The purpose of this post is to inform readers about the Man In The House rule for welfare and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) programs. Since the 1960’s HUD quietly enforced a rule that was put in place to destroy families. During 2020 a study was conducted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and it revealed that there was definitely rules in the HCV program that forced to applicants to choose between housing and family. Homes with an adult male were seen to be undeserving of government assistance. Most women that received Welfare (SNAP, TANF, CHIP) couldn’t live with or have relations with any single/married “able-bodied” male. If they did get accepted into the program they would have mandatory unscheduled visits from police and state representatives which was highly invasive. This put a strain on personal relationships and possibly caused severe damages to a child’s future. An analysis on 39 Black HCV holders (over 5yr period) in Antelope Valley, CA was included in the 2020 study. The voucher holders were interviewed and covered their experiences as tenants + how program rules affected their family or social life. Around 3/4 of the interviewees were women and 4/5 were Black. A few of the voucher holders specifically said they felt as if program rules made them minimize their family and social relations due to fear of being evicted. Others said their situations were so invasive they contemplated leaving the program and giving up their homes just to put an end to the surveillance/inspections. In Los Angeles County there’s a program rule that prohibits drug related activity around the residence of a voucher recipient’s home. This includes all guests, so if a fellow loved one indulged in drugs outside of your knowledge and decided to stop by the home for any reason you were at risk of being evicted. Full study can be read here.
According to a class action lawsuit from 1968 Alabama state officials said the man any woman have relations with (within a 6 month time period) is considered a substitute father and is expected to provide for all children. The full lawsuit can be read here. The Man In The House rule accusations would be denied by HUD during a 2011 interview with The Root magazine. The department also used their annual Father’s day events as a shield. Ron Sims (deputy secretary of HUD) said, “We want fathers to understand that they are welcome at our housing-authority sites, and that we want them there to play meaningful roles in raising their children and supporting the women that they’ve been with.”. It’s very easy to say that being as though it’ll be hard for someone prove that they were discriminated against because of their race or relationship status. To make things worse Roland Warren (President Of The National Fatherhood Initiative) told The Root magazine “If anything destroys families, it’s choices that individuals make. But I would say that there are systems in place that incentive people to make choices that ultimately don’t strengthen the Black family.”.
When it comes to the well being of children the U.S. is ranked 34th on the list of 35 developed countries. This is no surprise due to President Clinton’s promise to end welfare during 1996. President Clinton decided to sign the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act into law on August 23rd, 1996. This act is the root cause of the number of families receiving welfare dropping from 12.3M (1996) to 4.1M (2016). Although Clinton received full credit for the act it was actually drafted by a caucus of Republicans led by Newt Gingrich. The act was supported by a large amount of people because it was blamed for the high taxes citizens were paying.
Fact Check:
HUD Father’s Day Events:
The 41st Amendment 
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