Welcome to CLPHA's Press Room
CLPHA experts welcome interview requests from print, radio, television, and online reporters and are happy to provide their insights on issues of public housing and related legislation and policy.
For media inquiries, please contact:
David Greer
Director of Communications
During the COVID-19 quarantine, David can be reached at (202) 550-1381 or dgreer@clpha.org.
*Please let us know if you are working on deadline.
To view all of CLPHA's press releases, click here.
To view all of CLPHA's press statements, click here.
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Thanks again for your interest in CLPHA!
Announcing the New CLPHA.org
(WASHINGTON) January 7, 2019 - The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) is pleased to announce the launch of our newly-redesigned website.
The new CLPHA.org showcases our member PHAs and offers industry news and updates with a bright, modern look and dynamic, user-friendly content that is easy to navigate on a desktop computer or a mobile device.
DYNAMIC: A carousel of stories and the latest news on the front page keeps the content fresh. CLPHA.org is a website to bookmark and visit regularly.
INFORMATIONAL: At the new CLPHA.org, you will find articles and information about the latest developments on Capitol Hill and from HUD, facts and updates about programs important to public and affordable housing, and news from CLPHA about our work on behalf of our members.
USER-FRIENDLY: The new CLPHA.org features sections on each of CLPHA's priorities: Public Housing, Housing Choice Vouchers, Moving to Work, RAD, and our cross-sector initiative Housing Is. Plus, dedicated sections for Legislation & Policy, Press, News & Events, and Membership.
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education.
Experts to Present First National Snapshot of Health Partnerships in Public Housing
Free Webinar Aug. 29, 12 PM ET
WASHINGTON (August 28, 2018) - Half of the nation’s public housing authorities (PHAs) are engaged in a resident health initiative, most with a health organization partner according to Health Starts at Home: A National Snapshot of Public Housing Authorities' Health Partnerships, the latest report released by the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) and the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC). The report provides the first national snapshot of PHA efforts to address residents’ health care needs and emphasizes opportunities for collaboration between the health and housing sectors.
Report authors Steve Lucas, MPH, CLPHA Health Research and Policy Manger for the Housing Is Initiative, Keely Stater, PHD, PAHRC Director of Research and Industry Intelligence, and Kelly McElwain, PAHRC Research Analyst III, will present their analysis during a free webinar on August 29, 2018 at 12:00 PM ET.
“Housing and health systems need to work together,” said Lucas, who designed and implemented the original survey that led to the report. “Public housing authorities are significant providers of housing to those in need, offering the health sector scale and expertise. We found that PHAs across the country are engaged in a wide range of partnerships with different health organizations that address various target populations and health priorities. Though there are barriers to housing-health collaboration, such as funding and staffing capacity, these can be overcome with cross-system partnerships that seek to address these needs.”
Lucas published the initial survey findings in an issue of CityScape, a research publication of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. The article, “Connecting Fragmented Systems: Public Housing Authority Partnerships with the Health Sector,” is posted to the HUD User website.
What: Free Webinar: Building PHA Health Initiatives and Cross-Sector Partnerships
When: Wednesday, August 29, 2018, 12:00 PM ET
WEBINAR RECORDING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5-jm5eF_YU&t=24s
Webinar Presenters
Steve Lucas, MPH
Health Research and Policy Manager, Housing Is Initiative,
Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
Keely Stater, PhD
Director of Research and Industry Intelligence,
Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation,
HAI Group's Research Division
Kelly McElwain
Research Analyst III,
Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation,
HAI Group's Research Division
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. CLPHA’s 70 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country. Together they manage 40 percent of the nation’s public housing program; administer 26 percent of the Housing Choice Voucher program; and operate a wide array of other housing programs. Learn more at clpha.org and on Twitter @CLPHA.
About Housing Is
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative helps establish, broaden, and deepen efforts to align affordable housing, education, and health systems to produce positive, long-term results. We are building a future where systems work together to improve life outcomes for low-income people. Learn more at HousingIs.org and on Twitter @Housing_Is.
CLPHA Opposes Administration Proposal to Increase Rent Burden on Lowest-Income Residents
WASHINGTON (May 14, 2018) - The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) strongly opposes the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) recently announced proposal to increase rent burdens on low-income residents residing in public housing and assisted housing.
The core of HUD’s rent reform proposal is to shift the burden of chronic federal underfunding of assisted housing to low-income residents who can least afford it. While there are advantages to a proposal that simplifies rent calculations and reduces administrative burdens for public housing authorities (PHAs), this proposal requires that PHAs raise rents in order to benefit from common sense rent simplification. Even with the benefit of housing assistance, many public housing residents are already spending more than 30% of their income on rent. A 2017 HUD study reported that the average Housing Choice Voucher recipient had a rent burden of 37% in 2015. Nationally, we represent PHAs serving residents in the most expensive housing markets in the country, where voucher holders are especially likely to have to incur high rent burdens to gain access to higher opportunity neighborhoods of their choice.
Given existing rent burdens, this proposal raises serious concerns about the negative impact the proposed rent calculations would have on residents. Through changes to 35% of unadjusted income for families and 30% of unadjusted income for the elderly and disabled, many assisted households would see significant rent increases. For example, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) estimates that public housing residents would see an average 36% rent increase while Housing Choice Voucher households would experience an average 23% rent increase. With an average annual household income of $21,000 for public housing residents and $16,000 for voucher holders served by HACLA, these increases represent substantial burdens that may interfere with a household’s ability to afford other necessities.
Beyond concerns regarding the fairness of further cost-burdening residents, there is some evidence to suggest that increased rents do not financially benefit PHAs and may have the opposite effect. When the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) implemented a HUD-mandated flat rent increase in 2014, impacted residents experienced an average rent increase of 46%. NYCHA saw their rent collection rate decrease among those impacted by the increase. NYCHA’s experience reflects the reality that increased rent payments only exacerbates affordability issues and puts more residents at risk of delinquency and eviction, resulting in more challenges for PHAs and less predictable revenue.
In addition to our concerns about the impacts of the proposed rent calculations, we note that the timing of these proposed changes are problematic for two reasons. First, some components of the proposal contradict important changes to housing assistance made through the recent federally enacted Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA) in 2016 by unanimous vote of the House and Senate. HUD has yet to publish implementation regulations for some of the key provisions in the bill. For example, HOTMA increased the deduction of medical expenses for elderly and disabled families and tied the deduction to inflation, while HUD’s proposal eliminates these deductions entirely. A significant number of elderly and disabled households currently use medical deductions, many of whom have substantial medical costs. We question the elimination of this deduction particularly when it is already undergoing a very different set of changes through congressionally-mandated HOTMA.
We also question the timing of these proposed changes given the fact that in 2012, HUD commissioned a four-site demonstration from MDRC to study several rent reform elements included in the proposal, including triennial recertification, elimination of income deductions, and ignorable asset limits. One of the research questions the demonstration is explicitly testing is whether these reforms reduce work disincentives and increase family self-sufficiency among families receiving vouchers. With results expected in 2019, HUD should use insights from the study to inform design of a rent reform model that most effectively promotes self-sufficiency.
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
CLPHA, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit organization working to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. It represents most of the nation’s largest public housing authorities.
April 9, 2021
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative |
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(202) 550-1381
For Immediate Release
March 31, 2021 |
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(Washington, D.C.) March 31, 2021 – Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, released the following statement upon President Biden’s announcement of the American Jobs Plan:
“The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities applauds President Biden’s transformative American Jobs Plan to reimagine and rebuild the American economy by centering housing as key to accomplishing the administration’s top priorities of economic impact, racial equity, and climate change. The $213 billion to produce, preserve, and retrofit more than one million housing units, with $40 billion targeted at the long-neglected public housing capital needs, is the size and scale that can move the needle on improving public housing infrastructure. CLPHA has called for a 10-year road map to recapitalize the public housing portfolio.
“The centrality of public and affordable housing means its impact reaches beyond shelter. It is also critical to other key elements of the American jobs plan including expanding broadband, improving childcare, and increasing health care opportunities. Public housing authorities are the most efficient delivery mechanism for these critical services because of their understanding of local needs, especially the needs of underserved communities of color. Public housing authorities stand ready to implement the bill when it becomes law.
CLPHA will work closely with Congress to ensure that the housing provisions are fully funded and remain central to the bill.”
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative |
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March 11, 2021
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(Washington, D.C.) March 11, 2021 – Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, released the following statement upon President Biden’s signing of the American Rescue Plan Act into law:
“The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities applauds President Biden for signing into law the groundbreaking American Rescue Plan Act. When combined with the $25 billion in emergency rental assistance in the previous relief bill, the total $45 billion in emergency rental assistance and $5 billion to prevent homelessness is scaled to the enormous scope of the rental crisis with more than 11 million renters behind on rent. The law is also historic in nature as it represents the largest federal investment since the creation of the Great Society programs more than 55 years ago, which launched what is now known as the Housing Choice Voucher program. Estimates show that the American Rescue Plan Act’s war on poverty will reduce the projected poverty rate this year by half. This historic investment in alleviating poverty and expanding housing opportunities constitutes one of the most significant steps towards ending racial inequity since the legislation passed during the Civil Rights Era.
"The American Rescue Plan acknowledges that housing stability for all Americans is essential to the economic well-being, racial equity, and public health of the nation. While this legislation directs critical federal investment to pandemic relief, new transformational federal investments will be needed to address the affordable housing crisis that was only exacerbated by the pandemic, including a 10-year roadmap to recapitalize the public housing portfolio and a permanent and significant expansion of the Housing Choice Voucher program.
"CLPHA looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to make stable housing a reality for all Americans."
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative |
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Pacific Standard quoted CLPHA Executive Director Sunia Zaterman in today's article "The Government Shutdown Could Decimate America's Subsidized Housing Programs." Of the partial government shutdown's impact on the housing market, Zaterman said, "Owners in many cities will be faced with financial disruption, foreclosure, or bankruptcy if they're not able to pay their mortgage or meet the other costs of the property... This really is going to ripple through the whole housing market system."
Zaterman added that the shutdown is likely to negatively impact landlords' perceptions of the HCV program and other federally funded rental assistance programs, observing that in light of the shutdown landlords may be discouraged from participating in the HCV program because now "[funding] is something an owner would have to calculate as a risk now that was previously not seen as a risk."
CLPHA’ Executive Director Sunia Zaterman spoke to Multi-Housing News about the disastrous effect the shutdown will have on not only on Housing Choice Voucher funding and other rental assistance programs, but also affordable housing projects, if it continues beyond February. Zaterman added that if the shutdown continues into March, for smaller landlords and property owners especially “there is a huge concern about the ripple effect and concerns about bankruptcy and foreclosure.”
However, as Zaterman noted in a January 16, 2019, joint press release accompanying a national conference call about the effects of the partial government shutdown on low-income people and communities and the affordable housing programs that serve them, the shutdown is already a catastrophe for millions who rely on HUD funding. “Anxious residents and landlords fearful of missed payments, combined with other cascading impacts due to lack of staffing at HUD, including program grants not being renewed and affordable housing development deals not being approved, amount to an unmitigated disaster for millions of low-income families,” said Zaterman.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development today issued additional information about HUD’s contingency plan so that PHAs administering the HCV program may access their HUD-held Housing Assistance Payment Reserves (HHR) under certain circumstances due the lapse in appropriations.
According to the letter, HAP renewal funds and Administrative Fees are scheduled to be paid on time for February, but HUD recognizes that the funds may not cover the monthly HAP needs as a result of additional leasing or costs.
HUD will allow access to HHR funds in situations where the failure to act “would result in an imminent threat to the safety of human life or the protection of property.”
PHAs may request HAP reserves from HUD under the following circumstances:
- To protect families that are imminent risk of termination of assistance; and/or
- PHAs that were eligible to receive a payment for January 2019 and did not receive it (e.g. first time RAD payments for a project) and need reserves to ensure that the property owner(s) receive(s) a HAP payment to continue assistance and protect the residents at the property.
Read the letter for instructions to request an additional payment covered by the HHR.
For more information on the shutdown’s impact on public and affordable housing, join today’s national conference call at 4:00 pm ET for insights from CLPHA and other housing industry experts. Click here to register.
As the partial government shutdown continues and creates more uncertainty for public housing authorities, CLPHA is collecting information on the impacts and effects of the government shutdown on housing authorities and residents.
We are particularly interested in examples regarding landlord willingness to accept new vouchers from HCV participants, and PHA decisions around issuing new vouchers.
We will be sharing your feedback with our media contacts and coalition partners (please let us know if you do not want your PHA’s name identified).
Please send any information to Emily Warren at ewarren@clpha.org as soon as possible.
CHCDF National Call to Learn About the Impacts of the Government Shutdown
CLPHA, as a member of the steering committee of the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding, will be participating in a national conference call on January 15 at 4:00 PM ET to provide updates on the latest information and guidance on how advocates can engage lawmakers to help end the shutdown.
In response to a January 5 Washington Post article focused on new research about where voucher holders live, CLPHA Executive Director Sunia Zaterman submitted a Letter to the Editor to emphasize examples of PHAs’ innovative housing mobility strategies. Although edited significantly for length, the version published in print and online describes landlord recruitment and retention efforts, and calls for additional local flexibilities and sufficient federal funding.
From the Los Angeles Sentinel:
Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (D-44) joined with residents, community leaders and city officials to celebrate the funding of $860,000 for beautification efforts at public housing developments in the Watts district of Los Angeles.
During a brief ceremony at Nickerson Gardens on April 18, Barragán presented a check to executive team members of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). The funds will support urban greening projects at multiple housing sites in Watts.
The funding was part of the legislation that Barragán voted to pass on March 9 to help lower costs for the middle class, create American jobs, and support the vulnerable. According to her office, a total of $7,535,000 will fund 10 local projects that directly benefit District 44 residents.
Read the Los Angeles Sentinel's article "HACLA Receives $860K to Support Urban Green Projects in Watts."
From WTKR Norfolk:
"It's a major development in the City of Norfolk Tuesday as city officials held a groundbreaking celebration for the Tidewater Gardens Transformation Project.
City officials say the city, the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RHA) and a host of officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gathered for the first phase of a long-awaited initiative in the St. Paul’s community.
“Transforming Tidewater Gardens is about more than bricks and mortar,” Mayor Kenny Alexander said. “This redevelopment initiative is about transforming lives with a holistic approach that uplifts families today and provides hope for better tomorrows.”"
Read WTKR Norfolk's article, "Norfolk holds groundbreaking for Tidewater Gardens Transformation Project," featuring the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
CLPHA to Highlight Finalists at Housing Is Summit May 18-19
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR) and the National Civic League recently announced the 2022 All-America City (AAC) Award finalists. This year, the AAC Award will recognize communities that are committed to improving the prospects for early school success and equitable learning recovery for the hundreds of thousands of children whose families are served by the nation’s public housing agencies and affordable housing organizations. CLPHA will also recognize the AAC Award finalists at our Housing Is Summit, held May 18-19 in Washington, D.C.
Of the twenty communities across the nation that have the opportunity to receive the coveted AAC Award, nine communities’ applications involved CLPHA member housing authorities:
- Atlanta, GA (Atlanta Housing)
- Barberton, OH (Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority)
- Chicago, IL (Chicago Housing Authority)
- El Paso, TX (Housing Opportunity Management Enterprises)
- Kansas City, MO (Housing Authority of Kansas City, MO)
- Los Angeles, CA (Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles)
- Louisville, KY (Louisville Metro Housing Authority)
- New Haven, CT (Elm City Communities)
- San Antonio, TX (San Antonio Housing Authority)
This year, the AAC Award will recognize communities that are committed to improving the prospects for early school success and equitable learning recovery for the hundreds of thousands of children whose families are served by the nation’s public housing agencies and affordable housing organizations. CLPHA congratulates our members and their civic partners on this prestigious honor!
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative works to elevate the importance of housing-education partnerships that support children’s literacy and education outcomes, and our PHA members have demonstrated an enduring commitment to improving literacy and school readiness for their residents. Through our longstanding partnership with CGLR, CLPHA was heavily involved in the marketing of this year’s AAC Award opportunity and the recruitment of our members and their cities to apply for this honor.
In addition to highlighting the ACC finalists at the 2022 Housing Is Summit, the Day 2 Summit plenary “Improving Literacy Through Cross-Sector Efforts” will feature CGLR, the Housing Authority of Kansas City, MO, and nonprofit Turn the Page KC discussing how a housing authority and local partner are working together to improve literacy outcomes and education skills attainment for low-income children in the Kansas City area. Learn more about how to register for the Summit here.
AAC Award finalists will present their community’s work to a panel of jurors, network with other finalists and take part in learning and engagement opportunities through a series of virtual sessions from July 19–21, 2022. AAC recipients will be formally announced and honored at a closing ceremony on July 21. The AAC Awards will be held in conjunction with GLR Week 2022, CGLR’s annual conference.
From the Yakima Herald:
The city of Yakima has added a new data point for tracking long-term housing progress in Yakima: completed units.
“One piece of data that was discussed during the Housing Action Plan process last year was tracking not just permits issued, but permits completed,” city Planning Manager Joseph Calhoun told the Yakima City Council Tuesday.
City staff members started counting new housing units as they became available to renters in August, Calhoun said, and the tally is updated each month. In total, 161 units were completed between August 2021 and February 2022, which just about meets the city’s housing development goal.
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Calhoun’s quarterly report included a list of housing projects that were recently approved or are currently being reviewed. Among those projects is a 10-unit duplex development at 1506 E. Beech St., a 54-unit development by the Yakima Housing Authority near 1100 Fruitvale Blvd., and two single family developments for a total of 55 lots.
Calhoun said there are currently 383 units recently approved or in the permitting process.
Read the Yakima Herald's article "Yakima is providing more information about new housing units in effort to meet goals," featuring the Yakima Housing Authority.
From The Journal Record:
Construction of an affordable housing development that has been in the planning stages for years could begin by fall if the Oklahoma City Council approves needed funding next week.
Phase One of the three-phase Creston Park Neighborhood Affordable Housing Project in northeast Oklahoma City was fully funded at one point, but rising construction costs have increased the amount needed, said Ian Colgan of the Oklahoma City Housing Authority.
OCHA and its nonprofit arm, the Community Enhancement Corp., are seeking a $1.25 million allocation of General Obligation Limited Tax Bond proceeds to close the gap. The total project cost was estimated at just under $40 million when the request was made and now is about $42 million, Colgan said Tuesday.
“Construction costs are an ongoing and fluctuating problem,” he said.
The city’s Economic Development Trust approved the $1.25 million allocation in July, and it was introduced to the City Council in September. A vote on the item was delayed at the request of Councilwoman Nikki Nice, who said she had concerns about the relocation of residents in current housing that will be demolished to make way for the new development.
The project site – along Martin Luther King Avenue between NE 26th and NE 29th streets – includes 159 housing units on 15 acres known as the Northeast Duplexes Public Housing as well as an additional 15 acres of vacant land to the east.
Phase One construction requires the demolition of 95 of the current housing units. Colgan said about half of the residents moved out on their own and OCHA’s relocation coordinator worked with the remaining 39 residents to relocate. They were offered moving expenses and their choice of a housing voucher, housing at another public housing location or a vacant unit on the site that is not being demolished until after the first phase is completed, he said.
“We’re offering the right of return (to a new unit) to everyone who wants it,” Colgan said.
The completed development will have four times the housing – 370 family homes, 60 independent senior units, and 150 assisted living/memory care units. It will be a mix of public housing and other affordable housing, Colgan said.
Plans also call for commercial space along Martin Luther King, a community center, a family resource center, an education center, a senior living center, activity fields and pocket parks.
“It’s a big project and one of the biggest investments in the northeast side,” Colgan said. “It’s one of the largest affordable housing developments in decades. It’s needed more than ever.”
Read The Journal Record's article "Northeast OKC housing development’s construction could begin by fall," featuring the Oklahoma City Housing Authority.