Supporting Moves to Opportunity: Helping Families with Housing Vouchers Access and Thrive in Higher-Opportunity Neighborhoods

How can the federal Housing Choice Voucher program help more families move to, remain in, and thrive in neighborhoods characterized by growing income levels that could bolster their chances of economic success? Young children who move to these “high-opportunity neighborhoods” are likely to earn more money as adults and to attend college, compared with their peers who live elsewhere. Early positive results from Creating Moves To Opportunity have sparked interest in testing new initiatives that lead to more sustained moves to high-opportunity areas around the country, particularly racially segregated areas.

This five-minute video introduces the Supporting Moves to Opportunity (SMTO) demonstration project, the next generation of mobility initiatives. In partnership with public housing agencies and service providers in three regions (Chicago–Cook County, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and St. Louis, Missouri), SMTO will test the effects of initiatives that offer services and supports either before or after families move—developing evidence that will inform federal efforts to expand housing choice policy.

Some aspects of the program models featured have evolved since the production of this video.