Please note that the responses are due by June 10, 2024

Dear Members and Advocates,

The number one problem that we hear, and experience, is finding stable housing for persons forced to register (PFR).  The lack of housing is a huge concern and we have the chance to make a significant change…TODAY!

The Federal office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is proposing an effort to loosen restrictions on federal housing assistance for more people, with criminal backgrounds, to be provided stable housing. Specifically, the rule change asks landlords to assess each person individually and take into account facts such as the amount of time the applicant has been offense-free, but also adds “removed from the sex offender registry.”

Unfortunately, the requirement to be “removed from the registry” would not change the existing rule for most PFR in Florida and other states where they are subject to lifetime registration.

We are reaching out to each of you today with a very quick Call to Action (CTA).

This CTA is simply a response to a Federal Register posting at Reducing Barriers to HUD-Assisted Housing. It is much shorter and less detailed than our other CTAs.  We are more concerned with having large numbers of people submitting short responses (especially because it’s an election year) so HUD will know that the public is concerned with the lack of housing for all returning citizens and want people with all convictions to have access to HUD housing.

You do not need to write a lengthy response. You can let HUD know in just a sentence or two. Let’s make HUD understand that while this expansion is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough.  Housing should be available for everyone, and those who have served their sentence and returned to the community deserve to be considered for housing on a case-by-case basis without blanket exclusions.

Of course, we are encouraged to do a more detailed response if desired, but we don’t want that to stop someone from responding. There is 25 years of Metadata studies showing the low, low recidivism rates of people with sex offense convictions, having rearrest rates for another sex offense between 2% and 5% in federal and as low as 1% in some states.

One of our members commented: “This rule change is a step in the right direction, but housing help needs to be available to everyone!” That one, simple sentence is enough.  Everyone has time to send a short response.

Please note that the responses are due by June 10, 2024. You don’t have to register, or submit a lot of personal information, just an email address — which will not be posted publicly.   You can also choose “Anonymous” as the commenter type if you do not want your name to appear.

 

To post your comment, go to the web page: Reducing Barriers to HUD-Assisted Housing.  You can view alternative ways to comment or you may also comment via Regulations.gov at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/HUD-2024-0031-0001.

Once you have filled in the required fields you can preview and/or submit your comment to the Housing and Urban Development Department for review. All comments are considered public and will be posted online once the Housing and Urban Development Department has reviewed them.

Thank you for your advocacy. Please comment and feel free to copy and paste this request to send to friends, family, and other advocacy groups.

Take Action Today!

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee (FAC)

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