"Housing and health" (Commentary, Oct. 24) was a compelling and thought-provoking column about the positive correlation between housing and health. However, I reject the authors' conclusion that "closing the waiting list for the Housing Choice Voucher Program will make a bad situation worse." There are 16,000 families on the waiting list for this program, many of whom have been there for five or more years, and new applicants would go to the bottom of the list and not be served for many years.
But it is important that readers understand that the Housing Authority of Baltimore City will continue to assist families with emergency set-aside housing that will be available to those referred to us by Homeless Services, families with children with elevated lead levels referred to us by the Health Department and those displaced by public action and in the case of other emergencies referred to my department.
Given the dire need for housing, HABC has been aggressively increasing family participation in the voucher program, to the extent allowed by our budget. Since August 2007, we have increased program participation by nearly 1,200 households. Our goal is for every family in need to have safe and adequate housing. Once our waiting list has been substantially reduced, we plan to reopen the waiting list.
