# Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2023

This bill creates a new housing assistance program specifically designed to help families with young children escape homelessness and move to neighborhoods with better schools and childcare options. The government would provide up to 50,000 special housing vouchers each year for six years (2024-2029) to families who are currently homeless, living in unstable housing, or at risk of losing their homes.

The vouchers work like existing housing assistance programs—they help families afford rent in the private market. But this program adds an important twist: it includes free services to help families move to "opportunity areas," which are neighborhoods with good schools, quality childcare, and other resources that research shows help children succeed. Families with young children (under age 6) or those expecting a baby within the next 300 days would be prioritized. The program also targets families living in high-poverty neighborhoods or facing displacement due to rising costs in improving areas.

Local housing agencies would compete for funding and would be required to offer counseling, moving assistance, and ongoing support to help families successfully relocate and adjust to their new neighborhoods. Importantly, families wouldn't be forced to move—the services are offered but optional. The bill also gives preference to agencies that partner with home visiting programs, which provide in-home support for new parents and young children. When a voucher becomes available because a family no longer needs it, it must go to another eligible family, ensuring the assistance stays focused on this vulnerable population.

The bill essentially recognizes that where a family lives dramatically affects a child's future opportunities, and it puts federal resources behind helping families with young children access better neighborhoods and schools before housing instability becomes a crisis.

Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2023

Neguse, Joe

Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2023This bill establishes a voucher program through which&nbsp;public housing agencies (PHAs)&nbsp;shall&nbsp;offer support services to help families who have children and are&nbsp;unstably housed, live in an area of concentrated poverty,&nbsp;or are&nbsp;at risk of being displaced from an opportunity area for children move to areas with access to high-performing schools or high-quality childcare and early education. The Department of Housing and Urban Development must provide assistance to PHAs on a competitive basis to implement the program.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;