Housing & Homelessness Content Topic Results

This Q&A document explains the key housing provisions of VAWA 2005, including housing-related grant programs, amendments to public housing and section 8 regarding eviction defense, eligibility, and portability, HMIS changes, and new planning requirements.

This Q&A discusses discrimination in housing and the legal avenues that DV survivors can use. This includes information regarding the Fair Housing Act and when to contact an attorney.

This review lists state laws and recent legislative proposals addressing housing-related issues faced by survivors of domestic and sexual assault, including prohibitions on housing discrimination, defenses to eviction, termination of leases, and penalties for seeking police assistance. Links from the document take the reader to actual text of the laws and legislative proposals. Advocates will find this state law and legislative review helpful for possible state-level housing-related legislative actions and ideas.

This report explores the disproportionate vulnerability of women in disaster situations.

This paper describes results of phone interviews with 12 DV transitional housing programs across the country. Key considerations for new and emerging programs are offered. Program profiles are also provided.

Basic eligibility is described, including reporting aspects, in this excerpt from the Guide to Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs. Advocates may find this piece helpful for obtaining a basic understanding of immigrant eligibility for federal housing programs and for discussions with lawyers, public housing authority personnel and others regarding making these programs safe, accessible, and relevant for survivors and their families.

The Housing Discrimination Study 2000 (HDS 2000) represents the most ambitious effort to date to measure the extent of housing discrimination in the United States against persons because of their race or color. It is the third nationwide effort sponsored by HUD to measure the amount of discrimination faced by minority home seekers. The previous studies were conducted in 1977 and 1989.

Bouley v. Young-Sabourin is a federal court case from Vermont involving a survivor of domestic violence evicted from her home after reporting an incident of domestic violence. The court ruling provides that discrimination against a victim of domestic violence, if proven, can be sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. Advocates may find this press story and court ruling helpful for public education purposes and for seeking non-punitive reactions by private and public landlords in their responses to survivors of domestic violence.

(providing that for public housing a PHA should consider whether to adopt a local preference for admission of families that include victims of domestic violence)

This issue focuses on the intersection between sexual victimization and homeless youth, and provides an overview of research on this topic area.

The guide is offered in chapters and numeric sections and covers the basics of counting unsheltered homeless people, counting unsheltered people in public places, counts based on use of non-shelter services and sample data collection instruments. Advocates in search of a basic background on the topic should start with Chapter 2. Note: The guide is not offered as a method for counting sheltered people but does reference Martha Burt's Practical Methods for Counting the Homeless: A Manual for State and Local Jurisdictions as a resource for counting sheltered homeless people.

Teleconference facilitated by Allison Randall of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. The collection of associated articles address the numerous complex difficulties victims of domestic violence face in obtaining and maintaining housing.