Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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To address this and other issues, HUD finalized the first regulations to implement the AFFH obligation in 2015.
The rules required communities that receive HUD funding to regularly draft an “Assessment of Fair
Housing” (AFH) as part of the HUD granting process. The AFH is a highly regulated document with clear rules for
content and regular updates. It required communities to examine more thoroughly the existence of residential
discrimination and segregation, and (in theory) act to address those concerns. However, implementation of the
2015 rules and the AFH plan were suspended by HUD in 2018 as a new administration sought to reverse course.
Currently, an AI is once again the required document to meet the AFFH obligation under the Fair Housing Act.
This Fair Housing Action Plan is meant to fulfill the requirements of an AI, while supporting the spirit of the AFFH
rule and acknowledging, though not fulfilling, the standards of an AFH.

Planning Process
The Arlington Fair Housing Action Plan was developed from 2019 to 2021 by the Town of Arlington working
with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law
(LCCR). The plan was funded by the Town of Arlington through the Community Development Block Grant
Program and through MAPC’s technical assistance program. In addition to data analysis, the planning team
conducted interviews and focus groups with Arlington residents, Town staff, Housing Authority staff, school
officials, nonprofit officials, and service providers. Summaries of the engagement process are available in
Appendix F: Engagement Summaries on page 133.