Short Takes

Worsening Poverty Amid Prosperity

The largest American cities are becoming home to a larger and larger share of the national welfare burden, according to a study from the Brookings' Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy. As welfare rolls decrease in virtually every state, families on welfare are increasingly concentrated in large cities. And the rolls are dropping most slowly in the nation's largest, oldest urban areas, particularly in the Northeast, Midwest, and South. Welfare rolls fell only 35 percent in the counties that contain the nation's 30 largest cities between 1994 and 1998, compared to a 44 percent drop nationwide. Cities with a growing portion of welfare rolls also come from the same three regions. Those cities, the report says, were also more likely to have high rates of concentrated poverty and higher unemployment rates. Information: the Brookings Institute, 202-797-6105; www.brookings.edu

Developers Violate Access Law

The Justice Department and advocates for the disabled are finding that many developers are ignoring the eight-year-old federal law requiring that new multi-family dwellings be built with access for people with disabilities. For example, surveys conducted by advocates indicated that in suburban Chicago 49 out of 50 newly constructed multi-family developments had not followed federal law, The New York Times (3/22/99) reported. The Justice Department and disability rights advocates in Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, Miami, Las Vegas, and Cocoa Beach, Fla., have begun suing architects and developers to force them to comply with the law.

Large Banks Lend Less in Low-Income Areas

Large banks in Chicago's lower-income neighborhoods are making relatively few small business loans, The Woodstock Institute confirms in a recent study of Community Reinvestment Act data. The report raises concerns over the effects of increasing consolidation and merger activity in the banking industry and demonstrates the importance of branch presence in small business lending patterns. The five banks in the Chicago study that invest most heavily (more than 30 percent) in lower-income neighborhoods all have under $1 billion in assets and maintain a significant branch presence there. Conversely, the five largest bank holding companies in Illinois have focused almost exclusively on higher-income areas, with only 11 percent of loans for lower-income communities. Information: The Woodstock Institute, 312-427-8070.

All-Time High Homelessness in Mass.

If projections hold, Massachusetts will set an all-time high for homelessness in 1999, despite a booming economy and near-record low unemployment. According to the Boston Herald (1/31/99), advocates for the homeless estimate 24,000 people, including 5,300 in Boston, will be homeless for at least part of 1999. Some warn that the crisis will become even more dire when 5,100 families lose state welfare benefits in the coming months.

NYC Mayor Plans to Expel Homeless

Mike Polenberg of Coalition for the Homeless in New York City called Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's plan to expel homeless people from shelters for failing to comply with workfare conditions "sick." Associated Press Online (2/20/99) reported that under workfare, those receiving public aid must work city jobs in exchange for benefits. Failure to comply would require city-funded homeless shelters to expel any homeless adult or family cut from public assistance and to report any child in jeopardy of ending up on the street to child protective services. Meanwhile, low-wage workers are swelling the number of temporary shelter seekers in New York City. According to The New York Times (3/4/99), economic growth has provided many service sector jobs but has inflated rents out of the working poor's reach. And the trend is the same in many parts of the country.

Discrimination Charges Against BHA

Federal housing officials have announced the first ever charges of "systemic discrimination," against the Boston Housing Authority for failing to stop "pervasive racial and ethnic harassment" of nine minority families in two mostly white housing projects, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, Associated Press Online (2/18/99) reported. Complaints included a broad range of violations, including beating children, breaking car windows and slashing tires, setting fires outside a woman's apartment, and depositing human waste outside the front doors of minority apartments. A HUD administrative law judge will hear the charges unless any of the parties involved choose to have the case heard by a U.S. District Court Judge. A negotiated settlement could also be reached.

The Domino's Pizza Projects?

Corporate naming rights, as done increasingly with pro sports arenas and stadiums, may soon come to public housing in blighted Los Angeles neighborhoods. Mayor Richard Riordan has proposed a $250 million plan to partially fund redevelopment projects with corporate donations. In return, the companies would be able to place their names and logos on developments. The Washington Times (03/23/99) reported that several areas in Los Angeles have already been selected for name-brand attention. If successful, the plan could be replicated around the country. It so far has drawn four sponsors: Washington Mutual Inc., BankAmerica Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., and the city's Department of Water and Power. The three banks each pledged up to $10 million in development money over two years for use in financing affordable housing, but none wants its logo on any development.

Maintenance Needs Outstrip Funding

The State Comptroller of New York has issued a report that says New York City Housing Authority's (NYCHA) 325 projects are riddled with lousy plumbing, bad boilers, and leaking roofs. The report uses internal NYCHA data to document maintenance problems in some 120,000 units. Authority spokesperson Hilly Gross concurs, stating that modernization needs are $6 to $7 billion, City Limits Weekly (2/15/99) reported. The report names the federal government's unrealistic funding as a major contributor to the massive maintenance headaches. About 13% of NYCHA's projected capital needs are covered by federal funds. The shortfall is in the billions. And state funding has dropped from $30 million annually to $19 million since 1997. NYCHA is suing to recover the difference, saying the annual budget line was a contract that has been violated.

HUD Report Shows Housing Woes

The country's poorest families continue to suffer from a severe shortage of affordable housing, according to HUD in a new report, "Waiting in Vain: An Update on America's Housing Crisis." The report says families looking for subsidized housing are faced with rents that are climbing faster than their incomes. Average time on a waiting list with the nation's largest public housing authorities rose from 22 to 33 months between 1996 and 1998, and in Los Angeles, CA and Newark, NJ, it's now 10 years. HUD also reports that last year nearly 13,000 housing units nationwide were lost, as landlords opted out of the Section 8 program.

Who Are America's Working Poor Families With Children?

Having parents who work may get children off welfare, but it doesn't guarantee they'll escape poverty. In 1996, 35% of all poor children lived in working poor families. Child Trends has released the first statistical portrait of working poor families with children at the start of welfare reform (1996). That year, five million poor children lived either with two parents who together worked at least 35 hours a week or with a single parent who worked at least 20 hours a week – a work standard similar to the requirements of welfare reform. Posted at http://www.childtrends.org; or call 202-362-5580 to receive a copy by mail.

Washington Welfare Families Struggle

One out of every five working families went without food for a day, according to the Reality Check project, a survey of 1,400 current and former welfare recipients conducted by the Washington Welfare Reform Coalition. Additionally, the Seattle Times (1/22/99) reported that one in three had no health insurance or child care, and one in five lost their housing because they were unable to pay the rent. The survey also found that with an average wage of $7 per hour, parents are not obtaining the kind of jobs they need to support themselves and their children. According to the University of Washington's Northwest Policy Center, a family of three in Washington requires a wage of $16.86 per hour. Contact the Washington Welfare Reform Coalition, 206-694-6794.

Mass. Governor Wants to Toughen Welfare Laws

Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci intends to toughen his state's welfare laws with changes designed to move recipients with young children off the rolls even faster than current laws mandate. The governor has proposed requiring recipients currently subject to a two-year cap on benefits to immediately seek work or be cut off from welfare, according to the Boston Globe (1/25/99). The plan also proposes that those who sign up for welfare would have to enroll in a state-monitored job search within 60 days to receive benefits. Participants would have to take part in 20 hours of job-search activity a week. If the recipient does not find work, the state would issue a warning. After 70 days and a final warning, benefits would be cut.

Earnings of Those Leaving Welfare

MA's Dept of Transitional Assistance studied 444 families who have been cut from the rolls over the last three months under new welfare rules that limit benefits to two years. Of those studied, 75% are working, with average earnings of $772 a month, about $200 a month more than the $565 monthly welfare grant a family of three receives reported the Boston Globe (2/25/99). Deborah Harris of Massachusetts Law Reform Institute notes the average earnings amount to less than $9,300 a year, far below the federal poverty level of $13,650 for a family of three.

Ohio County Increasing Welfare Cuts

Cuyahoga County in Ohio has forced 81 families off the rolls in September for not meeting welfare-to-work rules. In October, the number was 185 and it has been climbing since: 220 in November and 516 in December. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (1/25/99), officials expect the figure to keep climbing. Previously, officials said the county has not sanctioned as many people as it could have because they found it unfair to impose them until enough work training and support services programs were in place. County officials are meeting with representatives of nonprofit social service agencies and the city of Cleveland to discuss how to lessen the harm to families.

NYC Must Guarantee Prompt Access

A Federal District Court judge in New York City has barred city officials from expanding their tough new welfare policies until they can guarantee prompt access to food stamps and Medicaid applications. The New York Times (1/26/99) reported that the decision temporarily prevents the city from converting any more of its welfare offices into "job centers," where workers discourage the poor from applying for public assistance. Testimony also revealed that workers have sent the hungry to food pantries, rather than screening them for emergency assistance. Workers have also refused to consider the applications of immigrants, teenagers, women who showed up without their husbands, and anyone who pushed through the job center doors after 11 a.m.

Denver's Affordable Housing Thinner

Affordable housing is harder to find, according to a report from HUD's Denver office. Homes costing less than $125,000 in the Denver area dropped from 33 percent in 1992 to 10 percent in 1998, according to the Rocky Mountain News (2/21/99). New houses priced at $150,000 and up increased from 45 percent of the market to 66 percent. The report also shows that low- and moderate-income families who can't afford to buy a house are being hit by exploding rents. Homes and apartments renting for less than $500 a month dropped from 64 percent in 1992 to 16 percent, while homes renting for $500 and up increased from 37 percent to 84 percent.

Anti-Gay Housing Discrimination

An eviction proceeding in New York City is being characterized as anti-gay as well as illegal. The Metropolitan Council on Housing's newspaper Tenant/Inquilino (2/99) reports that a same-sex couple have shared the same apartment for 17 years of their 25 year relationship. When one man temporarily left the apartment to recuperate from an illness, the landlord moved to evict claiming that the tenant had vacated and his partner had no succession rights to the apartment. Under NYC rent stabilization laws, specifically the 1989 Braschi decision, the definition of family member was expanded to include non-traditional families, guaranteeing succession rights to "any long term resident who can show they had a relationship with a tenant involving commitment and interdependence."  During a deposition for the case, the partner was bombarded with such questions as, "Why didn't (the tenant) attend your mother's funeral?" and "When you first rented your apartment, why didn't you go to the landlord and tell him you were gay?" Protesters picketed the management company and supporters planned a victory homecoming for the tenant, who presently is hospitalized.

PHAs Sue HUD on New System

Four housing organizations representing the nation's 3,400 housing authorities have filed suit against HUD claiming that its new assessment system is vague, according to the Boston Globe (3/19/99). The suit by the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, and the National Organization of African Americans in Housing seeks relief from a system implemented last September they claim does not reveal specific criteria. The housing authorities also claim HUD violated federal law by not notifying them before implementing the rule. HUD dismissed the charges, calling it ''an attempt to protect poorly run public housing authorities from federal scrutiny.''

L.A. Eyes Vacant Navy Housing for the Homeless

The City of Los Angeles is currently reviewing proposals from homeless housing and service providers for vacant Naval housing units in San Pedro. There is also significant interest from commercial developers, educational institutions, and other community-based organizations. The closure of the Long Beach Naval Station and Long Beach Naval Shipyard leaves 300 2-bedroom townhouse units plus 245 three- and four- bedroom units vacant. The City must prepare a reuse plan and submit the plan to the Navy and to HUD for approval. A 1998 study by community and business representatives recommended that the majority of both San Pedro sites be used for educational purposes and the balance of the sites for homeless programs, with 56 units allotted to transitional housing, $850,000 allotted to a job training and employment/support services and two buildings to store goods for homeless veterans. The next steps in the local decision-making process include consideration and approval of a draft reuse plan by both the City Council Planning and Land Use Management and the Housing and Community Redevelopment committees, followed by approval by the full City Council. For more information, contact Merryl Edlestein, City of Los Angeles Planning Department at 213-485-4170.

Copyright 1999

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