PRRAC'S Philip Tegeler Posts Huff Post Blog On HUD Signaling Tougher Action In Confronting The Agency's Legacy Of Segregated Housing

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Philip Tegeler, executive director of the Policy & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC), today posted a Huffington Post blog saying the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) may be preparing to more directly confront the agency's legacy of segregated housing during the next four years.

Mr. Tegeler wrote that HUD's release of the long-delayed "disparate impact" rule did not break any new legal ground, but may signal that a more aggressive Fair Housing agenda may be forthcoming.  Mr. Tegeler noted that in a recent report PRRAC found  there was a great deal of activity "inside" HUD aiming to address the ongoing problem of housing segregation and to develop program rules to promote residential integration.

"But for the most part, by the end of the first term, most of these proposals had not yet appeared in print," Mr. Tegeler wrote. "…For years housing and the American Dream have been inextricably linked. By acting on the fair housing initiatives it began to develop during President Obama's first term, HUD can help disadvantaged Americans settle into communities with quality homes, schools and employment opportunities.  Multigenerational poverty will never be addressed if we continue to allow government housing programs to support residential segregation based on race and class. "

In the blog, Mr. Tegeler cited a series of actions from improving Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers to continuing the Sustainable Communities Initiative that would help address segregated housing patterns across the country.

Read Mr. Tegeler's full blog at   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-tegeler/new-fair-housing-rule-at-_b_2664532.html Please join the conversation on Huff Post!  PRRAC, a civil rights policy organization based in Washington, D.C., supports public policy that addresses residential segregation in America. To see a copy of PRRAC's "HUD First Term Report Card," click HERE)

You can also follow Mr. Tegeler's organization on twitter at  https://twitter.com/PRRAC_DC, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poverty-and-Race-Research-Action-Council/480723658639202 and at www.prrac.org. You can receive PRRAC's bimonthly updates via email by clicking HERE.    

PRRAC connects advocates with social scientists working on race and poverty issues, and promotes a research-based advocacy strategy on structural inequality issues. PRRAC is pursuing work in housing, education, and health, focusing on the importance of "place" and the consequences of housing segregation on low-income families in the areas of health, education, employment, and incarceration.

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