Many of you may have heard of the term "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" (AFFH) and wondered what it is. AFFH is "the use of federal financial assistance and other programs to overcome barriers to fair housing choice" The goal is to extend and enhance housing opportunities to all members of a community and to eliminate discriminatory actions in all areas of the housing market. This includes both the private and public sectors in an effort to develop a comprehensive strategic plan, which will in essence help to expand choice for persons to live in high opportunity, and diverse environments.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that any program or agency that receives grant money has an obligation to AFFH. HUD also requires those recipients to be in compliance with the Fair Housing Act and civil rights laws. In 1995, HUD began to require state and local governments to created "consolidated plans" in order for them to be eligible to receive certain types of HUD funding. The consolidated plan is document that describes the housing needs of the low- and moderate- income residents, outlines strategies to meet those needs, and lists all resources available to implement the strategies, and keep a record on what has been accomplished.

As part of the consolidated plan, agencies must identify the barriers to housing choice by developing an Analysis of Impediments (AI). And further, agencies must develop a plan to combat those impediments. The plan can identify "barriers" to fair housing choice in the areas of education, transportation, public health, economic development, etc.

The AI is the process by which the impediments to cultivating a nondiscriminatory environment are identified. The identification of impediments is based on patterns of past and current discrimination, as well as any anticipated barriers to choice. Also, in order to develop the AI there must first be a comprehensive understanding of the laws and policies within a jurisdiction. The laws and policies are then evaluated to determine how they affect the conditions of, availability of and access to housing within that region. Once the impediments to fair housing are identified, a strategic plan is formalized to contend with those impediments.

This is an important "equal opportunity" policy that can further integration, diversity and civil rights in this country. More information on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing will follow in future issues.

If you have questions regarding Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, please contact Tracy L. Brown, Executive Director, Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston.

Rafael Mares is a Staff Attorney working on transportation and environmental justice issues. He joined the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) in 2009. For ten years,
prior to joining CLF, Rafael served as a clinical instructor and lecturer on law at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, where he founded the Healthy Homes and Environmental Justice Project. Before and during law school, Rafael worked on environmental justice issues in Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and Boston. Rafael holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.S. in Integrated Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. He is admitted to the bar in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Raphael has served as a member of the FHCGB Board since 2006.

On an average weekday, approximately 1.3 million passengers use the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA or "T") services. This past summer, FHCGB took advantage of this large captive audience to increase awareness of fair housing rights and resources, and ran its first ever ad campaign on the "T".
 

In August 2010, the Education and Outreach program launched an ad campaign in an effort to reach out to members of the community who ride the MBTA. Fair housing is an issue that has an impact on everyone, and the campaign was created to educate the MBTA ridership of its rights. The ad was run in both English and Spanish in order to reach an even larger demographic.

   

This campaign was strategically run during the month of August. Discrimination often manifests during the search for housing. Since many yearly leases turn over between August and September, it is a time of great transition with many persons and families searching for new homes. With an increase in homeseekers, there is an increase in the likelihood that discrimination will occur.

The ads were run over a four week period in the interior of cars the Red line, Blue line, and the Commuter rail. On average, the Red line has a daily ridership of 5,894,000 passengers, the Blue line, 1,556,800, and the Commuter rail 3,421,220. Overall, FHCGB's campaign generated an estimate of 7,547,288 impressions during its 4-week cycle. Over 10 percent of the fair housing inquiries and complaints that came into FHCGB in the four week the advertisements were run and four weeks that followed were a direct result of the advertisements.
 

This was the first in what we hope to be regularly run advertising campaigns. With your support, we'll be able to expand this outreach to more lines within the MBTA. Look for our ads on the "T" near you!

Justin Monteiro is the Testing Program Manager at FHCGB. Justin, a native to Massachusetts, is a graduate of Boston College. Prior to working for FHCGB, he worked in Eastern Europe for three years on various educational initiatives as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

For those of you not familiar with testing, it is a controlled method of documenting the quality and quantity of information that home seekers receive from housing providers. Testing can be used to gather information to support research studies, and it is also used to gather information that could be used as evidence in an administrative or legal process.

Since joining FHCGB just over three years ago, Justin has been responsible for designing and coordinating all tests that FHCGB has conducted. He is also responsible for recruiting and training all of the individuals who participate in the program as volunteer testers. (So, if you know someone who is may be interested in testing, tell her or him to contact Justin.)

FHCGB has since its inception conducted high quality testing, and produced several superior testing studies that document discrimination throughout the region. But since joining FHCGB, Justin has been instrumental in developing the testing program as a resource that has been used in the enforcement of fair housing laws. The testing program has over the past few years drastically increased the number of tests it conducts at the request of enforcement agencies and organizations that provide legal assistance. HUD, MCAD, Boston Fair Housing Commission, Cambridge Human Rights Commission, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and the Attorney General of Massachusetts quite regularly refer matters to FHCGB for testing.

Because testing is neutral, the outcome of a test is never a success or a failure. However, in instances where testing has shown discrimination, FHCGB has often succeeded using the testing evidence to support enforcement actions. One of the less obvious facts of successful enforcement actions is that it requires multiple people from various organizations and agencies to cooperate. Thankfully, there are many committed people- lawyers, investigators, advocates, and testers, to name a few-willing to do this.

Justin supervises Whitney Sands, FHCGB Enforcement Specialist. Whitney grew up in the Dorchester area. She graduated from Boston College with a major in Philosophy and minor in African Diaspora Studies. Her focus of study was on 'Black Philosophy'. This concentration revealed her passion of asking complex questions and addressing the concerns of the black community. Her passion is what has brought her to the FHCGB.