National Impact
Responding to the PICS Decision
The Jefferson County, KY (Louisville) school district was directly implicated in the Parents Involved Supreme Court decision on racial diversity plans in public schools.
The Kirwan Institute advised the school district in the wake of the Parents Involved Supreme Court decision. The district utilized Kirwan Institute research and conceptual models for student assignment in designing its current school diversity program that uses a plan based on geography, income and race to produce diverse successful schools.
School Assignment Planning, Montclair, New Jersey
All school districts that utilized race-based school assignment plans are potentially impacted by the Parents Involved decision. The Institute has worked with several districts to review, assess, and design different strategies for producing sustainable, diverse and successful schools. In New Jersey, the Montclair district recently utilized the model proposed by the Institute in the redesign of its magnet schoolbased student attendance policy, utilizing school performance, poverty and race in its new student assignment plan.
Final Report – Montclair Public Schools: Focus Groups
Vacant Property Reform in Detroit
In a city inundated with tens of thousands of vacant properties, advocates in the Detroit region have long pushed for a land bank program to redevelop vacant land and revitalize neighborhoods. Working with MOSES (a Gamaliel chapter in Detroit), the Institute provided extensive assistance to aid the land bank advocacy efforts in the Detroit region. After several years of extensive effort by advocacy organizations, both Wayne County, MI and the City of Detroit have created new land bank programs. These new programs come at a critical juncture in Detroit’s history, with vacant property challenges escalating due to the foreclosure crisis.
Neighborhood Revitalization in Columbus, OH
Working as a consultant to the Columbus Foundation, the Institute has aided the foundation in designing its neighborhood revitalization strategy for Columbus, Ohio. In addition, the strategies and recommendations produced by the Institute have informed the local United Way’s effort to redesign its neighborhood revitalization program. Ideally, these two initiatives will direct significant funds into neighborhood revitalization in Columbus’s marginalized communities.
Thompson v. HUD and Fair Housing in Baltimore
Working with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Maryland ACLU on behalf of more than 15,000 public housing residents represented in a class action lawsuit, the Institute has helped design a remedial fair housing strategy for the Baltimore region. The Institute’s opportunity mapping and opportunity based housing model was utilized to design a 7,000 housing unit fair housing program in response to a Fair Housing Act violation found against the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. At this time, advocates are awaiting the US District Court Judge’s final ruling on the proposed remedy.
Massachusetts Opportunity Communities Initiative
In response to a state level opportunity mapping initiative in Massachusetts, the State has recently embraced a new subsidy program to develop affordable rental housing in high opportunity areas. The Massachusetts Housing Partnership (a State affiliated nonprofit affordable housing entity) has committed $5 million in zero percent interest, second mortgage financing to support affordable rental housing in high opportunity areas. The agency utilized the opportunity maps produced by Kirwan (in addition to our housing model) in deciding which communities were eligible for the targeted funds. In addition to this new program, legal aid organizations are also considering an “adopt a zip code” program to target legal aid resources into opportunity deprived areas identified in the analysis.
Connecticut Opportunity Communities Initiative
The recently unveiled Connecticut Opportunity Mapping initiative, conducted on behalf of the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, has already impacted policy in the State. The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development has referenced this initiative in the State’s recently released official Long range Housing Plan, voicing support for the model policies presented by the Kirwan Institute. In that report, the State cites the need for state policy that connects people to areas of opportunity and the need to create opportunity in distressed communities.
Austin Opportunity Initiative; Affordable Housing
Working with the housing advocacy organization Green Doors in Austin, Texas, the Institute completed an opportunity mapping assessment of the Austin region. Since the completion of this work, advocates across Austin have utilized the opportunity maps to inform decisions. Recently, the City of Austin’s affordable housing development programs utilized the Institute’s opportunity maps to assess affordable housing investments in the city.
Franklin County, OH Housing Trust
Working with DART affiliate BREAD (Building Responsibility Equity and Dignity), the Institute conducted research to illustrate areas of extreme housing need in Columbus, OH. The research was utilized to fuel an advocacy campaign which succeeded in expanding funding for extremely low income householdsthrough the Franklin County Housing Trust Fund.
Wisconsin LIHTC (Low Income Housing Tax Credit) Criteria
Working with the Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Agency (WHEDA), the Institute assisted in designing a mechanism for supporting affordable housing in job rich areas through Wisconsin’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. The Institute advised WHEDA on a strategy to build in evaluation measures in the State’s LIHTC evaluation criteria that incentivize LIHTC developments in job rich communities.