CPHA, as a member of the Baltimore Regional Housing Campaign (BRHC), has worked diligently to affirmatively further fair housing in the Baltimore region. The BRHC supports locating housing across the region in balanced ways that affirmatively further fair housing and provide low-income families with the choice to raise their children in safe communities with good schools and jobs to support them.
Last August, the BRHC alerted the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that the State’s policies for awarding Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to affordable housing developments include measures that are impediments to fair housing. The policy that governs LIHTC, and is in need of significant revision, is called the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP).
Among our suggestions for improving the QAP, the BRHC recommends removing the Local Approval and Contribution requirement, which has effectively prevented the placement of low income housing for families in “higher opportunity” suburban communities with good quality schools, rich employment opportunities, and other public amenities.
Our goal is to seek a better balance of low income housing in different kinds of communities – including housing for families with children in safe neighborhoods with high quality schools. We do not believe that low income housing should be restricted to high poverty neighborhoods – families should be free to choose among different types of communities, and not be forced to live only in segregated neighborhoods as a condition of receiving federal housing aid.
This effort is good for the city and the region. We need to balance the choices in the region by locating more affordable housing in areas outside of the economically and racially segregated areas of Baltimore City.
We hope you will click here to read more about this important issue and support fair housing in Baltimore!
