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
- Fair Housing Month Proclamation 2023 (released 5/1/23)
- State of Idaho Fair Housing Month Proclamation 2022
- City of Moscow Fair Housing Proclamation 2022
- Coeur d’Alene Fair Housing Proclamation 2021
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.
- Request Free Fair Housing Print Materials – Posters, Z-Cards and Bookmarks. (English + Español)
- 2022 Fair Housing Forum Social Media Campaign materials (collaborative work among Forum partners)
- Shareable Videos
- Fair Housing Means Opportunity ENG | ESP
- Fair Housing Means Access ENG | ESP
- Fair Housing Means Family ENG | ESP
- Fair Housing Means Freedom From Harassment ENG | ESP
- Why Fair Housing Matters for Generational Wealth
- Why Fair Housing Matters to Employers
- Why Fair Housing Matters to Taxpayers
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.