2023 Fair Housing Month: Activities and Resources

April is Fair Housing Month!

Idaho Fair Housing Forum members are gearing up for April, and we’d like to share a few activities and resources below with our partners and community stakeholders. While fair housing and related laws apply every day, each year we join with others to draw attention to the rights, responsibilities and economic benefits of housing choice and equity.

States and communities that receive federal funds—particularly from HUD—are required to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) in several ways. The AFFH requirements include, “taking meaningful actions, in addition to combating discrimination, that overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics.”

Meaningful actions accomplish two key outcomes:

  • more fair housing choice
  • reducing disparities in access to opportunity

Forum partners typically pursue these outcomes through partnerships that increase awareness of fair housing law through conferences, sponsored training opportunities, and outreach materials. HUD program administrators must also demonstrate concrete steps taken to ensure that subrecipients of HUD funds are pursuing AFFH practices that support equity in programs, activities, resources and facilities.

In the case of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds at the state level, Idaho Commerce requires the following AFFH actions of all sub recipients

  • Designate a Fair Housing Resource Person
  • Adopt and publish a Fair Housing Resolution
  • Proclaim April as Fair Housing Month
  • Display Fair Housing Information
  • Fair Housing Assessment Form

Activities

Fair Housing Accessibility First! training events

Date Topic Session 1 Session 2 Registration
02/28/23 Kitchens 8–9:30am 12–1:30pm Register
03/14/23 Grab Bars 8–9:30am 12-1:30pm Register
03/21/23 Usable Doors 8–9:30am 12-1:30pm Register
04/04/23 Controls in Accessible 8–9:30am 12-1:30pm Register

All times are Mountain. Contact  to schedule training.

Resources for partners and communities

Fair Housing Month Proclamations: Sample language

Free Education and Outreach Materials. IHFA produced a series of fair housing materials as part of its FHIP-EOI grant in 2020 and 2021. Print materials and videos are available at no cost on request.

Additional background and resources that help put AFFH requirements in context:

  • Segregated by Design This short film tracks the “forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.”
  • Seven Days Award-winning film by Nationwide Insurance and the National Fair Housing Alliance chronicles daily events between the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King April 4, 1968 and passage of the Fair Housing Act April 11, 1968
  • House Rules This collaborative journalism project describes how where we live determines our access to essential community assets, economic opportunity and social capital. And it looks at the role and fate of George Romney, the first individual charged with implementing the Fair Housing Act.
  • 2022-2027 AI: What cities and counties should know about fair housing (pending) Broad-brush overview of important context and concepts for Idaho communities to understand, with references to the most recent Statewide Analysis of Impediments covering Idaho’s non-entitlement (balance of state) jurisdictions served by Idaho Commerce and IHFA.

AFFH Proposed Rule Published 2/9/23

HUD’s long-awaited Proposed Rule for Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) was posted in the Federal Register February 9, 2023. This starts the clock ticking for the official 60-day Public Comment period that ends April 10, 2023.

To view the Proposed Rule, click here.

What is AFFH and what does the Proposed Rule mean? The AFFH provision was part of the original Fair Housing Act (FHA) of 1968, and its obligations extend to federal agencies administering housing and urban development programs. AFFH requires funding recipients to “take meaningful actions—in addition to combating discrimination—that overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected classes.


Bipartisan Policy Center Deep Dive into the AFFH Proposed Rule


However, the federal government has long been criticized for failing to enforce FHA requirements or provide participants with meaningful guidance. This has allowed discriminatory practices and harm resulting from segregation, discrimination, and disinvestment based on protected class to persist in housing transactions, zoning laws and patterns of funding.

The broad, generational impacts of persistent and pervasive housing discrimination are clearly described in the short film ‘Segregated by Design.’ It contrasts de facto segregation—separation arising accidentally or through private discrimination—from de jure segregation, racially-explicit laws that keep people apart. AFFH represents our collective obligation to remedy or reverse the consequences of the resulting ‘unconstitutional residential landscape’ that has disadvantaged generations of people in protected classes.

The seven protected classes include:

  • Race
  • Color
  • National origin
  • Religion
  • Sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation per the Worden Memo)
  • Familial status (families with children under 18)
  • Disability

How AFFH relates to the FHA:

  • The FHA focuses on what is prohibited: discrimination in any housing transaction or “to make unavailable or deny” housing by any means.
  • AFFH is prescriptive; it requires federal funding recipients to take proactive and “meaningful actions” to address segregation and related barriers.

The AFFH Rule proposed in 2015 was meant to give teeth to the Fair Housing Act and address criticisms. To assist program participants, HUD created the AFFH-T, where the T refers to a customized Mapping Tool to streamline the data gathering and analysis process. The rule was subsequently rescinded in 2018, re-instated in 2021, and has undergone revisions in response to public comments. The updated AFFH provision introduces a modified version of the Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) now referred to as an Equity Plan.

The Equity Plan—similar to the AFH or Analysis of Impediments (AI)—will be required every five years. Funding recipients with a current AI will have up to three years to begin work on their Equity Plan. With some variation based on the jurisdiction, the plan seeks to define and describe the following:

  • Demographics
  • Segregation and integration
  • Racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty (R/ECAPs)
  • Access to community assets
  • Access to affordable housing opportunities
  • Access to homeownership and economic opportunity
  • Policies and practices impacting fair housing

The planning process requires significant community engagement and an Equity Plan will be evaluated based on its ability to advance equity in housing, community development programs, and residents’ access to well-resourced areas, opportunity, and community assets.  Participants must identify and analyze fair housing data and issues, prioritize those issues, and commit to meaningful and measurable action to undertake fair housing goals.

Failure to take AFFH seriously to create or improve access to opportunities can result in additional HUD review, remediation, and in extreme cases, loss of federal funding. This ultimately harms local taxpayers, constituents and economies, and results in the loss of federal support for housing and community development (think rental assistance or housing development and support from Idaho Commerce) that benefits Idaho families, employers, businesses and communities.

Industry observations

In response to the previous administration’s move to rescind the AFFH, the CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) expressed concern in a July 27, 2020 statement: “At a moment in our country’s history where the need to dismantle structural racism and segregation is so clear and present, HUD’s decision to terminate the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule represents a giant and shocking step backwards. Eliminating the AFFH rule will hurt not just renters by limiting where they can afford to live, but all of our communities and Americans who benefit from a fairer, more inclusive society.”

In a January 23rd statement from National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) President and CEO Diane Yentel, she makes clear that “…the 2015 AFFH regulation was an important step toward rectifying decades of racist housing policies that created today’s segregated neighborhoods and resulted in associated harm to children, families, and the country… More than ever, large-scale, sustained investments and anti-racist reforms are necessary to ensure that people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice.”

The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) is also supportive of the new rule. On behalf of its members, the organization states that “…central to our overriding vision of an affordably housed nation is the goal of removing fair housing obstacles that impede anyone from accessing the affordable housing of their choice.

Additional reference materials

National Housing Law Project: Tenant Resources During a Pandemic

NHLP

The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) has assembled a list of tools and resources for homeowners, tenants, and advocates seeking to preserve housing stability and protect civil rights during the COVID-19 Pandemic and economic crisis.

Visit NHLP’s current campaign information here


Protecting Renter and Homeowner Rights During Our National Health Crisis

The National Housing Law Project has put together the following resources for attorneys, advocates, policymakers, and others for assistance during the COVID-19 national public health crisis.  We will continue to update this with NHLP resources and other resources as they become available. Please email us with any additional resources to post.

 

Forum partners welcome HUD training

Boise City Council member Lisa Sanchez welcomed a roomful of housing providers, city and state staff, and local nonprofits on April 26 to a fair housing workshop presented by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Attendance was estimated at well over 200, with in-person and individuals watching via webcast throughout Idaho. This is the last workshop during April, where many different groups recognized the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act.


Featured presenter: HUD’s Kristina Miller, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

HUD’s Deputy Northwest Regional Administrator Michael Look kicked off the day by thanking attendees for their time and interest before outlining the history and meaning of the Fair Housing Act, its roots in the U.S. Constitution, and acknowledging those who made it possible. He introduced HUD’s last remaining Idaho field office representative, Senior Management Analyst Brian Dale

HUD reps Kristina Miller, Brian Dale, and Michael Look

Mr. Look emphasized that the economic opportunities made possible through housing choice and mobility go beyond the typical civil rights focus of fair housing. Where we live determines our access to essential community services, social capital and basic amenities. He acknowledged the rights and challenges of housing providers, and his hope that through ongoing training and greater awareness, they could all take steps to avoid violations and associated costs.*

Kristina Miller with the Seattle Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity conducted the day’s training, starting with an overview of fair housing basics, protected classes, prohibited actions , disparate impact and the three-step analysis of policies or practices to determine compliance. She also outlined seven fair housing design and construction standards, and the importance of accommodating our aging population—which applies to everyone.

The main point of fair housing is ‘equal access’ for all.

She also touched on recent HUD guidance on criminal history; that is, if the property involved is covered under the Fair Housing Act, they must maintain and follow a clear criminal background policy that otherwise treats all protected classes the same consideration. A *three-step analysis determines whether a policy has discriminatory effect:

  1. Does the policy result in a discriminatory effect on members of a protected class?
  2. Does the policy achieve a specific, legitimate nondisriminatory interest to the provider?
  3. If yes to #2, is there a less discriminatory alternative to achieve the same effect?

Unjustifiable policies

  • A blanket ban on criminal activity or an arrest record; unless there is a conviction, anyone could be banned without legitimate cause, thus it would be unjustifiable.
  • A blanket ban on all convictions that fails to differentiate between a legitimate threat to life, safety or property or no threat may also be unjustifiable.

View or download the presentation as a .pdf — Fair-Housing-Act-for-4-26-18-presentations

Check back for links to the webcast version.

Everyone wants a bag like Brian’s vintage FHF tote! We’ll get some made and let you how to get yours.