Repeal the Faircloth Amendment
Recommendation
Congress should repeal the Faircloth Amendment, an antiquated restriction that limits the number of units any public housing authority could own and operate, creating an artificial barrier that prevents policymakers from addressing the growing housing insecurity crisis.[1][2][3][4]
Background/summary
Approximately 1.1 million public housing units, operated by more than 3,000 local public housing agencies, serve 2.2 million residents.[5] Inadequate funding results in losing 10,000 public housing units annually to disrepair, and a large backlog of unmet renovation needs places the health and safety of residents at risk.[6] Limiting the number of public housing units through the Faircloth Amendment creates greater housing insecurity, exposing individuals and families to increased stress and negatively impacting mental and physical health.[5][7][8] Additionally, the lack of adequate affordable housing disproportionately impacts individuals with mental health and substance use disorders, whose conditions put them at higher risk of becoming homeless.
Housing insecurity, which includes lack of affordable housing, overcrowding living conditions, and homelessness,[5] is a critical social determinant of health.[9] Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are nonmedical factors in the environments where people are born, grow, work, live, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.[10][11][12] While federal, state, and local public housing programs provide critical housing supports for people with mental health and substance use disorders, they are often underfunded and serve only a fraction of those in need.[9]
Congress should pass legislation to repeal the Faircloth Amendment[1] to remove barriers to creating new and maintaining existing public housing.[5]
citations
1. Repeal the Faircloth Amendment Act of 2021. H.R.659 (Ocasio-Cortez), 117th Congress (2021-2022). Last Updated February 2021.
2. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Capital Improvements. “Faircloth Limit” Unit Counts. Last Updated July 7, 2023.
3. National Coalition for the Homeless. What is the Faircloth Amendment? Last Accessed July 27, 2023.
4. National Coalition for the Homeless. Repeal the Faircloth Amendment. Last Updated April 2022.
5. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. HUD User: Promoting Mental Health Through Housing Stability. Last Updated May 31, 2022.
6. National Low Income Housing Coalition, Opportunity Starts at Home Campaign. Letter to Congressional Leadership on Social Supports. Last Updated October 6, 2021.
7. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Evidence Matters: Linking Housing and Health Care Works for Chronically Homeless Persons. Last Accessed July 27, 2023.
8. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. HUD User: Integrating Housing and Health. Last Updated July 9, 2018.
9. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Social Determinants of Health: Housing. Last Accessed July 27, 2023.
10. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy People 2030: Social Determinants of Health. Last Accessed July 27, 2023.
11. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Social Determinants of Health at CDC. Last Accessed July 27, 2023.
12. World Health Organization. Social determinants of health. Last Accessed July 27, 2023.