BPI is a public interest law and policy center dedicated to addressing compelling issues of social justice and quality of life in the Chicago region.

While CHA Nears Key Milestone, More Work Remains 

The Chicago Housing Authority will reach an important milestone next year: The completion of 25,000 new or rehabbed public housing apartments, the goal CHA set 18 years ago when it adopted its ambitious and far-reaching Plan for Transformation.

This is a singular achievement, particularly considering that the intervening years saw the 2008 real estate market collapse during the Great Recession, as well as a decrease in public funding for affordable housing. While the number of CHA public housing units is fewer than at the beginning of the Plan, the total number of households CHA serves through all of its housing programs has increased from about 50,000 to more than 63,000.

Nevertheless, as we applaud these significant achievements, it is important to acknowledge what remains to be done to complete the goals and promises of both the original Plan for Transformation and CHA's more recent "Plan Forward." Large areas of vacant land remain where public housing once stood, waiting for promised mixed-income developments which will include several thousand additional public housing units. In a number of places, work remains to fully achieve CHA's goal that these communities "will benefit from a full array of retail, commercial, educational and community amenities." It is important to recognize that nearly all of the families with the right to return under the Plan have been provided new housing, while also noting that CHA's wait lists still number in the tens of thousands.

As we acknowledge the significant achievements of the Plan for Transformation, we are mindful of how much remains to be done. BPI will continue to work with CHA to see that everything possible is done to provide more housing and better neighborhoods for the thousands of Chicago families who desperately need it.

Altgeld-Riverdale Early Learning Coalition: Creating a Trauma-Informed Community

As the new school year gets underway, the Altgeld-Riverdale Early Learning Coalition will be taking a closer look at how traumatic experiences affect children, and what it means to become "trauma-informed."  

Exposure to just a single incident of trauma can result in anger or moodiness, interrupted sleep, and social withdrawal.  Chronic exposure to trauma, especially in the early years, can adversely affect attention, reduce the ability to process information, and interfere with effective problem solving.

To gain more insight into how trauma affects children, their parents and caregivers, and even teachers and service providers, the Coalition will be hearing from a series of experts on trauma's effects on the brain, the role adverse childhood experiences play in child development, and the tools available for coping and responding.
 
Giving Prisoners Another Chance Through Affordable Housing

The Chicago Housing Authority's prisoner reentry pilot program, which allows some prisoners to live in CHA housing upon their release, was the recent subject of a thoughtful article in Atlantic Media's CityLab.

The author: BPI's Maddy Hamlin, our newest Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellow, who focused her Syracuse University master's thesis on CHA's program.

"The pilot is an innovative attempt to overcome policy isolationism: the funneling of complex problems like urban crime into singular agencies, like departments of correction, which then fail to deal with those problems holistically, thus perpetuating cycles like recidivism," she writes.

University of Chicago Law School graduate Mara Easterbrook is in the second year of her Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellowship at BPI, where she works on issues related to housing advocacy and justice reform.
Apply Now for a 2018 Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellowship

Attention law school and policy school students: BPI is now accepting applications for its Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellowship. Applicants must have a law school or public policy degree by June 2018. The application deadline is October 13 for a position that begins in Fall 2018. 

BPI's fellowship program is designed to prepare the next generation of public interest professionals.  Our Fellows have gone on to pursue successful careers in nonprofit leadership, affordable housing law, legal aid, civil rights advocacy, and government.  

Learn more

BPI Welcomes Three New Staff Members
Madeleine Hamlin
Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellow
Artishia Hunter
 Senior Education Associate
Lindsey LaPointe
Senior Project Manager
Justice Reform

BPI is delighted to announce the addition of three new staff members. 

Madeleine Hamlin is our newest Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellow. Her policy work at BPI will involve both our justice reform and housing initiatives.  Maddy recently graduated from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with dual Master's degrees in Public Administration and Geography.  

Artishia Hunter joins our staff as Senior Education Associate. Prior to BPI, Artishia was Director of the Evanston Community Foundation's Two Generaton Initiative, a three-way partnership among ECF, Ascend at the Aspen Institute, and Northwestern University designed to increase early learning opportunities for young children and career opportunities for their parents. 

Lindsey LaPointe is our new Senior Project Manager for Justice Reform.  She most recently served as Program Manager for Adult Redeploy Illinois, which provides funding and technical assistance to Illinois counties, enabling them to redirect non-violent offenders from state prisons and provide them with a range of community-based services. During her tenure at Adult Redeploy, she was part of a team that successfully expanded the program to 39 Illinois counties.

BPI is a public interest law and policy center that for almost 50 years has worked to create a just society. We strive to resolve compelling issues of social justice and quality of life in the Chicago region by addressing the challenges of urban poverty, increasing housing and educational opportunity, strengthening communities, and improving Illinois' justice system.

Just Now is BPI's periodic electronic newsletter. 
Have a question or comment?  Send feedback to BPI Director of Communications Andi Rosen at [email protected]