MHP has surveyed the latest tools and articles to locate those that might be of interest to MHP Connect readers. This month's resources include an annual report of housing affordability among the working class, a guide to viewing state policy with a child-centered lens, recommendations for improving access to veteran supportive housing, and a CDC report that shows lower-income children are at a higher risk of high blood lead levels.
Housing Affordability Challenges of America's Working Households
This year's annual report by the Center for Housing Policy and National Housing Conference shows that the median housing costs of working renters rose nearly 6% between 2008 and 2011 nationwide, while their median incomes fell more than 3%. With a decreasing rate of severe housing cost burden among working class households, Minnesota fares better than most other states. But the most recent Out of Reach report shows that, of the twelve states in the Midwest, Minnesota has ranked the worst for affordability for minimum wage workers for three consecutive years. A minimum wage earner in Minnesota would have to work 89 hours per week – or hold 2.2 full time jobs -- to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.
Reviewing State Housing Policy with a Child-Centered Lens
This report, also by the Center for Housing Policy, provides an overview of the benefits that affordable housing has on children, including remediating child poverty, promoting stability, and helping families access opportunity neighborhoods. The report describes general state policy opportunities for achieving these goals, organized according to three categories relevant to children: 1) Poverty; 2) Permanence/Residential Stability; and 3) Place.
Veterans Permanent Supportive Housing: Policy and Practice
This Center for Housing Policy and National Housing Conference guide highlights four case studies of veterans permanent supportive housing and makes several recommendations on how to strengthen veterans housing and policies to ensure veterans are connected to supportive housing.
Disparities in Blood Lead Levels by Income and Ethnicity
Recent CDC data shows that children belonging to low income families (130% of poverty level) are more than three times as likely than children in higher income families to have high blood lead levels; Medicaid-enrolled children are more likely to have high blood levels, than non-Medicaid enrolled children; and non-Hispanic black children are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic white children to have high blood levels. High blood levels in children can lead to anemia, kidney damage, colic, neurological impairment, and impaired vitamin D metabolism, growth retardation, and delayed sexual maturation. See table for Minnesota-specific data.
