Housing

In the last few decades, gentrification has grown increasingly common in cities across the country. Kacie Dragan, Ingrid Ellen, and Sherry A. Glied, representing P4A’s NYU Wagner Research Hub, released a working paper offering new evidence about the consequences of gentrification on mobility, building and neighborhood conditions.

Pay for success sparks innovation in the public sector while limiting risk to taxpayers by ensuring the government only pays for services that are effective. Importantly, it can bring financing to interventions for populations that are often forgotten, neglected, or deemed less worthy of taxpayer support, including people experiencing chronic homelessness.

There are many explanations for the housing crisis in the U.S. One is that the law has never stopped promoting and preserving segregation, nor has it adequately supported the supply of enough affordable, safe, and stable housing for all citizens.

Abraham Gutman, Katie Moran-McCabe and Scott Burris at the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research published an article in the Northeastern University Law Review that explores 23 legal mechanisms, or levers, that may impact health equity in housing in the U.S., and reviews the evidence base evaluating each lever.

Paula Lantz and Samantha Iovan of the University of Michigan Research Hub used their innovative pay-for-success (PFS) surveillance system to identify strengths and challenges of several supportive housing interventions using PFS, and to assess whether PFS housing projects generally meet established criteria for improving social welfare.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program is the nation's single most important source for building and preserving safe and decent affordable rental housing. It is also a potentially powerful tool for improving the health and well-being of low-income families.

The recent P4A conference at NYU's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service highlighted the power of partnerships with policymakers and practitioners to make research relevant and actionable.

Proposed budget cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would likely result in a loss of federal housing assistance--and potential rent hikes--for thousands of low-income families. Our forthcoming study will test whether differences in the monetary value of housing assistance received by households translates into meaningful differences in health outcomes.

Housing organizations and health providers have realized they are natural allies. They serve the same people living in the same places, and are learning that their missions are aligned: improving housing quality and stability can lead to better population health outcomes. A growing emphasis on prevention within the health care sector has housing organizations eager to help. But partnering across sectors can be bumpy.

One of six case studies featured in our new report Emerging Strategies for Integrating Health and Housing, Foundation Communities’ success highlights how housing leaders can partner with health care allies to better the lives of low-income residents. Its early successes show that we must break down cross-sector silos and engage new partners to make progress on social determinants of health.

Elaine Waxman and Corianne Scally of the Urban Institute Research Hub have released a new study examining emerging interventions that integrate housing and health services for low-income people, focusing on interventions where health care organizations have taken a significant leadership role.

As Carson crafts his strategic goals for the agency, he should look to emerging cross-sector collaborations across the country to improve health outcomes through housing.