Voucher programs may improve neighborhood safety

Voucher programs that subsidize rents for low-income households and allow families to move out of high-crime neighborhoods may also help residents lead safer, healthier lives, according to new research.

The likelihood of being victimized by crime and experiencing problems like public drug use on neighborhood streets also decreased for rental voucher program families, according to an analysis of 12 studies by Laurie M. Anderson, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues.

Some of the studies also suggest that rental voucher programs might be linked to a decrease in children's behavioral problems, mental and physical health disorders and housing quality issues like peeling paint and rat infestation. But the researchers say there is not enough data available to confirm these links.

Lack of affordable housing contributes to poor community health by depriving residents of basic shelter and hygiene needs, but it can also limit the amount of household money available for nutritious foods and medical care and cause psychological distress, say Anderson and colleagues.

Almost one in eight households spent more than half their income on housing in 1999, and three in 10 households spent more than the recommended 30 percent of their income on housing costs.

"In this country, no state offers a minimum wage sufficient to allow a family with one full-time worker adequate earnings to afford the federal fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment," Anderson and colleagues say.

The researchers also collected studies on the health of residents of mixed-income housing developments, but could not find enough relevant studies that evaluated these housing programs to draw any conclusions. Mixed-income housing provides both market rate and subsidized rental units within the same property, decreasing the concentration of poverty within the neighborhood.

The study was published in a special supplement of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Health Behavior News Service: 202-387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Interviews: Contact Laurie M. Anderson at 360-236-4274.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine: Contact the editorial office at 619-594-7344.

BY BECKY HAM, STAFF WRITER
HEALTH BEHAVIOR NEWS SERVICE

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