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HUD No. 98-571
Further Information:For Release
In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685Monday
Or contact your local HUD officeOctober 26, 1998

CUOMO AWARDS $3.9 MILLION IN GRANTS TO FIGHT DRUGS AND CRIME IN PUBLIC AND ASSISTED HOUSING IN INDIANA

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today awarded $3,932,827 in grants to fight drug abuse and other crimes in public housing and HUD-assisted housing in Indiana.

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

  • East Chicago ---- $250,000
  • Elkhart ---- $201,600
  • Evansville ---- $407,490
  • Fort Wayne ---- $483,400
  • Gary ---- $633,777
  • Hammond ---- $179,700
  • Indianapolis ---- $643,760
  • Jeffersonville ---- $114,300
  • Kokomo ---- $160,800
  • Michigan City ---- $214,400
  • Muncie ---- $192,000
  • South Bend ---- $326,600
  • Washington ---- $125,000

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

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 COMMUNITIES IN INDIANA

EAST CHICAGO

  • $250,000 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the East Chicago Housing Authority for programs to eliminate crime and drugs from public housing developments.

    ELKHART

  • $201,600 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Elkhart Housing Authority to support a comprehensive program of increased police visibility combined with prevention programs designed to stop drug trafficking and drug-related crime.

    EVANSVILLE:

  • $315,600 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Evansville Housing Authority for community policing efforts that focus on police officers working closely with resident councils.

  • $91,890 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to Parkside Terrace II to support the cost of a Social Worker who will develop and coordinate a drug elimination program and supervise volunteers. Funds will also be used to develop a computer learning center that will include space for supervised child care.

    FORT WAYNE

  • $483,400 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Fort Wayne Housing Authority for a comprehensive security and prevention-based approach to fighting crime and drug-related activity in public housing.

    GARY

  • $633,777 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Gary Housing Authority to implement a comprehensive security and prevention-based approach to fighting crime and drugs in public housing.

    HAMMOND

  • $179,700 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Hammond Housing Authority for a comprehensive security program involving residents in protecting their neighborhood.

    INDIANAPOLIS

  • $643,760 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Indianapolis Housing Agencies that will enhance public safety through drug prevention and education programs and adult employment and training initiatives.

    JEFFERSONVILLE

  • $114,300 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Jeffersonville Housing Authority for a comprehensive security and prevention program to fight drugs and crime.

    KOKOMO

  • $160,800 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to the Housing Authority of the City of Kokomo for a comprehensive security and prevention program to fight drugs and crime.

    MICHIGAN CITY

  • $214,400 will go to the Michigan City Housing Authority's Circle of Life Program that brings residents, social agencies and law enforcement together to eliminate drugs and criminal activity from public housing.

    MUNCIE

  • $192,000 will go to the Muncie Housing Authority for a comprehensive security and prevention program designed to eliminate crime and drugs from public housing.

    SOUTH BEND

  • $261,600 will go to the Housing Authority of the City of South Bend to support a crime prevention plan that utilizes off-duty police officers, security guards and a full-time resident assistant.

  • $65,000 in Drug Elimination Grants will go to LaSalle Park Homes to increase hours of grounds patrol at the property.

    WASHINGTON

  • $125,000 will go to Jamestown Square of Washington to make physical improvements to the property including additional site lighting, fencing , a new intercom system, and new steel doors.

    Content Archived: January 20, 2009

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