New Updates on The Edge

New on The Edge

Message from PD&R Leadership:
Youth Experiencing Homelessness
The federal government has been working to end homelessness among youth by 2020, but is challenged by limited information on how many youth face homelessness and which interventions are most effective. Director of PD&R's Policy Development Division Marge F. Martin highlights the congressional testimony of a panel of experts including Cyndi Lauper on progress in ending youth homelessness.

Research:
Revisiting Opting In, Opting Out
Understanding why some HUD-assisted housing properties leave the affordable market is important to HUD. A recently released study, Opting In, Opting Out a Decade Later, updating a 2006 report examines how affordable housing retention patterns and trends have changed and whether certain characteristics correlate with the likelihood of opting out.

In Practice:
First-Time Homeownership with the Baptist Town Cottages
After volunteering for service in the community or providing sweat equity to complete the Baptist Town Cottages, 10 families realized the dream of homeownership by purchasing cottages in 2014. The homes were among several thousand built for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and were part of the larger Baptist Town neighborhood revitalization project that includes new parks, streetscape improvements, job training, and a community center.

Trending:
The New HUD Secretary's Awards for Healthy Homes, An Interview with Martin Nee
The HUD Secretary's Awards for Healthy Homes, introduced in 2015, recognize organizations with exceptional performance in the area of healthy indoor environments. Director of the Regional Management and Technical Support Division in HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Martin Nee discusses the rationale for the new awards and details the process and criteria by which applications for each award are judged.

Policy Update:
Local Initiatives Promote Homeownership in Indian Country
Several barriers, such as the legal framework governing land ownership and mortgage transactions, hinder the prospect of homeownership for residents of Indian Country. Local initiatives supported by federal policies and national nonprofits, including downpayment assistance programs in tandem with financial literacy or homebuyer education courses, are helping to address these impediments to homeownership.