In an effort to promote a new generation of data-driven and evidence-based policymaking, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan has unveiled a new quarterly publication intended to inform housing and community development advocates, state and local policymakers, Congress and researchers on new approaches to issues related to housing and community development. Evidence Matters is an objective, unbiased publication intended to inform the broad housing and community development field on future policy directions based on research and data—in short, the evidence.
“As a self-professed policy wonk, I’m excited that HUD is focused on having an honest and informed discussion about what works and what doesn’t,” said Donovan. “Evidence does indeed matter when it comes to making policy that impacts people’s lives and this publication will help frame the discussion around what the data means.”
The inaugural issue of Evidence Matters (Choice Neighborhoods: History and HOPE) focuses on strategies to revitalize neighborhoods of concentrated poverty including HUD’s HOPE VI program. One central observation is that while HOPE VI can show significant positive impacts, one of the program’s main challenges is its inability to consistently improve multi-facteted problems in residents’ lives as it has in improving housing conditions and surrounding communities.
As HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, Dr. Raphael Bostic said, “We know that neighborhoods of concentrated poverty struggle with unemployment, crime, and poor schools and health care. Many federal interventions focus on assisting poor households in particular neighborhoods but have failed to take a broader community-based approach. The evidence points to the need for a more holistic strategy to redevelopment if we hope to improve the lives of residents as well as the places where they live.”
Read the inaugural issue of Evidence Matters, Choice Neighborhoods: History and HOPE, and coming up next issue: “Balancing our Nation’s Housing Policy.”
For more information, visit www.hud.gov.
