Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today awarded $18,032,873 in grants to fight drug abuse and other crimes in public housing and HUD-assisted housing in Pennsylvania.

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

Allentown	$ 374,214
Beaver	$ 490,250
Doylestown	$ 188,482
Easton	$ 177,213
Erie	$ 529,388
Greensburg	$ 426,870
Harrisburg	$ 451,100
Hazleton	$ 89,700
Johnstown	$ 256,477
Kingston	$ 689,620
Lancaster	$ 168,300
McKeesport	$ 683,400
New Castle	$ 270,300
Norristown	$ 186,900
Philadelphia	$5,114,793
Pittsburgh	$3,895,676
Reading	$ 797,500
Scranton	$ 675,750
Sharon	$ 203,100
Uniontown	$ 440,440
Washington	$ 598,800
West Chester	$ 360,700
Wilkes-barre	$ 268,800
Williamsport	$ 367,500
York	$ 327,600

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"These grants are good news for some of the poorest families in Pennsylvania 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 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.

Another 53 privately owned HUD-subsidized low-income housing developments will receive a total of $11.7 million from a similar program called the New Approach Anti-Drug Program.

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.

The New Approach Anti-Drug Program (formerly known as the Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program) provides funds for improving security at HUD-assisted developments and in surrounding neighborhoods by: hiring security guards, paying for extra police patrols, assisting in the investigation and prosecution of drug-related criminal activity, and implementing security-related physical improvements.

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 COMMUNITIES IN PENNSYLVANIA

• Allentown: $374,214 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Allentown Housing Authority for two community police officers and a drug prevention and intervention program that was designed by police, the local Boys and Girls Club, residents, and community partners.

• Beaver: $490,250 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Beaver Housing Authority to fund an integrated drug education program targeted to youth. The funds also will be used to provide additional protective services, drug treatment for residents, and a youth sports program.

• Doylestown: $188,482 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Bucks County Housing Authority for community-based police patrols, youth initiatives, and job training and placement activities.

• Easton: $177,213 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Easton Housing Authority for special law enforcement patrols, investigations and undercover vice activities, a boys and girls' drug prevention program, and security training for 16 residents, who will be hired for two summers while looking for permanent employment at large industrial and commercial complexes in the area.

  Erie:

  • $483,080 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Erie Housing Authority to continue successful drug elimination strategies, including prevention, intervention, and enforcement activities.

  • $46,308 will be used for anti-drug education and computer training for the residents of the Better Housing neighborhood, a community consisting of three developments (Better Homes for Erie, Better Housing East, Better Housing West) that include 52 units of subsidized, multifamily housing. Funds also will be used for physical improvements such as better lighting and fencing, and job and homeownership counseling.

• Greensburg: $426,870 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Westmoreland County Housing Authority to enhance its drug prevention and elimination efforts, including job and life skills training, physical improvements to enhance security, and sports and recreational programs.

• Harrisburg: $451,100 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Harrisburg Housing Authority for a comprehensive drug elimination strategy that includes community policing and drug prevention activities for families of the Authority's communities.

• Hazleton: $89,700 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Hazleton Housing Authority to establish a computer learning center, create a police sub-station, and purchase communications equipment needed to establish tenant patrols.

• Johnstown: $256,477 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Johnstown Housing Authority to provide additional security for residents in an effort to create a safe, decent, and drug-free environment.

• Kingston: $689,620 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Luzerne County Housing Authority to implement KOPS (Keep Our Projects Safe), a comprehensive program that includes police patrols, drug education, and youth and resident improvement activities designed to eliminate drug-related crime. Activities also include community policing, drug prevention, youth sports, computer access, parenting and counseling, and economic development programs.

• Lancaster: $168,300 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Lancaster Housing Authority to continue the highly successful Livin Clean drug elimination program, an effort that incorporates welfare reform activities. Livin Clean also utilizes the "Weed and Seed" approach to drug prevention, using community policing, drug prevention activities at the Boys and Girls' Club of Lancaster, and other drug intervention and substance abuse programs.

• McKeesport: $683,400 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the McKeesport Housing Authority for a comprehensive drug elimination approach that includes law enforcement, physical improvement, and drug elimination activities.

• New Castle: $270,300 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Lawrence County Housing Authority to eliminate illegal drugs in and around Authority communities through prevention and intervention services, alternative activities, and additional protective services by local police.

• Norristown: $186,900 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Montgomery County Housing Authority for comprehensive drug prevention and intervention programs for residents of Bright Hope, North Hills, and Crest Manor. Funds also will be used for supplemental police services, physical enhancements, and an Authority compliance officer.

  Philadelphia:

  • $4,615,709 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Philadelphia Housing Authority to continue, enhance, and expand the Authority's community policing program at Richard Allen Homes, Nornan Blumberg Apts., Martin Luther King Plaza, Norris Apartments, and Raymond Rosen Apartments.

  • $249,542 from the New Approach Anti-Drug Program will go to the owners of Haddington Townhouses, a HUD-subsidized complex, to increase police presence in a way that complements existing comprehensive social services and drug prevention programs.

  • $249,542 from the New Approach Anti-Drug Program will go to the owners of Montgomery Townhouses, a HUD-subsidized complex, to eliminate drug-related crime in and around the development through increased police patrols and drug prevention efforts.

  Pittsburgh:

  • $1,958,320 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Pittsburgh Housing Authority for a holistic drug prevention approach that involves staff, residents, police officers, and social service agencies.

  • $1,464,296 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Allegheny Housing Authority to provide alternatives to drugs and drug-related crime by reducing the proliferation of the drug culture.

  • $125,000 will be used to reduce drug dealers' access to and escape routes from Westgate Village I and II, two Pittsburgh multifamily housing developments. Funds also will be used for additional lighting and to establish a resident security program.

  • $125,000 will be used to enhance security at Second East Hills Apts., a Pittsburgh multifamily housing development. Additional security measures will include a comprehensive camera and surveillance system, improved exterior lighting, and the creation of a neighborhood action program that includes parenting and drug education programs and a neighborhood network center.

  • $223,060 from the New Approach Anti-Drug Program will go to the owners of the Brandywine Agency, Inc., to reduce and eliminate drug-related crime in the community surrounding the Bethesda Apartments. Specific actions include additional security personnel and the installation of lighting, cameras, and door buzzers.

• Reading: $797,500 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Reading Housing Authority for contract services with the Community Prevention Program of Berks County and other providers, and to support the Olivet Boys and Girls Club, learning and computer centers, and the YMCA Summer Program. Funds also will be used for policing and security services, security cameras, and research and data gathering.

• Scranton: $675,750 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Scranton Housing Authority to implement a comprehensive drug program that includes security personnel, a satellite District Attorney's office, additional investigators, and computer education and training and drug prevention activities.

• Sharon: $203,100 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Mercer County Housing Authority to eliminate drugs and drug-related crime in the Authority's communities by increasing employment opportunities.

• Uniontown: $440,440 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Fayette County Housing Authority to continue a welfare-to-work community approach, as well as youth sports activities.

• Washington: $598,800 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Washington County Housing Authority to reduce and eliminate drug-related crime, establish ongoing working relationships with Federal , State and local law enforcement agencies, empower residents, increase security, and enhance the quality of life for residents in and around Authority communities.

• West Chester: 360,700 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Housing Authority of Chester County to fund and support drug elimination strategies not covered by other sources, including services in addition to those normally provided by four local police departments, drug prevention and intervention activities, youth activities, and job training and skills development centers.

• Wilkes-barre: $268,800 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Wilkes-barre Housing Authority for contracting uniformed, off-duty city police officers to patrol nightly, prevention and intervention programs through McGlynn Learning Center at Boulevard Townhomes and Mineral Springs, an expanded video surveillance system, and activities to maintain active and involved residents.

  Williamsport:

  • $124,500 will be used to fund a comprehensive drug prevention and elimination plan at Williamsport Village, a multifamily housing development in Williamsport. The funding will enable the owners of the development to construct a small community room to house a mini-police station, and conduct education and social services programs such as after-school tutoring, substance abuse awareness, job skills training, crime watch meetings, and parent education workshops.

  • $243,000 from the New Approach Anti-Drug Program will go to the owners of Williamsport Village to reduce and eliminate crime, continue a working relationship with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, and increase the quality of life for residents of the community and surrounding neighborhoods. Other actions include the installation of area lighting, surveillance cameras, fencing, and dead-bolt door locks.

• York: $327,600 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the York Housing Authority to continue community policing, foot patrols, contracted prevention activities, and treatment. Funds also will be used for a computer learning center and staff and a variety of drug alternative activities.