You Can’t Get There from Here: Mobility Networks and the Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program represents the largest subsidized housing program in the United States. While families with vouchers can, in theory, lease any housing of reasonable quality renting below a rent ceiling, the empirical evidence suggests that they rarely use their vouchers to move to lower poverty neighborhoods. This paper examines the question of how spatial boundaries impact the residential possibilities of HCV subsidized families, both the visible boundaries of Public Housing Authority (PHA) catchment areas and the invisible boundaries of racial and economic segregation. I use administrative data supplied by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which includes all moves by HCV families between 2005 and 2015 in the Baltimore, MD, Cleveland, OH, and Dallas, TX, metropolitan areas. Using a Louvain method of network cluster detection, I subdivide each metro into distinct mobility clusters—sets of census tracts within which voucher holders move but between which they rarely do. I find that the empirical mobility clusters at the metropolitan level are highly defined by PHA’s catchment areas. Even though families are technically allowed to “port” their voucher from one PHA catchment area to another, such behavior is rare. Within the PHA catchment areas, HCV mobility clusters are defined by patterns of race, income, and history. These findings suggest that patterns of racial and economic segregation seem to partially define the mobility clusters within PHA catchment areas, but not across them.

“It Takes a While to Get Used to”: The Costs of Redeeming Public Benefits

Scholars have examined how administrative burden creates barriers to accessing public benefits but have primarily focused on the challenges of claiming benefits. Less is known about the difficulties beneficiaries face when using public benefits, especially voucher-based public assistance programs. I argue that the costs of learning how to redeem benefits can discourage program use and undermine policy goals. To enrich the administrative burden framework, this study draws from a qualitative analysis of 43 participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to develop a new subset of learning costs—redemption costs. I argue that two conditions: limited portability and reliance on third-party agents create redemption costs for beneficiaries. I apply these two conditions to two other voucher-based programs: the Housing Choice Voucher Program and the Child Care Subsidy. Examining redemption costs can help clarify when and where beneficiaries experience burdens, reasons behind discontinuity in program participation, and why public programs fail to meet objectives.

As Parcerias Público-Privadas no âmbito dos programas de habitação social

Resumo Diante do déficit habitacional, a gestão pública de diversos países procura atender a demanda por moradia a partir de parcerias com a iniciativa privada. Neste contexto, o artigo tem como objetivo compreender e comparar a aplicabilidade das Parcerias Público-Privadas (PPPs) no Brasil e Estados Unidos, através de estudos de caso do Programa Parceria Público-Privada Habitacional em São Paulo e do Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program em Nova York. Utiliza-se o Método Arquitetura Dialógica, que relaciona o objeto de estudo com seu contexto. Para a análise comparativa de ambos os programas foram utilizados os seguintes parâmetros: a) legislação e normativa; b) agentes envolvidos; c) beneficiários; d) financiamento ou auxílio para locação da unidade de habitação; e) localização dos empreendimentos ou da oferta das unidades; f) tipologias de habitação. Os resultados mostram que ambos os programas apresentam potencialidades e restrições quanto ao emprego das PPPs para a oferta de habitação à população de baixa renda. A pesquisa contribui com os estudos sobre habitação social através das PPPs.

Pushing the Boundaries: Searching for Housing in the Most Segregated Metropolis in America

The Housing Choice Voucher Program struggles to assist families in accessing low–poverty neighborhoods. This paper explores a newly introduced incentive in the voucher program in Milwaukee County that could expand its potential to improve locational outcomes by providing security deposit assistance to households who move to a suburban jurisdiction. Using in–depth interviews we examine the different ways voucher users responded to the program and how it interacted with their life experiences and search strategies. Our interviews highlight the role of housing instability and discrimination, as well as the role of informal search assistance and the appeals voucher users make to persuade landlords to rent to them. Our study speaks to the limits of “nudge”–like policy incentives and emphasizes how choices about moving are influenced not only by incentives but also by a stratified housing market. We conclude with policy suggestions based on our findings that could make suburban searches more promising for voucher holders.