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Historical Perspective

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Keziah Stephens
Assignment 1: Historical Perspective
PAD 510: Introduction to Public Policy
Dr. Phillip Neely
Strayer University
April 22, 2014

One thing is common across any walk of life shelter is a necessity that cannot be avoided or neglected. Housing is not always affordable to every citizen, but that should not stop people from having a place to lay their head at night. In this assignment two state policies proposals will be discussed and they are Assistant Rental Housing and Housing for seniors and disabled workers. Within discussing what these organizations consist of there will also be discussion of the historical perspective of the policies and the reason they were enacted. Next, an analysis of the social, economic, and political environments of when the policies were passed. Also, the interest groups that are for and against the policies. Lastly, the change that the policies have affected within different communities around the country. Some people are able to afford extravagant housing but for people who can no longer work or cannot manage to pay for of their bills these policies help change their lives.
Assistance for housing began under a new deal act, which was the U.S. Housing Act of
1937. Under this Act people who had lost their homes under different circumstances were able to receive housing. Also, under many acts that would follow the original act many different programs were put in place to help such as Housing and Community and Development Act, Section 8 Housing, and the Fair Housing Amendments Act. The premise of these acts were very simple. The Department of Housing and Urban Development describes it as, “The housing choice voucher program is the federal government's major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. (U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development, 2014) This program is designed to be for anyone who needs help but there are some requirements regarding household income and family size. This is designed to make sure those who really need help are receiving it instead of people who choose not to help themselves. The circumstances surrounding these policies were during and after wars and that led to families being torn apart and stressed about bills. In 1965, which is when the aforementioned programs began American troops were leaving for Vietnam and a lot of the male leaders of the family were leaving the responsibilities of taking care of their family to other family members. This led to many families needing help to pay bills and most people got behind on their bills. Which are similar situations that led to the seniors and disabled citizens needing help. Both seniors and disabled citizens have had to struggle to pay their bills for a while although there are some people who are able to meet the expense of rent and a mortgage most were not. The program was founded in 1959 and although there were no wars at the time people were still recovering from World War II and disabled soldiers had to find ways to pay their bills. These situations along with the stress of old age and cost of medication made life difficult overall.
As I stated before regarding the acts, it was a time of chaos socially. Most people were very nervous during 1965 because the draft for the Vietnam war was increasing from three thousand to thirty-three thousand daily and it was the youth that were not prepared for war that was being drafted with no real idea of what was ahead of them. The government mandated a Vietnam Lottery which was described as, “There were 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates placed in a large glass container and drawn by hand to assign order-of-call numbers to all men within the 18-26 age range specified in Selective Service law.” (History and Records, 2009) Different leaders began to protest about the number of minorities on the front lines and the war waged against Jim Crow Laws. The Civil Rights movement was very prevalent throughout the country especially in the south. Students on college campuses were protesting and staging sit-ins and they were being killed and thrown in jail for speaking out. Politically, in 1965 the country was still recovering from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and people were urging President Lyndon Johnson to pull troops out of Vietnam as well dispel of Civil Rights turmoil. The social and political ties were entwined during this period. Economically, when President Johnson ascended to power he inherited a strong government. Unemployment was down and there was an increase in minimum wage. In 1959, one of the biggest controversies was the fall of Fulgencio Batista and the rise of Fidel Castro, politically and socially this effected America because Americans are against communism. Cuba went from one dictator to another and under Castro America had no authority in how Cuba would be governed. Economically, the country was recovering from the Second World War, it wasn’t as bad as it was in 1945 but there were still a number of unemployed citizens. The country had to dig itself out of the financial hole of war as well as help other allies to recover from the war.
The interest groups that are behind the Rental Assistance Housing and Housing for
Seniors and Disabled workers are as numerous as the people needing assistance. However, unlike most problems in society the organizations and institutions that discriminate are not as easy to spot. Even though discrimination exists there are people in place to fight it as much as possible. Some interest groups combat discrimination in a court room, but other interest groups like Habitat for Humanity International works daily to help build homes around the world. They build homes for low income families and through donations of materials families are able to have lower mortgage fees and everyday expense costs. This organization is the largest interest group because of the number of countries the organization extends too as well as the number of homes in America that it builds. As stated before it is not easy to spot housing discrimination because there are many ways people are discrimination can happen. There is an abundant number of court cases against real estate offices and banking institutions that would not provide service to minorities or members of the LGBT community as well as seniors and people with disabilities. One of the largest court cases was the Supreme Court case Jones v. Mayer Co. In this case petitioner Joseph Lee Jones was denied housing on the sole purpose that he was African American. (Jones v. Mayer Co., 1968). Along with, different acts that are against housing discrimination such as The federal Fair Housing Act and the Fair Housing Amendments Act (42. U.S. Code §§ 3601-3619, 3631). (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2014) Although people try to discriminate against others there are interest groups and laws in place to make sure they do not succeed.
In some circumstances people will try to change their environments and the movement will make a change but it will not be significant or it will not last long. Fortunately, housing is not a part of those movements. After the Great Depression, New Deal legislation was put in place to make sure that citizens were able to have a place to call home. Since 1937 housing has been a priority for the government. In 1965 when the Rental Assistance Housing policy was enacted it helped significantly, because it was prevalent during the Civil Rights Act and it helped push for more regulation against discrimination and showed minorities how the government could and would work with them instead of against them. One of the major benefits of the Civil Rights Law was the formation of Fair Housing Act, which the Department Justice describes as,
“The Housing and Civil Enforcement Section works to protect some of the most fundamental rights of individuals, including the right to access housing free from discrimination, the right to access credit on an equal basis, the right to patronize places of business that provide public accommodations and the right to practice one’s faith free from discrimination. (Department of Justice, 2014)
With this act more people were able to receive help against discrimination and it showed that more people were able to access more of the American dream.
In closing, this paper has covered many topics concerning housing and housing discrimination. People have certain inalienable rights and the right to purchase housing is one of them. The Rental Assistance Housing policy and the Housing for seniors and disabilities policy has accomplished the goals its founders set out to achieve. People around the country are assured that they are able to file complaints to the highest level of the judicial system if they are discriminated against. These policies were influential during their start and has continued to be influential to future generations. Interest groups fight for the support of these organizations so they will continue their legacy for years to come. These policies like all others have had times of disorder but they continue to strive forward.

References
Department of Justice. (2014). Housing and Civil Enforcement . Retrieved from Department of Justic.gov: http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/
History and Records. (2009, June 18). The Vietnam Lotteries . Retrieved from Selective Services Sysytem.gov: https://www.sss.gov/lotter1.htm
Jones v. Mayer Co., 392 U.S. 409 (U.S. Supreme Court June 17, 1968).
U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development. (2014). Housing Choice Vouchers Fact Sheet. Retrieved from U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development.gov: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/housing_choice_voucher_program_section_8
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2014). Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.gov: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp

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