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#9 Final Infographic

Works Cited

Coalition For The Homeless. “Proven Solutions.” Coalition For The Homeless, 2019, www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/ending-homelessness/proven-solutions/.

Feinstein, Dianne. “Combating Homelessness – Senator Dianne Feinstein – Medium.” Medium.com, Medium, 29 June 2016, medium.com/@SenFeinstein/combating-homelessness-3fe61fcc85b4.

Haggerty, Rosanne. “Ending Veteran Homelessness: Nine Things Every Community Can Do.” Homelessness Is a Solvable Problem | Community Solutions, 15 Nov.  2011, www.community.solutions/blog/ending-veteran-homelessness-nine-things-every-community-can-do.

Housing California l Sacramento, CA, Housing California, 2018, www.housingca.org/.

“Jeremy Alder.” Best MSW Programs, Best Masters in Social Programs, 30 July 2014, www.bestmswprograms.com/mental-illness-homelessness-criminal-behavior/.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits | HUD USER, USA.gov, 2012, www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/summer12/highlight1.html.

“Mental Illness and Homelessness: 3 Ways Communities Can Help.” Bitfocus, Inc., BitFocus, Inc., 25 Oct. 2017, bitfocus.com/human-services-topics/mental-illness-homelessness-help/.

Tim Winter. “Addiction Among The Homeless Population.” Sunrise House,  American Addiction Center, 18 Aug. 2017, sunrisehouse.com/addiction-demographics/homeless-population/.

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Civic Action Assessment of Issue

1. It is my job to be a respectful, caring citizen in my community. As a citizen in the U.S. I have the agency to choose to be an upstanding citizen. My desire to do good as a citizen should come from my pride for my community and country. 

2. In this class I have learned about how civic responsibility can shape our community and how it affects me and my peers. Civic responsibility is taken on by oneself by choice. It is the things that we feel we have the responsibility to do, accomplish and uphold as citizens.

3. I do feel it is my civic obligation, especially since lives and livelihoods are on the line. It is a heavy civic obligation because my issue is widespread and affects the whole country. I feel this way because I sympathize with the families that are displaced and the people left out in the cold to live in terrible conditions.

4. On October 31, along with three other seniors in the Andersquad, I presented on my issue and the effects that Prop 10 would have on my issue during lunch. 10 or 15 students came so that they could be informed before going into the election. On December 8, and other Saturdays in previous months, I went to take food to the homeless with the ECAP organization.

5. I have been and am willing to continue to be of service to the homeless in my community.

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Executive Action Assessment of Issue

1. President Trump does not share his stance on the lack of affordable housing and homelessness. He does, however, share his views on poverty. He believes that the solution for advancing people out of poverty is by getting them back to work. He also believes strongly that veterans deserve more from our society and therefore don’t deserve to fall through the cracks and end up homeless.

2. I agree with his statements, but they are very general. I think that he needs to provide much more information on my issue because it is very prevalent today. I wish that he would do more than stating the issue and give more on how he plans to make the changes.

3. The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) manages my issue.

4. Mission Statement: The Department of Housing and Urban Development administers programs that provide housing and community development assistance. The Department also works to ensure fair and equal housing opportunity for all.

5.  Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D. is the secretary of the department. He is a politician who used to be a neurosurgeon and is also an author. He is not professionally qualified to lead this department, but rather is a political appointment because of his political party, which is republican. Unfortunately, this does not mean good things for this department because he doesn’t have professional experience with housing and urban development. He may not have as big of a positive impact as a trained professional would.

6. After looking at the program offices, I can see that the Housing office would be most suitable in responding to my issue. This is because it includes the Federal Housing Administration and manages the Project-Based Rental Assistance program. It also supports housing for the elderly and those with disabilities. Through the Office of Housing Counseling, the HUD provides housing counseling assistance.

7. After looking at the President’s website and Cabinet programs, I can see that his executive action on my issue is not sufficient. He barely provides information on his stance toward my issue and has not made any improvements or major steps toward overcoming my issue. This department is one that President Trump wants to cut funding for. Decreasing funding for this issue in 2019 will drastically hurt many families as well as elderly people across the nation who rely on housing support that comes from The Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

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Legislative Action

1.  a. DeSaulnier Is an advocate for more affordable housing in California and actively works to put an end to this as he sees the nation on the brink of a housing crisis.

Senator Harris believes that the lack of affordable housing has left “too many families behind who struggle each month to keep a roof over their head.”

Senator Feinstein recognizes that affordable housing in California, and especially its main cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, is very limited and extremely high.

b. DeSaulnier introduced a bill that would create a federal Office of Housing Innovation. This office would provide grants across the U.S. for local housing plans, initiate community discussions about smart and safe growth and planning, and supervise pilot projects for housing development.

Senator Harris introduced a bill called The Rent Relief Act, which would create a new refundable tax credit for families affected by this crisis.

Senator Feinstein endorsed Senator Harris’ bill, which has been deemed one of the most ambitious Senate proposals to try to lower high rent prices.

2. a. Yes, there are 20 bills that pertain to my issue.

b. House Bill 1047

c. This bill would allow non profit organizations to use federal funding to provide rental assistance, just like the state and federal governments do.

d. This bill would impact non profits to give long-term rental assistance under the Continuum of Care Program. It would also have an impact on public housing agencies, the local and State governments, and the HUD.

e. I would vote yea because this bill can provide non profits to work smaller on a community level to allow struggling families assistance that will ensure a roof over their heads.

f.  The bill originated in the House. Committees that reviewed the bill include the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services. The House passed the bill on July 14, 2015.

g. I am not satisfied with the current federal legislation on my issue of lack of affordable housing and homelessness because most of the legislation seems like bandaids to the problem and are all over the place, when there should be a consistent and steady plan to combat this national crisis.

3. “California would guarantee a bed for every homeless person under new bill” by Melody Gutierrez.

The subject of this article is the “right to shelter” policy that was proposed by Senator Scott Wiener.

The context of this article is California because every homeless person in California would be positively impacted by this bill.

The intended audience is the public so that they can understand the impacts of this proposed bill and be able to vote on it eventually.

The article seems to be generally unbiased, however, it doesn’t address any negative points toward the bill and therefore seems to be in favor of the bill.

The significance of this article is that if the bill passes, thousands of people across California would be guaranteed a bed that don’t have one. The bill would set homeless people up to transitioning into long-term housing and would help put an end to the issue I am researching; homelessness.

I agree with the article because I think that everyone deserves a bed and at least a chance to get themselves on their feet so that they can find end up finding a permanent bed.

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State Action

1. Assembly Member Baker and State Senator Glazer

a. Baker believes that there is a shortage of affordable housing in California and supports streamlining state and local regulation that makes it harder to build new housing. She supports doubling the renter’s tax credit. It is very hard to find State Senator Glazer’s position on affordable housing and homelessness as their is no information on his position on his website or on popular websites like votesmart.org and ballotpedia.org. I found that Glazer claimed a bill to build affordable housing near BART was unnecessary due to construction and development already going on at many stations.

b. I agree with Catherine Baker that we shouldn’t be passing regulation that makes it harder to build new housing. However, I do not understand, or do not have enough information, why the renter’s tax credit should be doubled. I don’t agree with Steve Glazer on this issue because he doesn’t even take a stance on it and is clearly not working to create solutions for this issue.

c.  Baker voted for $1 billion in funding for veteran housing. She also co-authored bills that make it easier for home-buyers to make down payments on their home. Glazer has not sponsored any bills related to my issue. He has only been an outspoken critic against a bill related to BART and my issue.

2. a. Senate Bill No. 2

b. December 5, 2016

c. The bill enacted the Building Homes and Jobs Act when it was approved on September 29, 2017.The bill imposes a recording fee to be deposited in the Building Homes and Jobs fund.  It requires that redevelopment agencies set aside 20% of tax increment for affordable housing. It requires that 50% of the money in the fund be made available to local governments and 50% available to the Department of Housing and Community Development. The purpose of this bill was to create a healthy housing market and provide affordable housing opportunities as soon as it went in to effect.

d. I feel that the bill is beneficial, however, very confusing and difficult to understand. From what I took away from it though, this bill helped to create funding to build homes in California, helping to provide affordable housing. It also helps create and fund jobs, solving one of the issues that often leads directly to homelessness. I think I would encourage my representatives to support, I just would want to make sure I am more informed on the details of this bill.

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The 3 Ps Assessment: Parties, Political Interest Groups, and PACs

A.  The Republican party believes that there should be no discrimination in the mortgage industry, that zoning decisions should be made local, that responsible homeownership should be advanced, and that the federal role in the housing market should be scaled back. The Democrat party wants to increase funding for the National Housing Trust Fund, increase funding to end homelessness, and keep the housing market robust. The Libertarian party does not have a position, most likely because their party platform is smaller than the platforms of the Republican and Democrat party. The Libertarian platform doesn’t include positions on many of the issues included in other main party platforms. The Peace and Freedom party wants non-profit community-controlled housing, enforced local affordable housing quotas, and community renovation programs to create moderate-income housing.                                                                                B. I agree with the Republican party in that there should no be discrimination involved in this issue, however, I am not sure how I feel about their other positions because I don’t completely understand them. I agree with Democratic party in that it wants to increase funding to many programs that could potentially decrease the extent of the crises. I think that some of the positions of the Peace and Freedom party could be beneficial to the affordable housing crises, however, I don’t think that they have solutions that go beyond the community and local level, as well as work long term.

C. I identify with the Democratic party’s position the most because it is the least vague and general and has a clear plan and steps in place to work toward solving this issue. I am not sure whether or not I would vote for the presidential candidate from this party because my vote would come down to much more than just this issue.

2. A. CASA in Action

B. This interest group cares about working people and how affordable their housing is. It also focuses strongly on immigration.

C. 1.The website shows pictures of protests having to do with immigration, supporting the fact that this interest group fights for immigrant and working families. 2.After looking at the website, I can see that this group is much more focused on supporting immigrants than pushing for affordable housing. 3.The description on votesmart.org was misleading to this group’s position because it largely focuses on immigration and there is very little to be found on the website about affordable housing. 4.Their work statement represents their main goal of endorsing candidates that will bring more Latinos and voters of color to the polls. 5.Casa in Action works specifically to influence politics in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, in an effort to get democratic candidates that support their interest group into office.

D. One current candidate that CASA in Action endorses is Tim Kaine. Tim Kaine, from Virginia, is part of the Democratic party and is running for U.S. senate.

E. This interest group is located in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. There are no local meetings that I could attend as CASA in Action is based on the east coast.

F. The volunteer opportunities include phone banking and door-to-door canvassing. Volunteers can be part of mobilization events and activities, as well as digital mobilization.

G. I find it interesting that the website has a whole section, or page, devoted to the press and current news that is posted about their special interest group. It is also fascinating to see the pictures on the website of all the protests they put on or attend, where members are always wearing CASA in Action t-shirts.

3. A. Housing California

B. Housing California is the voice for children, seniors, and families that are homeless and everyone who is in need of affordable housing.

C. 1. The website shows that they advocate for not only affordable housing, but safe affordable housing located in prosperous communities. 2. This interest group reaches its goals through outreach, education, and advocacy. 3. They try to influence where homes are built and make sure the land is used efficiently. 4. They increase and protect public investment in affordable housing. 5. They improve programs for homelessness and protect and increase funding for successful solutions.

D. Housing California supports Prop 1, 2, and 10. On the website it explains that Prop 10 will “provide more housing stability, protect families, and make California more affordable for us all” as well as “repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, allowing local jurisdictions more flexibility with rent control measures.”

E. This interest group is located in Sacramento, California. There are workshops in Sacramento that will take place in April that I could go to.

F. There aren’t any volunteer opportunities that I can find. However, there are emails that I can sign up for to remain informed about Props 1, 2, and 10. If I wanted to I could become a member or donate.

G. I find it interesting that within Housing California, there is another group called Residents United Network (RUN), which is focused on equitable policy solutions. I think it is cool that Housing California holds an annual conference every year to discuss different issues and proposals.

4. Both interest groups seem very successful. It is hard to compare them as they are working to implement change, just on different sides of the country. They have different focuses, with CASA in Action focused on immigration and housing issues and Housing California more specifically focused on the issue that I have been researching and studying. Both interest groups have remained very active and work to pass legislation and endorse candidates that agree with them.

5. A. Council for Affordable and Rural Housing

B. This PAC is the nation’s premier association for participants in the affordable rural housing profession and works to create affordable housing specifically in rural areas.

C. They have raised no money this year and have spent $3,022. They have $38,598 on hand.

D. They gave $2,500 to the My Cmte Carh PAC and $155 to Wells Fargo Bank. They did not put any of their money toward Republicans or Democrats.

E. They don’t have any donors this year. This reflects their seemingly inactive presence in 2018 and their steady decline in spending and raising money over the past few years.

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Constitutional Assessment

Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker

Date Decided: March 26, 2002

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and Paragraph 9 of the leases of the tenants of the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) both state that if tenants of federally assisted low-income housing are linked to drug related activity, then they can be evicted. 4 tenants had relations to people involved in drug-related criminal activity and were evicted. The tenants claimed that the Act doesn’t require them to be evicted because they were innocent, unlike their guests or members of their household.

Does the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, as amended, allow local public housing agencies to evict tenants for drug-related activity of non-tenant relatives or guests regardless of whether tenants knew, or should have known, about the activity?

The district courts ruled against the Oakland Housing Authority.

The precedent this decision establishes is that tenants of federally assisted low-income housing can host people relating to drug activity and not be evicted.

I agree with the court’s decision because I don’t think that tenants that aren’t using drugs should be evicted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/business/economy/california-rent-control-tenants.html

The subject of the article is about citizens of California pushing for Proposition 10 to undo restrictions placed on city governments that prevent them from making rental restrictions. This contributes to a housing shortage because it drives rental rates.

The author is Conor Dougherty.

Context is that usually home ownership releases the pressure that drives rent prices, but home prices have sky rocketed in California, and it no longer keeps rental prices in check.

The intended audience is the citizens of California because they can vote for Proposition 10.

The piece is subjective and the author is biased because his perspective is that Proposition 10 should be passed.

The article is significant because it is recent and was published less than ten days ago. It is significant to me because it is about a possible law in California. i agree with the article because I think that it is important that the government in California focuses on trying to reduce homelessness and improve the lack of affordable housing.

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Media Assessment of Issue

Article 1: https://www.npr.org/2017/12/06/568605069/homeless-population-rises-driven-by-west-coast-affordable-housing-crisis

S: Homelessness may appear to be getting better because of nationwide statistics, especially in regards to veterans, however, in the West Coast and big cities, it is only getting worse because rents are going up faster than incomes.

A: The author is Pam Fessler, an author of NPR that covers poverty, homelessness, and philanthropy. She specializes in areas that cover the issue I am researching, which gives her credibility in this article.

C: The article was written within the last year, on December 6, 2017. It was published on NPR, which produces unbiased news.

A: The article is meant for local governments, communities, and nonprofit organizations to let them know that they have the ability to impact the issue of homelessness.

P: This piece is objective. It represents different perspectives like how some believe the government is not doing enough to help the issue, while others believe that it is not just up to the government to throw money at the issue.

S: Different types of evidence are used throughout the article, such as quotes from HUD officials, statistics on whether homelessness has gone up or down within specific places, and information from HUD secretary Ben Carson.

I agree with this article because I think that there is more than just one government or organization that plays a role in resolving this issue or at least working to make significant improvements.

Article 2: http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/363952-lack-of-affordable-housing-in-tax-bill-is-a-ticking-time-bomb

S: The tax bill has been altered so that less affordable housing is provided for people below the poverty line, when even the original didn’t provide enough housing for all the poor.

A: The author is Joseph Margulies, an opinion contributor and a professor of Law and Government at Cornell. His occupation shows his credibility in writing on the government and its role in affordable housing and homelessness.

C: The article was published last year on 12/08/17, making it no longer as relevant as it was at the time because by now, the Tax Bill has already been passed.

A: This article is meant for the government, specifically the House and Senate, to take notice on how the Tax Bill isn’t doing enough. It is also meant to inform the public of the dire situation.

P: This piece is subjective, the author believes that the government isn’t doing enough to provide housing for people under the poverty line.

S: Different sources of evidence are used, for example, there are statistics from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there is detailed info about the LIHTC, and research and studies on the effects of the LIHTC housing units on crime are referenced.

I agree with this article because it explains how affordable housing for poor people improves their health and reduces crime.

Article 3: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/05/america-homeless-population-2017-official-count-crisis

S: Lack of affordable housing is causing homelessness not only to drag on longer than expected, but increase.

A: Alastair Gee wrote this article. Because she wrote this from San Francisco, one of the cities focused on in this article, it gives her credibility.

C: This article was published on 12/06/17, but was modified in July, making it more recent. It was published on the West Coast, where the article specifically writes about.

A: This piece seems to have been written to inform the public, especially on the West Coast.

P: The article is subjective, making the point that the government is not doing enough and should be constructing and providing more housing.

S: The evidence provided comes from government studies from different studies, quotes from mayors, and information given by workers at organizations for the homeless.

I agree with this article because it is in favor of more affordable housing being constructed and provided for the poor that are left homeless without this help.

The similarity between these three accounts of my issue is that they all agree that one of the roots of the problem is the lack of affordable housing. However, they all have differences that make them stand out separately. The article from NPR shows that more organizations and more than just the federal government can play a role in providing affordable housing. The article from The Guardian describes homelessness as everybody’s problem and focuses less on the federal government than the other articles. The article from The Hill points out the flaws of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and explains the effects on health and crime that a sufficient LIHTC would provide.

I find myself identifying with all three sources for different reasons, but I identify most with the article from NPR because it teaches people that not only is it important for the government to actively try to solve the issue, but it is everybody’s problem and responsibility as well. I think that this is a valuable lesson. This article is sort of the median of the three articles.

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Conceptualizing the Issue and Assessing Types of Action

The civic action issue I chose is the lack of affordable housing and homelessness because I think this is an issue very close to home, in places like San Francisco and Oakland. This is an important issue as it has an impact on people’s lives, their quality of living, and overall well-being.

When there is a lack of affordable housing, people end up on the streets because they can’t afford their rent. When neighborhoods are gentrified and made more expensive, those that were living their before end up with no home because they can’t afford the new rates. This is an issue that affects over a million people in the United States.

I think that in order to address this issue, cities need to create and ensure affordable housing, rather than making empty promises. When people’s lives are at risk, this is issue should clearly become a top priority. Some articles suggest that tax money that comes from the people that move into expensive housing can serve as funds in creating affordable housing.

On twitter, I am following @rethinkhomelessness, @naehomelessness, @londonbreed, @libbyschaaf, and @namiadvocacy because they will give me other perspectives on my issue, as well as update me on current news in my area, regarding my issue. I find it interesting that one of the tweets explains that in order to improve homelessness, we first must change our views or responses toward it.

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The low income residents that are displaced due to gentrification are either forced to move to another neighborhood that is likely to go through gentrification in a few years or they become a part of the homeless population

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homeless people wouldn't adjust well to having a home, as though poor people are skittish feral cats or something?? lmao yeah dogs, loud noises, and housing stability frighten us and we really like balls of yarn

Except people treat feral cats better than they treat homeless humans.

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