By Lisa Sturtevant, PhD

There is abundant research showing that stable and affordable housing is associated with improved educational outcomes among children in low-income families. Access to affordable housing can result in fewer moves and can reduce overcrowding and other housing-related stresses. Housing assistance can help families move to neighborhoods with higher quality schools and housing investments can be part of broader, holistic community development efforts that lead to better outcomes for children.

Housing is important to educational outcomes because the school that a child attends is usually determined by where she lives. (Charter schools and school choice in some communities can weaken this link between residence location and school location.) Higher-quality schools—whether measured by test scores, teacher tenure and quality, or availability of resources—tend be located in communities where housing costs and incomes are higher. As a result, when families are segregated by income, it also means their children are segregated by school quality.

Unfortunately, income segregation is on the rise for families with children. According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Southern California, between 1990 and 2010, families with children became more likely to live in neighborhoods segregated by income. Over the same period, there was no change in income segregation among families without children. This means that all of the recent increase in income segregation in the U.S. has been among families with children. We know that place matters not just for education outcomes but also for economic mobility opportunities for children, so this recent trend in income segregation among families is particularly concerning.

It is not uncommon to hear that “housing policy is school policy.” Housing programs can help lower-income families access neighborhoods with better schools, and can help alleviate the concentration of poverty in neighborhood schools. But what housing policies have worked the best to help families access good neighborhoods and good schools?

Inclusionary zoning policies can be a key way to support positive educational outcomes. There are more than 500 local inclusionary zoning (IZ) programs across the country, and many of the jurisdictions in the Washington DC region have IZ or IZ-like affordable housing programs. Research has found that affordable units produced through an IZ program are more likely to be located in low-poverty school districts than housing opportunities created through either the Housing Choice Voucher or Low-Income Housing Tax Credit programs. IZ is not a silver bullet for connecting children to high-quality schools, however, and program design matters. A RAND study has shown that Montgomery County’s MPDU program has been singularly effective at locating housing in low-poverty neighborhoods, which has led to better academic outcomes for children in those homes.

Voucher mobility programs can be effective at connecting families to neighborhoods with high-quality schools, but intensive search assistance and other supports seem necessary. Research on the federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program has generally found that while the program helps families find housing they can afford, families receiving a voucher tend to live in neighborhoods with low-performing schools. Housing search assistance and pre- and post-move counseling can make a voucher program much more successful at getting families into housing in neighborhoods with good schools and ultimately lead to better educational outcomes for children. Furthermore, the most effective housing mobility programs operate at a regional scale, streamlining the porting and the administration process across jurisdictions.

The housing tax credit allocation process is another important mechanisms for expanding housing options in neighborhoods with high-quality schools. Tax credits are allocated to the states from the Federal government and a state entity (e.g. a state housing finance agency) awards credits on a competitive basis to projects that meet criteria and recommendations set out in the state’s Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). (Nine-percent credits are awarded competitively.) The QAP and the allocation process can have a big impact on the number and types of affordable projects that get built in neighborhoods with good schools. According to a recent report by Enterprise Community Partners, states can prioritize access to good schools in their allocation processes. Maryland, for example, has the option to increase the eligible basis of projects if they offer “reasonable access to jobs, quality schools and other economic and social benefits.” But the link between housing and good schools is not often an explicit part of a state’s QAP.

These policies can help families access housing they can afford in neighborhoods that have good schools. But it will never be possible to move everyone. Just like other approaches to connecting families to opportunity, developing joint housing-school policies should be a “both/and” proposition—both investing in housing in high-opportunity neighborhoods with good schools and investing in existing communities to improve neighborhoods and schools. And no matter the policy approach, it is an important first step to ensure that people who care about schools and people who care about housing—who all care about the quality of life of families and children—are talking and working together. Housing Virginia recently convened a group to explore and improve the connections between affordable housing and schools. As we head back to school, thinking about how to do more of that collaboration is essential for ensuring all students have a successful school year!

The Redevelopment Authority of Prince George’s County (RDA) is soliciting proposals for an approximately 137 unit senior building restricted to seniors 62 years of age and older located at the Town Square at Suitland Federal Center subdivision.  The site is part of an approved mixed use subdivision consisting of 2 single family dwellings, 219 town houses, 538 Market rate multi-family units, 137 senior multi-family units, 80,000 square feet of retail and up to 50,000 square feet of public uses.  The combined site is approximately 25 acres and is located a half mile from the Suitland Metro Station and across the street from the Suitland Federal Center.  The zoning is MUTC. For more information, please contact click here.

Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) broke ground on its newest project, Columbia Hills Apartments, which will be located at 1010 S. Frederick Street in Arlington.   In a blustery but spirit-filled celebration, APAH’s finance, design and building partners, elected officials, neighbors and APAH leaders gathered to launch construction on the 229-unit building.

With a sentiment echoed throughout the proceedings, Libby Garvey, Chairman of the Arlington County Board, praised the Columbia Hills project as “a wonderful example of what we can do when everyone works together for the community. Today there are just 9,600 affordable homes in Arlington, yet there are 17,000 low income families here in our community right now in need of affordable homes.”

M&T Bank, who in partnership with APAH, donated the 1.2 acres of land on which Columbia Hills will be built, was a critical early partner. Speaking at the celebration, John Mangan, Vice President for Commercial Real Estate Finance at M&T Bank, stated “we all succeed when the communities where we live, work and play succeed. In a high price region like Arlington, land is one of the largest obstacles to growing our stock of affordable housing. Columbia Hills is one of the largest donations M&T has ever made and I can’t think of a better cause, group or project for our support.”

Delegate Alfonso Lopez (VA-49^th District) expressed his gratitude for the support of the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, an affordable housing fund he championed in the legislature, but noted “today is a great day, but we must do more. Solving Virginia’s housing crisis is essential to economic growth, to creating jobs and to building thriving communities. Today, as we begin Columbia Hills, APAH and everyone here is taking a giant step forward to expand affordable housing here in Northern Virginia.”

Closing the festivities, Nina Janopaul, APAH President and CEO, observed “it is incredible what this community can accomplish when we link arms and muscle through complicated projects like Columbia Hills. We do it because we believe in this cause; we believe in the diversity of our community and we believe that Arlington is stronger when the 17,000 low income families who are our friends and neighbors are able to stay here in our community.”

Columbia Hills Apartments is one of the first projects to be developed under the Arlington County’s award-winning Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Plan and will contribute significantly to meeting the Plan’s goal of preserving 3,000 affordable homes along Columbia Pike. The building will be an attractive, new, eight-story apartment complex that includes community rooms for resident programs and a relocated playground for young children. The property includes 10 permanent supportive housing units and 13 accessible units to meet the diverse needs of the community, including senior and disabled residents who cannot live comfortably in the neighboring Columbia Grove walk-up apartments.

Built on 1.2 acres of APAH’s land adjacent to our Columbia Grove Apartments, Columbia Hills will provide a total of 229 homes, including 64 studio apartments, 27 one-bedroom units, 110 two-bedroom units, and 28 three-bedroom homes. All apartments are affordable to low income households earning 60% or Area Median Income (AMI, including 10 for households below 40% AMI and 39 for households below 50% AMI.

Located at 1010 Frederick Street, just a block off Columbia Pike, Columbia Hills is an innovative and highly efficient $91M project that includes land donated by APAH and M&T Bank, , federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), innovative hybrid financing. Arlington County loaned $18.5 million from its Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) project which will repaid back by APAH into the County’s revolving fund. Additional funding is being provided by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and the Virginia Housing Trust Fund

Speaker at the groundbreaking included:

Re. Andrew Merrow, Rector, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

John Milliken, Chairman, APAH Board of Directors

Libby Garvey, Arlington County Board Chair

Dale Wittie, Director, Rental Housing, VA Housing Development Authority, VHDA

Derrick Perkins, Senior Vice President, Community Development Lending, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

John Mangan, Vice President, Commercial Real Estate Finance, M&T Bank

Chris Thompson, Deputy Director of Housing, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development

Alfonso Lopez, Virginia House of Delegates (49^th District)

Nina Janopaul, APAH President and CEO

Please find the property sheet here with more information on the project.

On Wednesday, June 29 from 2PM-4PM at the Pennino Building 12011
Government Center Parkway, Suite 206 Fairfax, VA 22030, The Construction Trade Coalition will host an event for attendees gain a better understanding of what the construction and trade industry has to offer as well as pair construction companies with housing and service providers for a new training and employment opportunities in the strong construction field.  For more information about the event please contact mouly.aloumouati@fairfaxcounty.gov (Fairfax County Department of Family Services) or judy.kordella@cornerstonesva.org (Cornerstones).

The following organizations are in partnership with The Construction Trade Coalition for this event:

Founded in 1852, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,700 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy.

The bank serves one in three households in the United States and strives to satisfy their customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. As with other parts of the country and around the world, it is fully vested in the growth of the Washington, DC region.

Wells Fargo and Habitat for Humanity of Washington, DC (DC Habitat)

(Homeowner celebrates ribbon cutting at new home in Ivy City)

In October of 2010, as part of the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, DC Habitat committed to providing 28 new and rehabilitated affordable homeownership opportunities to low-income, working residents in Ivy City – a historic neighborhood located in Northeast D.C.  To help this local partner, Wells Fargo invested financially – and through employee volunteerism – to support DC Habitat in completing this valuable project. Last year, thanks in no small part to Well Fargo’s ‘Priority Markets Grants,’ DC Habitat has nearly finished the third phase of development in Ivy City.

“Wells Fargo’s commitment to our mission includes not only crucial financial support, but manpower as well. Throughout the year, Wells Fargo rallies their employees to get their hands dirty and make a difference on DC Habitat Build sites,” expressed Habitat DC.  “Last June, team members participated in our second annual Rainbow Build and Wells Fargo was also a major sponsor of our 25^th Anniversary Event in November of 2014. Continuing to support our work with both time and treasure, they have signed on to sponsor a series of four special theme builds in 2016.”

A national, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.8 trillion in assets, Wells Fargo has been a valuable ally in advancing DC Habitat’s affordable housing mission for nearly five years.

“DC Habitat is improving lives and strengthening communities,” said Mike Golden, Wells Fargo President for Greater Washington, DC. “Wells Fargo is proud to partner with DC Habitat, and we’re committed to providing affordable housing in our nation’s capital.”

To help with that commitment in DC and throughout the region, Wells Fargo is also excited about its partnership with HAND. The member benefits, specifically the training and capacity building series, offers a vital component to nonprofit organizations the bank partners with in the area.

A 25th Anniversary and 2016 Annual Meeting & Housing Expo sponsor, HAND is pleased to spotlight Wells Fargo as a member who certainly contributes to our organization’s COLLABORATION, INNOVATION and TRANSFORMATION within the metropolitan area!