Summary: Congress is considering legislation that would give the nation's 3,300 public housing authorities greater flexibility in managing their properties and in operating public and assisted housing for more than 4 million households. This greater discretion is expected to strengthen the long-term viability of public and assisted housing and allow the public housing authorities to better meet the needs of local communities. Before the pending housing reform legislation was introduced, public housing authorities had begun establishing partnerships with public and private sector groups to help stretch limited financial resources. Some partnerships have generated quantifiable cost savings, while others have produced nonmonetary benefits, such as improved social services, that would not have been possible without the partnership. This report describes four types of arrangements that public housing authorities have established and provides the views of public housing authority officials on the advantages of these arrangements.
