RACIAL AND LOCATIONAL PATTERNS OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS: A REPORT TO THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION

Transcription

1 RACIAL AND LOCATIONAL PATTERNS OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS: A REPORT TO THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION Dr. Paul B. Fischer Lake Forest College July 28, 1993

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is made possible by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ii

3 RACIAL AND LOCATIONAL PATTERNS OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS: A REPORT TO THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For many years Chicago area fair housing organizations and south suburban mayors and managers have complained about the Section 8 housing subsidy program administered by the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC). They argue that this program contributes to the resegregation of the south Cook County suburbs by disproportionately concentrating black Section 8 families in their communities. The housing authority responds that it is following appropriate federal rules and regulations and little can be done to change the situation; the locational patterns that exist are to a large extent a product of the economics of the housing market and the preferences of their clients The research described in this report attempts to address the arguments of both sides in an objective and analytical manner. The report begins with a description of the racial occupancy and locational patterns of subsidized housing in the Chicago suburbs, particularly in suburban Cook County. It then explores two alternative hypotheses frequently offered to explain these patterns; more affordable units in the south suburbs and the lack of any administrative mechanism that could change the locational patterns particularly for black Section 8 families. The HACC section of the report then examines the housing authority's administrative policies and practices that have an impact on these iii

4 racial occupancy and locational patterns and concludes with a proposal for a new affirmative counseling initiative. The report also includes a more modest study of the racial character of subsidized housing in the other 10 suburban public housing authorities in the Chicago area. Unfortunately limitations of time and expense did not permit an examination of rent structure or an administrative analysis in these other jurisdictions. The HACC Section 8 family program is overwhelmingly black and highly concentrated geographically with few whites and almost no hispanics. Over 70% of black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs. White Section 8 families are more dispersed as are Section 8 elderly, especially white elderly. When controlling for population differences between regions, concentrations of black Section 8 families in the south suburbs are even more extreme. There is a high degree of racial segregation, especially for black Section 8 families, many of whom reside in the mostly black south suburban census tracts. Almost all HACC public housing families are black. Three towns in the south suburbs have almost all public housing family units. The HACC public housing program is even more racially and geographically concentrated then the HACC Section 8 program, especially for black families, almost all of whom live in mostly black census tracts. The southwest region, although closest to the south suburbs, has the fewest HACC subsidized family households in either program. The locational patterns of Section 8 households cannot be explained solely by rent affordability differences between regions of suburban Cook County. Large numbers of iv

5 affordable two bedroom units can be found in all regions, especially in the northwest. Affordable three bedroom units are less plentiful in regions outside of the south suburbs but may nevertheless be found in significant numbers throughout suburban Cook County, particularly when compared to the number of three bedroom Section 8 families. A larger proportion of affordable units, particularly three bedroom, are used by Section 8 households in the south suburbs. Only a very small number are occupied by Section 8 households outside of the south suburbs so the potential supply of affordable units for the Section 8 program remains large in the other regions of the HACC service area. This is particularly the case for the southwest suburbs. The locational patterns of Section 8 black families may be explained, in part, by the lack of HACC administrative mechanisms to foster greater housing choice in areas outside of the south suburbs. Under the Gautreaux mobility program large numbers of impoverished black families from the Chicago inner city have moved to white areas of the Cook County suburbs. Particularly in recent years, the Gautreaux Program has been successful in placing many of its families in the northwest suburbs. In contrast to the regular HACC program, only a small percentage of Gautreaux families were placed in the south suburbs and in recent years the Gautreaux Program operated under a moratorium prohibiting south suburban placements. If Gautreaux placements are factored into the HACC data, it is likely that most of the HACC black families in the northwest suburbs were placed there by the Leadership Council. Excluding Gautreaux families increases the extent of concentration of HACC Section 8 black families in the south suburbs. The larger picture of subsidized housing in the Chicago suburbs follows similar v

6 patterns. Where public housing exists, as it does in the older cities like North Chicago, Waukegan and Joliet, it is mostly for the white elderly. But the black family public housing is again the most concentrated and most segregated. Section 8 family housing is more dispersed in more communities and larger proportions of black Section 8 families are in majority census tracts. But even with Section 8 there is significant locational concentration and segregation relative to the racial make-up of the jurisdictions. It is also important to remember that there are many poor white families, as reflected in the McHenry County family Section 8 program which is overwhelmingly white. Although hispanics represent a larger share of Section 8 families in a number of PHAs like Waukegan, North Chicago, and Joliet, overall they are severely underrepresented. HACC is by far the largest suburban housing authority, administering more than 50% of the over 18,000 subsidized households followed by Lake County, Aurora and DuPage County. If service area populations are taken into account, the comparative picture of subsidy effort across jurisdictions, defined as population per subsidized unit, changes dramatically. What stands out is the extremely small number of subsidized families in the DuPage County Section 8 program. The locational and racial concentrations of black subsidized families in the Chicago suburbs should be a matter of great concern. Suburban residency does not guarantee access to quality services, a safe neighborhood, or, most important, a dynamic job market. In one PHA jurisdiction after another, minority subsidized families are overwhelmingly in the poorest suburban regions or communities, far from the job growth corridors, like DuPage County, and other resources typically associated with suburban vi

7 living. vii

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Statement of Purpose 1 II. Sources of Information and Methodology 5 A. The Racial and Ethnic Makeup of Subsidized Housing 5 B. The Administrative Analysis of HACC 7 III. The Housing Authority of Cook County 9 A. The Section 8 Program 11 B. The HACC Public Housing Program 22 C. Explaining the Section 8 Locational Patterns: Two Alternative Hypotheses The "Regional Distribution of Affordable Units" Hypothesis The "Administrative Practices" Hypothesis 31 D. Summary Regarding the Racial and Locational Patterns of the HACC Subsidy Programs 39 E. The Legal and Administrative Analysis of the HACC Section 8 Program HACC's Legal Duty HACC's Administrative Practices 43 a. Lack of Motivational Efforts 44 b. Effects of HACC's Administrative Structure 45 viii

9 c. The MAP Program 46 d. Proposal For a New Affirmative Counseling Initiative 48 IV. The Other Suburban Housing Authorities 49 V. The Suburban Chicago Housing Authorities Combined 55 VI. A Note About Project Based Section 8 in the Chicago Suburbs 61 VII. Conclusions 62 Appendices One: Fair Market Rate Schedule for Six-County Area 66 Two: Population per Section 8 Household for Cook County Regions 67 Three: Racial/Ethnic Patterns in 10 Suburban Chicago Housing Authorities 68 A. Oak Park and Maywood 68 B. Lake County 69 C. North Chicago and Waukegan 72 D. DuPage County 73 E. McHenry County 74 F. Joliet 75 G. Elgin and Aurora 76

10 LIST OF TABLES AND MAPS Table Page One: Rankings of Towns by Number of Family Units for HACC Section 8 Program 14 Two: Regional Distribution of Section 8 Households by Race 16 Three: Race of Section 8 Families by the Racial Character of the Census Tract 22 Four: Below Fair Market Rent Units by Region 28 Five: Section 8 Units by Bedroom Size for the Six Regions 30 Six: Location of Gautreaux Families Since 1983 by County 34 Seven: Location of Gautreaux Families Since 1983 by Cook County Region 34 Eight: Location of Gautreaux Families by Cook County Region Since 1983 by Year 35 Nine: Service Area Population per Subsidized Units by Jurisdiction 60 Map One: Black Section 8 Families in the HACC Service Area 17 Two: White Section 8 Families in the HACC Service Area 18 Three: Black Population in Suburban Cook County 19 Four: Black Section 8 Families in the Combined Service Area 52 Five: White Section 8 Families in the Combined Service Area 53 Six: Black Population in the Six County Chicago Area 54

11 I. Statement of Purpose The Los Angeles riots remind us once again of the destructive consequences of severe class and racial isolation that characterizes metropolitan America. Most low income blacks and hispanics are confined to inner city neighborhoods with declining job opportunities and fiscally starved public services while higher income groups flee to the outer suburbs, taking their tax revenues and jobs with them. More than ever, where people live determines how they live, particularly for the minority poor, from the quality of their children's education to the accessibility of decent paying jobs. 1 1 See Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993) for an excellent discussion of the interrelationship between racial segregation and poverty. 1

12 The residential isolation of the minority poor is no accident. Numerous studies have delineated the crucial role played by governmental policies such as urban renewal and federal highway programs in creating and maintaining the segregated metropolis. 2 Of more direct impact are the subsidized housing programs, a major source of housing for the poor. For much of the past 50 years these programs have either reinforced residential segregation or acquiesced in its existence. 3 Within central cities, government housing programs accelerated the ghettoization of the black poor in the early post World War II period by concentrating public housing in minority communities and segregating the projects. In Chicago, the Gautreaux case 4, involving the Chicago Housing Authority and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as defendants, provided detailed evidence of high levels of racial concentration in public housing in Chicago imposed by deliberate governmental action. 2 See Charles Abrams, Forbidden Neighbors: A Study of Prejudice in Housing, Harper: New York, 1955 as one example of an excellent discussion of urban renewal programs and restrictive covenants and their roles in creating the black urban ghetto. For a more detailed look at government policy and creation of the black ghetto in Chicago see Arnold Hirsch, Making of the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, , Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, For excellent discussions of the impact of federal housing programs on the creation of racial ghettos see Robert Bullock, "Blacks and the American Dream of Housing", in Jamshid Momeni, Race, Ethnicity, and Minority Housing in the United States, Greenwood Press: Westport, 1986, pp and Len Hays, The Federal Government and Urban Housing, State University of New York Press: Albany, Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority, 296 F. Supp. 907 (N.D. Ill. 1969), respecting CHA; Gautreaux v. HUD, 448 F.2d 73, (7th Cir. 1971), respecting HUD. 2

13 But what about the suburbs where over 60% of the metropolitan population and jobs reside? 5 Is there extensive racial and ethnic segregation in suburban subsidized housing too? Are subsidized minority families largely confined to the poorer and more heavily black portions of the suburban metropolitan area, replicating the City of Chicago pattern of extreme segregation in subsidized housing? Are subsidized minority families living in the suburbs isolated from areas of job growth? For over two decades, under a number of different programs including public housing and Section 8 certificates and vouchers, housing subsidies have been used in the Chicago suburbs, administered by county and municipal suburban housing authorities. Almost 6,200 Section 8 certificates and vouchers as well as close to 3,000 units of public housing are administered by the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) in suburban jurisdictions. Another 9,000 households are subsidized in 10 other suburban public housing authority jurisdictions. There are also 6100 units of project-based Section 8 in the Chicago suburbs 6, bringing the total number of subsidized households in the non-chicago portion of the metropolitan area to over 24, Yet little data has been gathered and almost nothing has been written about the racial and ethnic character of these programs, or the location of their 5 For this study, the Chicago metropolitan area includes Cook County, Lake County (Illinois), DuPage County, McHenry County, Will County, and Kane County. 6 These project-based Section 8 units in the Chicago suburbs, which are not administered by a municipal or county housing authority are discussed briefly in Section VI of this report. 7 This compares to over 11,000 units of Section 8 and 30,000 units of public housing administered by the Chicago Housing Authority. 3

14 households. 8 With these concerns in mind the research described in this report was designed with two goals: 1. To describe and analyze the racial and ethnic character of subsidized housing families in the Chicago suburbs, including the racial composition of the occupants as well as locations of units by racial composition of census tract, paying particular attention to suburban Cook County which contains over 50% of the subsidized units administered by housing authorities in the Chicago suburbs To examine the administrative policies and practices of HACC that have an impact on the racial occupancy and locational patterns of subsidized housing within its jurisdiction. 8 The Cook County Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) required by HUD does delineate subsidized housing by program and race/ethnicity for communities defined by HUD as part of the "urban" county. Unfortunately, the 11 largest suburban communities in Cook County are excluded from the survey because they are defined as "metropolitan" cities and are not part of the CHAS jurisdiction. Census tract level of analysis is also absent which makes it difficult to make statements about the segregative effects of the programs, based on the CHAS data. 9 The primary focus of the research is on families rather than the elderly because studies indicate that racial segregation and locational concentrations have been a more serious problem for subsidized, particularly minority families, than for the elderly. White suburban communities seem to be more accepting of subsidized housing for the elderly. Also issues related to locational concentrations and isolation, such as access to quality schools or access to areas of job growth, are of greater importance to families. 4

15 Newspaper articles and south suburban officials had already described the HACC Section 8 program as locationally concentrated with many black Section 8 families residing in predominantly black areas. This research was designed to provide a more precise description of that concentration. It was also hoped that the research could identify policies to enable HACC to reduce locational concentrations in the future administration of its Section 8 program. Consequently, the project planned for an "action" phase, built upon the research, that involved negotiations designed to modify the operations of the Housing Authority of Cook County. 10 The negotiations and their results are discussed in Section III.E. of this report. 10 The negotiations were backed up by the implicit threat that one of the parties of the research team, BPI, would sue if the negotiations did not produce a satisfactory resolution. 5

16 The project results should also prove valuable to community activists involved in expanding housing opportunities for low income minorities. 11 In addition, HUD now appears to be seriously considering proactive desegregation housing strategies. For example, HUD has budgeted for a five city mobility effort, Moving To Opportunity, modeled after Gautreaux, for the next fiscal year 12. The research could reach a more receptive federal audience as this new focus on desegregation evolves. Finally, scholars in the field will find the research useful; it will be disseminated through conference presentations and at least one published paper. II. Sources of Information and Methodology A. The Racial and Ethnic Makeup of Subsidized Housing Dr. Paul B. Fischer, Department of Politics, Lake Forest College, directed the initial research phase of the project with the help of a team of assistants from 11 In Cincinnati, Dallas, and Chicago, information describing segregated conditions in housing subsidy programs was used to generate additional housing and other community resources for inner city neighborhoods as well as regional desegregation remedies involving the suburbs. As part of the Walker settlement in Dallas, for example, the City of Dallas committed millions of dollars to improve the physical surroundings and upgrade community services in the areas surrounding predominantly black public housing projects. 12 Moving to Opportunity, while modeled after Gautreaux, is different in some significant aspects. The focus is poverty rather than racial deconcentration so the target group is not confined to black Section 8 families and the target locations are defined in terms of income rather than race. As of this writing, not all of the criteria for the first year's program have been determined. 6

17 Northwestern University and Lake Forest College. The research included: * gathering data from every suburban county/pha on each of their more than 18,000 subsidized households, including address, race/ethnicity, family/elderly household, and number of bedrooms. * using 1990 census tract street indices and maps to determine the census tract for each subsidized unit. 13 * obtaining 1990 racial/ethnic census data for each tract in each of the 11 public housing jurisdictions. * comparing the racial/ethnic residential patterns for subsidized units to the patterns for the entire population in each census tract to determine the level and patterns of segregation in subsidized housing. * obtaining 1990 census data on rent levels in suburban Cook County to determine patterns of rent affordability. 13 HUD Form 50058, the Tenant Data Summary form for all PHA managed subsidized housing, no longer includes the census tract as part of the address information, this information having been eliminated during the Reagan administration. Census tract information is the building block for data gathering regarding race and location in subsidized housing; without it, PHAs cannot provide accurate information about the racial concentrations of households. In addition, there are no standard computerized reporting procedures and reports for all PHAs that include printouts by household and aggregates of households that include, town, census tract, racial composition of census tract, zipcode, race/ethnicity of household, family/elderly, number of bedrooms, and number of children. Only one PHA in the Chicago area, Lake County Housing Authority, was able to provide all of the needed data on one printout. The other PHAs found it impossible to provide all the information for each household on the same printout and few could provide any census tract information. In some instances, researchers had to visit field offices and gather the information by hand, one household at a time. Currently, there is no central place where this data can be accessed. As a result, gathering racial and locational information on each jurisdiction requires a separate and elaborate research project. 7

18 * obtaining data on the location of Gautreaux placements since 1983 to compare with the "regular" Section 8 Program operated by HACC. The housing data was gathered from the offices of local and county PHAs and the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities ( the "Leadership Council"), while computer ready census data was provided by the Metro Chicago Information Center under the direction of their demographer, "Rury" McSharry, who also created the computerized maps that are an important supplement to this report. B. The Administrative Analysis of HACC This phase of the project was the primary responsibility of Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (hereafter, BPI), especially Al Polikoff, Bob Jones and David Jacobs, and George Cole, executive director of the South Suburban Housing Center, one of the major fair housing organizations in the Chicago area. The legal and administrative research included: * statutory and case law research on "affirmative administration" responsibilities of PHAs. * research on HACC's administrative practices in its Section 8 program. * comparisons with an affirmative administration "model" based on the Leadership Council's administration of the Gautreaux Program. 8

19 Informational sources included newspaper articles, interviews with knowledgeable experts, HACC program participants, local and areawide fair housing agencies, municipal officials and the Cook County Planning Department, as well as HUD and HACC. An advisory panel was created to review the ongoing work and to discuss dissemination of the results. The panel consisted of key actors in government housing policy in the Chicago area including fair housing activists, municipal officials, academics, civic/community representatives, and a Section 8 client. It was organized and chaired by George Cole, who also acted as the project fiscal agent The members of the advisory are: Sharon Caddigan, Director of Planning and Zoning, Country Club Hills Derrick Ford, Staff attorney, Chicago Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Barbara Latiker, Section 8 recipient, Riverdale James Lewis, Vice President for Research and Planning, Chicago Urban League Ted Manley, Professor of Sociology, DePaul University Charles Orlebeke, Director, School of Urban Planning and Policy, UIC Aurie Pennick, Leadership Council for Metropolitan New Communities Michael Roche, Executive Director, Housing Coalition of the Southern Suburbs Len Rubinowitz, Professor of Law, Northwestern University Law School 9

20 Since a primary focus of the research is the administration of the HACC Section 8 program, the geographical perspective used in this report is the PHA service area, rather than political jurisdictions such as a county or municipality. There is a great deal of overlap, however, since many of the PHA boundaries are coterminous with county or town boundaries, but this is not always the case. 15 For example, the HACC service area includes most of suburban Cook County but does not include the Cook County municipalities of Oak Park and Maywood, which have their own PHAs. The body of this report is divided by service area, beginning with HACC, and concluding with a metro suburban wide perspective. III. The Housing Authority of Cook County The public housing authorities in this study include: Aurora Housing Authority DuPage County Housing Authority Elgin Housing Authority Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) Joliet Housing Authority Lake County Housing Authority Maywood Housing Authority McHenry County Housing Authority North Chicago Housing Authority Oak Park Housing Authority Waukegan Housing Authority It should be noted that a small number of the households administered by one housing authority may live outside the boundaries of that jurisdiction because of the "portability" of the Section 8 certificate. Several other housing authorities in the Chicago suburbs do not administer Section 8 certificates or public housing. 16 The HACC data described in this section of the report was gathered over an eight month period and should be considered a "snapshot" of the HACC Section 8 program as of June 30, 10

21 1992 and of the HACC public housing program as of December 31, For the other housing authorities, data was collected from October 1992 to June 1993, and should be considered a "snapshot" of their Section 8 and public housing programs as of June 30, Since those dates some households have undoubtedly moved while others have entered the respective programs, so the picture of subsidized housing presented in this report as of June 1992-June 1993 may have shifted slightly. 11

22 Cook County, with 5.1 million people, is the second largest county in population in the United States. 17 Reflecting the outward migration from central cities to the suburbs that has characterized post-world War II America, the population of the suburban portion of Cook County has increased from 20% of the county in 1950 to 46% in 1990, and now contains 2.3 million people. The relative increase in the population of suburban Cook County correlates with a parallel movement of commerce, industry, jobs, and tax base from Chicago to the suburbs. Consequently, suburban Cook County had 46% of the county jobs, as of 1989, up from 34% in Many of the communities in suburban Cook County epitomize the American suburban myth, affluent, well-kept, white bedroom suburbs with quality services, and superior schools. But suburban Cook County is more accurately characterized by the racial, economic, and social variety of its communities; from impoverished all-black towns such as Robbins in the south to white, working-class suburbs like Oak Lawn in the southwest, to integrated middle class communities like Oak Park in the north central region, to Winnetka, white and wealthy on the north shore; from bedroom communities to industrial suburbs. Most importantly for this report, it is an area beginning to experience significant racial change, with expanding black populations in many south and west Cook County suburbs, in some instances leading to resegregation and the emergence of an 17 Los Angeles County is the largest with over 8 million residents. New York City, the largest city in the United States, is made up of five counties. 18 Job, Housing, and Race in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, 1991, Table I. 12

23 incipient black ghetto in the south suburbs. 19 This is the HACC service area and the primary focus of this report. A. The Section 8 Program 19 See "Racial Change Takes to the Suburbs", The Chicago Reporter, Volume 22, No. 6, June 1993, pp

24 The focus on HACC derived in large part from concerns about the alleged segregative effects of the HACC Section 8 family program. For a number of years, south suburban mayors and managers as well as area fair housing organizations have complained that the HACC program was contributing to the resegregation of the south suburbs. Compared to other regions in suburban Cook County, a disproportionate number of subsidized minority families were alleged to be residing in the southern suburbs, and the housing authority was said to be doing nothing to remedy the situation. 20 Our research confirms most of those perceptions. 20 See "System Lumps Poor Together", Southtown Economist, June 7, 1992 and "Subsidy Clusters Burden Suburbs", Chicago Tribune, September 10, 1992, for newspaper reports discussing this issue. 14

25 The Section 8 certificate program, which began in 1974, provides housing subsidies for some low income households in the private housing market. 21 The HACC Section 8 family program is overwhelmingly black. Over 91% of the 4500 Section 8 families are black, while the suburban portion of Cook County is less than 10% black. 22 One of the surprises in the data is that only 1% of the HACC Section 8 families are hispanic in a service area that is 6% hispanic. Given the high degree of poverty among the fastest growing minority group in the metropolitan area, one might have expected greater 21 When an eligible household comes to the top of a public housing authority waiting list, it receives a certificate that provides a rent subsidy equal to the difference between 30% of household income, which the Section 8 household contributes to the rent, and the rent itself. For example, if the household income is $1000 per month, $300 will be the monthly household rent contribution. If the rent is $600, the subsidy will provide the other $300 per month. In the Section 8 certificate program there are rent limits for eligible units known as fair market rents (fmrs). Thus, the supply of available housing for Section 8 households is limited by the fair market rent structure which is set for each metropolitan area and sometimes for subregions within metropolitan areas. A more detailed discussion of fair market rents and their impact on the distribution of Section 8 housing in suburban Cook County is part of this report. Other criteria for unit acceptability include health and safety standards as well as the appropriate number of bedrooms for a given family size. During the Reagan administration, vouchers were added to the program, but for the purposes of this research the distinction between certificates and vouchers is not significant. (Unlike Section 8 families, voucher families may rent apartments at any rent level, but must themselves pay any "excess" rent above a standard set by HUD.) In this report both certificates and vouchers are referred to as part of the Section 8 certificate program. The 1974 Housing and Urban Development Act also created several other Section 8 "project-based"programs, including new construction and substantial rehabilitation, most of which are no longer operative. In these "project-based" programs the subsidy is "attached" to the unit rather than to the client household. A brief discussion of project-based Section 8 units in the Chicago suburbs can be found in Section VI of this report. 22 In contrast, the HACC Section 8 elderly program is 70% white. Section 8 may be divided into two programs using the HUD categories, one program designated as family and the other designated as elderly (which includes the disabled). When elderly households and family households are combined, 73% of HACC Section 8 households are black. 15

26 hispanic utilization of housing subsidy programs. 23 Given the small number of hispanics and other minority groups in the HACC Section 8 and public housing programs, this analysis is confined to black and white populations in this section of the report. 23 Research grant limitations of time and money did not permit pursuing this issue but the absence of all but a few hispanic Section 8 families in the HACC program warrants further investigation and should be part of a follow-up research agenda. 16

27 HACC Section 8 families, in contrast to elderly households, are concentrated in a small number of communities. Over half of the 4448 Section 8 families live in seven of 107 towns that have subsidized housing in the HACC service area, Harvey, Chicago Heights, Evanston, Markham, Riverdale, Dolton and Robbins. (See Table One: Rankings of Towns by Number of Family Units for HACC Section 8 Program 24.) Except for Evanston, all the towns with the largest number of Section 8 families are in the south suburbs 25. Some 68% of family Section 8 households and 71% of the over 4000 black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs 26. This is in sharp contrast with the white Section 8 families, only 41% of whom live in the south suburbs. (See Table Two: Geographic Distribution of Section 8 Units.) Only the 93 towns with Section 8 families are listed in this table. 25 Locating Section 8 families by zipcode provides another perspective on geographical concentration. Over 40% of family Section 8 households and close to 44% of black family Section 8 households live in just two zipcodes, (Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, Lynwood, Sauk Village, and South Chicago Heights) and (Harvey, Markham, and Phoenix). These zipcode areas are contiguous to one another and create a concentrated area of black Section 8 families. 26 The six regions of suburban Cook County were taken from the CHAS report, a document prepared by the Cook County Department of Policy, Planning and Development in 1991 that reports on subsidized housing in the Chicago suburbs. The towns that are included for each region were determined by this agency in consultation with local governments. The six regions are coded as follows: 27 1 North Shore 4 Central 2 Northwest 5 Southwest 3 North Central 6 South The elderly Section 8 households are also more evenly distributed by region although the south suburbs have the largest share (29%) and for black elderly the proportion in the south 17

28 TABLE ONE: RANKING OF TOWNS BY NUMBER OF FAMILY UNITS FOR HACC SECTION 8 PROGRAM RANKING REGION TOWN NUMBER PERCENT 1 6 HARVEY % 2 6 CHICAGO HEIGHTS % 3 1 EVANSTON % 4 6 MARKHAM % 5 6 RIVERDALE % 6 6 DOLTON % 7 6 ROBBINS % 8 6 CALUMET CITY % 9 6 PARK FOREST % 10 6 SAUK VILLAGE % 11 6 BLUE ISLAND % 12 2 HOFFMAN ESTATES % 13 6 FORD HEIGHTS % 14 6 RICHTON PARK % 15 2 HANOVER PARK % 16 6 LYNWOOD % 17 2 PALATINE % 18 6 MATTESON % 19 2 SCHAUMBURG % 20 6 COUNTRY CLUB HILLS % 21 2 STREAMWOOD % 22 2 ARLINGTON HEIGHTS % 23 6 DIXMOOR % 24 6 MIDLOTHIAN % 25 2 WHEELING % 26 2 DES PLAINES % 27 6 PHOENIX % 28 6 HAZELCREST % 29 4 LA GRANGE % 30 6 CALUMET PARK % 31 3 SCHILLER PARK % 32 4 SUMMIT % 33 2 BARTLETT % 34 3 FOREST PARK % 35 2 MOUNT PROSPECT % 36 3 BROADVIEW % 37 5 CRESTWOOD % 38 5 PALOS HILLS % 39 6 EAST HAZELCREST % 40 6 BURNHAM % 41 1 SKOKIE % suburbs is over 60%. (See Table Two: Distribution of Section 8 Households by Race.) 18

29 42 2 PROSPECT HEIGHTS % 43 2 ROLLING MEADOWS % 44 6 UNIVERSITY PARK % 45 6 GLENWOOD % 46 3 MELROSE PARK % 47 3 HILLSIDE % 48 3 BELLWOOD % 49 5 JUSTICE % 50 5 ALSIP % 51 6 SOUTH CHICAGO HEIGHTS % 52 6 TINLEY PARK 9 0.2% 53 6 LANSING 8 0.2% 54 2 BUFFALO GROVE 7 0.2% 55 3 MAYWOOD 6 0.1% 56 2 ELK GROVE VILLAGE 6 0.1% 57 6 SOUTH HOLLAND 6 0.1% 58 4 ARGO 6 0.1% 59 3 BERWYN 6 0.1% 60 3 RIVER FOREST 5 0.1% 61 5 CHICAGO RIDGE 5 0.1% 62 2 NILES 5 0.1% 63 6 STEGER 5 0.1% 64 5 WORTH 5 0.1% 65 5 OAK LAWN 4 0.1% 66 1 GLENVIEW 4 0.1% 67 6 OAK FOREST 4 0.1% 68 4 LYONS 4 0.1% 69 3 ELMWOOD PARK 3 0.1% 70 5 ORLAND PARK 3 0.1% 71 2 PARK RIDGE 3 0.1% 72 4 COUNTRYSIDE 3 0.1% 73 5 HICKORY HILLS 3 0.1% 74 4 BROOKFIELD 3 0.1% 75 6 POSEN 3 0.1% 76 5 ORLAND HILLS 2 0.0% 77 3 STONE PARK 2 0.0% 78 5 WILLOW SPRINGS 2 0.0% 79 6 FLOSSMOOR 2 0.0% 80 5 BRIDGEVIEW 2 0.0% 81 1 NORTHBROOK 2 0.0% 82 6 HOMEWOOD 2 0.0% 83 3 NORRIDGE 1 0.0% 84 3 FRANKLIN PARK 1 0.0% 85 3 HARWOOD 1 0.0% 86 5 EVERGREEN PARK 1 0.0% 87 4 RIVERSIDE 1 0.0% 88 4 STICKNEY 1 0.0% 89 3 NORTHLAKE 1 0.0% 90 6 CRETE 1 0.0% 91 4 INDIAN HEAD 1 0.0% 92 5 HOMETOWN 1 0.0% 93 4 HINSDALE 1 0.0% 19

30 TOTAL 4448 TABLE TWO: REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF SECTION 8 HOUSEHOLDS BY RACE Black White Percent of Total Family Elderly Total Family Elderly Located In: North Shore Northwest North Central Central Southwest South Total Units Disparities in the distribution of Section 8 families are even more extreme when population differences between regions are considered. For example, on this basis the south contains nine times more Section 8 units, 27 times more family Section 8 units and 32 times more black family Section 8 units than the southwest region. Although this comparison with the southwest represents the most extreme disparity in the county-wide distribution of Section 8 households, the south suburbs have a disproportionate share of Section 8 households when compared with other suburban Cook County regions. 28 It is surprising that the disparity is greatest in the southwest suburbs since the southwest 28 It is important to reiterate that the north central region does not include the Section 8 households for Oak Park and Maywood which have their own public housing authorities. If those households were included the distribution of Section 8 households in the north central region would look more like the Section 8 distribution in the northwest. 20

31 region is closest to the large black populations located in the south suburbs and has a socio-economic character similar to theirs. In fact, the northwest, one of the most affluent regions in the county, and far from the south suburbs and its black concentrations, has the highest density of Section 8 black families in suburban Cook County other than the south suburbs. The southwest suburbs stand out as the region most lacking in Section 8 households and represent an area of potential Section 8 placement. 29 Black Section 8 families in the HACC program are disproportionately concentrated in areas which are heavily black. In order to determine the extent of racial concentration, Section 8 families were categorized by the racial composition of the census tracts. 30 Of the 468 census tracts in the HACC service area, 306 or 66% have HACC Section 8 households. 31 Less than 3% of census tracts in the HACC service area have 29 For elderly households, per capita disparities are much less extreme. Comparing the number of Section 8 elderly in the south and southwest suburbs, for example, the per capita differential is only 3 times, although for black elderly the difference is almost 74 times. For other regions the elderly per capita disparities are, for the most part, smaller than the family disparities, when compared to the south suburbs. In fact, for white elderly the densities in the northwest suburbs are similar to those in the south suburbs. The data clearly show that it is the black Section 8 households, elderly or family, who are most concentrated in the south suburbs. 30 There are 486 census tracts in suburban Cook County with 306 containing at least one Section 8 household. The census tracts were organized into four categories of racial concentration using percent black from the 1990 census. The categories were defined after discussions with an urban demographer at Metro Chicago Information Center. The categories are 0-5%, %, % and over 80% black. In the text of the report, 0-5% black census tracts are called "least black" and over 80% black census tracts are called "most black". 31 Of the 486 census tracts in suburban Cook County, 18 are outside of the HACC service area, 12 in Oak Park and six in Maywood. Five of these tracts (all in Maywood) are over 80% black, two are in the 30-80% category (one in Maywood), 10 are in the 5-30% category and one is under 5%. For the purposes of the HACC analysis, shown in the text, these 18 census tracts are excluded. 21

32 over 80% black populations while 76% of the tracts have under 5% black populations. This is not surprising since the black population of the suburban county is just under 10%. If black Section 8 families were distributed randomly among all of the census tracts in suburban Cook County, then approximately 75% would be living in the least black census tracts while only 3% would be residing in the most black census tracts. In fact, only 15% are residing in the least black census tracts while 25% live in the most black census tracts. Putting it another way, eight times as many black Section 8 families live in the most black census tracts than would be the case if the distribution were random, while only one fifth of those who would be there randomly live in the least black census tracts. (See Table Three: Race of Section 8 Households by the Racial Character of the Census Tract.) For white Section 8 families the situation is markedly different. Over 60% of white Section 8 families live in the least black census tracts while under 3% live in the most black census tracts. The data indicate that Section 8 families in general, and black Section 8 families in particular, are disproportionately concentrated regionally and racially. Most of the black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs, which also contain most of the over 80% black census tracts in the HACC service area The single exception is Evanston which has one census tract with over 80% black population. 22

33 TABLE THREE: RACE OF SECTION 8 FAMILIES BY THE RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE CENSUS TRACT CATEGORIES OF CENSUS TRACTS BY % BLACK 0-5% 5-30% 30-80% % BLACK WHITE B. The HACC Public Housing Program To provide a more complete picture of subsidized housing in the HACC service area, the report also examines the HACC family public housing program and compares it with Section 8. Public housing dates back to the 1930s, although most of the HACC public housing was built between the 1950s and the 1970s. Large projects were the rule in the early years, but by the late 1960s, growing disenchantment with large projects led the federal government to shift to smaller scattered site public housing developments. However, HACC never built developments as large as those in Chicago, such as Cabrini- Green or Robert Taylor Homes Sixteen HACC public housing projects contain over 100 units with the largest at

34 units, located in Chicago Heights, compared to Robert Taylor Homes with over 4,000 units. Three HACC public housing projects have between 50 and 100 units, four between four and 50 units and 25 are one to three unit clusters. Eight of the largest HACC public housing projects were built between 1953 and All are in the south suburbs and in areas that were predominantly black when the projects were built and are overwhelmingly black today. Although we do not have data on the racial makeup of the projects in their early days, interviews with persons who resided in the areas around some of the projects when they were first built indicate that the populations were mostly black. Almost all of the units in these projects are currently occupied by blacks. Three are in Chicago Heights, two are in Robbins and three are in Ford Heights. 24

35 HACC family public housing is predominantly black and concentrated in a small number of mostly black south suburban communities. Almost 3000 units of public housing are operated by HACC; over 1000 or 35% are for families, compared to the Section 8 program where 72% are families. As in the Section 8 program, public housing families are overwhelmingly black (95%) while elderly households are mostly white (68%). Almost nine of ten family public housing units are in the south suburbs, none in the southwest suburbs, and 2% in the northwest, indicating an even greater regional concentration of family public housing in the south suburbs than for the Section 8 family program. 34 Section 8 families are, of course, more widely distributed by towns and census tracts than public housing families, which is not surprising, since public housing was usually built as multi-unit and multi-building projects. 35 Only 11 towns and 24 census tracts have public housing families compared to the over 100 towns and over 300 census tracts with Section 8 families. Three towns have 87% of public housing families. They are Ford Heights (40%), Robbins (25%), and Chicago Heights (22%). 34 The elderly regional distribution for HACC public housing is quite different with only 35% in the south suburbs, 27% in the north and 28% in the northwest regions. There are no elderly public housing units in the southwest suburbs. 35 Like Section 8, a large number of family units are in just two zipcodes, (63%) and (25%) but the concentrations are even more extreme. 25

36 As with most public housing authorities, the older public housing, much of it built and occupied in the pre-civil rights era, is more racially concentrated and segregated than the more recent Section 8 program of the nineteen seventies and eighties. In public housing, approximately 89% of black family units are in the most black census tracts, a level of extreme racial concentration much higher than that found in the Section 8 program where 25% of black family households are in the most black census tracts. 36 In summary, in both the HACC Section 8 and public housing programs, most of the families are black and most of these black families reside in the south suburbs, many in the few mostly black census tracts. Family public housing is highly segregated with most of the units occupied by black households and concentrated in heavily black census tracts which are found in three largely black suburbs in the south region. HACC Section 8 families are more dispersed, with a surprising number of black Section 8 families residing in the northwest suburbs, but as with family public housing most black Section 8 families live in a small number of communities in the south suburbs. By contrast, the southwest suburbs are conspicuously lacking subsidized households of either program. C. Explaining the Section 8 Locational Patterns: Two Alternative Hypotheses 36 Two of the suburbs with the largest number of black public housing families, Robbins and Ford Heights, have been predominantly black communities for many years. It is conceivable that other black public housing families live in areas that were once white but have become majority black in recent years. Unfortunately, it is difficult to do historical analysis of census tracts since the tracts change from one census to the next. 26

37 The Section 8 certificate/voucher program was created, in part, to "deconcentrate" low-income minority families. The Section 8 certificate program, relying on subsidies given to the family and units provided by private landlords, in theory, has a greater potential to provide expanded locational choices than the traditional public housing program. The Section 8 families are less visible and concentrated than public housing families and thus more "acceptable". They live in private housing, in a more "scatter-site" fashion rather than in identifiable public housing projects, and are frequently indistinguishable from their "market rate" neighbors. Yet the data described earlier indicate high degrees of locational concentration for HACC Section 8 families in the south suburbs and for black families in a few contiguous south suburban communities. Why do so many Section 8 families live in the south suburbs? There are a variety of possible explanations. They include issues of unit availability and supply, client preferences, and programmatic factors that relate to the administration of the Section 8 program. Many black Section 8 families lived in the south suburbs before entering the program and may feel most comfortable there, in predominantly black neighborhoods, which are also close to traditional black communities in the City of Chicago. Some apply for a Section 8 subsidy with the prompting of their landlords and expect to stay "in place" after they enter the program. Unfortunately, the research grant did not permit the extensive polling and interviewing of Section 8 clients and landlords that would be required to address these and other explanations of the locational patterns. Instead, two hypotheses were identified and tested that were considered important and practical. HACC has often argued that 27

38 many of its Section 8 families reside in the south suburbs because that is where most of the affordable units are located. One hypothesis addresses this claim by analyzing the distribution of affordable units in the six regions of the HACC service area. HACC has also asserted that it could do nothing administratively to change the situation. This claim is examined in a limited fashion by comparing the HACC family Section 8 program with the Gautreaux Program, which also places some of its Section 8 minority families in suburban Cook County, but only in white areas. The two hypotheses can be described as follows: (1) The locational patterns of Section 8 households can be explained, in part, by the supply of affordable housing which is primarily located in the south suburbs. (2) The locational patterns of Section 8 households can be explained, in part, by HACC's management of the Section 8 certificate program which has given a low priority to administrative practices that encourage minority families to look outside of the south suburbs. 1. The "Regional Distribution of Affordable Units" Hypothesis The potential availability of a rental unit for the Section 8 program is, in part, determined by whether the rent for that unit fits within the fair market rent (fmrs) 28

39 parameters established by the federal government. 37 In the Chicago area, HUD has established five fmr subregions, each with its own rent schedule by bedroom size. (See Appendix One: Fair Market Rent Schedule for Six-County Area.) Within suburban Cook County there is one fmr schedule for the northwest and north suburbs and another for the rest of the county. The two different schedules were established because rents are generally higher in the north and northwest regions 38. Approximately two thirds of over 102,000 two bedroom units, and an equivalent proportion of the 34,000 three bedroom units, in suburban Cook County are within fair market rents. This represents roughly 90,000 potential Section 8 units 39. (See Table Four: Below Fair Market Rent Units by Region.) TABLE FOUR: BELOW FAIR MARKET RENT UNITS BY REGION 37 On a yearly basis HUD establishes fair market rents for each metropolitan area and in some cases for sub regions within metropolitan areas by number of bedrooms. There are obviously other factors beside fair market rents and vacancy rates that affect landlord decisions about renting to Section 8 households. It is beyond the scope of this project to explore those factors but there is an excellent discussion in Leonard Rubinowitz, "Metropolitan Public Housing Desegregation Remedies: Chicago's Privatization Program", Northern Illinois University Law Review. 12, (1992). 38 Chicago is not the only metropolitan area to have sub regional fmrs. As pressures increased from fair housing organizations and civil rights groups to provide greater locational housing options, particularly in more affluent, white suburbs, HUD has modified its fmr schedules to fit differences in the potential availability of Section 8 units in different parts of the metropolitan area. For most of suburban Cook County the two bedroom fmr is $692 and the three bedroom fmr is $870. For the north and northwest regions, a 15% fmr exception, in effect since 1977, increases the two bedroom fmr to $796 and the three bedroom fmr to $ We are focusing on two and three bedroom units because they are the most typical family subsidized units. Larger sized units in the private rental market are in very short supply relative to need. 29

40 TWO BEDROOM UNITS BELOW FMRS THREE BEDROOM UNITS BELOW FMRS # %* # % NORTH SHORE % % NORTHWEST % % NORTHCENTRAL % % CENTRAL % % SOUTHWEST % % SOUTH % % TOTAL * Refers to the percent of all fmr units in suburban Cook County that are in a particular region. As Table Four indicates, there are significant regional differences in the supply of two bedroom units that fall under fmr limits. Within the CHAS regions of the suburban county, it is the generally affluent northwest suburbs that have the largest number of affordable two bedroom units (21,000), many more than in the south suburbs (15,000), which is usually considered the most affordable region in suburban Cook County. The southwest region, with the fewest Section 8 households, contains over 10,000 potential two bedroom Section 8 units. The patterns for three bedroom units is closer to what might have been expected. The south suburbs have over 7600 affordable three bedroom units, 60% greater than the 4700 affordable three bedroom units in the northwest suburbs and 300% greater than what is available in the north shore region. Obviously, from an fmr perspective, it is easier to find two than three bedroom units for Section 8 households outside of the south 30

41 region. But this data only addresses the potential supply of affordable units. When that number is compared with the numbers of Section 8 households, a different picture of regional Section 8 potential emerges. The 35% of HACC Section 8 households who live in two bedroom units, and the 46% who live in three bedroom units, represents only 2% of the potential supply of affordable two bedroom units, and 10% of the potential supply of three bedroom units respectively. In other words, 98% of affordable two bedroom units and 90% of affordable three bedroom units are not being rented by Section 8 families, theoretically representing a great potential apartment supply for the Section 8 program. From a regional perspective, almost half the Section 8 two bedroom families and over 80% of the three bedroom families live in the south suburbs. (See Table Five: Section 8 Units by Bedroom Size for the Six Regions.) Yet those suburbs contain only 22% of fmr two bedroom units and 34% of fmr three bedroom units. In other words, the south suburbs have more than twice as many two and three bedroom Section 8 families than would be predicted based on their region's share of affordable units. In contrast, the southwest suburbs, with almost no Section 8 families, have 14% of fmr two bedroom units and 8% of fmr three bedroom units. TABLE FIVE: SECTION 8 UNITS BY BEDROOM SIZE FOR THE SIX REGIONS BDRMS NTH NTHWST NTHCEN CENT STHWST STH row %

42 The data thus indicate that the first hypothesis should be rejected. The concentration of Section 8 families in the south suburbs cannot be explained by the relative differences in the number of affordable two and three bedroom units in the six regions. There are large numbers of affordable units in all regions of suburban Cook County. 40 Very few are occupied by Section 8 households. 41 Outside the south suburbs there is a great supply potential including the most affluent suburban regions. Over 90% of fmr units in the north and northwest suburbs are not occupied by Section 8 families. It is also important to note that the Leadership Council has placed many of its suburban Cook County families outside the south suburbs, indicating that affordable units are available. (This topic will be more fully explored in the next section of this report.) An analysis of median rent data from the 1990 Census indicate that most of the census tracts in the north and northwest regions are in the highest quartile of median rents in suburban Cook County. If the fmr bonus was removed, the number of affordable units in the north and northwest suburbs, outside of Evanston, would be drastically reduced. 41 This does not mean that fmrs should be lowered. Since there are many other factors that affect the supply of Section 8 units, increasing the potential supply of affordable units through raising fmrs is only a first step in increasing the actual availability of rental units for Section 8 families in all regions of suburban Cook County. 42 On the other hand, it is important to reiterate that fmrs are not the only factor in determining the potential supply of Section 8 units. Vacancy rates and landlord attitudes about the program must also be considered. But these issues are part of a more extensive exploration of this topic which must be left to future research. 32

43 2. The "Administrative Practices" Hypothesis The locational patterns of Section 8 households may also be explained, in part, by HACC's management of the Section 8 certificate program. Administrative practices that encourage minority families to look outside the south suburbs have been given a low priority by HACC. To test this hypothesis, the HACC family Section 8 program was contrasted with the Gautreaux Program, one of the few desegregative housing subsidy programs in operation today. The Gautreaux Program is part of a court ordered remedy begun in the 1970s to desegregate public housing operated by the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). The Gautreaux Program provides Section 8 certificates\vouchers to low income minority families living in CHA public housing to be used primarily in predominantly white communities throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. 43 In recent years many of those certificates have been used in the HACC service area. Thus differences in the administration of the two Section 8 programs, particularly in the counselling and unit search process, provide a useful comparison with which to test the second hypothesis. 44 It is important to note, however, that there are some aspects of the Gautreaux Program that are not replicable in the HACC Section 8 program. For example, in choosing to enter the Gautreaux Program, the clients commit themselves to finding a unit 43 Gautreaux eligible families also include those on the CHA public housing waiting list at the time of the settlement. 44 For a more detailed discussion of HACC administrative practices and possible reform see the next section of this report. 33

44 in a white majority area of the city or suburbs, in sharp contrast to the freedom of choice which characterizes a regular Section 8 program like HACC's. It could be argued that these locational restrictions in the Gautreaux Program have greatly contributed to the success the program has had in placing minority families in nontraditional (white) areas of the city and suburbs. However, while this may have been true in the early days of the program, there are indications that the program's extensive orientation, counseling, unit search, and support services are now the key to expanding the locational choices for its clients to nontraditional areas. 45 In contrast, the HACC Section 8 program, as acknowledged by its administrators, provides few counseling services, offers little information on unit availability, no support services, and most importantly, does not focus on expanding locational choices to white areas outside of the south suburbs for black families. 45 Leadership Council staff and other knowledgeable parties argue that today it is the services provided to clients that is the key to the program's success in placing more black families in white suburban areas. But recent "softening" in the housing market may also be a contributing factor. 34

45 Comparisons were made between the locational patterns of the HACC Section 8 program with black Section 8 families placed by the Gautreaux Program, administered by the Leadership Council. Since 1976, the Gautreaux Program has enabled over 4,700 black families from the City of Chicago, using Section 8 resources, to change their residences. Slightly more than half moved to the suburbs 46. There were 3080 Gautreaux placements from 1983 through The yearly placement rate varied from 219 in 1988 to 462 in Over the ten year period, approximately 43% of the placements were in Chicago with 35% in suburban Cook and the rest in the other collar counties. (See Table Six: Location of Gautreaux Families Since 1983 by County) Within suburban Cook, 63% of the placements were in the northwest region with only 14% in the south region. 48 (See Table Seven: Location of Gautreaux Families Since 1983 by Cook County Region.) 46 Once a move is made in the Gautreaux Program, administration is taken over by the housing authority in the service area to which the family has moved. Therefore, Gautreaux placements in the HACC service area are administered by HACC and treated like all other HACC Section 8 households. The data on household characteristics of HACC Section 8 households described earlier in this report does not distinguish between regular Section 8 and Gautreaux families. 47 Gautreaux records for the last ten years were used since they were considered the most accurate by Leadership Council staff. 48 Placements in Chicago have varied considerably over the decade from 84% in 1983 to 1% in The next lowest percent of placements in Chicago was 26% in 1985 and more recently the rate has been as high as 63% in Placements in suburban Cook have ranged from 8% in 1983 to 68% in Although there has been significant fluctuations within that range, in six of the ten years there were more placements in suburban Cook than in the City of Chicago. There is no discernible trend in the other collar counties over this time period with the placement rate varying between no placements in McHenry County for most of decade to 19% in Kane County in

46 TABLE SIX: LOCATION OF GAUTREAUX FAMILIES SINCE 1983 BY COUNTY CUMULATIVE VALUE FREQ PERCENT FREQ PERCENT CHICAGO SUB COOK DUPAGE LAKE KANE WILL MCHENRY TABLE SEVEN: LOCATION OF GAUTREAUX FAMILIES SINCE 1983 BY COOK COUNTY REGION CUMULATIVE VALUE FREQ PERCENT FREQ PERCENT NORTH SHOR NORTHWEST NORTH CENT CENTRAL SOUTHWEST SOUTH TOTAL Except for the first two years, when a majority of Gautreaux placements were in the south suburbs, the northwest suburbs have received most of the suburban Cook County placements. For the past eight years, the rate has varied between 59% in 1992 to 81% in (See Table Eight: Location of Gautreaux Families by Cook County Region Since 1983 By Year.) Because of concerns about resegregation in the south 36

47 TABLE EIGHT: LOCATION OF GAUTREAUX FAMILIES BY COOK COUNTY REGION SINCE 1983 BY YEAR REGION YEAR NTHSHR NTHWST NTHCEN CENTRL STHWST SOUTH row % suburbs, the Leadership Council instituted a moratorium on Gautreaux placements in that region during part of the 1980s. The south suburbs, which had 60% of the placements in 1983, had only two placements in 1986 and none between 1987 and Placements began again in 1991 and reached 14% in Thus, there is no question that the Gautreaux Program is having greater success 37

48 than the HACC program with placements outside the south suburbs, and in the northwest suburbs, in particular. This may be explained in part as a result of a "softer" housing market with higher vacancy rates making landlords in more affluent white suburbs more willing to accept Section 8 black families. But if that were the controlling factor, regular HACC Section 8 black families should also be moving to the northwest suburbs. Examination of the Gautreaux placement history in a HACC context does not support that contention. A substantial number of HACC Section 8 black families in the northwest suburbs were actually placed by the Gautreaux Program. 49 Thus the data discussed in the previous section of this report overstates HACC placements of its black Section 8 families in that region. HACC records show 480 black Section 8 families in the northwest region as of June 30, During the preceding year, of 157 Gautreaux placements in suburban 49 Since the HACC records do not separately identify Gautreaux families, HACC black Section 8 families were separated out from Gautreaux families through the use of the Gautreaux placement records. Unfortunately the Leadership Council information on families after their initial moves is skimpy. Although the Council provides post-placement support, these services are not utilized by every family. Since the Section 8 lease is only for one year, families may move to another location or drop out of the program without informing the Leadership Council. Thus it is difficult to know how many Gautreaux families live in a particular community after placement in the first year. In evaluating the impact of the Gautreaux placements on the larger HACC record, one could have maximum confidence only in the records of the previous year and less confidence further back. Thus records from two years ago are not as reliable in describing the present situation from one year ago, although most families were thought likely to be living in the same unit during the second year following the initial move. Therefore, it was decided to rely on the last two years in recalculating the HACC placement record, as described in the text. 38

49 Cook County 81 or 52% were in the northwest region. 50 With great confidence, it can be assumed that, after subtracting the Gautreaux placements for that year, fewer than 400 black families were placed through the regular HACC Section 8 program. On this basis, the percentage of HACC-placed black Section 8 families in the northwest region drops from 12% to 10%. In the two preceding years, of 211 Gautreaux placements in suburban Cook County, 121 or 57% were in the northwest region. After subtracting two years of Gautreaux placements in the northwest suburbs, with somewhat less confidence it can be assumed that less than 360 of the 480 black families referred to above were placed by the regular HACC program. On this basis, the percentage of HACC black Section 8 families in the northwest region drops from 12% to 9%. Put another way, using the preceding two years of Gautreaux placement records, about 25% of HACC black families in the northwest suburbs were placed there by the Gautreaux Program. Over the last 10 years, 596 Gautreaux placements have been made in the northwest region. If only half, or 300, of those families are still receiving a Section 8 subsidy and living in the northwest suburbs, than it could be assumed that fewer than 180 ( ), or 37% of black families identified as living in the northwest suburbs by the HACC files were placed there through HACC's normal administrative processes. The percentage of HACC Section 8 black families in the northwest region would then drop 50 Since there were only 76 Gautreaux placements spread among the other five regions of suburban Cook County from July 1, 1991 to June 30, 1992, this analysis was confined to the northwest region. We have also chosen to concentrate on the northwest suburbs because it represents the sharpest contrast to the south suburban region. The northwest is overwhelmingly white, generally affluent, with quality services and schools, and experiencing the greatest job growth in Cook County. It is typical of areas that have been generally "out of bounds" for low-income black families. 39

50 from 12% to 6%. Using the ten year figure, Gautreaux placements would represent at least 63% of HACC Section 8 black families in the northwest region. The data indicate that removing Gautreaux placements from the HACC locational picture makes the concentration of HACC Section 8 black families in the south suburbs even more extreme. It is important to reemphasize here the unique aspect of the Gautreaux Program. As stated earlier, Gautreaux puts certain areas off limits, which is not the case with the HACC Section 8 program. In addition, all of the Gautreaux families come from the City of Chicago while most of HACC's Section 8 black families come from the south suburbs. These differences should be considered when comparing the locational patterns of the two programs. A comparison of the Gautreaux Program placement history with that of the HACC Section 8 family program indicates, however, that the second hypothesis does have some support. Under certain administrative conditions that give a priority to expanding locational alternatives, housing mobility for Section 8 black families can be expanded. Despite the legacy of racism, discrimination, the dual housing market, apathy, inertia, and social and personal ties to traditional black communities, many poor black families did find housing in the Gautreaux Program in what are considered nontraditional areas in suburban Cook County. There may be administrative mechanisms combined with appropriate housing market conditions that can facilitate greater housing choices for Section 8 minority families. Section III. E. of this report will explore that possibility through a legal and administrative analysis of the HACC Section 8 program. 40

51 D. Summary Regarding the Racial and Locational Patterns of the HACC Subsidy Programs The HACC Section 8 family program is overwhelmingly black and highly concentrated geographically with few whites and almost no hispanics. Over 70% of black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs. White Section 8 families are more dispersed as are Section 8 elderly, especially white elderly. When controlling for population differences between regions, concentrations of black Section 8 families in the south suburbs are even more extreme. There is a high degree of racial segregation, especially for black Section 8 families, many of whom reside in the mostly black south suburban census tracts. Almost all HACC public housing families are black. Three towns in the south suburbs have 87% of all public housing family units. The HACC public housing program is even more racially and geographically concentrated then the HACC Section 8 program, especially for black families, 89% of whom live in mostly black census tracts. The southwest region, although closest to the south suburbs, has the fewest HACC subsidized family households in either program. The locational patterns of Section 8 households cannot be explained solely by rent affordability differences between regions of suburban Cook County. Large numbers of two bedroom units within fmrs can be found in all regions, especially in the northwest. Three bedroom units within fmrs are less plentiful in regions outside of the south suburbs 41

52 but may nevertheless be found in significant numbers throughout suburban Cook County, particularly when compared to the number of three bedroom Section 8 families. A larger proportion of fmr units, particularly three bedroom, are used by Section 8 households in the south suburbs. Only a very small number of fmr units are occupied by Section 8 households outside of the south suburbs so the potential supply of affordable units for the Section 8 program remains large in the other regions of the HACC service area. This is particularly the case for the southwest suburbs. The locational patterns of Section 8 black families may be explained, in part, by the lack of HACC administrative mechanisms to foster greater housing choice in areas outside of the south suburbs. Under the Gautreaux mobility program large numbers of impoverished black families from the Chicago inner city have moved to white areas of the Cook County suburbs. Particularly in recent years, the Gautreaux Program has been successful in placing many of its families in the northwest suburbs. In contrast to the regular HACC program, only a small percentage of Gautreaux families were placed in the south suburbs and in recent years the Gautreaux Program operated under a moratorium prohibiting south suburban placements. If Gautreaux placements are factored into the HACC data, it is likely that most of the HACC black families in the northwest suburbs were placed there by the Leadership Council. Excluding Gautreaux families increases the extent of concentration of HACC Section 8 black families in the south suburbs. 42

53 E. The Legal and Administrative Analysis of the HACC Section 8 Program BPI conducted legal research to determine the extent of HACC's duty under federal law to encourage and enable its clients to consider housing choices in racially and economically diverse areas with substantial employment opportunities. BPI then conducted factual research to determine the extent to which HACC administers its program to encourage and enable such affirmative choices. The factual research consisted of discussions with current and former HACC employees, discussions with current and former clients in HACC's program, an examination of program administration documents from both HUD's public files and HACC's files, discussions with public officials from towns with a substantial number of Section 8 renters, and discussions with officials from two independent agencies that have counselled HACC Section 8 clients: Community Economic Development Association (CEDA) and the Leadership Council. 1. HACC's Legal Duty HACC is required by federal law to administer its Section 8 program in a manner that encourages and enables its clients to seek housing outside areas with high concentrations of minority and low-income residents. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to "administer the programs and activities relating to housing and urban development in a manner 43

54 affirmatively to further the policies of this subchapter." 42 USC 3608(e)(5) (emphasis added). Congress declares the broad policy of the subchapter in 42 USC 3601: "It is the policy of the United States to provide, within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the United States." "Affirmative" administration and "fair housing" are not defined, but the federal courts have made clear that a principle purpose of the Fair Housing Act is to promote integrated housing. "The reach of the proposed law [Title VIII] was to replace the ghettos 'by truly integrated and balanced living patterns.'" Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 409 U.S. 205, 211 (1972) (quoting 114 Cong. Rec (statement of Sen. Mondale)). "Action must be taken to fulfill, as much as possible, the goal of open, integrated residential housing patterns and to prevent the increase of segregation, in ghettos, of racial groups whose lack of opportunities the Act was designed to combat." Otero v. New York City Housing Authority, 484 F.2d 1122, 1134 (2nd Cir. 1973). "Increase or maintenance of racial concentration is prima facie likely to lead to urban blight and is thus prima facie at variance with the national housing policy" against discrimination in federally assisted housing and in favor of fair housing. Shannon v. HUD, 436 F.2d 809, 821 (3rd Cir. 1970). The Congressional policy of promoting integrated housing applies with particular force to the Section 8 program. HUD's regulations implementing the Section 8 program require public housing authorities to "encourage the participation of owners of units in areas other than low-income or minority concentrated areas." 24 C.F.R (a). Pursuant to that requirement, a PHA must create and comply with a HUD-approved 44

55 "equal opportunity housing plan," 24 C.F.R (a), , , that includes the PHA policies and procedures for "achieving participation by owners of units of suitable price and quality located outside areas of low-income or minority concentrations..." 24 C.F.R (c)(2). 2. HACC's Administrative Procedures Affirmative administration of a Section 8 program, consistent with the statutory provision and regulations discussed above, arguably should require (1) motivating clients actively to consider areas -- particularly the northwest suburbs -- with numerous job opportunities and low minority populations, and (2) enabling clients realistically to search in those areas. Special motivational efforts may be critical. Most HACC Section 8 family clients are black. Precisely because of the racial segregation so prevalent in the Chicago metropolitan area, black homeseekers are typically unfamiliar with the northwest suburbs. (A recently released study by Professor Pierre de Vise finds that Chicago's northwest suburbs are one of the most segregated areas in the United States, with a black population of only 1.5% among its 1 million residents 51.) Because of that area's unfamiliarity, its distance from the south suburbs (where most of HACC's Section 8 applicants reside), and fears of hostility or discrimination (whether well founded or not), black Section 8 51 See "Segregation Thrives in the Suburbs, Prof Finds", Chicago Tribune, May 27, 1993, Section 2, p

56 applicants in HACC's program typically do not include the northwest suburbs in their housing search without special motivational efforts. The Cook County Section 8 program, however, as it was administered in 1992, and most of the time prior to that, lacked such motivational features. Clients were not encouraged in any meaningful way to consider or effectuate affirmative housing moves. a. Lack of Motivational Efforts The initial briefing session is the critical event that introduces a client to the Section 8 program and begins the housing search. None of the clients interviewed for this study recalled being encouraged during the briefing session to consider housing outside of the south suburbs. Each client recalled being told that they were not allowed to seek housing within certain municipalities in Cook County. They each had different -- and inconsistent -- recollections as to which towns were off limits and did not know the reasons for such locational limitations. Nor did HACC's written materials provide any meaningful motivation. Among the many documents provided to clients at the briefing sessions was a map of the county with a bold line drawn around areas designated as having "many employers." Clients stated that the map was not readily comprehensible and was not explained at the briefing, and that they had paid little attention to it. Moreover, the areas designated on the map include near western suburbs with high minority populations and troubled economies. HACC's written materials also included a list of agencies that clients could 46

57 contact for information (but not rental listings) concerning various areas of the county. However, such contacts often reinforced segregative housing search patterns. For example, clients who contacted CEDA's southwest office for information about housing opportunities in the predominantly white southwest suburbs were routinely referred to CEDA's south suburban offices, where they were given information instead about the south suburbs, a number of which already had a high concentration of minority residents and Section 8 units. HACC also engaged in direct mailings and print advertising to encourage apartment owners in predominantly white areas of the county to participate in the Section 8 program. Few listings were generated by those efforts. b. Effects of HACC's Administrative Structure HACC's administrative structure has not facilitated nontraditional housing search patterns. Clients entering the Section 8 program were not assigned an individual counsellor to assist them in their search. Rather, they were assigned to the Intake Department at the downtown HACC office where they may speak with different persons each time they call. The intake department is not set up to facilitate or encourage nontraditional searches; instead, it appears designed primarily to process paperwork. Field representatives in HACC's suburban field offices were discouraged from providing one-on-one counseling assistance to homeseeking clients. They were instructed to refer client calls to the downtown office during the search process. 47

58 Moreover, HACC's field representatives developed a "turf" mentality. During the MAP program in 1989 and 1990 (see below) the field representatives in the northwest and north suburban offices refused to share apartment listings in their areas with clients from other parts of the county. c. The MAP Program The only true motivational effort HACC has attempted was the Motivational Assistance Program ("MAP"), which HACC implemented on a limited basis from 1988 to The program demonstrated that clients could be motivated to consider affirmative housing options, but it failed to achieve a significant number of moves because it was not administered properly. Under that program, HACC contracted with the Leadership Council to attend several HACC briefing sessions for their new Section 8 clients and present a motivational program encouraging housing searches in the northwest suburbs. Interested clients signed a list at the end of the briefing session. HACC was supposed to provide the Leadership Council with a list of available apartments in the northwest suburbs, and the Leadership Council was supposed to escort clients to those apartments. The motivational portion of the program was successful. In 1988, the Leadership Council prepared and presented an effective slide program depicting successful moves of Section 8 families to the northwest suburbs. Out of the three briefing sessions attended by Leadership Council, all in the south suburbs, 33 out of the 100 or so attendees signed 48

59 up to participate in the program. Leadership Council reported that those clients who signed up expressed considerable enthusiasm and repeatedly telephoned the Leadership Council for northwest suburban listings. However, HACC ultimately provided Leadership Council with only a handful of listings over a period of many months. Therefore, the Leadership Council conducted only a few escorts. The heart of the program, the escorts, was never really implemented. One apparent reason for the lack of listings is that HACC field representatives from the northwest and north suburbs openly refused to provide listings to the Leadership Council, on the grounds that they wanted to keep any such listings for their clients who already lived in the north and northwest suburbs. HACC invited the Leadership Council to another briefing session in 1989 and to a session for a handful of current clients in The results were the same. HACC failed to provide listings and the Leadership Council did not conduct escorts.. Although the MAP program was a failure in terms of placements, it demonstrated that HACC's clients would respond to motivational counseling and could be persuaded to include nontraditional options in their housing searches. d. Proposal For A New Affirmative Counseling Initiative. Once it became clear from the research that HACC's Section 8 program resulted in 49

60 racial and economic concentration of black clients, and that HACC had not administered the program in an affirmative way to avoid that result (except for the limited and failed MAP initiative), BPI, South Suburban Housing Center, south suburban municipal officials, Dr. Fischer, and the Leadership Council engaged in discussions with HACC and Cook County officials concerning possible revisions to HACC's program. After several months of discussion, the various parties agreed that HACC would contract with the Leadership Council\South Suburban Housing Center to take over counseling of new Section 8 clients for a two-year trial period. The agreement is based on an "affirmative administration" document prepared by BPI with the assistance of the Leadership Council, and delivered to HACC. The Leadership Council\South Suburban Housing Center program will be modeled after the Council's successful Gautreaux Section 8 program. The central elements of the Leadership Council's affirmative administration efforts will be: -- Strongly motivational briefing sessions, including testimonials from other Section 8 clients who have made successful, nontraditional moves. The briefing sessions will also incorporate role-playing to assist clients in persuading landlords to accept Section 8 families and to rent to them. -- Detailed explanations of the full housing market that is open to Section 8 participants, including explanations of portability. -- The assignment of an individual counsellor to work one-on-one with each client family. The counsellor's duties include providing detailed information about 50

61 individual communities that would represent affirmative moves for the clients, assisting with search mechanics, transportation, negotiations with landlords, and so on. -- Provision of supportive services during the months following a family's move-in to assist with transitional difficulties; and -- Putting client families in contact with other Section 8 families in their area in an effort to form a support network. Negotiations over a contract between HACC and the Leadership Council\South Suburban Housing Center are now underway. It is expected, assuming the negotiations proceed satisfactorily, that the Leadership Council/SSHC program will begin sometime in Fall 1993, when HACC's new FY 1993 Section 8 certificates are likely to be received. IV. The Other Suburban Housing Authorities In addition to HACC, there are ten other public housing authorities in the Chicago suburbs that administer over 8700 Section 8 certificates/vouchers and public housing units. They range from small municipal agencies like Oak Park, with approximately 350 Section 8 households to the Lake County (Illinois) Housing Authority with almost 2200 Section 8 and public housing households. The Leadership Council, acting as a housing authority, also administers 246 Section 8 certificates/vouchers in areas that are not covered by another suburban PHA. Since the primary focus of the study is HACC, the racial/ethnic patterns of subsidized housing in the other suburban jurisdictions is only 51

62 described briefly here. More detailed descriptions of the findings in the other housing authority service areas are found in Appendix Three at the end of this report. In most, but not all, of the other PHA service areas, the locational patterns for subsidized families follow the HACC pattern: a predominantly black clientele with a minority of whites and few hispanics; and public housing more segregated than Section 8. Most subsidized black families are isolated in the poorer sections of the service areas, far from the areas of job growth. The Lake County Housing Authority Section 8 and public housing programs replicate the HACC pattern, with black families concentrated in relatively few communities that have large black populations while whites are more residentially dispersed. Most of the Lake County black subsidized families live along the lake in the poorer communities, far from the affluent suburbs to the south or the dynamic job corridor to the west. Both the North Chicago Housing Authority and the Waukegan Housing Authority operate family subsidy programs that, like HACC, are overwhelmingly black with many of the black families residing in heavily black areas. The DuPage County Housing Authority operates in a service area that is overwhelmingly white and affluent but its relatively small family Section 8 program is majority black while its elderly program is overwhelmingly white. The Joliet subsidy programs are locationally concentrated for black families in general, and both concentrated and highly segregated for black public housing families in particular. Both the Elgin and Aurora subsidy programs follow the dominant pattern, predominantly black family Section 8 with hispanics underrepresented. Since there are no census tracts over 30% black in these two communities, all of the black 52

63 subsidized households live in mostly white census tracts. In general, most of the 10 other suburban PHAs follow the HACC patterns. Black public housing families are the most concentrated and segregated. Black Section 8 families are somewhat more dispersed, with many residing in predominantly white areas, particularly in those service areas like DuPage County, Elgin, and Aurora that have few black residents. But black Section 8 families are more concentrated than their white counterparts or subsidized white elderly. The small Maywood Section 8 program is a black program in a black community. There are some exceptions to the HACC pattern. McHenry County is similar to many other more rural counties with few minorities, where almost all the poor are white. Consequently, in sharp contrast to HACC and most of the other housing authorities, the McHenry County Housing Authority Section 8 family program is primarily for poor whites. A number of PHAs have a relatively greater share of hispanic Section 8 families. In contrast to HACC, the three housing authorities in Lake County, as well as the DuPage County Housing Authority, for example, have hispanic representation in the Section 8 family program proportional to the hispanic share of the service area populations. V. The Chicago Suburban Housing Authorities Combined The service area of the 11 public housing authorities discussed in this report contain a population of four million, in six suburban Illinois counties, surrounding the 53

64 City of Chicago. These 11 housing authorities, plus the Leadership Council, 52 administer Section 8 and public housing programs with over 18,000 households. (See Table Nine: Service Area Population per Subsidized Units by Jurisdiction.) Of over 18,000 subsidized households, 72% are in the Section 8 program and the rest are residing in public housing. Nearly two-thirds of the subsidized households are family and the rest elderly and disabled. Close to 58% are black, 3% are hispanic and most of the remainder are white, in a service area with approximately 320,000 black residents, or 8% of the service area population. 53 Over a third of the subsidized households live in least black census tracts while another 19% live in most black census tracts. Most of the elderly households are white while the family households are mostly black. This pattern is similar for both Section 8 and public housing. Across jurisdictions, there is little difference in the proportions of blacks and whites in public housing and Section 8. In public housing, over 88% of family units are occupied by blacks while 68% of elderly units are occupied by whites. In Section 8, 72% of the families are black while 73% of the elderly households are white. In the Chicago suburbs, family subsidized housing is predominantly black and elderly subsidized housing is predominantly white 52 The Leadership Council must act as a housing authority to receive Section 8 certificates from HUD to be used for Gautreaux families that it places in suburban areas outside the jurisdiction of the 11 housing authorities. As of June 30, 1993, the Leadership Council was acting as Section 8 administrator for 246 black families, most of whom were living in areas of Will and Kane Counties that were not part of another housing authority's jurisdiction. Since this effort is somewhat different than the other programs discussed in this paper, and the number of families is so small, the Leadership Council PHA families are included in Table Nine, but the program is not discussed in detail. 53 The total service area discussed here does not include those parts of Will and Kane Counties covered by the Leadership Council acting as a PHA. 56

65 with the small number of hispanics replicating the pattern for blacks. It is also clear that family public housing is the most segregated of the four types of programs. Whereas, 17% of 6562 black families in the Section 8 program live in most black census tracts, close to 81% of 1580 black public housing families live in most black census tracts in a service area that is less than 8% black. Where a housing authority administers family public housing, inevitably the clientele is overwhelmingly black and the units are in mostly black communities, whether it is thesouth suburbs in the HACC service area, black neighborhoods of Joliet and Waukegan, or in other predominantly black areas covered by the Lake County Housing Authority. Almost four out of five black households in public housing or Section 8 are in two PHAs, HACC (67%) and Joliet (12%). North Chicago has the highest proportion of blacks (87%) in its program while McHenry County has the lowest (1%). The Section 8 program, while less segregative than public housing, still does not reflect a pattern of dispersal for black families comparable with the range of census tracts with different black populations in the Chicago suburbs. Over 75% of the census tracts (658) in suburban Chicago are under 5% black, yet only 19% of black Section 8 families live in such tracts while 17% of blacks live in over 80% tracts, even though only 21 or 2.4% of the census tracts are over 80% black. HACC is by far the largest suburban housing authority, administering more than 50% of the over 18,000 subsidized households with Lake County at 12%, followed by Aurora and DuPage County. If service area populations are taken into account, the comparative picture of subsidy effort across jurisdictions, defined as population per subsidized unit, changes 59

66 dramatically. (See Table Nine) With an average population per unit of 224 for the entire service area, four housing authorities show below average effort. HACC with its 9110 subsidized households has 246 persons per unit while Joliet with 1653 subsidized households has 46 persons per unit, five times HACC's effort. What stands out is the extremely small number of subsidized families in the DuPage County Section 8 program. DuPage County has 703 persons per unit, which represents the fewest subsidized units per capita of any of the suburban housing authorities. Putting it another way, controlling for population, HACC, with 246 persons per unit has almost three times as many subsidized units as DuPage County, while Joliet has 15 times the number of units as DuPage County. The implications of this pattern of distribution for potential employment opportunities are significant. Between 1972 and 1989, the City of Chicago lost almost TABLE NINE: SERVICE AREA POPULATION PER SUBSIDIZED UNIT* BY JURISDICTION Jurisdiction Population # of Units Population/Unit HACC 2,240,554** Oak Park 53, Maywood 27, Lake County 516,418***

67 North Chicago 34, Waukegan 69, DuPage County 781, McHenry County 183, Joliet 76, Elgin 77, Aurora 99, Leadership Council 246 TOTAL 4,056,093**** 18, ** Includes Section 8 certificates/vouchers and public housing. ** Does not include the population of Oak Park and Maywood. *** Includes Waukegan and North Chicago since LCHA has many Section 8 households in those two communities. **** The total includes Waukegan and North Chicago figures counted once and it includes only those parts of suburban Chicago that are within a public housing authority jurisdiction. The Gautreaux service area is not counted since it is part of a number of the suburban counties. 134,000 jobs or 10% of its job base 54. During this same period, DuPage County gained 232,000 jobs or increased its job base by 32%. While suburban Cook County increased its job base by 325,000 or 45%, almost all of that growth was in the northwest suburbs. For manufacturing employment, all of the regions in suburban Cook County, except for the northwest suburbs, actually lost jobs during this period. On the other hand, both Lake and DuPage County gained manufacturing jobs in the 17 year period. DuPage County is one 54 All of the statistics on job growth in this paragraph can be found in Job, Housing, and Race In the Chicago Metropolitan Area, Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, 1991 Tables I, II, IV, and V. Much of the information in these tables comes from data collected in a publication titled, Where Workers Work, Chicago Metropolitan Area , Illinois Department of Employment Security. 61

68 of the Chicago area's most dynamic job markets. The relative absence of subsidized households in DuPage County, as well as in the job corridors of Lake and Cook Counties, further diminishes employment opportunities for low-income families. VI. A Note About Project Based Section 8 in the Chicago Suburbs. Although Project Based Section 8 units were not part of the original parameters of the research project, they are discussed here in order to present as comprehensive a picture of subsidized housing as possible. 55 Some, but not all, of the needed information was available from the HUD area office in Chicago. 56 There are 6110 units of project based Section 8 in 69 developments in the Chicago suburbs. Few locational patterns are discernible in the distribution of these units which are found in every suburban county and in communities with few Section 8 certificate/voucher or public housing households, such as Naperville and Montgomery. 55 To reiterate, Project based Section 8 is a housing subsidy program in which the subsidy is "attached" to the unit, not the household, as is the case with the Section 8 certificate/voucher program. If a household leaves a project based unit, the household loses the subsidy. In contrast, Section 8 certificates "travel" with the household, which means they are mobile and are more usable for a housing mobility strategy. In addition, project based developments keep their own waiting list but must affirmatively market vacancies to assure minority participation. Unfortunately the affirmative marketing procedures have not been very effective in integrating project based Section 8 developments in white areas. The program was very popular in the 1970s and early 1980s but was phased out by the Reagan administration. However, with over 6000 units in the Chicago suburbs, an extensive inventory of project based units still exists. 56 Information not available included number of bedrooms and race of household. The family/elderly data was available for only some of the units and not usable in the aggregate. 62

69 They are spread among 41 communities with no one community having more than 7% of the units. Five of the 41 communities have close to 30% of these units, including Montgomery (7%), Waukegan (7.0%), Mount Prospect (5%), Elgin (5%), and Naperville (5%). Close to 75% of the project based units are in least black census tracts, with only 4% in most black tracts. Unfortunately, there is an absence of either racial data or family/elderly information for project based households, which limits the usefulness of the locational information. XIII. Conclusions Analysis of the HACC data indicate a high degree of regional concentration for both the Section 8 and public housing programs. There is tremendous variation in the amount of subsidized housing in different regions of suburban Cook County. The south suburbs contain a majority of subsidized households, especially for family units. Compared to the other regions, very little subsidized housing can be found in the southwest region. Most of the minorities in the HACC Section 8 and public housing programs are black and a large percentage of these black subsidized households reside in the south suburbs. The Gautreaux placement data indicates that many, if not most, of the black Section 8 families in the largely white northwest suburbs were placed there by the efforts of the Leadership Council and the Gautreaux Program rather than through the regular HACC placement procedures, making the concentration of minority Section 8 families in the south suburbs that much more extreme. 63

70 A large majority of black subsidized families resides in census tracts which are heavily black, most of which are in the south suburbs. Public housing is primarily for the elderly while Section 8 is disproportionately family. HACC family public housing is the most concentrated and most segregated, with almost all black public housing families in the most black census tracts. The Section 8 program for black families is more dispersed but is still regionally concentrated in the south suburbs. The HACC study also shows poor representation of hispanics in both the Section 8 and public housing programs. Regional locational patterns for subsidized households within the HACC service area cannot be explained solely by the availability of affordable housing since there are many units that fit HUD's definition of affordability in each of the six suburban regions, only a small percentage of which are rented by subsidized households. On the other hand, HACC administrative practices may be a factor in the regional concentrations of Section 8 black families. Analysis of the Gautreaux Program indicate that a more pro-active, motivational approach to counselling minority Section 8 families about nontraditional locational choices may result in a less regionally concentrated black Section 8 family population and more black families in majority suburban communities. The larger picture of subsidized housing in the Chicago suburbs follows similar patterns. Where public housing exists, as it does in the older cities like North Chicago, Waukegan and Joliet, it is mostly for the white elderly. But the black family public housing is again the most concentrated and most segregated. Section 8 family housing is more dispersed in more communities and larger proportions of black Section 8 families are in majority census tracts. But even with Section 8 there is significant locational 64

71 concentration and segregation relative to the racial make-up of the jurisdictions. It is also important to remember that there are many poor white families, reflected in the McHenry County family Section 8 program that is overwhelmingly white. (This should discourage the tendency to equate poverty and subsidized housing with minorities as if white families were immune from poverty and rarely avail themselves of housing subsidies.) Although hispanics represent a larger share of Section 8 families in a number of PHAs like Waukegan, North Chicago, and Joliet, overall they are severely underrepresented. The locational and racial concentrations of black subsidized families in the Chicago suburbs should be a matter of great concern. Suburban residency does not guarantee access to quality services, a safe neighborhood, or, most important, a dynamic job market. In one PHA jurisdiction after another, minority subsidized families are overwhelmingly in the poorest suburban regions or communities, far from the job growth corridors and other resources typically associated with suburban living. As discussed in the section on the administrative and legal analysis of HACC, PHAs have a legal obligation to promote racial deconcentration and provide expanded locational choices for minority clients. Freedom of choice for black Section 8 families in seeking apartments, in a context of minimal administrative involvement in locational decisions, has not facilitated greater locational dispersion. Analysis of the Gautreaux Program provides some indication that different administrative strategies utilizing motivational counselling, sophisticated informational resources, search and post-placement supports, and, most importantly, a staff commitment to expanding residential choices for minority families, can make a 65

72 difference. Granted, there are some very atypical aspects of the Gautreaux Program, which may not be replicable in PHA Section 8 programs. Yet, much can be borrowed and it is the hope of the research team that the arrangement being worked out between the Leadership Council/South Suburban Housing Center and HACC, described earlier in this report, could become a model for other housing authorities in the Chicago area as well as for PHAs around the country. Only then can we begin to address, as a nation, the destructive racial and class isolation that is so endemic in our urban areas. 66

73 APPENDIX ONE FAIR MARKET RENT SCHEDULE FOR SIX-COUNTY AREA EFFECTIVE DATE OCTOBER 1, BDRM 2 BDRM 3 BDRM 4 BDRM AURORA-ELGIN (KANE COUNTY $598 $705 $880 $989 CHICAGO (COOK, DUPAGE, MCHENRY) $591 $692 $870 $974 JOLIET (WILL COUNTY) $603 $713 $891 $1001 LAKE COUNTY $618 $725 $912 $1021 NORTHWEST + NORTH COOK COUNTY $672 $796 $1001 $1121 The Fair Market Rent (FMR) for unit sizes larger than four bedrooms is calculated by adding fifteen percent (15%) to the four bedroom FMR for each additional bedroom. 67

74 APPENDIX TWO POPULATION PER SECTION 8 HOUSEHOLD FOR COOK COUNTY REGIONS* Black Total Family Elderly White Total Family Elderly Located In: North Shore Northwest North Central Central Southwest South * To measure the density of Section 8 housing in each region and control for population differences between regions, the total population of each region was divided by the number of Section 8 households in the region to get the region's population per Section 8 household. 68

75 APPENDIX THREE RACIAL/ETHNIC PATTERNS IN 10 SUBURBAN HOUSING AUTHORITIES A. Oak Park and Maywood Housing Authorities Oak Park Section 8 families are overwhelmingly black and are concentrated in a small number of census tracts on the east side of the village. Oak Park, a village of almost 54,000, is located just six miles west of the Chicago downtown. It is a middle class bedroom community in the north central region of suburban Cook County. Over the past twenty years, Oak Park has attempted to maintain a stably integrated middle class community in the face of severe resegregation in the Chicago neighborhoods on its eastern border. According to the 1990 Census, blacks make up 18% of the town's population. There are approximately 350 households getting Section 8 subsidies with no public housing in Oak Park. Most of the 214 family households are black while most of the 135 elderly households are white, with no hispanics. Census tracts range from 2% black to 38% black with almost two thirds of black Section 8 families living in the three census tracts with the highest black concentrations from 25% to 38% black. In contrast, only four black families live in the two census tracts that are under 5% black. These mostly white census tracts also have very little multifamily housing which is a primary source of Section 8 units. The small Maywood Section 8 program is a black program in a black community. 69

76 Maywood, a town of 27,000, is also in the north central region of suburban Cook County, west of Oak Park and 11 miles from Chicago's loop. Over the past 30 years Maywood has changed from a mostly white to mostly black community; from 19% black in 1960 to 84% black today. Of the six census tracts in the community, five are over 80% black and the sixth is 33% black. All of the 409 subsidized households are Section 8 and almost all are black families. 57 Only 8% of the Section 8 households live in the 33% black census tract. B. Lake County Housing Authority 58 The Lake County Housing Authority Section 8 and public housing programs replicate the HACC pattern with black families concentrated in relatively few communities that have large black populations while whites are more residentially dispersed. Lake County stretches from just north of Cook County to the Wisconsin border and west to McHenry County. It has experienced rapid growth in the last 20 years. The county has changed from a primarily rural area with a small number of affluent 57 The Maywood Housing Authority was the least cooperative and was the only public housing authority in the study that refused to provide data at the individual household level. Thus it is impossible to know how many family or elderly units there are in particular census tracts or the bedroom size distribution. 58 The Lake County Housing Authority service area includes all of Lake County, Illinois except the cities of Waukegan and North Chicago which have their own housing authorities. LCPHA does administer some Section 8 certificates that are used in Waukegan and North Chicago since certificates are "portable"which means they can be used in other service areas while administered by the issuing housing authority. 70

77 commuter suburbs and old manufacturing cities, to a more dynamic suburban area with large shopping malls and expanding service and light manufacturing industries. There are almost 2200 units of subsidized housing in the Lake County Housing Authority (LCHA) service area, of which 72% are Section 8 and the other 28%, public housing. Like the HACC programs, the Lake County subsidized units are concentrated in relatively few communities. Approximately 58% of family subsidized units are in four towns in Lake County. Zion, just north of Waukegan on Lake Michigan has 35% of the family households, followed by Mundelein (8%), Round Lake Beach (8%), and North Chicago (7%). 59 Most of these communities are ranked at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale in Lake County. Not surprising, there are very few subsidized units administered by the Lake County Housing Authority in the affluent North Shore communities of Highland Park 60 (6), Lake Forest (6), or Lake Bluff (5), nor are there many in other affluent communities in Lake County like Barrington (11) and Deerfield (4). Other affluent communities like Lincolnshire have no subsidized units. 59 If the units from the North Chicago and Waukegan PHAs are added to the LCHA figures, then 18% of family units in Lake County are in North Chicago and 9% in Waukegan. 60 Highland Park has created a housing association to facilitate the financing of its own lowincome housing. Over 100 units of project based Section 8 elderly and family housing has been built in the community but it is administered by a private management firm and Highland Park is not involved directly in the subsidy. Thus the small number of Lake County Housing Authority Section 8 households residing in Highland Park understates considerably the actual low-income housing effort there. Unfortunately, Highland Park is the only town in Lake County with such an arrangement. 71

78 In contrast to the HACC programs, where most of the subsidized families are black with almost no hispanics (1%), over half of the family subsidized households administered by LCHA are white (58%) with blacks making up 33% and hispanics 9% in a county that is 7% black and 8% hispanic. Subsidized black families administered by LCHA are much more concentrated than hispanics and whites. Almost 80% of subsidized black families are located in two towns, Zion (62%) which is 22% black, and North Chicago (18%) which is 34% black, with another 6% in Waukegan which is 20% black. The largest share of subsidized hispanic families is in Waukegan (23%) while Zion has the largest share of subsidized white families (22%). For family public housing units, the racial concentration by town is even more extreme with 79% of black families in North Chicago. 61 What about the degree of racial concentration by census tract? Approximately 18% of black subsidized families live in most black census tracts compared to 23% who live in the least black census tracts. All of the black families in the most black census tracts are in public housing. In fact, 79% of black families in public housing live in the most black census tracts, in contrast to the Section 8 program, where all black families are in under 30% black census tracts. This racially concentrated and segregated pattern 61 North Chicago and Waukegan also have their own subsidy programs. In this section of the report only LCHA subsidized households living in those communities are included. If North Chicago and Waukegan PHA family households are included with LCHA, then North Chicago increases to 35% of Lake County black family households, Waukegan to 20% and Zion decreases to 37%. Waukegan, in the combined Lake County totals, has 30% of hispanics, North Chicago, 18%, and Zion, 14%. For public housing, Waukegan and North Chicago have over 93% of black families in the combined jurisdictions. Clearly the subsidy programs are much more locationally concentrated for minorities when the three jurisdictions are combined.. 72

79 for black family public housing conforms with that in the HACC service area. C. North Chicago and Waukegan Housing Authorities Both the North Chicago Housing Authority and the Waukegan Housing Authority operate family subsidy programs that, like HACC, are overwhelmingly black with many of the black families residing in heavily black areas. But both have hispanic representation that, proportionately, is much greater than found in HACC. The City of North Chicago, population 35,000, is a shoreline community, 32 miles north of Chicago, with Waukegan to its north and Lake Bluff to its south in Lake County. It is partly a military town, servicing Great Lakes Naval Station, a major training base for the Navy. An old industrial city with a number of large manufacturing facilities, it is a working class community that has experienced significant racial change over the past 20 years; from a black population of 17% in 1970 to 34% in There are 293 households, all of whom receive Section 8 assistance administered by the North Chicago Housing Authority and all located in North Chicago. All of the households are family. Over 86% of the Section 8 families are black, 10% hispanic and the rest white in a town that is 34% black and 9% hispanic. Over 98% of black families live in three census tracts which range from 49% to 72% black. Waukegan is an old industrial city of 69,000, located just north of North Chicago, along Lake Michigan, about 39 miles from the Chicago loop. There are 405 units of public housing managed by the Waukegan PHA, all of it located in the city of 73

80 Waukegan. Over 61% is occupied by blacks, 13% by hispanics and the rest, white, making Waukegan the Chicago area housing authority with the highest percentage of subsidized hispanic households, in a city that is 20% black and 24% hispanic. Approximately 41% of the units are family and 59% are elderly, typical of the suburban public housing programs. Only 4% of family units are occupied by whites compared to 81% occupied by blacks and 15% by hispanics. 62 Over 63% of black family units are located in two census tracts, one of which is 14% black and the other, 60% black, the most black census tract in the city. D. The DuPage County Housing Authority The DuPage County Housing Authority operates in a service area that is overwhelmingly white but as in the other PHAs that have been discussed, its relatively small family Section 8 program is majority black while its elderly program is overwhelmingly white. DuPage County has been one of the engines of suburban growth in the Chicago area for the past 20 years. Lying due west of Cook County, it is a relatively homogeneous area, overwhelmingly white and middle class, with new office complexes rising almost daily and a dynamic retail sector. Although there are pockets of poverty in some of the older towns, DuPage County is one of the richest counties in the nation. 62 Blacks also constitute a plurality of elderly units (48%). 74

81 There are over 1100 Section 8 households and no public housing administered by the DuPage County Housing Authority. Over one third of the Section 8 families live in three of 35 towns, Woodridge (12%), Addison (11%) and Carol Stream (11%). Over 50% of the family households are black, while 5% are hispanic in a county that is only 2% black and 4% hispanic. In contrast, 85% of the elderly households are white. As in the other public housing jurisdictions, the DuPage County Section 8 family program is mostly for minorities while the elderly program is mostly for whites. 63 E. The McHenry County Housing Authority In sharp contrast to HACC and most of the other housing authorities, the McHenry County Housing Authority Section 8 family program is primarily for poor whites. McHenry County is one of the less developed suburban counties in the Chicago area. Situated west of Lake County, on the Wisconsin border, it was predominately rural until the 1970s when it began to experience suburban development as a result of the outward migration from the City of Chicago and the maturation of the inner suburbs. In a county of 183,00 people, there are 749 Section 8 households and no public housing administered by the McHenry County Housing Authority. Over three quarters of the Section 8 families live in four of 37 towns, McHenry (23%), Crystal Lake (10%), Harvard (19%) and Woodstock (23%). Less than 1% of Section 8 families are black with almost 63 From a different perspective, almost 94% of black Section 8 households are family compared to 58% of Section 8 whites who are family. 75

82 96% white and 3% hispanic in a county that has almost no blacks. McHenry County is similar to many other rural like counties with few minorities, where almost all the poor are white. F. Joliet Housing Authority The Joliet Housing Authority subsidy programs follow the HACC pattern. Joliet is an old city of almost 77,000, located about 35 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, in Will County. It is the only municipal housing authority operating in Will County that administers subsidized housing 64. Close to 97% of its subsidized households live in the City of Joliet. There are 1653 subsidized households administered by the Joliet Housing Authority, 35% getting Section 8 subsidies and the rest in public housing. Almost 57% of the households are family and the rest elderly. Close to two thirds of the households are black, 32% white and 4% hispanic, in a city that is 22% black and 13% hispanic. Once again hispanics are greatly underrepresented in subsidized housing. Almost all the subsidized families are black (90%). 65 In contrast, only 29% of elderly units are occupied by blacks. 64 Leadership Council, administering the Gautreaux Program operates as a housing authority for its families in areas that do not have a regular housing authority. This is the case in Will County, outside of Joliet as well as in areas of Kane County. 65 Over 88% of Section 8 families and 94% of public housing families are black. 76

83 Close to 95% of subsidized black family households live in just four of 15 zipcodes in the city and 75% of black families live in just four of 24 census tracts in the city. Over 44% of black families live in most black census tracts and another 33% live in tracts that are 30-80% black, while only 6% live in the least black census tracts. As in the HACC programs, black families in Joliet public housing are much more segregated than black families in the Section 8 program. Close to 20% of the 486 black Section 8 families live in mostly black tracts compared to 87% of the 367 black public housing families who live in mostly black tracts. But another 55% of black Section 8 families live in 30-80% black tracts. Very few black families in either program live in the least black census tracts. 66 The Joliet subsidy programs are locationally concentrated for black families in general and both concentrated and highly segregated for black public housing families, in particular. G. Elgin and Aurora Housing Authorities Both the Elgin and Aurora subsidy programs follow the dominant pattern, predominantly black family Section 8 with hispanics underrepresented. Elgin, located approximately 40 miles west of downtown Chicago, is one of the old market town, like Joliet and Waukegan, that surround the City of Chicago and are the end points of commuter railroads. Elgin, a city of 77,000, sits on the eastern edge of Kane County with 66 Just over 9% of black Section 8 families and 3% of black public housing families reside in the least black census tracts in Joliet. 77

84 a small portion spilling over into Cook County. For this report we consider Elgin a part of Kane County. The Elgin Housing Authority, along with Aurora, is one of two housing authorities operating in Kane County. The county itself does not have a housing authority. There are 445 Section 8 households and no public housing administered by the Elgin Housing Authority. Almost 58% of the Section 8 families are black and over 8% hispanic in a city that is 7% black and 19% hispanic. All the 30 census tracts in the city are under 30% black. Aurora, a city of 99,581, is very much like Elgin and the other old market towns. It is located about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, in the southeast corner of Kane County. The Aurora Housing Authority administers over 1100 Section 8 certificates\vouchers and no public housing. Two thirds of the subsidized households are family and the other third, elderly. Over 71% of the subsidized families are black and 11% hispanic in a city that is 12% black and 23% hispanic. Although their numbers are more significant than in the HACC service area, as in the other jurisdictions, hispanics do not participate in the Section 8 program in numbers proportional to their share of the jurisdiction's population. Since there are no census tracts over 25% black, all the black subsidized households live in mostly white census tracts. 78