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