HOPE
VI PROGRAM
Overview
The
HOPE (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) VI Program,
originally known as the Urban Revitalization Demonstration, serves
a crucial role in the effort of the U. S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development to transform Public Housing. Initiated
in 1992, the HOPE VI Program was the result of recommendations
by the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing,
charged with proposing a National Action Plan to eradicate severely
distressed public housing.
The
Commission recommended revitalization in three general areas:
management improvements, physical improvements, and social
and community services to address residents’ needs.
Key
elements of the HOPE VI program include the following:
• changing the physical shape of public housing;
• establishing positive incentives for resident self-sufficiency and comprehensive
services that empower residents;
• lessening the concentration of poverty by placing public housing in non-poverty
neighborhoods and promoting mixed income communities; and
• forging partnerships with other agencies, local governments, non-profit
organizations, and private businesses to leverage support and resources.
Through
the HOPE VI Program, Public Housing Authorities receive funding
to revitalize distressed public housing. The grants fund:
• demolition of severely distressed public housing;
• acquisition of sites for off-site construction;
• capital costs of major rehabilitation, new construction and other physical
improvements; and
• community and supportive services programs (CSSP) for residents, including
those relocated as a result of revitalization efforts.
Community and Supportive Services
Program
The Community and Supportive Services Program CSSP is designed to meet
the unique needs of the individual community, developed after a comprehensive
needs assessment of all families impacted by the redevelopment. CSS Plans
provide for economic development and self-sufficiency programs, such as
job training and placement, GED classes, business development training,
money management counseling, and homeownership opportunities. Additional
support services include day care, transportation, violence prevention,
after-school programs, and medical services for the elderly.
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HOPE
VI PROGRAM INITIATIVE
Overview
As part of its HOPE VI grant, the District of Columbia Housing Authority
(DCHA), like other city housing authorities, is required to develop
and implement a Comprehensive Supportive Services Plan. Wheeler Creek
Estates Community Development Corporation was awarded a DCHA grant
to implement the required Community Supportive Services Program (CSSP).
Wheeler Creek, in turn, contracted with the Howard University Center
for Urban Progress (CUP) to conduct an assessment of the HOPE VI CSSP
and an economic evaluation of the District of Columbia’s HOPE
VI Program.
CUP
has been involved in the assessment of the HOPE VI CSSP for
two public housing projects – East Capitol Dwellings
and Eastgate Gardens – located in Southeast Washington,
DC. In addition, CUP has been studying the economic impact
of the HOPE VI Program in Liberty View Danville, Virginia and
East Capitol Dwellings. In the summer of 2006, CUP initiated
an assessment of the HOPE VI CSSP at a New HOPE VI Site in
Washington, DC – Arthur Capper and Carrollsburg Dwellings.
Evaluation of Community Supportive Services Program
The
HOPE VI CSSP assessment is implemented in three stages:
Stage
1: The Baseline Report
The baseline report contains information on socioeconomic characteristics
of former public housing residents at the time the HOPE VI grant is awarded.
The objective is to compare this baseline study with changes in residents’ lives
as they receive supportive services through the CSSP.
Stage
2: The Intermediate Report
The objective of the intermediate report is to assess the progress residents
have made toward self-sufficiency form the time of the baseline report.
This report is an opportunity to make recommendation on how to correct
any deficiency in the program.
Stage
3: The Final Report
The final report gives an overall assessment of the CSSP. The objective
of this report is to assess the impact of the CSSP on the displaced residents,
the changes that have taken place in the neighborhood as a result of the
program, the proportion of residents who have become self-sufficient, and
the proportion of residents who were actually able to come back to the
redeveloped property.
Economic
Impact Evaluation
HOPE VI revitalization is expected to positively impact economic development,
increase property values, attract new businesses and subsequently create
new jobs in the affected neighborhood. The economic evaluation is also
implemented in three stages: the baseline report, the intermediate report,
and the final report. The objective of the economic evaluation is to estimate
the economic development that occurs in the immediate neighborhood where
revitalization has taken place. Two indicators are used for economic development:
business expansion and real estate. CUP has already completed a baseline
and an intermediate report for Liberty View in Danville, Virginia and East
Capitol Dwellings in the District of Columbia.
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HOPE
VI PROGRAM PAPERS AND REPORTS
Please click here to view papers and reports.
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For
additional information about the Center for Urban Progress HOPE
VI Project, contact:
Rodney D. Green,
Ph.D.
Executive Director, CUP
202-865-8572
rgreen@howard.edu
