Representatives Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced the “Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act” (H.R.3776) in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 31. The bipartisan legislation would create 250,000 new housing vouchers, paired with mobility-related services, to help low-income families with young children move to communities of their choice, including neighborhoods with high-performing schools and high-quality childcare and early education programs. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced a companion bill (S.1257) in the U.S. Senate on April 25 (see Memo, 5/1). The Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act has been championed by NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home campaign, which worked with the bill’s sponsors to shape the legislation.
The bill would create new vouchers for low-income, high-need families with children under age six who have a history of homelessness or housing instability, live in an area of concentrated poverty, or are at risk of being pushed out of a well-resourced area. The new vouchers would be paired with customized counseling and mobility-related services to help families move to neighborhoods of their choice.
Access to safe, affordable housing is linked to nearly every quality-of-life measure, including better educational and health outcomes, housing stability, racial equity, and economic mobility. A landmark study by Harvard University economist Raj Chetty demonstrates the enormous positive impact that affordable housing can have on upward economic mobility for children in low-income families.
Over 60 national organizations have endorsed the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act.
Learn more about the “Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act” at: https://bit.ly/3VdLaaq
Tell Congress to enact this critical bipartisan legislation: https://p2a.co/uf3pc4a