Housing Authority of Baltimore City:  Section 8 Mobility Counseling Program

Throughout much of the 20th century, housing policy in the United States concentrated low-income families in public housing projects, which were typically built in racially segregated, inner-city neighborhoods. The policy resulted in the construction of massive public high-rise housing developments that concentrated thousands of poor minority families in very small areas. It is now widely recognized that the policy was misguided. The areas of concentration were marred by blight, unemployment, high rates of crime, and poorly performing, segregated schools. 

In recent years, the federal Section 8 housing voucher program has replaced public housing as the nation’s principal form of low-income rental housing assistance. In Baltimore City (and elsewhere) public housing projects are being demolished and replaced with Section 8 vouchers, which allow tenants to rent housing in the private rental market. Families with vouchers typically pay approximately 30 percent of their income in rent, with the vouchers covering the remainder of the market price for moderately priced rental units. 

Although Section 8 has the potential to enable families to escape the concentrated poverty and blight of the inner city, in practice their options are often limited to low-income and transitional neighborhoods where landlords are more willing to accept Section 8 vouchers and to lease to lowincome families. Moreover, some Section 8 families are reluctant to move away from familiar neighborhoods where family and friends live, and where their churches, schools and other support networks are located. Others are simply unfamiliar with neighborhoods outside the City and may not know how to find rental housing in suburban neighborhoods; still others have financial barriers to renting housing in the private market, where landlords scrutinize credit histories and require security deposits before families can move in.  

To help families overcome these and other barriers and to move into economically stable, racially integrated neighborhoods outside Baltimore City, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City contracted with two private agencies to provide counseling and supportive services to families with Section 8 vouchers. These agencies counsel clients about the benefits of moving to “nonimpacted” neighborhoods outside the City, work with families to repair any credit problems they may have, recruit landlords in suburban neighborhoods who are willing to rent to participants in the program, and help clients identify apartments that meet their needs. The programs also provide post-placement counseling and support for at least one year after the move to assist each family in making a smooth transition to its new community and to help resolve problems that may arise between the family and the new landlord. 

Some families who want to participate in these programs have been unable to save the funds needed for a security deposit or other move-related expenses. To overcome this barrier, The Abell Foundation awarded a grant of $82,500 to the Housing Authority of Baltimore City to help defray the cost of security deposits for families in these programs, and to provide transit vouchers and passes to assist program participants with the cost of employment-related travel during the first year after they move. All families who participate in the programs are required to save money toward the cost of the move, with savings goals determined case by case. Families that cannot pay all the expenses associated with a move are offered grants of up to $500 to help defray the costs of security deposits. When these families move out of program-subsidized apartments and security deposits are refunded, these funds go back into the grant program to assist other families. In addition, families that do not have cars and that need assistance paying for public transportation for work-related activities (job training, job interviews, or travel to work), will receive grants of up to $75 to pay for bus passes and/or public transportation vouchers.