MILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY

WASHINGTON D.C.-- The Milford (Connecticut) Housing Authority will follow through on a plan to acquire and/or build twenty-eight units of new family public housing, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department and the NAACP-New Haven Branch.

The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, resolves similar lawsuits brought against the Housing Authority by the Justice Department, the NAACP-New Haven Branch and several individuals. The lawsuits, which were consolidated in June 1997, alleged that the Housing Authority's cancellation of a $3.5 million federally-subsidized scattered site housing program violated the Fair Housing Act's prohibition against race and national origin discrimination. A significant proportion of the beneficiaries of the scrapped housing program were projected to be African American or Hispanic. "We applaud the Milford Housing Authority's commitment to making affordable housing available to all individuals regardless of race, color or national origin," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We are confident that the Housing Authority is dedicated to, and fully capable of, carrying out its promises under the agreement."

Under the agreement, the Milford Housing Authority will:

• use the $3.5 million previously allocated by HUD to acquire and/or develop twenty-eight family public housing units in Milford over the course of three years;
• select family public housing applicants, including those presently living in communities outside Milford, in a non-discriminatory manner;
• publicize the new program in surrounding communities, including cities with large African American and Hispanic populations; and,
• train employees about their rights and responsibilities under federal, state and local fair housing laws.

"The Justice Department did a tremendous job negotiating this agreement, and I commend the Milford Housing Authority for stepping up to provide decent, affordable rental housing for low-income residents in their city," said Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo. "This is an important agreement because it comes in a suburban community and reflects the value and importance of integrated low-income housing opportunities outside of our nation's inner cities. I hope this agreement will help overcome the "Not In My Backyard" sentiment that doesn't help anyone."

As part of the agreement, HUD will release to the Housing Authority $1.2 million (covering fiscal years 1996-98) in funding that HUD had frozen after the Justice Department discrimination suit was filed.

Today's settlement must still be approved by the Court. Claims brought against the City of Milford, a separate defendant in the consolidated lawsuits, have not yet been resolved. The City stands accused of unlawfully pressuring the Housing Authority to cancel the scattered site program.

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