In our most recent (January 30) national call for the “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, and Affordable Homes” campaign, we discussed a major announcement on homelessness from the Biden-Harris administration; shared new resources on interim housing from the Framework for an Equitable Homelessness Response; highlighted HUD’s recently proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule and the White House’s proposal for a Renters Bill of Rights; and shared updates from the field and Capitol Hill.
NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel opened the call by highlighting the work the Biden-Harris administration has done to shift the narrative surrounding affordable housing since announcing its plan to prevent and end homelessness. HUD launched the House America initiative in September 2021, and since then more than 140,000 people have been permanently housed through initiatives implemented by HUD, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (see Memo, 1/30).
Matthew Doherty, former director of USICH and consultant for the Framework for an Equitable Homelessness Response (Framework), and coauthors Shaundell Diaz from Three County Continuum of Care and Claudine Sipili of Destination: Home, shared new resources on interim housing, including the project “Reimagining Interim Housing and Action Areas for Transforming Approaches to Sheltering People Experiencing Homelessness” and its “Tools for Strengthening Current Interim Housing Programs and Supplement.” The presenters discussed the necessity of genuine collaboration with people with lived expertise in order to provide better environments for people experiencing crises and build more effective, trauma-informed systems to respond to homelessness. Centering the expertise of people with lived experience ensures that the complex, intersectional dimensions not visible to others are integrated into this work and these conversations.
HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Demetria McCain discussed the recently proposed updated AFFH rule (see Memo, 1/9), highlighted by HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge in her CNN op-ed. The AFFH rule requires jurisdictions receiving federal funds for housing and community development to “affirmatively further fair housing,” meaning recipients cannot discriminate and must take action to achieve integrated living areas, eradicate historic and existing patterns of segregation, and promote equal access to opportunity, homeownership and economic opportunities, as well as policies and practices that improve fair housing. Deputy Assistant Secretary McCain encouraged advocates to weigh in on the proposed rule once the 60-day comment period begins.
Faizah Malik of Public Counsel in Los Angeles, California, shared updates on the city’s recent historic victories securing expanded tenant protections for tenants. Ms. Malik and her team collaborated with the Los Angeles City Council to adopt crucial permanent tenant protections before the emergency measures put in place during the pandemic expire. They successfully secured relocation assistance for rent gouging, a threshold for nonpayment eviction, and near-universal just cause protections.
Erika Poethig, special assistant to the president for housing and urban policy, joined to reaffirm the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to the federal strategic plan to end homelessness through its announcement of the Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights (see Memo, 1/30). The plan consists of five expansive pillars to inform the federal government’s actions: safe, quality, accessible, and affordable housing; clean and fair leases; education, enforcement, and enhancement of renters’ rights; the right to organize; and eviction protection, diversion, and relief. Read NLIHC’s statement on the announcement.
NLIHC Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Field Organizing Sarah Saadian rounded out the call with an update from Capitol Hill. Negotiations over raising the debt ceiling are ongoing, with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Biden meeting for the first time to discuss the impending crisis face-to-face. Speaker McCarthy and his Republican colleagues in the House have threatened not to raise the debt ceiling unless they can secure dramatic spending cuts for federal programs, including HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs.
National calls will now take place every other week. Our next call will be on February 13 at 2:30 pm ET. Register for the call at: https://bit.ly/3ub2sWM