Expanding Housing Choices for HUD-Assisted Families
IV. MOVING TO OPPORTUNITY DEMONSTRATION SITES
The five sites have all made substantial progress in implementing the
MTO demonstration. Although the initial start-up process took more time
in some cities than originally anticipated, all five of the MTO non-profits
are now successfully placing families in low-poverty neighborhoods. Exhibit
4 summarizes preliminary data on MTO placement rates and non-profit costs
for the five demonstration sites.
MTO non-profits are consistently achieving placement rates that are
as high or significantly higher than the 25 percent average success rates
typical of the Gautreaux demonstration. Preliminary data suggest that providing
intensive counseling and search assistance to public and assisted housing
families costs between $1,300 and $1,700 for every family assigned to the
MTO experimental group. But because not all of these families are successful
in finding housing in low-poverty neighborhoods, the cost per household
moving to a low-poverty neighborhood is higher, averaging between $2,100
and $2,900. However, the cost data presented here should be regarded as
preliminary and subject to revision. At the time these data were collected,
only two of the five sites (Baltimore and Boston) had reached a "stable"
point in their operations. As a result, expenditure patterns may be dominated
by one-time start-up and enrollment costs, including program design, family
enrollment, and initial landlord outreach activities.
More reliable and comparable cost data will be available when all five
sites have completed their MTO placements. The remainder of this section
provides more information on each site's progress (Appendix B summarizes
key data for all five sites).
BALTIMORE
The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) administers the Baltimore
MTO demonstration in cooperation with the Community Assistance Network
(CAN), a Baltimore County non-profit. HABC currently administers 18,000
public housing units and more than 6,400 certificates and vouchers in its
regular Section 8 program. CAN is a private, non-profit community action
agency with over 30 years of experience providing assistance to low-income
people, including day care, housing counseling, weatherization, and self-sufficiency
counseling. With HABC's approval, CAN's offices for MTO are housed in the
same building as HABC's Section 8 offices.
Five census tracts, with an average poverty rate of over 67 percent,
were targeted for Baltimore's MTO program. These five tracts contained
a total of eight public housing projects (four low-rise and four high-rise
family projects), which were home to a total of 3,807 households. Residents
had an average household income of only $6,880, and 46 percent received
public assistance. Virtually all of the project residents were African-American
(99.6 percent), and 84 percent were female-headed.
As soon as the Baltimore MTO demonstration began operation, the HABC
conducted an outreach effort by notifying resident associations and public
housing managers of the targeted developments, as well as sending 2,300
letters to potentially eligible families. At the same time, CAN began landlord
outreach. CAN and HABC also initiated efforts to coordinate with the six
other PHAs operating in the suburban counties of the metropolitan area,
in anticipation of serving families who would consider moving outside the
city.
CAN's staff provides intensive counseling for roughly 30 to 40 experimental
group families per month. In the first 60 days after assignment to the
experimental group, before housing search is initiated, Baltimore MTO families
must attend seven training workshops. In addition, housing counselors spend
considerable time providing individual assistance to each family. For example,
CAN counselors average over 10 housing search trips per family, although
MTO requires only three. CAN drives small groups of MTO families to outlying
communities in a van, so that they can see areas where they might consider
moving. Families who have leased-up in low-poverty communities participate
in orientation classes for new MTO participants, and tell them about their
experiences with the program.
Opposition from community organizations and elected officials in one
portion of the Baltimore suburbs delayed the early implementation of MTO
in Baltimore. Efforts to allay community concerns required extensive outreach,
and resulted in decisions to intensify CAN's screening and counseling services
and to ensure that MTO does not create new clusters of poor families.
HABC began to process applications for assignment to CAN in October
1994. By the end of February 1996, 222 families had been randomly assigned
to the MTO experimental group and, with CAN's assistance, 98 of these families
had found and rented apartments in low-poverty areas throughout the Baltimore
metropolitan area. About half of the MTO families moved to low-poverty
neighborhoods within the City of Baltimore, with the remainder locating
in the surrounding suburbs, including Howard, Ann Arundel, and Harford
Counties. The MTO lease-up rate in Baltimore is roughly 60 percent, dramatically
higher then the 25 percent lease-up rate experienced in Gautreaux, and
relatively close to the lease-up rate of 71 percent for comparison group
families. CAN's average operating cost is $1,665 per family served, or
$2,844 per family leased up.
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BOSTON
The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and the Metropolitan Boston Housing
Partnership (MBHP) administer the Boston MTO program. The BHA operates
over 14,000 units of public housing and administers 6,300 certificates
and vouchers in its regular Section 8 program, with approximately 800 in
use outside the city of Boston. MBHP is a regional organization which provides
housing counseling, search assistance, and landlord outreach for the MTO
experimental group families. MBHP has extensive housing program experience,
including the Housing Opportunity Pilot Program and a family self-sufficiency
program. MBHP also administers almost 3,000 Section 8 certificates and
vouchers for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 34 cities and towns in
the Boston area.
Seven Boston census tracts containing eight public and assisted housing
projects were targeted for the MTO demonstration. These tracts had an average
poverty rate of nearly 50 percent (49.2), and the targeted projects served
a total of 2,578 households with an average income of $10,230. Almost three
quarters (72 percent) of project residents received public assistance.
Half the project residents (51 percent) were white, including Hispanics,
and 45 percent were African American.
MTO outreach efforts in Boston began in April 1994, with an informational
meeting for managers of the targeted housing developments. After a series
of family outreach meetings in late June and early July of 1994, BHA received
more than a thousand valid applications, and random assignment began in
October.
MBHP's role includes providing MTO families with counseling and information
to help them find housing in low-poverty areas. The "resource room"
MBHP operates for MTO and other families in its programs contains information
on schools, jobs, transportation, and services in city and suburban communities
throughout the Boston region. MTO families come to the resource room to
learn about unfamiliar communities, identify available housing units, and
place calls to landlords. MBHP also shows units to families and works directly
with landlords to facilitate placements.
MTO lease-ups in Boston began in December 1994, so some families have
already lived in their new units for more than a year. A total of 450 families
have enrolled in the Boston MTO demonstration; 225 have been assigned to
the experimental group, and 99 families have leased apartments in low-poverty
areas with MTO assistance. The lease-up rate for experimental group families
is 55 percent, while 73 percent of comparison group families have leased
up. MBHP's average cost per family assigned is $1,569; the cost per family
leased up is $2,816.
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CHICAGO
The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) and the Leadership Council for Metropolitan
Open Communities administer the Chicago MTO demonstration. CHA is a very
large housing authority, administering more than 16,400 Section 8 certificates
and vouchers in addition to over 40,000 units of conventional public housing.
Due to severe and protracted management problems, HUD took over management
of the CHA in the spring of 1995, and the Section 8 program has since been
privatized. The private contractor, the Quadel Consulting Corporation,
assumed responsibility for the administration of the CHA's tenant-based
rental assistance program in December 1995 and now provides all necessary
support for the MTO demonstration.
The Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities provides counseling,
search assistance, and referrals for MTO experimental group families in
Chicago. Although the Leadership Council also administers the Gautreaux
program, MTO's main precursor, the two programs are separately staffed
and administered. The Leadership Council's primary mission is helping families
find affordable housing in low-poverty neighborhoods inside and outside
the city, so that they can become self-sufficient members of the community.
The four Chicago census tracts targeted for MTO had an average poverty
rate of 67 percent and contained six public and assisted housing developments,
which housed a total of 2,197 households. The average income among residents
of the six targeted projects was $7,114, and over 75 percent of residents
received some form of public assistance. Virtually all of these households
were African American (99.4) and 70 percent were female-headed.
CHA began its initial MTO implementation steps in September 1994. CHA
conducted informational meetings with tenant councils and mailed out nearly
3,000 applications to potentially eligible families. CHA also held two
follow-up meetings for interested families. Progress was delayed by CHA's
management problems, by HUD's takeover of the housing authority, and by
the privatization of the Section 8 program, including the need for new
staff to be identified and begin correcting CHA's former management problems.
Since privatization of Chicago's Section 8 program, MTO is regaining momentum.
A total of 351 families have entered the demonstration program in Chicago,
and 175 have been assigned to the MTO experimental group. Because of delays
and problems with the operation of the Chicago Housing Authority only 18
MTO families have been leased-up to date, although more rapid progress
is now being achieved.
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LOS ANGELES
The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) operates the
MTO demonstration in cooperation with the Fair Housing Congress of Southern
California (FHC) and Beyond Shelter. HACLA administers over 41,000 Section
8 certificates and vouchers, 10,000 of which are special disaster certificates
issued after the Northridge earthquake. HACLA operates 21 developments
with over 8,700 units of conventional public housing.
The Fair Housing Congress is responsible for conducting landlord outreach
and housing searches, preparing families to move, educating families about
low-poverty neighborhoods, and providing relocation assistance to help
place families into appropriate housing. Beyond Shelter, a non-profit agency
which provides housing and supportive services to homeless and at-risk
families, is responsible for providing comprehensive social services to
help families stabilize in the new communities after they move. Services
provided by Beyond Shelter include: budgeting education, family counseling,
crisis intervention, liaison with schools, provision of furnishings and
household items, and referrals to child care and job training. In short,
FHC helps MTO families move, while Beyond Shelter helps them stabilize
and achieve greater independence in their new communities. Both organizations
participated in HUD's landlord outreach and mobility counseling effort
in the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake.
Nine high-poverty census tracts were designated as Los Angeles' MTO
target area, containing 11 projects and 3,634 eligible families. The average
poverty rate in these tracts was 54 percent. Residents in the targeted
projects had an average yearly income of $9,607, and 61 percent received
public assistance. Almost 60 percent of project residents (58.4 percent)
were Hispanic and just under 40 percent (38.5 percent) were African American.
MTO implementation in Los Angeles was initially delayed by the burden
of administering the relief effort after the 1994 Northridge earthquake
and by the subsequent tight housing market conditions. Therefore, outreach
efforts did not begin until October 1994, when HACLA began to hold informational
meetings in the targeted high-poverty tracts. HACLA also mailed out information
flyers and pre-application forms to all potentially eligible families in
the eleven targeted housing projects. HACLA began enrolling MTO families
near the end of February 1995. To date, a total of 258 families have entered
the MTO demonstration in Los Angeles and 128 families have been assigned
to the MTO experimental group. Of these, 63 have leased-up. The overall
MTO lease-up rate is 62 percent, compared to a success rate of 83 percent
for comparison-group families. In Los Angeles, the non-profit costs per
family assigned average $1,308, or $2,111 per family leased-up.
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NEW YORK CITY
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing
agency in the country, managing more than 156,000 units of public housing.
NYCHA also administers the largest Section 8 program in the country, with
over 68,000 certificates and vouchers. The non-profit organization implementing
MTO in New York, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC), is
a multi-service community-based organization providing services to the
Washington Heights-Inwood community in Manhattan. NMIC has experience providing
housing search assistance to homeless and formerly homeless families as
well as community development and housing-related legal issues.
New York's MTO program targeted 14 public and assisted housing projects
in 12 census tracts, with an average poverty rate of 47.3 percent. The
targeted projects were home to 15,934 households, with an average income
of $11,771 and 32 percent of residents receiving public assistance. Almost
half of these project residents were Hispanic (45.2 percent), and 57.5
percent were African American.
NMIC works extensively with each family in the program. In addition
to holding workshops on a variety of topics including fair housing, landlord/tenant
relations, and finding an apartment in New York city, NMIC facilitates
group sessions for families who have moved and for those who are actively
looking. NMIC also works closely with each individual family on a variety
of social and economic issues that affect their ability to move through
MTO.
The New York demonstration began its outreach in August 1994, when NYCHA
mailed letters to about 2,000 potentially eligible families. After additional
outreach was conducted, NMIC received its first families for counseling
in December 1994. Enrollment has grown steadily since then, and 309 New
York families have enrolled in the MTO demonstration to date. Of the 157
families assigned to the MTO experimental group, there have been 34 lease-ups.
The lease-up rate in New York is 25 percent, while the rate in the comparison
group is 16 percent. Previous research on the implementation of Section
8 tenant-based assistance in New York city consistently yields success
rates significantly below the national average, due, at least in part,
to the complex and tight rental housing market. New York's MTO operating
costs per assigned family average $590, or $2,501 per family leased-up.
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