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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2011)
3 Street roots May 13, 2011 Fish pledges enforcement, education against housing discrimination BY JOANNE ZUHL dual track approach to rectify the situation, which was first published by n audit of the city’s fair housing The Oregonian. practices completed nearly four “We’re going to be working with months ago has recently set landlords and their associations and the tongues wagging over what the city is advocacy community to do outreach and going to do with the high rate of education,” Fish said. “At the same time, reported discrimination. we’re going to do some targeted The audit by the Fair Housing Council enforcement of the law.” of Oregon found that 32 out of 50 test Fish said that since the city received interviews with landlords revealed the audit back in February, he has heen different treatment for test applicants talking with various parties, including who were African-American or Latino. the Oregon Law Center and Attorney The audit was part of the city’s work to General John Kroger, about developing prepare its Analysis of Impediments an approach to addressing the report mandated by the federal disparities. The violations exposed in the government It was the first such audit Fair Housing Council’s audit were to the city has commissioned. state and federal laws, and enforcement “When we got the results we were is triggered through an essentially alarmed by the high ihcidence of complaint driven process, according to discrimination, particularly among Fish. Fair housing complaints are not people of color,” said City Commissioner processed through the city, he said. Nick Fish, who heads up th e Portland However, Fish said he is talking with Housing Bureau. Fish said he and Portland Housing Bureau Executive the attorney general about partnering Director Margaret Van Vliet are taking a with other forces, either through STAFF WRITER M administrative or with a lawsuit; Io push enforcement on some egregious violators. “There will be something tangible we can point to,” Fish said. The audit comprised 50 tests - 25 test tenants based in race (African-American renters with white), and 25 based on national origin (Latino compared to white). Of the race tests, 15 showed different treatm ent Of the national origin tests, 17 showed different treatment and 6 were inconclusive. Among the disparities in treatment were African-Americans and Latinos being quoted higher movie-in costs and higher re n t and additional costs that were not applied to white applicants. Fish’s father, Rep. Hamilton Fish, was a champion of the Fair Housing Act of 1988, which expanded protections to families with children and people with disabilities. It also expanded options for redress on grievances through private means. What to do if you think you have been the victim of housing discrimination. » Federal . law • protectsagainst • •« i* .' discrimination in housing based upon race, color, national origin, religion, gender, familial status, and disability. Oregon law goes even further and protects against discrimination in housing based on marital status, source of income, sexual orientation inducing gender identity, honorably discharged veterans / military status, and domestic violence victims. 3811a • • ‘ ‘ * 4 h L -y U li - K v H In addition to private legal action, there are several places you can file a complaint: 6, The Fair Housing Council of Oregon Fair Housing Hotline at 1-800-424-3247 Ext, 2 information@FHCO.org. ' 4 ? 1- Ì Ï. ? 1 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 1-800-669-9777 ’ . B Or till out the online form at www.hud.gov Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries Civil Rights Division 971-673-0764 Ï , crdemail.boli@state.or,us Oregon Law Center ’ " - ? Ì • ' ■ ’’" O il County, advocates rally around saving TANF families BY JOANNE ZUHL STAFF WRITER t could be weeks before lawmakers in Salem settle on a budget for housing and employment assistance for impoverished Oregonians, , but it will not be a quiet time for anyone with a stake in the future of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Advocates from the housing, hunger, employment, children and education lobbies, are involved in organizing the masses to; I c e S n p ^ ra i ^ 5 m t ^Leg|s7atiu-<e"t'b sav e T A N F fron», th e c iio p p in g b lo c k . On May 5, Multnomah County Commissioners voted unanimously to oppose the reductions to TANF that would cut approximately 50 percent of the programs budget and create the shortest time limit for assistance in the nation. “These cuts to TANF are not going to solve the budget problems in Salem, but it will have real and harmful effects on the children in our community,” said County. Commissioner Deborah Kafoury, who brought forward the resolution. “This issue is so deeply tied to the work that we do here in Multnomah County. Many of our programs, including our housing programs, work only because of the connection that we have with the state TANF dollars. And if this program is cut, these families will be at risk of hunger, homelessness and child welfare placements. All issues that directly affect the work that we do here” TANF specifically serves families with children with incomes less than 40 percent of thè federal poverty level, or $7,300 per year for a family of three. The maximum a family can receive is $506 a month for a family with four or more children, with a lifetime eligibility limit set at 60 months, in line with federal policy. The reduction under Gov. John Kitzhaber’s plan would reduce that to 18 months, the shortest known in any state in the country. Nearly 20 percent of Oregon’s children live in poverty, the resolution notes. Oregon’s Get involved You an send letters to your legislator to support funding for TANF though thsese sites: Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon oregonhunger.org/TANF-Oregon Street Roots org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5474/ campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2592 TANF program currently provides cash assistance to 30,108 families, including 54,000 children, 8,353 of whom live in Multnomah County. Without the state benefits, these families are expected to more heavily rely on already stressed county programs. Kafoury, who along with Commissioner Judy Shiprack have served in the State Legislature, said it was not an easy decision to bring this resolution forward. She said she understands the difficulty in having to cut budgets, at the state and county levels, but that these cuts “go beyond the pale.” Likewise, County Chair Jeff Cogen said he wouldn’t normally criticize another government body’s budget process, but that “this is such an egregious mistake that I think it’s entirely appropriate for us to do so especially because the impact is so deep in Multnomah County,” Cogen said. “Given the depth of these cuts and the pain that it will cause on the most vulnerable members of our community, people who are barely hanging on, it just seems like the wrong caU.” Since 2007, TANF’s caseload has increased nearly 60 percent - from 18,600 families to more than 30,000 today. The number of two-parent families on TANF increased 330 percent in the past two years. Approximately 95 percent of all families receiving TANF have no earnings. CORRECTION Street Roots strives for accuracy, but we're human. So we also strive to correct errors in our paper whenever possible. Please report any errors to our managing editor, Joanne Zuhl, at 503-228-5657, or write to streetrootsnews® gmail.com. In the April 29 edition of Street Roots, the introduction to the interview with Jason Breedlove incorrectly stated that he was arrested f ir selling methamphetamines. He has no meth charges on his record. M ir a d o sl Meanwhile, staffing at TANF has remained the same and is now considered 40 percent below capacity by the state Department of Human Services. A diverse coUection of groups have organized to defend TANF and thwart the proposed cuts, including Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, Children First for Oregon, Center for Intercultural Organizing, Oregon Food Bank, Thè Jewish Federation of Greater P ortland and the Oregon H ousing was herself working with TANF, getting her GED and employment training while her children were in daycare. She’s now full-time with 211. Nixon says she wouldn’t be where she is now without TANF and the JOBS program. The cuts, she says, are “heartbreaking.” “Because I know there are others who need this program to better themselves,” Nixon said. “When I hear them call (211), I think to myself, I’ve been there. I hear them Alliance, am ong m any p lh e rs. b eco m in g , d e s p e ra te ? ’ The notion that TANF is a free ride Jessica Chaney with Partners for a Hunger- doesn’t wash with Free Oregon was Nixon. The people herself a past she worked alongside "People don't understand recipient of TANF in in the program didn’t the early 1990s. After how stretched these want to be there, she leaving the military, resources are now. Z can't said. her marriage fell apart fathom what w ill happen “They wanted jobs and she found herself so they could take the single parent of when you significantly care of their children two small children, increase the number of on their own and not living with her people seeking those have to depend on disabled mother. the program. They Through TANF she . services." — LIESL WENDT wanted to be more secured training and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF 211 INFO independent,” Nixon received her said. bachelor’s degree. The budget for “This, allowed me to TANF now working its way through the have a career and not just another low-wage committee process also would cut the job,” Chaney said. “I went off the program in employment and skills training component, 1995 and never went back, nor did I feel the JOBS program, and would cut vulnerable like I might need it again. employment-related childcare. Lies) Wendt i§ the executive director of Kafoury credited coverage in the media, 211Info, part of a nationwide network of call including Street Roots, for keeping this issue centers that help direct people in need to before the public, and through which “we’ve appropriate resources. been trying to mobilize citizens to let the “What we hear every day is people who governor and the Legislature know that want to provide for their families, who want these cuts are not OK.” to be contributing members and who are Kafoury urged everyone at the meeting to struggling to do that,” Wendt said. “People contact their lawmakers and the governor to don’t understand how stretched these preserve the TANF program. resources are now. I can’t fathom what will “Don’t take it for granted that because happen when you significantly increase the these cuts are so awful they’re not going to number of people seeking those services.” go through. There’s a real chance that they One of the people taking those calls at will be taken.” 211Info is Nickcolynn Nixon, who a year ago C an n in g jars & eq u ip m en t, co o k w a re, k itch en to o ls & appliances C O M M U N IT Y O rganic co tto n sh e e ts, to w e ls, & blan k ets N a tu ra l Kitchen F o o d d ryers & H om e 2 1 0 6 SE D iv is io n Juicers 503*231*5175 m irad orcom m un itystore.com M on -S at 1 0 -6 * Sun 11-5 B o o k s o n m e a t-fr e e co o k in g , g a rd en in g & su sta in a b ility
