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Calling for the adoption and implementation the 2016 Assessment of Fair Housing report recently submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to meet the goals of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule.
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WHEREAS, In July of 2015, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) released the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (“AFFH”) rule, clarifying and simplifying existing fair housing obligations for jurisdictions receiving federal grants from HUD. The rule mandates that these jurisdictions analyze their fair housing landscape and set locally-determined fair housing priorities and goals through an Assessment of Fair Housing (“AFH”); and
WHEREAS, HUD charged these jurisdictions to study their housing patterns for racial bias and report the patterns they find to HUD as well as set goals to reduce housing segregation and propose remedies for how to achieve these goals; and
WHEREAS, Prior to the AFFH rule, participants were required only to mitigate or address housing impediments, but not to offer solutions to them; and
WHEREAS, To aid communities, HUD provided open data to grantees and the public on patterns of integration and segregation, racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, disproportionate housing needs, and disparities in access to opportunity; and
WHEREAS, This improved approach was designed to provide a better mechanism for HUD grantees to build fair housing goals into their existing community development and housing planning processes; and
WHEREAS, After a public comment period, the City of Philadelphia (“City”) and the Philadelphia Housing Authority (“PHA”) submitted their AFH report to HUD on December 23, 2016, becoming one of the first major cities to comply with the AFFH rule. This represented the first collaboration between the City and PHA on major housing plans; and
WHEREAS, The City and PHA identified 11 goals with 52 specific strategies in their final AFH report. The goals and strategies provide a framework for action to address fair housing issues and must inform future housing efforts, including upcoming Fiscal Year 2018 Consolidated Plan; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Urges Mayor Kenney’s Administration to adopt and implement the Assessment of Fair Housing report recently submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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