LegiStorm

Summary:

The Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration program was created by Congress in 1996 to give the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) the flexibility to test alternative policies for providing housing assistance through the nation's two largest housing assistance programs: the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program and the public housing program. The alternative policies are meant to increase the cost-effectiveness of assisted housing programs, promote the self-sufficiency of assisted families, and increase housing choices for low-income families. The more than 30 PHAs currently participating in the demonstration have adopted a wide range of new policies that would not have been possible under the traditional rules governing assisted housing programs. Participating PHAs have merged their various federal funding streams and used their merged, "block grant" funding to undertake new activities, including supportive services for residents, development of new affordable housing, and the restructuring of traditional public housing. MTW PHAs have also changed their rent policies in ways that may raise rents for some tenants, but may also improve incentives for families to increase earnings. Some PHAs have adopted policies that place new conditions on assistance, such as time limits and work requirements. And PHAs have undertaken changes to streamline administration of the program, such as modifying their quality inspection procedures. The way the demonstration program was designed—allowing for a wide variety of activities—and issues with data collection have meant that no systematic evaluation of the outcome of the policies adopted by MTW agencies has been undertaken. However, HUD has made efforts to increase and standardize data collection within the MTW demonstration program, which may make such an evaluation more feasible in the future. Both supporters and critics of the program have made observations about how the flexibility provided under MTW has been used, and those observations have influenced the policy debate about the future of the demonstration. Critics of the demonstration have argued that MTW agencies have been given unprecedented flexibilities, yet there is little understanding of the impacts those flexibilities have had on the lives of low-income families. Supporters of the demonstration have argued that the flexibility of MTW has allowed participating PHAs to serve more families in unique, improved, and cost-effective ways. These competing perceptions of MTW have translated to conflicting calls to end the program, change the program, or expand the program. To some extent, these conflicting visions of the future of the program reflect different ideas about the program's purpose. Should MTW be used as a testing ground for evaluating innovative policies for the delivery of assisted housing? Or, should something like MTW replace the major housing assistance programs? Regardless of whether Congress chooses to make changes to the MTW program, the policies adopted by participating PHAs appear to be influencing debates about assisted housing programs. Several of the policies adopted by MTW agencies are under consideration as permanent reforms for the public housing and Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher programs. As Congress considers the reform of federal housing assistance programs, policymakers may continue to look to lessons from the MTW demonstration program for insight.