Are We Home Yet? Creating Real Choice for Housing Choice Voucher Families in Chicago

The Illinois Assisted Housing Action Research Project (IHARP), a collaboration of Housing Action Illinois, the Latino Policy Forum, the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement, and the Shriver Center, have released this report finding that the majority of the Chicago Housing Authority's 35,000 Housing Choice Voucher households continue to reside in predominately African-American, poverty concentrated communities in Chicago. These communities, which continue to struggle with high rates of unemployment, foreclosures, and above average rates of crime and poor health, do not provide real opportunity for voucher families. The report recommends that the Chicago Housing Authority, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City of Chicago, housing advocates, and public officials work together towards a comprehensive agenda to advance housing mobility and real opportunities for voucher families, as well as to strategically invest in the communities where voucher families currently live.