Issue #143, September/October 2005

Access

Publications & Services

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Opportunities for County Government and the Affordable Housing Challenge, a study by the National Association of Counties through its Center for Sustainable Communities, found that county leaders view affordable housing as one of their top five major challenges. They are relying heavily on local innovation and partnership building rather than on the federal government for assistance. The report provides brief profiles of Honolulu City and County, HI; Arlington County, VA; and New Castle County, DE, which have all adapted existing tools and created new ones to assure that housing is accessible and affordable to their citizens. http://content.knowledgeplex.org/kp2/cache/documents/105168.pdf

The Costs and Benefits of Green Affordable Housing, undertaken by New Ecology and the Tellus Institute, is comprised of 16 case studies of affordable housing projects. This report includes in-depth analysis of the long-run financial implications of greening each project. In addition to case findings, there are recommendations for advancing the green agenda in affordable housing. www.newecology.org

Fannie Mae and KnowledgePlex have launched DataPlace™ as the newest technology for policy makers and practitioners in the field of affordable housing. DataPlace combines mapping technology and multiple statistical databases, allowing users to generate customized reports by county, state, region or census tract – in map, chart or tabular form. www.knowledgeplex.org/dataplace.html

The Census Bureau’s annual survey on poverty and income, Current Population Survey Annual Report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in 2004, shows national poverty increased from 2003 to 2004. The South has the highest poverty, 14.1 percent for both years. In the Midwest poverty rose from 10.7 percent in 2003 to 11.6 percent in 2004. 301-763-4636 or www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty04.html

Revitalizing Affordable Rental Housing: A Handbook for Nonprofit Owners discusses recapitalization strategies, Section 8 renewals, refinancing and regulatory issues and more. www.lisc.org

Public/Private Ventures released a new report, Leaving the Street: Young Fathers Move from Hustling to Legitimate Work. The report is based on interview studies of 27 men participating in the Fathers at Work initiative, which focused on men who had relied on illegal hustling as a source of income. The Fathers at Work initiative was launched in 2001 in five cities and is a national demonstration designed to help low-income, non-custodial fathers secure living-wage jobs, increase involvement with their children and manage their child support obligations. www.ppv.org

The Century Foundation released a new publication, Building a Real “Ownership Society,” by J. Larry Brown, Robert Kuttner and Thomas M. Shapiro. The book discusses President Bush’s “ownership society” and how his policies have veered off the path of achieving economic security. The authors say that policies for a true ownership society require more social investments to build the middle class, not more privatization and individual risk as the president proposes. 1-800-552-5450 or www.tcf.org

The Technical Assistance Collaborative and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities released Priced Out 2004, which verifies that low-income people with disabilities are experiencing a national housing affordability crisis, paying as high as 109 percent of their monthly Supplemental Security Income on housing. The study compares the monthly SSI incomes of more than 4 million Americans with disabilities to the fair market rental rates for efficiencies and modest one-bedroom apartments in every housing market in the country. Look under Publications and Links at www.tacinc.org.

Good Jobs First and the California Partnership for Working Families released Community Benefits Agreements: Making Development Projects Accountable, an updated version of their handbook on community benefits agreements. This version, written primarily by attorney Julian Gross, legal director of the California Partnership, draws heavily upon the work of Los Angeles community groups and unions in negotiating a recent series of agreements that include benefits such as living wages, local hiring, affordable housing, environmental improvements and funding for other community needs such as health clinics and youth centers. The report also includes a section on monitoring and enforcement of such agreements. www.goodjobsfirst.org/pdf/cba2005final.pdf

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