Idea Library

Moving to Opportunity

In 1994, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched a novel social experiment, the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration (MTO), in 5 sites (Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City). The MTO is a randomized housing mobility experiment in which families with children who lived in public housing in high-poverty neighborhoods were given the opportunity to move to less poor neighborhoods. This program was motivated by evidence from existing housing relocation programs that rental assistance combined with housing counseling can help low-income families move to private housing in low-minority concentration or low-poverty neighborhoods and possibly increase their educational and employment opportunities.

Reading Assignment

Leventhal, 2003

Discussion

The MTO experiment was shown to be efficacious on mental health outcomes. Discuss possible pathways using an ecological model.