Revived and Discouraged: Evaluating Employment Barriers for Section 3 Residents With Criminal Records

Abstract

Section 3 was established in the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Act of 1968 to provide employment for public housing residents in distressed communities while rebuilding underserved neighborhoods. As a provision that recipients of HUD funding must comply with, Section 3 reporting agencies are having trouble securing employment for ex-offenders. This is problematic since low-income ex-offenders unable to secure stable employment are more likely to recidivate. Research evaluating the specific barriers to employment for Section 3 residents with criminal records and policy recommendations are sparse although the problem is prevalent in communities nationwide. This study uses San Antonio, Texas as an example for conducting a policy review to identify the barriers to employment for Section 3 ex-offenders. The results of the qualitative analysis indicate that at the national level, HUD and the Section 3 provision do not create barriers to employment but state and local policies and practices do.

Keywords:

• Economic opportunities
• Section 3
• ex-offenders
• employment barriers

Notes

1. Qualified census tracts are defined by HUD for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program as either (a) a census tract with a poverty rate of at least 25% or (b) 50% or more of the census tract householders have incomes below 60% of the area median household income (Hollar & Usowski, 2007).

2. The high percentage of women is not surprising. In the 2014 Demographic Report published by SAHA, 79% of householders are women.

3. Construction services (carpenters, operating engineers, plumbers, HVAC mechanics, etc.) are on Workforce Solutions Alamo targeted demand occupations list. In 2013, the median hourly wage for a construction position was $17.69 and typically a high school diploma is required to obtain employment in this industry. Workforce Solutions Alamo predicts that the construction industry in the San Antonio areas is expected to grow by approximately 26% by 2022.

4. The sample size changes in Tables 2 and 3 based on the availability of data for each variable.