Helping families move: Relocation counseling for housing-voucher recipients |
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Authors: | David P Varady Carole C Walker Kirk McClure Sherry Larkins |
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Affiliation: | (1) School of Planning, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA |
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Abstract: | As the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shifts its emphasis from project-based subsidies to housing
vouchers, a key question is the amount of relocation help that should be provided to voucher recipients. To address these
and related issues, this article examines the use of and influence of relocation counseling at four distressed federally subsidized
housing developments (in Baltimore, Maryland; Newport News, Virginia; Kansas City, Missouri; and San Francisco, California)
where families were provided with vouchers and relocation counseling in order to expedite moves into the private housing market.
Both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques were used to examine the different approaches to relocation counseling
provided by four types of providers: 1) community-based non-profit housing agencies; 2) a private company and its subcontractor,
an out-of-town consultant specializing in relocation counseling; 3) a state housing agency; and 4) the on-site housing management
company.
Underutilization of relocation counseling was a problem: only two-fifths of the sample reported using relocation services.
Middle-aged tenants and those at the Baltimore site were most likely to take advantage of the services; those living in overcrowded
units were least likely. Programs need to be developed to increase participation rates while recognizing that tenant involvement
must remain voluntary in nature at such sites. Although there was some evidence that the more intensive relocation counseling
provided in Newport News opened up more housing options for residents, in general the counseling had limited impact. Those
who used relocation counseling did not consider more housing options than others, nor were they more likely to focus their
housing search on distant neighborhoods. Furthermore, residents depended on friends and relatives, rather than relocation
counselors, to learn about their new home.
Even though many respondents made short-distance moves (especially in Baltimore and Kansas City), they usually were able to
improve their housing and neighborhood conditions. These findings suggest that it may be unreasonable to expect families-particularly
those relying on public transportation—to relocate to new and unfamiliar neighborhoods without support, or without intensive
counseling, encouraging them to do so. Spatial deconcentration may not always be an appropriate goal for all voucher recipients.
David P. Varady co-principal investigator, Professor of Planning is Professor of Planning at the University of Cincinnati. Professor Varady
has written widely about community conservation and housing policy, both in the United States and the United Kingdom. His
most recent book, co-edited with Wolfgang F.E. Preiser and Francis P. Russell,New Directions in Urban Public Housing, was published by the Center for Urban Policy Research, Fall, 1988.
Carole C. Walker co-principal investigator, is Assistant Director of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. In her years
at the Center, she has studied a broad range of public policy issues, including program evaluation, affordable housing,subdivision
regulations, and land use development. She is the author of numerous research studies and co-author with David Listokin ofThe Subdivision and Site Plan Handbook.
Kirk McClure investigator, is an Associate Professor with the Graduate Program in Urban Planning at the University of Kansas. His teaching
and research interests are in the areas of housing and community development. He has recently completed research evaluating
the ten-year performance of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and is now engaged in an examination of the secondary
mortgage market as an aid to affordable housing.
Janet Smith-Heimer, investigator, is the founding principal of Bay Area Economics (BAE), a national consulting firm specializing in urban and
real estate economics. She has been actively engaged in urban development since 1978 and has developed expertise in affordable
housing, economic development, and military base closure.
Sherry Larkins research assistant, is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Rutgers University. Her areas of interest are race relations, urban
sociology, and substance abuse. |
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