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Khan, Errett, and Walter Study the Roles and Responsibilities of Public Housing Authorities in State Disaster Plans

Posted: 11/2/2023 (CSDE Research)

Amber Khan (PhD Candidate, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences) with CSDE Affiliates Nicole Errett (Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences), Rebecca Walter (Real Estate), and co-authors released research in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, “Assessing the roles and responsibilities of public housing authorities in state-level disaster plans“. As anthropogenic climate change rapidly increases the intensity and frequency of disasters across the United States (U.S.), low-income renters in the private housing market as well as those in federally assisted housing (through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)), live in areas that are disproportionately prone to hazards and are at greater risk of housing loss and displacement. In the U.S., low-income households, many of which are elderly or disabled, are eligible for HUD-subsidized housing units, which are managed by roughly 4000 Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), for which HUD provides oversight. In this study, we aim to understand the disaster risk management roles and responsibilities assigned to PHAs through a content analysis of state-level disaster plans, including EOPs, recovery plans, and specific disaster housing or housing recovery plans. Understanding PHA involvement in state-level disaster planning is necessary for improving future disaster policy that prioritizes the well-being of low-income renters before, during, and after disasters, as well as evaluating specific actions that other partners are currently taking or can take in the future to improve PHA disaster risk management strategies.
*This CSDE news story is a corrected repost of a story that ran in the Oct. 30th newsletter. PhD candidate Amber Khan is the lead-author on the featured article, which comes from her dissertation.

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