RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY AND THE SECTION 8 HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM: FACTORS PREDICTING MOBILITY AND THE RESIDENTIAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESS OF RECIPIENTS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Barbra A. Teater, M.S.W. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Tom Gregoire, Adviser Professor Keith Kilty ______________________________ Professor Lisa Raiz Adviser Social Work Graduate Program ABSTRACT The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program was initiated through the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 with policy goals of promoting mixed-income neighborhoods and residential mobility. Prior evaluations of the HCV program find that HCV program recipients are residing in lower-poverty neighborhoods when compared to other low-income renter, yet yield mixed results in regard to desegregation and quality of neighborhoods. This study builds on prior evaluations of HCV program policy goals using a mixed-methods approach by examining the factors that predict residential mobility of the HCV program recipients and their residential outcomes in terms of change in poverty and change in racial composition in neighborhoods. Administrative data from the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) was utilized for this study (N=1000). Through OLS Regression, race, age, gender, number in family, increase in TTP, increase in FMR, and decrease in FMR were significant in explaining the variance in residential mobility. Residential mobility was not significant in predicting a change in poverty, although age and race were found to be significant. Through the use of MANOVA, a recipient’s race was not found to predict racial composition in neighborhoods. ii To further understand residential mobility, twelve individual interviews were conducted with current HCV program recipients to explore their decision-making process in locating and obtaining a home. Through the use of social constructivism and grounded theory, the data was analyzed to determine the decision-making process of the interviewees. From the analysis, the decision-making process of the recipients consists of six prominent themes. The themes include the following: (1) Experience in residence prior to the HCV program; (2) Evaluation/Specification of “wants” (in regard to a home); (3) Search for home based on pre-determined “wants”; (4) Outcome of home search; (5) Unforeseen circumstances or unplanned or planned events; and (6) Re-evaluation Re- specification of “wants”. In addition to the decision-making process in locating and obtaining a home, the recipients explained their experience in the HCV program. This study explains the mobility outcomes of HCV program recipients and provides information in regard to the recipients’ decision-making process in locating and obtaining a home. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Tom Greogoire, for all of the support, guidance, and encouragement which greatly assisted in the completion of this dissertation. I thank him for taking the time to continually meet with me throughout the exam, proposal and dissertation process. I would like to thank my committee members, Keith Kilty, and Lisa Raiz, for thoroughly reviewing my proposal and dissertation draft and providing suggestions and feedback to improve the finished product. I wish to thank the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) for allowing me to utilize their data and interview clients at their facility. I thank them for freely sharing their knowledge and expertise with me regarding the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. This research was supported by a Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (DDRG) from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. iv VITA July 19, 1977……………………………..Born – Dayton, Ohio 2000…........................................................M.S.W. Social Work, The University of Illinois at Chicago 2003 – 2006………………………………Research Assistant, The Ohio State University 2003 – 2004………………………………Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University 2004 – 2005………………………………Adjunct Faculty, Wright State University PUBLICATIONS Research Publication 1. Teater, B.A. & Kondrat, D.C. (2005). Connecting policy to practice: Analyzing the variables of the Section 8 housing program policy process. The Social Policy Journal , 4(3/4), 69-92. Reprinted in R. Hoefer, Ed. (2005). Cutting-Edge Social Policy Research . New York: The Hawthorne Press, Inc. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Social Work v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………iv Vita……………………………………………………………………………………...v List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………xii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………...xiv Chapters: 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………....1 1.1 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974…………………….....1 1.2 Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program…………………….....1 1.2.1 HCV Program Policy Goals……………………………………......2 1.3 Focus of Current Study……………………………………………………...3 1.3.1 Research Questions………………………………………………..4 1.4 Description of HCV Program Recipients……………………………...…....5 1.4.1 Eligibility Requirements…………………………………...……...5 1.4.2 Housing Choice Voucher Subsidy………………………...……....7 1.4.3 Demographics of Recipients……………………………...……….7 1.5 Measuring “Success” in the HCV Program………………………...……...11 1.6 Section 8 HCV Program and Deconcentration…………………...………..12 1.7 Section 8 HCV Program and Quality of Neighborhoods………...………..14 1.8 Section 8 HCV Program and Desegregation…………………...……….....15 1.9 Need for Research……………………………………………...………….17 1.10 Plan of Study……………………………………………………………....19 1.10.1 Implications for Practice & Policy…………………………..…..20 2. Literature Review…………………………………………………………..…...21 2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………..……21 2.2 Federal Government & Housing…………………………………..………22 2.3 Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program……………..………23 2.4 Focus of Study……………….…………………………………..………..24 2.5 Residential Mobility Programs………………………………..…………..25 2.5.1 The Gautreaux Program…………………………..……………..26 vi 2.5.2 Moving to Opportunity (MTO) Initiative………………...……...27 2.5.3 The HOPE VI Program…………………………………...……...28 2.6 Promoting Economically-Mixed Neighborhoods…………………...……..31 2.7 Section 8 HCV Program and Quality of Neighborhoods…………...……...35 2.7.1 Suburban versus Inner-City Movers……………………...……...38 2.8 Ensuring Equal Opportunity in Housing…………………………...………39 2.9 Section 8 HCV Program and Residential Mobility………………...………41 2.10 Residential Mobility………………………………………………...……...43 2.11 Factors Influenced by Residential Mobility & Factors that Influence Residential Mobility……………………………………………...……...43 2.11.1 Residential Mobility and Youth Well-Being……………...……44 2.11.2 Residential Mobility and Social Integration………………........46 2.11.3 Residential Mobility and Level of Housing Satisfaction…...…..48 2.11.4 Residential Mobility and Adult Well-Being………………...….50 2.11.5 Residential Mobility and The Family Life Cycle…………........52 2.11.6 Residential Mobility and Family History……………………....54 2.11.7 Residential Mobility and Racial/Ethnic Composition of Neighborhoods………………………………………………......56 2.12 Decision-Making and Race/Ethnicity…………………………………...…57 2.13 Summary of Literature & Focus of Current Study…………………….......59 3. Data and Methods ……………………………………………………………....62 3.1 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………....62 3.2 Predicting Mobility and Its Outcomes……………………………………..63 3.2.1 CMHA and Population Characteristics…………………...……..64 3.2.2 Sample from CMHA, HCV Program Recipients………...……...68 3.3 Factors that Predict Residential Mobility………………………...………..71 3.3.1 Rational for Independent Variables…………………...…………72 3.3.2 Residential Mobility as Dependent Variable………...………..…75 3.4 Relationship between Residential Mobility and Change in Poverty……....75 3.4.1 Rational for Independent Variables……………………………...76 3.4.2 Change in Poverty as Dependent Variable……………………....77 3.5 Relationship between Recipients’ Race & Racial Composition in Neighborhoods……………………………………………………….....78 3.5.1 Rational for Independent Variables………………………….......80 3.5.2 Change in Percent Whites & Change in Percent Blacks as Dependent Variables………………………………………....81 3.6 Data Manipulation……………………………………………………...….82 3.7 Understanding Recipients’ Decision-Making………………………..……84 vii 3.8 Theoretical Framework & Data Analysis…………………………………..85 3.8.1 Social Constructivism: Basic Premises…………………………..85 3.8.2 The Importance of Language in Social Constructivism………….89 3.8.3 Application of Social Constructivism…………………………....90 3.8.4 Grounded Theory: Basic Premises……………………………….91 3.8.5 Social Constructivism & Grounded Theory: Constructivist Grounded Theory………………………………………...95 3.8.6 Grounded Theory: Guidelines for Data Analysis………………...95 3.9 Data Collection Procedures………………………………………………...98 3.9.1 Setting for Data Collection…………………………...…………...98 3.9.2 Sampling & Solicitation Process……………………...…………..99 3.9.3 Instrumentation………………………………………...………...101 3.10 Data Analysis…………………………………………………….………..103 3.11 Trustworthiness………………………………………………….………...104 3.11.1 Credibility……………………………………………….………105 3.11.2 Transferability…………………………………………….……..106 3.11.3 Dependability & Confirmability………………………….……..107 4. Results …………………………………………………………………….……110 4.1 Demographics of HCV Program Recipient Sample………………………110 4.2 Total Tenant Payment & Fair Market Rent……………………………….111 4.3 Increase and Decrease in FMR and TTP………………………………….112