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Conditions solve for public housing
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Conditions solve for public housingConditions solve for public housing Peter H. Schuck and Richard J. Zeckhauser- Analysts for the Brookings institution- 2006- Targeting in Social Programs Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples – page- 90-92 In the decade since the Escalera decree was modified, NYCHA’s officials say, the agency’s use of the expedited eviction process has helped stem the tide of drug trafficking in its projects. This in turn has contributed to the stunning decline in the crime rate in the city as a whole. During this period, however, a major limitation in the usefulness of the Bawdy House law became apparent. That law only authorizes proceedings in the case of illegal “business,” not in cases involving more isolated incidents or violence apart from economic gain—such as mere intimidation, turf warfare, or fighting, all common occurrences. For this reason, NYCHA could not use it to remove tenants engaged in criminal activity that did not constitute a business or enterprise. To remedy this situation, in June 2004 Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans for Operation Safe Housing, a streamlined and prioritized process for evicting criminal activity that the Bawdy House law did not cover, particularly the most serious sex crimes, gun violations, and drug offenses that did not constitute trafficking. The program, inaugurated in January 2005, created a streamlined adjudication process within NYCHA and also in a special part of the city’s housing court. A new chief hearing officer was assigned with the sole responsibility of hearing eviction charges against the worst apples whose offenses appeared on a specific priority list developed with the police department. Improved coordination with the police through a designated contact person for NYCHA cases accelerated the preparation of the police reports and forensic work needed to support prompt eviction, and also allowed for police officers to be available to testify at the hearing. NYCHA reorganized its internal management of the eviction process for these priority cases, with new systems for file coding, training, and utilizing its attorneys and investigators, thereby reducing the number and length of agency-caused delays. 92 Removing Bad Apples Although Operation Safe Housing has been in effect for only a short period, one result is already clear. In the first 635 eviction cases under the new procedure, the average time from the commencement of the process to its resolution— such as actual termination of the tenancy, probation, permanent exclusion of one or more persons in the household, and lesser remedies—has been cut by more than two-thirds, from nine months to less than three months. Assuming that the Escalera judge was correct to find that speedy eviction of bad apples improves the safety and quality of life of good apple families in the projects, this acceleration of the process constitutes an immense gain, achieved at what appears to be modest cost and with no sacrifice of due process.61 If these encouraging results continue, NYCHA plans to expand the program to fraud and violent crimes not now covered by Operation Safe Housing. This program represents a remarkable success. It shows that the worst of the bad apples can be removed from the projects more swiftly while maintaining procedural safeguards. And this success has been achieved in one of the most politically liberal communities in the country. The so-called barment process represents another promising approach Conditions key when dealing with homelessTheir plan to move people from shelters to housing just shift the issue of bad apples- the Counterplans conditions are uniqley key in the context of homelessness Peter H. Schuck and Richard J. Zeckhauser- Analysts for the Brookings institution- 2006- Targeting in Social Programs Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples – page- 90-92 Shelters have a substantial bad apples problem. The dangerous misconduct ranges from smoking in bed and creating fire risks, to alcohol and drug abuse and trafficking on the premises, to brandishing of weapons and other threatening behavior, to fighting and physical violence against both staff and fellow residents. The three main categories of bad apple behavior—what the agencies label as serious misconduct—are violence or active illegal conduct, unreasonable rejection of suitable housing, and violation of the individualized “independent living plan.” All residents must negotiate such a plan with the shelter, which commits them to pursuing treatment for substance abuse, searching for available housing units, applying for entitlements, and so forth. If the serious misconduct continues, the agency can recommend that an individual be excluded from the shelter system for a maximum of thirty days unless he or she terminates the misconduct before then. (In contrast to individuals, misbehaving families escape even this sanction. In a remarkable example of an incentive that actually rewards bad appledom, the only available sanction against a family is to place it in permanent housing.) Net benefit- quality of lifeWhen it comes to public housing, just a few bad apples spoils the bunch- They create a vicious cycle where the good apples move away- the CP is key to preserve quality of life in publish housing Peter H. Schuck and Richard J. Zeckhauser- Analysts for the Brookings institution- 2006- Targeting in Social Programs Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples – page- 33 We investigated how the bad apples problem is handled by New York City’s public housing agency, which is reputed to be among the most progressive, well-managed in the country.55 The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing authority in the country, with approximately 417,000 authorized residents (5.2 percent of the city’s population) in 180,000 units in 345 developments consisting of almost 2,700 residential buildings, which contain more than 3,300 elevators. NYCHA residents and Section 8–voucher holders occupy 12.7 percent of the city’s total rental housing stock. Almost 40 percent of the residents are younger than 21 years of age, and the vast majority are under the age of 18. The waiting list for apartments is long (145,000 families toward the end of 2005), and waits of many years are common.56 NYCHA officials estimate the incidence of bad apples among NYCHA residents to be quite low, perhaps 0.5 percent, yet they insist that “just a few bad apples can ruin an entire building.” Sometimes, there are more than a few. For example, at one complex, Redfern Houses, the police made 27 felony arrests in one day for drug sales on the site. Drug trafficking activity had, in effect, confiscated the public areas from use by other tenants. Seniors were forced to remain inside, and children could not play on the grounds of the complex. The perpetrators filled the hallways with the stench of urine, monopolized the lobbies, broke the locks and doors, prevented legitimate residents from using the elevators, and kept the elevators out of service. Such conditions can readily create a (literally) vicious circle in which chronically disruptive tenants drive away law-abiding ones. Our discussion here focuses on bad apples in the projects who harm other tenants. But bad apples also inflict significant costs on the housing authority; thus drunkenness leads to fire damage in an apartment, and lack of personal hygiene creates infestations. Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 350.73 Kb. Share with your friends:
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