城市工会工作的新领域--社区工会

社区建设作为经济体制转轨的重要承接点,将在社会生活中发挥日益重要的作用.大量下岗、待业、失业和外来新型工资劳动者(打工者)沉淀在社区,社区成了城市工会工作的一个新的领域.     

"城中村"社区治理体制研究--以广州市白云区柯子岭村为个案

本文把由"城中村"转制而形成的社区定义为"城中村"社区.在"城中村"社区内部存在的街道、居委会、以及经济联社三大治理主体,在参与社区治理的过程中形成了一个以各自利益为结点的网络.本文以广州市白云区柯子岭村为个案,描述三元治理主体在社区中的现状,阐释其历史渊源,为处于转制过渡时期的"城中村"社区提供政策参考.     

治理理论视域中的社区自治

目前,我国城市社区的地位和重要性日益突显,社区是社会经济发展的必然产物,随着社会主义市场经济体制的逐步完善,社区在社会管理中的地位将不断增强。在全面推进小康社会建设中,必须加强我国城市社区建设,而要加强社区建设,必须进一步深化社区自治。社区自治是治理理念在社区领域的实践,达到治理的境域可以说是我国城市社区自治的发展方向,二者在范围上相互衔接,在目标上指向一致。     

贵阳市老旧小区自我服务研究

城市中的老旧小区制度建设滞后、组织体系不够健全、治理资金匮乏、缺乏专业物业管理,普遍存在环境脏乱差、房屋破损严重、设施年久失修、违章搭建泛滥、居民参与度低、人际信任缺失等问题,给社会的变迁与城市的发展带来了诸多矛盾,严重影响了市民的生活质量。如何引导老旧小区的居民进行自我服务,是对城市管理者管理水平的一个考验。     

Speaking about sexual abuse in British South Asian communities: offenders,victims and the challenges of shame and reintegration

Abstract

Cultural dynamics have a significant impact on how sexual matters, including sexual abuse, are discussed in British South Asian communities. The ways in which these communities talk about sexual violence often reinforce patriarchal norms and values, especially those concerned with honour and shame. As a result, victims are either silenced or the blame for the sexual violence they have suffered is laid at their own feet. Addressing the fact that these problems are rooted in patriarchal norms and values is key to understanding how to tackle sexual offending effectively in such communities. Both retributive and restorative justice are necessary in responding to sex crimes; retributive approaches help to recognise victims’ suffering, while restorative approaches offer promising avenues for encouraging victims and offenders alike to speak about their experiences. Both approaches are essential components to reintegrating victims and offenders into their communities.     

Housing Affordability and Child Well-Being

We test three hypotheses about the role of housing affordability in child cognitive achievement, behavior, and health. Using longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we apply both propensity-score matching and instrumental-variable modeling as identification strategies and test the sensitivity of results to omitted variable bias. The analysis reveals an inverted-U-shaped relation between the fraction of income devoted to housing and cognitive achievement. The inflection point at approximately 30% supports the long-standing rule-of-thumb definition of affordable housing. There is no evidence of affordability effects on behavior or health.     

Comment on Kirk McClure's “Are low-income housing tax credit developments locating where there is a shortage of affordable units?”

Kirk McClure's article makes important contributions to our understanding of the way in which state allocating agencies are using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). However, one of the premises of his analysis – that allocating agencies should encourage the location housing developments in census tracts with a “surplus” of low-income renters – is mistaken. Census tracts are too small to be considered closed-system housing markets. Additionally, the LIHTC program does not exist in isolation, but instead as part of a combined national rental housing policy that includes both supply-side programs (LIHTC) and demand-side programs (housing vouchers). A final flaw in the notion that LIHTC units should be built in census tracts with a surplus of renter households in the 30% to 60% of AMI range compared with the units affordable to them is that increasing the amount of affordable housing in those tracts could have the effect of further concentrating households by income and race.     

Supporting low-income homeowners: lessons from a program to coordinate weatherization and rehabilitation services

Homeownership is the primary way most families build wealth in this country. Low-income homeowners are less likely to get that benefit because they are more likely to own older houses that are more costly to operate and need more essential maintenance. Rapidly escalating home energy costs are straining the budgets of many low-income homeowners, increasing the likelihood of under maintenance and mortgage default. This paper presents an evaluation of a demonstration program designed to coordinate weatherization and rehabilitation programs in order to assist low-income households, decrease energy costs, and to improve the condition and value of their homes. The experience of 11 local non-profit organizations, funded to develop programs to coordinate weatherization and housing rehabilitation services, were studied over a five-year period. The results of the evaluation indicate that there are many obstacles to coordinating weatherization and rehabilitation programs, but that it can be accomplished under the right conditions. Major gaps exist between program eligibility thresholds and in the types of assistance available to low-income homeowners. Policy recommendations for facilitating coordination are presented.     

Is preserving small,low-end rental housing feasible?

This paper uses multiple national datasets to examine the financial, structural, neighborhood, and tenant characteristics of 1–4 unit low-end rental properties, which house 44 percent of all poor renters in US cities. We investigate the feasibility of two strategies to stabilize these properties: (1) outsourcing property management, and (2) transferring bundles of properties to large owners to generate economies of scale, cash reserves, and lower financing costs. We find that approximately five percent of small affordable rental properties are stable, 65 percent are salvageable but at risk, and about 30 percent are not salvageable. For roughly 19 percent of the salvageable properties, a key problem is high vacancy rates, which could be addressed by professional tenant placement services. Bundling has greater potential, but requires purchases at below market prices, amounting to a subsidy.     

A different lens: administrative perspectives on portability in Illinois' Housing Choice Voucher Program

Over the last decade, the Housing Choice Voucher Program has grown to become the USA's primary strategy for providing safe, decent, and affordable housing. Annually serving more than 2 million low-income households, the program is designed to help low-income households afford private market rental housing. The program also allows for the “portability” of vouchers nationally between housing authority jurisdictions. Both features aim to mitigate the effects of concentrated poverty. Research on the Moving to Opportunity Program and the Gautreaux consent decree have produced data confirming that residential mobility can at times lead to positive opportunities for assisted households. This past research has been conducted on specific programs occurring outside of the general Housing Choice Voucher Program framework and has focused on household-level outcomes, paying little attention to the ways in which program administration may affect outcomes for voucher households. This article aims to understand voucher portability from the perspective of housing authority executive directors and program administrators, in order to better understand how program administration impacts the types of household outcomes observed in prior research. The results reveal that housing authority administrative practices and inter-housing authority relationships play a significant role in shaping the types of outcomes realized by porting voucher households. These findings suggest several changes to program administrative design and policy that may improve support for voucher households as they make portability moves.