HUD REACHES RACIAL EQUITY AGREEMENT WITH AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING PROVIDER

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Voluntary Compliance Agreement with the Alice Aboussie Pavilion Apartments resolves a compliance review concerning non-discrimination in their marketing and tenanting procedures. Aboussie Pavilion Apartments consists of two buildings known as Bevo and Bavarian for a total of 273 units in St. Louis, Missouri. The Property provides affordable subsidized units through the Section 8 program for families with a member who is 62 or older or has a disability. Read the Agreement.

This Agreement arises from a compliance review that was conducted by HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. FHEO did the review to assess information indicating disproportionately low participation rates of Black residents at the Aboussie Pavilion compared to the housing market. In other words, to determine if housing discrimination was present. HUD's review found disparities in the Property’s tenant screening practices for credit history and criminal records which disproportionately impacted Black applicants.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.

Under the Agreement, Aboussie Pavilion will set up a $156,000 fund to compensate individuals who were denied due to credit history or criminal records during the review period. It also will create a new waitlist after significant marketing to those least likely to apply; spend at least $10,000 on advertising, outreach, and website development; revise all policies about its evaluation of credit or rental history consistent with civil rights laws and HUD’s guidance; and waive move-in fees for formerly denied applicants who reapply and are admitted. This Agreement does not constitute admissions by the housing providers or evidence of a final determination by HUD of violations of Title VI or any other laws.

*****

Source: December 3, 2022 HUD Press Release.

 HUD RELEASES NEW HOMELESS COUNT

The key points in the just-released 2022 AHAR: Part 1 - PIT Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S. are:

• Between 2020 and 2022, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness increased by less than 1% (1,996 people).
• However, between 2021 and 2022, sheltered homelessness increased by 7%, or 22,504 people. 
• A total of 582,462 people experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2022. 
• 60% were staying in sheltered locations—emergency shelters, safe havens, or transitional housing programs.
• 40% were in unsheltered locations such as on the street, in abandoned buildings, or in other places not suitable for human habitation.

The report said that a possible cause for the increase in sheltered homelessness was the easing of pandemic-related restrictions some emergency shelter providers were using during the 2021 PIT count. These restrictions included reducing shelter capacity to allow for more space between people sleeping in congregate settings to reduce their exposure risk. The total number of shelter beds increased between 2021 and 2022, probably because of increased pandemic-related funding that supported additional non-congregate shelter beds. The number of veterans experiencing homelessness declined by 11% (4,123 fewer people) between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, 40,238 fewer veterans were experiencing homelessness than in 2009, when these data were first reported, a drop of nearly 55%. The 2022 report also provides estimates of chronic homelessness as well as data about people experiencing homelessness who are veterans, children, and youth.

HUD released its 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) Part 1 to Congress on December 19, 2022. The AHAR provides national estimates of homelessness, including demographic characteristics, service use patterns, and the capacity to house people experiencing homelessness. The report is based on Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) data regarding persons who experience homelessness during a 12-month period, point-in-time counts of people experiencing homelessness on one day in January, and data about the inventory of shelter and housing available in a community.

The 2022 AHAR Part 1 outlines the key findings of the Point-In-Time (PIT) count and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) that were conducted in January 2022. 

To view all AHARs since 2007, visit the AHAR page.

HUD User is a great source for various information about housing and housing trends.

*****

Source: HUD release, December 19, 2022.

Housing Discrimination by Airbnb Hosts

New Airbnb Report Finds Home-Share Hosts Continue to Racially Discriminate

In a report released this week, Airbnb acknowledged that some home-share hosts are continuing to discriminate against guests based on race. This is the company's first public data on its steps to reduce racial disparities. Included in the report are some of the findings by Project Lighthouse, a project begun in 2020 by Airbnb and Color of Change. Color of Change is an online anti‌-discrimination group that uses internal company data to measure patterns of discrimination. Laura Murphy, ex-employee of the American Civil Liberties Union and a senior adviser to Airbnb, wrote the introduction to the report.

The report presents findings about its booking success rate, how often guests can make the reservations they prefer on Airbnb. Previous research has found that guests perceived to be Black - by name or other factors - are more likely to have their booking requests rejected than are those thought to be white. 

Since 2016, Airbnb has required all guests and hosts to agree to its "community commitment," to “agree to treat each other with respect and without judgment or bias,” and to follow a nondiscrimination policy. To reduce bias, in 2018 Airbnb stopped showing guests’ photos to hosts before a reservation was confirmed. Airbnb users do not identify their race. The report found that omitting photos has “slightly increased” the rate at which Black guests are able to book homes. The report also detailed that allowing more guests to use the Instant Book feature, letting individual users make reservations without being specifically approved by the host, has also helped Blacks make more bookings. Despite these strides, guests perceived to be white get the rental they want 94.1% of the time. Asian and Latino renters' success rates are somewhat less than that. Guests perceived to be Black get their choices 91.4% of the time. Discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation is not measured.

To improve minorities' success rate, Airbnb said it was testing changes to guest and host profile pages; enabling even more people to use Instant Book; allowing guests who are not the primary account holders to receive reviews in order to accumulate more of them for guests of color, who tend to be newer uses of the service; and improving its ability to audit reservation rejections.

The report is vague about what Airbnb is doing to oversee hosts and guests who show bias after a home is booked. Many Black home-share guests have complained on social media about their treatment, and the New York Times interviewed six about what they believed to be racism on the part of hosts.

*****

Source: Read the December 13, 2022 New York Times article.

Antisemitism in Virginia

 NEW REPORT DOCUMENTS SHARP INCREASE OF ANTISEMITISM IN VIRGINIA

A new Virginia state report reveals the scope of antisemitism in Virginia and outlines steps to address the problem. In response, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced plans to create the Commission to Combat Antisemitism. The 15-member commission will be headed by Jeffrey A. Rosen, who was an acting U.S. attorney general in the Trump administration. 

The panel’s report says there is an alarming national trend of increasing hate toward the Jewish community, including in Virginia. Their report found that, while Virginia's antisemitic assaults have been minimal since 2018, there since has been a spike in harassment and vandalism. In 2021, Virginia  had 411 reported antisemitic incidents, which was a 71% increase from the 292 reported incidents in 2020. 

The report also said many cases involve white supremacist propaganda, such as flyers and graffiti. Those cases mainly occur around large population centers like Richmond, Northern Virginia, and Hampton Roads. However, over 100 localities across the state have seen the distribution of antisemitic flyers since January 2022. 

Keneseth Beth Israel Rabbi Dovid S. Asher said these incidents have become an increasingly common fact of life for the Jewish community, which has forced them to increase security. He said, around his synagogue in Richmond, people have been heckled and verbally abused. He said one person urinated on their building, which has also been vandalized. 

The report makes 21 recommendations that aim to reverse these trends. The suggestions include:

• Adding a formal definition of antisemitism into state law. 
• Banning government agencies from contracting with companies that take antisemitic positions.
• Increasing police training.
• Improving data collection on hate crimes.
• Creating a new reporting system for incidents that occur in K-12 schools and higher education institutions. 
• Expanding K-12 standards of learning on the Holocaust.
• Requiring recognition of religious holidays. 

Additionally, the commission said the state should also support youth initiatives to mitigate radicalization and “prohibit indoctrination in public education.” 

Democratic lawmakers in Virginia have also called for legislation to fight hate crimes, including former state attorney general Mark Herring. Some praised Youngkin for calling for this report.

Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), who was the first Jewish person and first woman to serve as House Speaker in the Virginia General Assembly, commented that Governor Youngkin needs to do more to condemn antisemitism within his own party, such as his appearing with right-wing figures accused of making antisemitic statements. "We need to hold our Governor accountable for some of the divisive rhetoric that we have seen,” Filler-Corn said. “The Governor’s silence on Donald Trump’s dinner with an avowed antisemite is extremely troubling."

The commission’s report specifically references former President Donald Trump’s recent meeting white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. “This particular instance was put in the report specifically to point out that antisemitism and expressions of it have become mainstream,” Sandler said, adding that a failure to condemn these acts is a form of condoning them. 

The spokesperson for Youngkin said: "The governor condemns all forms of hate speech, white supremacism, and antisemitism. He created a commission to combat antisemitism in his first day in office and would not break bread with white supremacists."

That said, Youngkin has faced criticism for associating with right-wingers who have been accused of making antisemitic statements, such as former Maine governor Paul LePage, who once said that most of Democrats’ money comes from Jewish people. During 2021’s campaign, Youngkin appeared on the radio show of Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump administration official with ties to antisemitic groups in his native Hungary.

*******

Sources: 

https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/new-report-reveals-severity-of-antisemitism-in-virginia/.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/05/youngkin-virginia-antisemitism-trump-commission/.

EVICTED AUTHOR TO PRESENT 3 FREE VIRTUAL LISTENING SESSIONS ON POVERTY ON JANUARY 9-18

You can register for one of the three sessions by clicking on the following links. Space for each is limited, so be sure to register ahead of time.

• January 9th, 10-11 a.m. ET, in conversation with Prof. Reuben Miller, University of Chicago, 2022 MacArthur Fellow, author of Halfway Home. Register HERE.

• January 12th, 1-2 p.m. ET, in conversation with Rasheedah Phillips, Director of Housing, PolicyLink. Register HERE.

• January 18th, 8-9 p.m. ET, in conversation with Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Register HERE.

Matt Desmond published Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016), which sought to reveal the human costs of the housing crisis. It received the Pulitzer Prize. Some reactions were:

 “Astonishing... Desmond has set a new standard for reporting on poverty." - Barbara        Ehrenreich, New York Times Book Review.

“Evicted stands among the very best of the social justice books.” - Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto and Commonwealth. 

“Gripping and moving—tragic, too.” - Jesmyn Ward, author of Salvage the Bones.

“Evicted is that rare work that has something genuinely new to say about poverty.” -  San Francisco Chronicle.

He will publish his next book, Poverty, by America in March, 2023. Poverty, by America seeks to answer two questions: Why is there so much poverty in America, and how can we finally eliminate it? Desmond argues that "many Americans are actively making poor families poor by exploiting them, segregating them, and supporting a welfare state that gives the most to people who least need it." His goal with this book is "to spark a public conversation about how each one of us can become a poverty abolitionist, unwinding ourselves from our neighbors' deprivation."

He will be hosting three virtual listening sessions, inviting community organizers and service providers from around the country to attend. Each session will begin with explaining the book, and then a conversation with one of three interlocutors about some of its themes and arguments. Most of the sessions will be attendees' questions and comments, to stimulate a discussion about how to move the poverty debate, strategic policy opportunities, and how to leverage attention on poverty.

Once you register for a session, you'll be able to submit questions or comments early. You'll also have the opportunity to receive an advance copy of Poverty, by America.

For more information about the events, contact CrownPublicity@penguinrandomhouse.com.

*******

Source: https://matthewdesmondbooks.com/, December 7, 2022.

 Opportunity to Comment  on Maryland's Transit Funding Recommendations

FEEDBACK SOUGHT ON TRANSIT GOVERNANCE AND FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS BMC's Transit Governance and Funding Workgroup is seeking comments through Friday, December 23 on a draft set of recommendations for the future of transit in the Baltimore region. BMC's Board of Directors established the Transit Governance and Funding Workgroup in July 2022 with the objective of preparing recommendations regarding the management of transit in the Baltimore region. The workgroup has reviewed options detailed in a 2021 Baltimore Regional Transit Governance and Funding Study and is preparing a formal recommendation to the BMC Board of Directors, Maryland General Assembly and Governor. Additionally, the workgroup reviewed funding associated with the Locally Operated Transit Systems (LOTS) program, seeking to increase equity and transparency in the distribution of those funds. After the first meeting in September, the workgroup convened monthly to discuss and build consensus around a set of recommendations. These meetings have included opportunities for public comment virtually and in-person. Now, members of the public are welcome to comment on these draft recommendations by December 23. A final report will be released in January. See the full recommndations at publicinput.com/transitworkgroup   Baltimore Metropolitan Council, on behalf of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board, Howard County and Baltimore County, is conducting a multimodal transportation study for Ellicott City in Howard County and Oella in Baltimore County to address parking, wayfinding, and multimodal access. You're invited to help shape the future of transportation in historic Ellicott City and Oella on Thursday, December 8 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Roger Carter Center (3000 Milltowne Dr. Ellicott City, MD 21043) for a public meeting on the Transportation in Historic Town Centers project.  As part of the process to develop this study, the project team has developed an existing conditions and analysis report and initial recommendations and they will have an open house format with lots of ways to share your comments.   Learn more at publicinput.com/historictowncenters

 MD COMMISSION TO PRESENT INFORMATIONAL DISABILITY WEBINARS

MCCR Webinar

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Join Us for Our Upcoming Webinar   December 7: Disability, Reasonable Accommodations and the Law The workshop includes an in-depth review of applicable disability-related laws and reasonable accommodations in the workplace. We will discuss relevant statistics, current trends as well as appropriate etiquette, language and behavior when interacting with persons with disabilities. This engaging workshop is packed full of helpful info and is open to the public! *Ideal for employers, managers, supervisors, human resource and employee relations staff in the private, non-profit and public sectors. This workshop will be presented by Glendora Hughes, Maryland Commission on Civil Rights- General Counsel.   Click here to register   For reasonable accommodation requests please contact Renee Hickman at: Renee.Hickman@maryland.gov no later than one week prior to the event. Victim of Discrimination? Training & Partnerships HOME      ABOUT MCCR      SERVICES      PUBLICATIONS      EVENTS      PRESS      CONTACT US