Public Housing Resident Engagement and Transition

Author: Laurie Walker

Dissertation School: Colorado Seminary, University of Denver

Abstract:

The focus of this study is Concentrated Urban Poverty (CUP) neighborhoods and the emerging responses to this phenomenon. CUP neighborhoods are frequently described as a social problem in that they are seen as undesirable and yet have potential for change. Residents of these neighborhoods require public subsidies to provide housing and food, as well as public problem solving and resource investment within the housing, educational, criminal and health systems in order to meet the basic social needs and overcome barriers to self-sufficiency. There are a range of interventions to address urban neighborhoods with a concentration of poverty; the two that are the focus of this study are Transit-Oriented Mixed Income Redevelopments and Community Organizing, both of which have been found to improve neighborhood and individual outcomes (Berube, 2006; Foster-Fishrnan, Cantillon, Pierce, & Van Egeren, 2007; Joseph, 2006; Joseph, 2008; Ohmer & Beck, 2006; Popkin et al, 2004).

An emerging process that enables capacity building and community involvement in decisionmaking is Evidence Based Practice (EBP), which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has begun to practice (Engdahl & Cisneros, 2009). EBP is a knowledge sharing process that seeks to balance three different perspectives: 1) the best available evidence, 2) professional judgment, and 3) client perspectives in order to create change for vulnerable populations (Edmond, 2009). The best available evidence of the HOPE V1 program shows that: 1) Concentrated Urban Poverty neighborhoods limit the opportunities and outcomes of low-income families (Boston, 2005; Kelly, 2005; Mathers & Rivers, 2006), 2) resident readiness for Transit-Oriented Mixed Income Redevelopment can be predicted by social cohesion, organizational collective efficacy, and having a transition and/or relocation plan (Walker, 2009). 3) resident outcomes vary based on where residents move during HOPE V1 redevelopments (Barrett, 2003; Popkin, 2007; Popkin & Cunningham, 2009), and 4) residents may require different levels of support to transition and relocate to new housing during redevelopment processes (Boyd, 2008; Howard, 2010; Theodos et al, 2009). Professional judgment regarding the HOPE VI program indicates that mixed-income policy, while necessary because of housing problems and the distress experienced by residents has not always benefited public housing residents and their surrounding neighbors (Crowley, 2009). Engaging residents of neighborhoods currently facing Mixed Income Redevelopment in in-depth interviews could elaborate on resident perspectives for why previous outcomes have been found (Boyd, 2008; Foster-Fishman et al, 2007).

Three research questions are proposed that will focus on resident readiness for change, their collective involvement in neighborhood organizations, and an assessment of the services needed during transition and/or relocation planning. The study uses a mixed methods design in order to develop theory and knowledge with a more holistic representation of interest from interpretive and empirical perspectives (Clark & Creswell, 2008). Research question one will use existing quantitative survey data collected during an Office of University Partnerships - Early Doctoral Student Research Grant (EDSRG) to build a model predicting resident readiness for Transit-Oriented Mixed Income Redevelopment and then use new in-depth interviews to describe in current public housing authority residents words why the model successfully predicts their readiness. Research question two will build a structural equation model predicting resident involvement in neighborhood community organizing, community development and Local Resident Council organizations, which will also be elaborated on with the new in-depth interviews to describe why they are or are not involved in neighborhood organizations. Research question three will use an assessment of resident needs for supportive services during transition and/or relocation planning in order to test the hypothesis of Theodos et a1 (2010), which states that residents can be assessed for the level of case management support needed based on their membership in either a thriving, aging and distressed, or high risk group as a household. Research question three will also include an open-ended interview with residents asking them to respond to previous HOPE VI outcomes for residents and what supports they expect residents will need in order to have more economically and socially sustainable outcomes. Together the research questions test new ideas and improve evidence based decision making of local organizations to create inclusive and sustainable Transit-Oriented Mixed Income communities (HUD, 2010, Goal 4E: Strategies 1 and 2).

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