain criteria, such as high-‐quality schools, quiet neighborhoods and a diverse community.
From “Living Here has Changed my Whole Perspec?ve”: How Escaping Inner-‐City Poverty Shapes Neighborhoods and Housing Choice by Jennifer Darrah and Stefanie DeLuca, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Access at: hPp://www.bal?moreregionalhousing.org/wp-‐content/uploads/2014/03/ JPAM-‐2014.pdf
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Bal$more Housing Mobility Program Research • DeLuca and RosenblaJ – Bal-more • Students proficient or beJer in math went from 44.8% to 68.9% in opportunity neighborhood school • Students proficient or beJer in reading went from 54.2% to 76% in opportunity neighborhood school
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Contact Informa$on Alison Bell Shuman Execu-ve Director Bal-more Regional Housing Partnership 20 South Charles Street, Suite 801 Bal-more, Maryland 21201 abshuman@brhp.org 667-‐207-‐2140 www.brhp.org 14