Naperville, IL AI 2007
Murfreesboro, TN AI 2010
Clark County, NV AI 2011

All cities and counties that receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are required to certify that they will affirmatively further fair housing. The tool used to establish that they are affirmatively furthering fair housing is the “analysis of impediments to fair housing choice.”

“The Gold Standard of AIs.” — Michael Allen, Relman & Dane See the thorough and innovative AI we conducted for Naperville, Illinois, in 2007. Click here to view or download the PDF file. Testimonials
Winner Best Practices Award 2009 from the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association

HUD officials have determined that “Local communities will meet this obligation by performing an analysis of the impediments to fair housing choice within their communities and developing (and implementing) strategies and actions to overcome these barriers based on their history, circumstances, and experiences.”

In all too many ways, it appears to be a conflict of interest for a CDBG recipient community to conduct an analysis of impediments itself. Try to imagine the impossible position city staff would face if asked to evaluate whether their own work — and the work of their superiors — posed an impediment to fair housing choice. In addition, few local government staff have the in–depth level of expertise on the fair housing issues needed to conduct an AI. To avoid this conflict of interest, prudent communities retain the services of an outside consultant to conduct their AIs.

Planning/Communications can conduct a genuinely fair and balanced analysis of impediments that complies with the Westchester County Doctrine for your town, village, city, county, or state. While the demographics of every community are unique to that community, the award–winning AI we conducted for Naperville, Illinois, provides a good idea of the depth of research, readability, and extent of documentation we put into an AI. We will not produce a cut–and–paste AI. The content of each AI we produce is singular to each community. For more information, please call Dan at 708/366–5200 (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. central time) or send us an email.

A bit more about Analyses of Impediments

While the extent of the obligation to affirmatively advance fair housing is not defined statutorily, HUD defines it as requiring a recipient of funds to:

1. Conduct an analysis to identify impediments to fair housing choice within the jurisdiction
2. Take appropriate actions to overcome the effects of any impediments identified through the analysis, and
3. Maintain records reflecting the analysis and actions in this regard.”

   Further Advancing AI Innovation and Analysis: Murfreesboro, Tennessee AI 2010 Murfreesboro is quite different from Naperville, leading the analysis to move in a somewhat different direction in response to Murfreesboro’s singular characteristics. The principles of analysis are similar in both AIs, but the unique characteristics of both cities resulted in recommendations specific to each city.         Download a PDF file of the AI we conducted for Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 2010.

Throughout the nation, HUD interprets these broad objectives to mean:

• Analyze and eliminate housing discrimination in the jurisdiction
• Promote fair housing choice for all persons
• Provide opportunities for racially and ethnically inclusive patterns of housing occupancy
• Promote housing that is physically accessible to, and usable by, all persons, particularly persons with disabilities
• Foster compliance with the nondiscrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Act.”

The “Westchester County Doctrine” emerges from the federal district court decisions and August 10, 2009 settlement in the False Claims Act lawsuit against Westchester County, NY, in which the county falsely certified that it used $30 million in Community Development Block Grant funds to “affirmatively further fair housing” — which every CDBG recipient is obligated to do when it accepts CDBG monies. The county has agreed to pay $62.5 million, develop at least 750 housing units in the most residentially segregated white municipalities in the county, and institute meaningful housing desegregation policies. The settlement will have a major impact on the way federal housing and community development funds are used throughout the country. We urge you to visit http://antibiaslaw.com to get the full details of the settlement, download the settlement agreement and the important court decisions (especially judge Denise Cote’s seminal February 24, 2009 decision).

The AIs we conduct anticipated and comply with the standards established by Judge Cote’s decision and the settlement. This reflects our in–depth understanding of the issues that AIs are supposed to address and may explain why Michael Allen, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the Westchester County case, has recommended the Naperville AI to HUD as a model to be emulated by other communities.

Taking the AI to a Higher Level The Clark County, Nevada Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice 2011  goes beyond our previous AIs to add a new layer of in–depth analysis applied to a county AI covering three cities (North Las Vegas, Boulder City, and Mesquite) plus unincorporated Clark County. The substance of the AI is very different than the other AIs due to the very different circumstances in Clark County, Nevada. Click here to download a PDF of the AI.

Learn more about what AIs are supposed to cover in chapter 2 of the Clark County , Nevada Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice 2011.