On Thursday, February 28th the ACDS Board of Directors was joined by approximately 30 stakeholders and community development partners to discuss the FY 2020 Housing and Community Development Budget recommendations and impediments to fair housing in Anne Arundel County.
As a recipient of federal housing and community development funding, Anne Arundel County must work to affirmatively further fair housing. In order to take proactive steps to further fair housing, ACDS is conducting an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (“AI”) with other housing agencies in the region. The Plan will identify impediments to Fair Housing and lay out strategies to address those impediments. Erin Karpewicz, ACDS Policy & Development Coordinator, gave an overview of the AI process, presented data on historic and current patterns of segregation in the region, and engaged the audience in a conversation around possible strategies to address impediments. A copy of the presentation can be found below.
Over the next couple of months, ACDS will be meeting with different stakeholders in Anne Arundel County to get input on the Plan. For more information on the Regional AI, please visit the Baltimore Metropolitan Council website. To provide your thoughts on the plan and/or to suggest stakeholder groups we may want to contact, please reach out to Ms. Karpewicz at ekarpewicz@acdsinc.org. We will also be making a copy of the Draft AI available for public comment later this summer/early fall.
ACDS staff also presented their recommendations for projects and activities to be funded in FY 2020, noting that just $374,000 is expected to be available to fund operating costs or programs, outside of some specific homeless funding; the remaining funds must be utilized for capital projects and/or tenant based housing assistance.