Youth who experience economic instability and do not have consistent access to basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter are at higher risk of substance use, violence, delinquency, teen pregnancy, and dropping out of school.
Safe, high-quality, stable, and affordable housing can have positive impacts on mental health, physical health, and wellbeing and promote healthy outcomes among youth. More specifically, the provision of affordable housing options within communities can reduce household financial burdens, which in turn allows for the increased ability of households to meet youths’ basic needs (e.g., food, clothing, healthcare, etc.). Affordable housing is most effective in producing long-term positive health outcomes when options are stable and sustained by communities. Consistent and long-term access to affordable options can reduce a household’s need to frequently move and/or relocate, which can promote access to and continuity of healthcare, reduce depression and anxiety, and decrease illicit drug use among youth. [1, 2]
Communities interested in supporting affordable housing should take a comprehensive approach that considers availability of new and existing rental units, quality of affordable dwellings, financial support for families, and assistance to help families stay in affordable housing. [3]
Understand what affordable housing is and the various policies that influence it at the federal, state, and local levels. In order to support safe, stable, and affordable housing in your community your coalition must first have a clear understanding of how to define affordable housing, how it is influenced in your community, and what agencies may be key partners in your efforts.
Resources:
ChangeLab Solutions’ “Preserving, Protecting, and Expanding Affordable Housing” includes an “Affordable Housing Primer” that serves as a concise introduction to the topic (pg 56).
Colorado communities can explore current funding streams for housing in the “Housing Guide for Public Health Professionals”.
Housing-related bills being considered in the Colorado legislature, as monitored by Housing Colorado’s legislation and bill tracker.
Understand the impact gentrification has on affordable housing. Gentrification happens when a historically disinvested neighborhood experiences economic and demographic change due to factors including sudden investment and an increase of higher-income residents relocating to the community. While investment and growth in these neighborhoods can provide its community with more resources, it also has the potential to do harm, including an increase in the value of properties and rental units resulting in existing community members' inability to stay in the neighborhood and in their homes (referred to as “displacement”). Gentrification and its history of inequity is complex and should be understood and discussed by your coalition before beginning this work.
Resources:
Learn more about the relationship between affordable housing and gentrification via ChangeLab Solutions’ “Preserving, Protecting, and Expanding Affordable Housing”.
Learn more about gentrification and displacement from the Urban Displacement Project.
Identify and connect with other organizations and individuals working or interested in this area, as well as those that hold decision-making power. Working with other organizations and/or individuals, like state and local community-based organizations and Housing Authorities, is the best way to maximize your coalition’s power and allows for a greater influence. Before selecting implementation activities, your coalition should take time to understand who is already working in this space, who has power to influence decision making, and what efforts are already underway. Reaching out to these organizations and individuals can help you form partnerships and learn from current and/or previous systems-level work in this area.
Resources:
The National Academy of Community Organizers offers A Guide to Power Analysis in Community Organizing, which can help coalitions understand where power sits within a community around a particular issue.
Understand the inequities that are related to this strategy and consider the systemic and structural causes of disparities. By understanding the factors that contribute to this strategy, your coalition will be better able to identify the action that needs to be taken. Additionally, new and/or existing policies and systems-level approaches have the potential to exacerbate existing inequities, making it important for your coalition to critically examine your action plan for signs of negative consequences.
Resources:
Learn more about discriminatory housing policies in ChangeLab Solutions’ “The Health & Housing Starter Kit”.
The Colorado Health Institute’s resource “Home Equity: A Vision of Housing Security, Health and Opportunity” offers a list of questions to guide communities in ensuring communities and equity are at the “front and center” of conversations around housing policies (pg 28).
Consider using an Equity Impact Assessment to better explore and understand such consequences. Both the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Race Forward offer free resources.
As a part of their ‘Five Building Blocks for Racial Equity’, the Race Matters Institute of JustPartners, Inc. offers a free guide on conducting a Racial Equity Backmap, which helps groups and individuals consider and identify the various drivers of a given inequity.
The Government Alliance on Race and Equity offers Racial Equity Toolkit An Opportunity to Operationalize Equity.
Housing an Inclusive Denver Report: Setting Housing Policy, Strategy, and Investment Priorities (2018-2023)
It is important to note that the uniqueness of your community, its resources, and its needs will ultimately determine what implementation of this strategy will look like. Additionally, it is important for your coalition to approach this strategy in a way that is aligned with your overarching goal(s). The list below offers suggestions and ideas of evidence-informed actions your coalition can consider taking as part of your implementation of this strategy.
Support the use of Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) in the development of housing policy. HIAs allows for the collection of data and community input to help guide the equitable development of housing policies and programs by allowing for a deeper exploration and understanding of potential health impacts.
Resources:
Learn more about HIAs and their importance here.
“Housing Impact Assessment and Housing” specifically covers how to leverage HIAs can be used in the area of housing.
The Pew Charitable Trusts has compiled a HIA Toolkit, which contains a variety of resources and examples of completed HIAs.
Educate stakeholders on the effects of “Right of First Refusal” policies in securing existing affordable housing units. These policies ensure qualified agencies have prioritized the ability to purchase subsidized rental properties if its current owner decides to stop participating in subsidy programs.These policies can be adopted at state or local levels.
Resources:
Learn more about these policies and their past application in “Preserving, Protecting, and Expanding Affordable Housing” (pg 20).
Local examples and guidance on implementation of such policies can be found here.
Educate stakeholders on the importance of inclusionary zoning policies in ensuring residents have access to affordable housing. Inclusionary zoning requires developers to secure a proportion of housing units for low- and moderate-income residents.
Resources:
CityHealth offers a policy breakdown on inclusionary zoning.
To learn about inclusionary zoning, implementation considerations, and communities that have successfully utilized it, visit the All-In Cities Policy Toolkit.
Educate stakeholders on the importance of property tax incentives and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program in incentivizing the development of affordable housing options. Financial incentives for property owners can help preserve affordability in neighborhoods and can be administered at local, state, and federal levels.
Resources:
Learn more about these incentives and their past application in “Preserving, Protecting, and Expanding Affordable Housing” (pg 21-23).
Learn more about LIHTCs, their use across the U.S., and state and local efforts to support their use in Trust for America’s Health’s Leveraging Evidence-Based Policies to Improve Health, Control Costs, and Create Health Equity (pg 41).
Educate stakeholders on the importance of supporting and expanding Tenant-based Rental Assistance or Housing Voucher Programs. These programs use vouchers to subsidize the cost of housing options in the private rental market, giving participants a range of safe housing options and the opportunity to choose their residential location/neighborhood. The vouchers are tied to households, rather than specific housing units, giving families more agency. Additionally, the monthly assistance leaves households with additional financial resources to cover other needs.
Resources:
Learn more about voucher programs and their different iterations on the Community Guide webpage on the topic. Additionally learn about supporting evidence and considerations for implementation here.
Learn more about voucher programs, their use across the U.S., and state and local efforts to support their use in Trust for America’s Health’s Leveraging Evidence-Based Policies to Improve Health, Control Costs, and Create Health Equity (pg 45).
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers training and resources for communities interested in learning more about tenant-based rental assistance and how to improve local participation and options.
Raise awareness about housing discrimination and the effect local laws can play in prohibiting property owners’ discrimination against families who use housing vouchers. Unfortunately, some families who rely on housing vouchers can face discriminatory practices among landlords who refuse to rent their properties to voucher holders. These discriminatory practices can be the result of negative stereotypes and/or the desire to avoid the administrative requirements of a voucher program.
Resources:
Learn more about source-of-income discrimination in the Colorado Health Institute’s resource “Home Equity: A Vision of Housing Security, Health and Opportunity” (pg 33). This resource also gives Colorado-specific considerations.
Educate stakeholders on the role Housing Trust Funds (HTF) can play in supporting sustainable safe and affordable housing. HTFs provide a stable source of funding for affordable housing at state and local levels.The funds included in HTFs can be used for a variety of purposes including the creation and maintenance of affordable units, homebuyer assistance, subsidized
Resources:
To learn about HTFs, implementation considerations, and communities that have successfully implemented them, visit the All-In Cities Policy Toolkit.
Additionally, information about HTFs can be found here.
PolicyLink has developed an Equitable Development Toolkit for Housing Trust Funds, in which it provides guidance on development and implementation of HTFs as well as case studies.
The Community Change website compiles resources, tools, and a list of current HTFs.
Educate stakeholders on the benefits of “just cause eviction ordinances” in preventing arbitrary and discriminatory evictions. These ordinances enacted at state and local levels can help protect tenants and promote housing stability.
Resources:
To learn about just cause eviction ordinances, implementation considerations, and communities that have successfully utilized it, visit the All-In Cities Policy Toolkit.
PolicyLink provides an “Equitable Development Toolkit” on just cause eviction ordinances.
Educate stakeholders on the benefits of providing legal supports for tenants in eviction proceedings. Tenants are not given the constitutional right to counsel in housing court, making legal representation and assistance often inaccessible to low-income individuals facing eviction. Alternatively, landlords involved in the same court matters often do have access to legal counsel. Providing legal support to tenants facing eviction promotes more equitable outcomes that can help keep families in their homes.
Resources:
Learn more about legal supports, their use across the U.S., and state and local efforts to support their use in Trust for America’s Health’s Leveraging Evidence-Based Policies to Improve Health, Control Costs, and Create Health Equity (pg 48).
Learn more about the health harms associated with eviction and how legal representations can result in better outcomes here.
Learn more about “right to counsel” policies in the Colorado Health Institute’s resource “Home Equity: A Vision of Housing Security, Health and Opportunity” (pg 41). This resource also gives Colorado-specific considerations.