22 Jul 2024 Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act Q&A in Housing
The Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act, a bipartisan bill led by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Young (R-IN) and Reps. Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), would create 250,000 additional housing mobility vouchers to allow families to move to areas with greater opportunity.
- What does the bill do?
The Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act would create 250,000 new housing vouchers over five years that specifically target low-income, high-need families with young children. The bill provides households with customized mobility counseling to help families move to areas with high-performing quality schools, child care, and early education programs.
- Who is qualified for a voucher?
Families with children under age 6 who have a history of housing insecurity or homelessness, live in an area with concentrated poverty, or are at risk of being pushed out of well-resourced areas qualify for a voucher under the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act.
- Why is the bill needed?
Providing affordable housing in opportunity-rich neighborhoods increases the upward economic mobility of families with an impact that can last for generations. Access to safe, affordable housing is linked to nearly every quality-of-life measure, including better educational and health outcomes that offer children a greater chance to succeed. Research shows that every year children spend in neighborhoods with quality schools and other advantages, their chances of success later in life improve. In fact, a HUD Moving to Opportunity experiment found that poor children who moved to lower-poverty neighborhoods are 32% more likely to attend college and make 31% higher annual incomes as adults. Yet, while housing vouchers are known to increase economic mobility, families often wait years to receive a voucher, and only one in four receives assistance due to limited funds. This legislation would focus on this critical unmet need – the housing stability of families with young children.
See BPC Action one-pager on the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act here.
