Residential Mobility and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

Résumé du livre

Abstract: The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program was initiated through the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 with policy goals of promoting mixed-income neighborhoods and residential mobility. Prior evaluations of the HCV program find that HCV program recipients are residing in lower-poverty neighborhoods when compared to other low-income renter, yet yield mixed results in regard to desegregation and quality of neighborhoods. This study builds on prior evaluations of HCV program policy goals using a mixed-methods approach by examining the factors that predict residential mobility of the HCV program recipients and their residential outcomes in terms of change in poverty and change in racial composition in neighborhoods. Administrative data from the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) was utilized for this study (N=1000). Through OLS Regression, race, age, gender, number in family, increase in TTP, increase in FMR, and decrease in FMR were significant in explaining the variance in residential mobility. Residential mobility was not significant in predicting a change in poverty, although age and race were found to be significant. Through the use of MANOVA, a recipient's race was not found to predict racial composition in neighborhoods. To further understand residential mobility, twelve individual interviews were conducted with current HCV program recipients to explore their decision-making process in locating and obtaining a home. Through the use of social constructivism and grounded theory, the data was analyzed to determine the decision-making process of the interviewees. From the analysis, the decision-making process of the recipients consists of six prominent themes. The themes include the following: (1) Experience in residence prior to the HCV program; (2) Evaluation/Specification of "wants" (in regard to a home); (3) Search for home based on pre-determined "wants"; (4) Outcome of home search; (5) Unforeseen circumstances or unplanned or planned events; and (6) Re-evaluation Re-specification of "wants". In addition to the decision-making process in locating and obtaining a home, the recipients explained their experience in the HCV program. This study explains the mobility outcomes of HCV program recipients and provides information in regard to the recipients' decision-making process in locating and obtaining a home