HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05122015 - HA D.4RECOMMENDATIONS
CONSIDER ACCEPTING a report on two recently published studies demonstrating the positive impact on future
earnings when low income children move into better neighborhoods, including Contra Costa County.
BACKGROUND
Congress created the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing (MTO) program in the mid-1990s in order to measure
the role neighborhoods have on the success of families with children. MTO was a 10-year research program that
occurred at the public housing authorities (PHAs) in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City.
Within these PHAs, three experimental groups were created. One consisted of households with children who were
randomly selected and given housing counseling and vouchers that had to be used in areas with less than 10 percent
poverty rates. The housing counseling was designed to help them find housing in low-poverty areas that would
provide access to better schools and jobs. Two control groups were included to test the effects of the program: one
was a group of families living in public housing and the other consisted of families that were just entering the Section
8 program. Neither of these groups received counseling.
The initial results of the research on the MTO program were disappointing. Parents who received the vouchers did not
seem to earn more in later years than otherwise similar adults, and children did not seem to do better in school. Now,
however, expanded new Harvard research shows that neighborhoods have a very significant impact on the success
rates of low-income children, as does the age when a low-income child moves into a better neighborhood. The
studies are based on five million families who moved and a re-analysis of the MTO data. The data from the studies
was then used to estimate the causal effect of each county in America on upward mobility.
Action of Board On: 05/12/2015 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF COMMISSIONERS
AYE:John Gioia, Commissioner
Candace Andersen,
Commissioner
Mary N. Piepho,
Commissioner
Karen Mitchoff,
Commissioner
Fay Nathaniel, Commissioner
Jannel George-Oden,
Commissioner
ABSENT:Federal D. Glover,
Commissioner
Contact: 925-957-8028
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the
Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: May 12, 2015
Joseph Villarreal, Executive Director
By: Chris Heck, Deputy
cc:
D.4
To:Board of Supervisors
From:Joseph Villarreal, Housing Authority
Date:May 12, 2015
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:Report on the Positive Impact on Future Earnings when Low-Income Children Move Into Better Neighborhoods,
including Contra Costa
BACKGROUND (CONT'D)
>
Among the 100 largest counties in the U.S., Contra Costa was found to have the fifth greatest impact on earnings.
Below is a chart showing the top ten and bottom ten counties in terms of impact on earnings out of the largest 100.
Attached to this Board Order are a map showing the impact of Bay Area counties relative to the national average,
a summary of Contra Costa's impact, an executive summary of the MTO study and an executive summary of the
five million mover families study.
Top 10 and Bottom 10 Among the 100 Largest Counties
Percentage Gains/Losses Relative to National Average
Rank Earnings
Gain Rank Earnings
Loss
1 DuPage, IL +15.2%91 Pima, AZ -12.2%
2 Snohomish, WA +14.4%92 Bronx, NY -12.4%
3 Bergen, NJ +14.2%93 Milwaukee, WI -12.4%
4 Bucks, PA +13.2%94 Wayne, MI -12.6%
5 Contra Costa, CA +12.2%95 Fresno, CA -13.0%
6 Fairfax, VA +12.0%96 Cook, IL -13.4%
7 King, WA +11.4%97 Orange, FL -13.4%
8 Norfolk, MA +10.8%98 Hillsborough,
FL -13.4%
9 Montgomery, MD +10.4%99 Mecklenburg,
NC -13.8%
10 Middlesex, NJ +8.6%100 Baltimore City,
MD -17.2%
FISCAL IMPACT
None. Information item only.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION
None. Information item only.
CLERK'S ADDENDUM
ATTACHMENTS
Bay Area County Earnings in Adulthood Chart
Effects of Exposure to Better Neighborhoods
Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility
The Best-Worst Places to Grow-Up
The Causal Effect of Growing-Up in Different Counties on Earnings in Adulthood
Percentage Gains/Losses Relative to National Average