HUD ASSISTANT SECRETARY NIC RETSINAS ANNOUNCES $250,000 SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD GRANT FOR WASCO, CALIFORNIA

WASCO, CA - Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary Nic Retsinas today announced the award of a $250,000 Safe Neighborhood Grant to the City of Wasco Housing Authority of Wasco, California.

The Wasco award is part of $20 million in Safe Neighborhood Grants (SNG) that HUD will be awarding to some 90 communities across the nation. Safe Neighborhood Grants are designed to foster community wide solutions to crime, violence and illegal drug activity and target areas in and around federally subsidized, low-income housing. California will receive nine SNG awards totaling $2,193,813.

Those eligible to receive SNG grants include public housing developments, federally-assisted multifamily housing developments, and privately supported, low-income multifamily developments. The grants are used to provide additional police surveillance and security, to assist law enforcement officials in the investigation of drug-related criminal activity, to fund security related capital improvements, and to finance a variety of community based crime prevention programs.

"HUD is cracking down on crime in assisted housing developments and making it clear that the time when drug dealers could terrorize a community is at an end," Retsinas said. "This grant will begin the process of building a safer community and will go a long way toward ending the crime and violence that all too many residents of publicly assisted housing have to face on a daily basis."

Retsinas also highlighted HUD's proposed FY99 Budget and the assistance it would bring to state of California if passed. Funding for California includes:

	FY98	FY99
Community Development Block Grant	$515,853,000	$545,087,000
HOME Investment Partnership	$193,396,000	$200,776,000
Housing Opportunities for People w/AIDS	$28,238,000	$31,145,000
Emergency Shelter Grants	$20,329,000	$20,329,000
Homeless Assistance	$110,083,000	$164,792,000
Community Empowerment Fund	$4,668,000	$49,191,000
Public Housing Operating Subsidies	$108,404,000	$114,036,000
Housing Welfare to Work Vouchers	N/A	$53,433,000
Total	$980,971,000	$1,178,789,000

HUD combined historical data with data on the new budget from its major assistance programs to forecast the approximate amount of aid California would receive under these programs if the President's budget is approved by Congress without change. Aid from other HUD programs - such as Youthbuild, Brownfields Redevelopment and Homeownership Zones - could boost assistance to California even higher. The exact amount of HUD funds going to individual communities under the President's budget in 1999 cannot be determined, since some funding is awarded on a competitive basis.

Through the Safe Neighborhood Grant's program, HUD is taking a comprehensive neighborhood-based approach to reducing crime. All owners and operators of properties receiving grants will be required to partner with local government agencies, with the police department and local law enforcement officials, and with other local groups interested in creating viable, safe communities. Partnerships must include at least one federal law enforcement agency, all owners of assisted housing developments in the targeted neighborhood and residents of the publicly assisted housing community.

HUD has learned from experience that the war on crime can only be won through a cooperative, comprehensive and concerted effort by the entire community. If residents, managers and owners can build effective working relationships with law enforcement and government officials, and if all members of the community work together, neighborhoods can be made safe and free of drugs and violence.

Applicants receiving Safe Neighborhood Grants in California include:

GRANT RECIPIENT	CITY	AMOUNT
Casa Community Association	Los Angeles	$250,000
Los Angeles Gardens Community Assoc.	Los Angeles	$250,000
Housing Authority of the City of LA	Los Angeles	$250,000
New Wilmington Affordable Housing, Inc.	Compton	$250,000
City of Wasco Housing Authority	Wasco	$250,000
Northridge Cooperative Homes	Richmond	$250,000
Lincoln Dakota Woods Assoc.	Fresno	$250,000
Imperial Valley Housing Authority	Brawley	$250,000
Vacaville Community Housing	Vacaville	$193,813