New Updates on The Edge

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Message from PD&R Leadership:
Happy New Year — Celebrating Research and Data
In 2015, PD&R released several important studies, such as the Family Options Study: Short-Term Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families and the Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Fee Study: Final Report. Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development Todd Richardson discusses the long-term policy value of these studies and highlights some of the data and user tools that PD&R plans to release in 2016.

In Practice:
Houston Ends Veteran Homelessness
In June 2015, Houston became the largest city in the U.S. to ensure the availability of housing and services for all veterans in need. The Houston/Harris County Continuum of Care utilizes a collective model that aligns over 70 formerly isolated homeless service providers to close service gaps and address various forms of homelessness in the region. Since establishing a coordinated Housing First effort to address veteran homelessness in 2012, the partnership has housed more than 3,900 veterans.

Spotlight on PD&R Data
Mortgage Delinquency and Foreclosures
The latest Spotlight on PD&R Data from the U.S. Housing Market Conditions portal focuses on the rates of mortgage delinquency and foreclosure, showing how the data vary across regions and how they compare to national trends.

Trending
Promise Zones: Supporting Community Change, An Interview with Margeaux Akazawa
Promise Zones is a place-based initiative that aims to create jobs, increase economic opportunity, improve educational outcomes, reduce crime, and leverage private capital in communities with high capacity but also high needs. Margeaux Akazawa, STEM Presidential Management Fellow and Desk Officer for the Promise Zones Initiative, describes Promise Zones, outlines how the program benefits designated communities, and discusses future plans for the initiative.

Policy Update:
Strategies for Regional Collaboration
The United States has a long history of regional thinking and collaboration. Traditional regional planning has focused largely on structural changes such as annexation and local government consolidation to address the challenges of providing public services. However, contemporary regional planning increasingly emphasizes forming cooperative relationships among local governments and stakeholders to collaborate on complex challenges unconstrained by political, geographical, and economic boundaries.