| Home Search 2002 Advocates' Guide To Housing and Community Development Policy Although welfare and housing assistance systems are designed and administered separately, their beneficiaries overlap to a substantial degree. This intersection presents opportunities and challenges for welfare recipients, housing and welfare advocates, and administrators of both welfare and housing programs. It also presents potential risks for housing programs, especially in the wake of welfare reform. As of May 2001, about 633,000 HUD-assisted families with children received some income from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. Of these families, about 190,000 lived in public housing, 340,000 received Section 8 vouchers, and 103,000 lived in project-based Section 8 housing. Nationally, about 30% of families who receive monthly TANF cash benefits also receive federal housing assistance, since 1996. State-level data on the number of HUD-assisted families with TANF income, compiled from reports submitted by housing authorities and owners to HUD, are available online at pic.hud.gov/pic.RCRPublic/rcrmain.asp. Housing agencies stand to benefit from partnering with welfare agencies to promote work. Programs to promote tenant employment and increase earnings may stabilize housing developments and reduce maintenance needs and crime. Housing agency efforts to support work also may garner public support for additional appropriations. However, if tenant incomes fall as families hit TANF time limits, housing agencies may be faced with loss of revenue. In addition, if families cannot replace lost welfare income with earnings and are left destitute, housing agency costs for maintenance and security may increase. Each of the three major federal housing programs will be affected when tenants incomes increase or decrease as a result of welfare reform. | |
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