Roundtable Forum with the PRAC and the Academy: The Impact of Housing and Rental Assistance Programs on Underserved Communities

October 05, 2021 @ 12:30:00 pm - October 05, 2021 @ 01:45:00 pm
Eastern Time (ET)

We hope that you can join the Academy and the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee for this joint event examining the impact of housing and rental assistance relief programs on underserved communities.

As the public health crisis continues, minority and low-income communities are at risk of losing their housing. Congress made $46 billion available through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program to help individuals with difficulties paying rent and utilities due to the pandemic - but states and local governments have struggled to get the money out. Recent data showed that only 11% of the program’s funds have been distributed. In addition, a nationwide eviction moratorium lapsed in August 2021.

The expert panelists will discuss:

• why state and local governments have been slow to pay out emergency rental assistance funds
• if the moratorium prevented evictions and any other protections that remain for renters
• Federal agencies’ efforts to help state and local governments design effective and efficient housing relief programs
• Lessons learned to improve pandemic relief housing programs

This event is an on-the-record event open to the press.

Panelists Include:

Dr. Peter Hepburn, The Eviction Lab and Assistant Professor, Rutgers University

Dr. Vincent Reina, The Housing Initiative @ UPenn and Associate Professor, UPenn

Kate Reynolds, Senior Policy Program Manager, Research to Action Lab at the Urban Institute

Susan Thomas, President of the Melville Charitable Trust

Moderator:

Joseph P. Mitchell, Director of Strategic Initiatives & International Programs at the National Academy of Public Administration

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