The City, as a recipient of HUD funding, is required to create a Consolidated Plan every five years which details how funds from several federal programs will be used to provide services to Chicago residents. For CDBG funding, we must specifically report on our efforts to “affirmatively further fair housing.” The previous vehicle for providing this information has been an Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing. For many years, city departments including the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR), Office of Budget and Management (OBM), Department of Housing, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), Department of Planning and Development (DPD), Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) and Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) have worked together to develop the AI reports.

However, in 2015, HUD under the Obama administration, recommended the development of regional Assessments of Fair Housing, understanding that what happens in one municipality can affect fair housing efforts in neighboring communities. In compliance with HUD’s new policy, the City of Chicago and 12 jurisdictions and 6 public housing agencies in Cook County, including CHA, agreed to work together to develop the first ever Cook County Regional Assessment of Fair Housing (CCRAFH). Working with the contractor, Enterprise Community Partners, we began work on the report in 2018. However, several months into the project, HUD, under the Trump administration, reversed course and no longer supported regional assessments. Nonetheless, the CCRAFH Working Group agreed to continue our work and complete the countywide assessment.

While progress is being made on the regional project, representatives of the City continued to work together to develop specific goals and strategies to affirmatively further fair housing in the City of Chicago. We are now happy to share with you the Chicago Blueprint for Fair Housing.