There are large numbers of people with disabilities in some programs. Overall a fifth of the non-elderly have disabilities. Also, a fifth to two-fifths of the elderly have disabilities, but this is not necessarily surprising; many of us develop disabiliti es as we age. The definition includes mental and physical disabilities; for a summary of the definition, see the last page of form 50058.

Minorities

Overall, 56% of households are minorities (38% Black, 14% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 3% Native American). Indian Housing, of course, is almost entirely minority (for a recent description of Indian Housing see Kingsley et al 1996). The lowest minority rate, 36%, is in Section 8 New projects.

The Average Difference column measures separation between minority and white subsidized households. The larger the number, the more separately subsidized whites & minorities live from each other. The scale is from 0 to 50. It is a broad indicator, and more detailed analysis with individual racial and ethnic groups can be done (Goering et al 1995).

For each Public Housing project, 'Average Difference' is the difference between: (a) % minority for the project and (b) overall % minority for Public Housing at the agency. We average the figures from each project to have a total for each agency, state or other area. (3) Averages for states and the United States exclude agencies with under 5% or over 95% minority, or only one project, since differences are not meaningful in such agencies.

In Public Housing, households are assigned to projects by the housing agency. (4) Thus, racial differences would not be expected in projects, except by chance, or by households of one race moving out of or refusing to move into particular projects . The 13% national figure is a mix of random variation in some agencies, current practices, and past segregation patterns. (5) It may be useful in reviewing a particular agency to notice whether its figure is above or below this national average, but no particular figure proves discrimination. Particular practices at individual agencies need to be studied before any conclusions can be drawn.

For Certificates+Vouchers, which do not have projects, 'Average Difference' is based on the location of subsidized households in Census tracts: For each Census tract we take the difference between: (a) % minority among Certificate+Voucher holders in the tract and (b) overall % minority among Certificate+Voucher holders at the agency. For averages we exclude tracts with 10 or fewer households reported, since tracts with so few subsidized households have little chance of matching the agency average. Averages for states and the United States also exclude agencies with under 5% or over 95% minority, or only one tract, since differences are not meaningful in such agencies.

This average difference is not the difference between subsidized households and the whole tract, but that can easily be calculated, since the tract's % minority is shown near the end of the record (and summarized in the next table). The difference shown above is the difference between subsidized households in the tract and subsidized households in the agency.

The average difference happens to be 13 points in both Public Housing and Certificates+Vouchers, but this does not mean the programs operate in the same manner. As the next table shows, Certificate+Voucher holders live in neighborhoods with many fewer minorities than Public Housing tenants: 35% minority on average, compared to 63%. The measure on the table above is different: Minority and white Certificate+Voucher holders live in different neighborhoods from each other to some degree. This difference reflects that households often lived in racially disparate neighborhoods before they applied to the programs. Some stayed in place. Others moved, but not far (Léger and Kennedy 1990). Thus, the minority and white subsidized households do not end up equally distributed in the same neighborhoods as each other. We do know from the next table that Certificate+Voucher holders end up in more integrated neighborhoods than Public Housing tenants. But there is still a difference in the locations of white and minority Certificate+Voucher holders.

The minority difference is limited by the percent minority in the agency: for example some large agencies are nearly all minority and can only have small differences. An agency that is 5% or 95% minority can have an average difference as high as 9.5, while an agency that is 20% or 80% minority can have an average difference as high as 32. A 50% minority agency can have an average difference as high as 50.

One could use numerous other statistics to summarize racial differences among projects or Census tracts.



