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HUD Archives: News Releases


HUD No. 98-524
Further Information:For Release
In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685Friday
Or contact your local HUD officeOctober 23, 1998

CUOMO AWARDS $7,058,579 IN GRANTS TO FIGHT DRUGS AND CRIME IN PUBLIC AND ASSISTED HOUSING IN VIRGINIA

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today awarded $7,058,579 in grants to fight drug abuse and other crimes in public housing and HUD-assisted housing in Virginia.

Virginia's grants will be distributed to housing authorities and owners of HUD-subsidized housing for low-income families in the following areas:

Alexandria $266,700 Newport News $556,140
Bristol $140,100 Norfolk $1,061,990
Chesapeake $140,100 Norton $65,400
Danville $185,700 Portsmouth $472,940
Fairfax $315,300 Radford $124,654
Hampton $270,000 Richmond $2,257,955
Hopewell $400,000 Roanoke $375,000
Lebanon $247,200 Suffolk $120,000
Waynesboro $59,400

"These grants are good news for some of the poorest families in Virginia and bad news for drug dealers who terrorize them," Cuomo said. "We will fight drug abuse with prevention and treatment programs and with a crackdown on drug dealers and other criminals. We are telling drug dealers in HUD housing to find another line of work or be sent to another type of subsidized housing - a prison cell."

Cuomo said the recent Congressional approval of the Department's $24.5 billion budget for the 1999 fiscal year, which he called "the best HUD budget in 10 years," will speed the transformation of public and assisted housing.

"HUD is transforming public housing from isolated ghettos of poverty, drugs, despair and crime into safe and economically integrated communities of opportunity," Cuomo said.

Nationwide, HUD is awarding $305.2 million in Drug Elimination Grants this year - more than in any previous year. The grants will be distributed in the next several weeks in this way: $280.6 million to 749 public housing authorities; $8 million to 39 Indian Tribes; and $16.6 million to 143 privately owned housing developments that receive HUD assistance.

Vice President Al Gore, Cuomo and Attorney General Janet Reno announced a four-part enforcement and prevention strategy to fight crime and drugs in public housing in June 1997. The grants announced today are one element of that strategy.

The Drug Elimination Grants are awarded on a competitive basis, based on the seriousness of the drug and crime problem facing a housing authority or assisted housing development, and the strength of local plans to address the problem. About 900 housing authorities, 60 Indian tribes and 500 privately owned housing developments applied for the grants being awarded this year.

HUD has awarded more than $1.6 billion in Drug Elimination Grants since 1989, including the grants being awarded this year.

In public housing, the Drug Elimination Grants are used for: drug prevention, intervention and treatment programs; reimbursing law enforcement agencies for providing additional security; hiring security guards and investigators; resident anti-crime patrols; and physical improvements to housing developments to enhance security - such as fencing, lighting and improved locks.

In assisted housing, the Drug Elimination Grants are used for: drug prevention and education programs; referrals to drug treatment and counseling; and physical improvements to developments to enhance security. Individual grants for assisted housing developments are limited to a maximum of $125,000.

HUD's budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 increases funding for HUD's key programs and renewals of Section 8 rental assistance by a total of more than $2 billion in the budget over 1998 levels. Spending was increased on most HUD programs and wasn't cut in any programs.

Legislation passed in the same bill as HUD's budget will:

  • Transform public housing by reducing segregation by race and income, encouraging and rewarding work, bringing more working families into public housing, and increasing the availability of subsidized housing for very poor families. In addition, the bill improves living conditions in public housing, gives the poorest families neighbors who will be role models of working families, and reduces crime. The bill also allows HUD to continue to tear down the largest failed public housing projects and replace them with new townhouse-style developments.

  • Expand the supply of affordable housing by enabling 90,000 more families to get Section 8 rental assistance vouchers that will subsidize their rents in privately owned apartments - the first increase in vouchers in four years.

  • Increase homeownership by raising the limit on home mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration from the current range of $86,317 in low-cost housing areas to $170,362 in high-cost areas. The bill increases the loan limits to a range of $109,032 in low-cost areas to $197,621 in high-cost areas. The higher ceiling on FHA-insured home mortgages opens the door of homeownership to thousands of families needing FHA insurance to get mortgages, but locked out now because the current loan limits have not kept pace with rising home prices.

HUD ANTI-DRUG ASSISTANCE FOR VIRGINIA COMMUNITIES

ALEXANDRIA

  • $266,700 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Alexandria Redevelopment & Housing Authority (ARHA) to continue the operation of the following prevention programs: The Alternative Learning Center, the youth operated radio station, and the Small Business Training Center Program. In addition, ARHA will purchase additional security and protective services through the reimbursement of off-duty local police officers, and will purchase substance abuse education and treatment services from the local Mental Health Substance Abuse Services. The grant will cover operating expenses, including staff, supplies, equipment, contract services, and the cost for program evaluation.

    BRISTOL

  • $140,100 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Bristol Redevelopment And Housing Authority to continue its successful Drug Elimination Program consisting of, lease enforcement, community policing, drug treatment, and prevention programs. The program will primarily focus on prevention via contracts with local government and non-profit agencies. Treatment services will be provided through Highland Community Service Board and Bristol police will provide on-site community policing presence.

    CHESAPEAKE

  • $140,100 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Chesapeake Redevelopment And Housing Authority. The Housing Authority's Safe Homes-Safe Families Program is a comprehensive drug elimination strategy to reduce/eliminate drug related crime through the linkage of activities to address the problems in a more integrative, holistic, systems approach. Security personnel will be hired to work as needed in all developments. A multi-faceted Family Support and Youth Program will focus on empowering the family unit and providing positive activities for young people. The guiding principle behind this framework is the premise that no one system, agency, or organization can eliminate drugs in our communities.

    DANVILLE

  • $185,700 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Danville Redevelopment And Housing Authority (DRHA) to continue the Authority's Manager of Safety and Security position (via a contract with the Danville Police Department), to provide police foot patrols using community oriented policing principles in the four highest crime developments, and develop and implement a drug and violence prevention program for youth called AIM RIGHT. The DRHA will establish and maintain partnership agreements with a wide variety of local and regional organizations and agencies to increase services to residents.

    FAIRFAX

  • $315,300 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Fairfax County, Redevelopment & Housing Authority which will use a comprehensive and balanced approach to attack the problems associated with drug related crime. This plan incorporates partnerships with the Fairfax County Police Department for community based policing programs, and Fairfax County Drug Services to provide drug education and prevention programs and activities for youth, adults, and elderly and disabled. The grant also includes some physical improvements to assist in deterring drug-related crime.

    HAMPTON

  • $270,000 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Hampton Redevelopment And Housing Authority which will use these funds to increase police patrols. Training in parenting, conflict resolution, and anger management, along with substance abuse education and information, will be provided. A Youth Sports Program will offer activities as an alternative to drug use for youths. Early accessibility to substance abuse treatment services, structured aftercare, assistance in modifying behavior and maintaining remission will be provided. An employment program for youth, 14 and 15 years old, rounds out the comprehensive strategy.

    HOPEWELL

  • $400,000 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Hopewell Redevelopment And Housing Authority which will employ a comprehensive strategy to reduce drug-related crime in its developments. In cooperation with the Hopewell Bureau of Police, community-oriented police patrols will be used to foster communication and heighten understanding between residents and police. A landscaping and a videography/photography business will be started to offer youth an opportunity to learn business skills and video surveillance systems will be installed at six of the Authority's seven public housing developments.

    LEBANON

  • $247,200 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Cumberland Plateau Regional Housing Authority which will use the funds for combatting drug-related crime at Fox Meadow in Lebanon, Virginia and Centennial Heights in Haysi, Virginia. Preventive programs include after school tutoring, an agenda of summer youth alternative activities, and computer seminars. A youth sports component will upgrade playground equipment and enhance recreational opportunities. A community policing initiative, a Neighborhood Watch revitalization effort, and the installation of new locks will increase the safety of the units and deter drug-related incidents.

    NEWPORT NEWS

  • $556,140 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority which will use the funding to continue four programs: reimbursement of law enforcement, employment of security guard personnel, voluntary tenant patrol, and drug prevention. New programs include case workers and youth sports activities.

    NORFOLK

  • $1,061,990 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority which will use a comprehensive drug elimination strategy consisting of four components: security/protective services, management tools, community building, and personal responsibility. Increased police patrols, in addition to a Volunteer Tenant Patrol will be implemented to address the high incidence of street-level drug-related criminal activity. Upgrading the security system in the elderly mid-rises will eliminate the problem of unwanted visitors and trespassing. Prevention activities will offer youth and adults in public housing opportunities to support their self-sufficiency efforts.

    NORTON

  • $65,400 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Norton Redevelopment And Housing Authority which will use a comprehensive strategy of placing police officers in the housing developments to answer all calls for service, investigate and forward drug information to the Regional Narcotics Task Force and to assist the residents of the housing developments in receiving adequate and appropriate services from public service agencies.

    PORTSMOUTH

  • $472,940 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority which proposes to implement security and preventative based programs, and continue operating community police patrols in six public housing communities. Defensible space and physical improvements, in the form of additional exterior lighting, will be placed in areas prone to suspicious gatherings of individuals. An employment training program, featuring child care and transportation assistance as well as welfare-to-work training seminars will be provided. The Even Start Program, Tutorial Program for S. H. Clarke Academy, and Youth/Teen Pregnancy Prevention seminars will focus on our youth.

    RADFORD

  • A $124,654 Drug Elimination Grant will go to F & W Management Corporation, Willow Woods Apartments to reduce and eliminate drug problems. Educational programs will be implemented and physical improvements will be made to the property, including installing security devices.

    RICHMOND

  • $2,257,955 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority so that 700 youth will continue to receive education and homework assistance, cultural enrichment, social and recreation, leadership, and mentoring in after-school and summer programs. Parents will receive education, job training, and employment services. Three safety and security staff will be hired to work with residents, staff and police to implement long-term safety programs, and to assist community police and other law enforcement agencies.

  • By providing a continuum of services to residents, and including residents as equal partners in eliminating drugs and crime in its communities, RRHA hopes to sustain and strengthen decent, safe, and affordable fair housing.

    ROANOKE

  • $375,000 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Roanoke Redevelopment And Housing Authority which will use the funding to implement a comprehensive program for reducing and eliminating crime. The Roanoke Police Department will dedicate 15 officers to the program to implement the One-Strike initiative, and identify at-risk youths for involvement in a Leadership through Wellness and Fitness program. The program will also fund the first Boys and Girls Club in public housing in southern Virginia. An intervention program will be developed through Prevention Plus to work with families addicted to drugs. Finally, the Housing Authority will employ a person to help develop employment opportunities.

    SUFFOLK

  • $120,000 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Suffolk Redevelopment And Housing Authority which will use resident involvement and preventive education components to approach the problem of drug related crime and use. Voluntary tenant patrols in cooperation with the Suffolk Police Department will coordinate efforts to oppose and deter the solicitation and abuse of drugs in our community. Community service providers have agreed to assist and provide education, in kind services, matching funds and participation of Drug Related programming.

    WAYNESBORO

  • $59,400 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Waynesboro Redevelopment And Housing Authority which will use the funding to implement a program which focuses on security, physical improvements to enhance security, prevention activities and a drug abuse counseling program. The approach was developed in consultation with public housing residents, local government officials and civic leaders. Partnerships are in place with the Waynesboro Police Department, Waynesboro Office on Youth and Valley Community Services Board to provide an efficient and effective delivery of services to residents.

    Content Archived: January 20, 2009

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