Passport to Opportunity: Innovative Strategies to Increase the Cost Effectiveness of Housing Choice

On Thursday, January 19th, the Furman Center’s Institute for Affordable Housing Policy convened over a hundred leaders from government, academia, community-based groups, and the private sector to discuss the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program in New York City and nationally.

Panelists debated about how to maximize the impact of the Housing Choice Voucher program given tight budgets and continued high rental housing costs in much of the country. Nationally, the number of housing choice vouchers has more than doubled since the 1980s, yet the supply falls short of demand. Only one in four households eligible for vouchers receive any form of federal assistance.

Panelists included:
-Douglas Apple, First Deputy Commissioner, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development 
-Seth Diamond, Commissioner, New York City Department of Homeless Services
-Michael Kelly, Executive Director, Philadelphia Housing Authority
-Barbara Sard, Vice President for Housing Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
-Ingrid Gould Ellen (Moderator), Co-Director, NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy