The Manager's report back on collecting data from the Human Rights Commission on housing-related activities including number of housing related investigations, number of housing-related cases successfully mediated, relationships with regional housing-related organizations and successes and challenges of the Cambridge Fair Housing Ordinance

Housing-related Investigations:

The Cambridge Human Rights Commission (CHRC) generally investigates complaints of alleged instances of housing discrimination that occurred in Cambridge, where the most recent alleged discriminatory event occurred within 180 days of the Complainant signing a verified complaint. The CHRC also investigates complaints related to public accommodations, employment and education. Housing complaints over the past four fiscal years include the following:

Fiscal Year Housing Cases Successful Conciliations Private Settlements Probable Cause Lack of Probable Cause Admin. Closures FY15 11 9 FY16 8 5 FY17 11 3 6

FY18 (to

date) 10

4

Please note: Cases may include a Probable Case finding on some allegations and Lack of Probable Cause finding on other allegations, thus numbers of outcomes may exceed total number of cases. Not all cases filed in FY18 have resolved as of the date of this report.

II.

Housing Cases Successfully Mediated:

Pursuant to the Fair Housing Ordinance (FHO), Cambridge Municipal Code Chapter 14.04 et seq., and the CHRC’s Rules of Procedure, conciliation (a type of mediation) is endeavored in all housing cases filed with the CHRC. After a complaint is served on Respondents, the Respondents have ten days to respond with answers to allegations through a Position Statement “signed under the pains and penalties of perjury.” Upon receipt of the Position Statement, the CHRC’s Attorney Investigator (AI) commences the investigation.

Throughout the investigation, the AI encourages the parties to consider conciliation of the Complaint. All parties to the complaint must agree to the conciliation, as it is a voluntary process. During the investigation phase of the process, the efforts to conciliate are conducted by the AI. If, following the

investigation, probable cause that discrimination occurred is found, a further effort to conciliate is conducted by a Commissioner from the CHRC. The efforts to conciliate seek to address both the Complaint’s allegations and the public interest in eliminating the alleged discrimination by the Respondent party going forward.

The “public interest provisions” seek to address changes to discriminatory policies, practices or procedures of the Respondents, may require training of staff on the Fair Housing Ordinance and the Federal Fair Housing laws, and can include monitoring of Respondent behavior for a prescribed period. In the past four fiscal years seven (7) housing discrimination cases were successfully conciliated.

III.

Relationships with Regional Housing-related organizations:

CHRC has long-standing relationships with agencies and organizations addressing housing discrimination and housing support services.

CHRC participates in quarterly “Fair Housing Coalition” meetings with the Chair and legal staff from the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), the Boston Office of Fair Housing and Equity, Metro Housing Boston, Suffolk University Law School Housing Discrimination Testing Program, Way Finders, Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston, Community Legal Aid, South Coast Fair Housing, MA Department of Housing & Community Development, MA Attorney General’s Office Civil Rights Division, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) Division Legal staff, Citizens Housing and Planning Assn. and others.

In addition to these statewide meetings, CHRC meets with local (Metro-Boston) agencies, also on a quarterly basis, to address best practices, recent regional housing discrimination issues, MA and federal court decisions on housing discrimination matters and to suggest approaches to challenges agencies may be experiencing with a particular case or situation.

In addition to the coalition work with agencies addressing housing discrimination, CHRC works with Cambridge housing support services, including the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD), Multi-Service Center, the Consumer’s Council, the Department of Human Services Programs’ (DHSP) Continuum of Care for the Homeless, the Community Development Department’s (CDD) Housing Division, Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) – Housing, Cambridge & Somerville Legal Services, Community Dispute Settlement Center, Just-A-Start Mediation Services, Community Legal Services and Counseling Center – Housing, Inspectional Services Department (ISD) and others.

Referrals are made to these and other agencies, information is sought and resources are shared. As part of resource sharing and collaboration, CHRC, in conjunction with CDD’s Housing Division, held its second annual Fair and Affordable Housing Open House at CRLS on April 28, 2018, at which representatives of a broad range of housing support services, housing providers, housing legal services providers, local banks and tenant organizations provided informational tabling and panels on housing topics.

Attendance at the event was high and attendees were engaged and attentive, seeking out resources and information to address their needs.

CHRC provides informational outreach (about housing and other forms of discrimination) through presentations to students at the Community Learning Center (CLC), at both ESOL and Adult Basic Education courses. In Spring 2018, seven CHRC presentations about discrimination and the process for seeking local enforcement of complaints were presented to adult learners at CLC by CHRC staff and Commissioners.

Outreach tabling is performed by CHRC staff and Commissioners at large public events, including RiverFest and Danehy Park Family Day. CHRC recently launched an online discrimination intake form, enabling persons who feel they have been discriminated against in Cambridge to begin the process of filing a complaint through a convenient online form. CHRC’s Attorney/Investigator will follow

up with individuals who have submitted an online intake form, to obtain needed details to enable the filing of a complaint, if warranted.

IV.

Successes and Challenges of the Cambridge Fair Housing Ordinance:

The FHO enables Cambridge to address housing discrimination locally by offering investigation of complaints, conciliation among the parties to complaints, and remedies for Complainants when probable cause has been found that discrimination has occurred.

While Cambridge residents and persons seeking housing in Cambridge can also seek to address their housing discrimination complaints through the state and federal anti-discrimination agencies (MCAD and HUD, respectively), the opportunity to work with a local agency, without an attorney (if they chose) can enable them to feel closer to the process and more readily able to respond, inquire and address issues that arise through the investigation process.