As the cost of housing throughout California continues to rise, residents are increasingly struggling to keep up.
The Golden State is the most expensive in the U.S., on average, for renting or trying to buy a home. A February Quinnipiac University poll found that 43% of California voters—61% of those aged 18 to 34—believe they can no longer afford to live there.
Affordable housing is an example of the type of systemic problems that professionals working in the field of community psychology are actively designing solutions for. Two faculty members in the Pacific Oaks Community Psychology program recently discussed how those working in this field can help work to make housing in California more affordable.
Sheree’ M. Bielecki, M.Ed, Ed.D. Candidate, is an affiliate faculty/academic coordinator in the B.A. Community Psychology program at Pacific Oaks College. She is also the co-chair of Community Psychology Practice in Undergraduate Settings – Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA). When Sheree’ is not teaching at Pacific Oaks, she is working in the community as the director of community events at A Child’s Dream. She has worked with community-based nonprofit organizations since 1995 and has extensive knowledge of the people and cultures that constitute the population of South Los Angeles and other underserved communities in Los Angeles County.
Angel Hall, Psy.D., is an administrative faculty member in the B.A. Community Psychology program at Pacific Oaks College. Raised in the rich culture and traditions of Belize, Dr. Hall followed in the footsteps of her grandmother and became a teacher. For 14 years she has helped adult learners, of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, gain an understanding of human behavior. Dr. Hall has taught various courses, in the field of psychology, at some of the most diverse campuses in the nation: Long Island University-Brooklyn, Pratt Institute, and Santa Monica College.
Q: How does someone working in the field of community psychology begin to approach the issue of affordable housing?
Sheree’ Bielecki, M.Ed.: People working in our field would focus on advocating for legislative changes to ensure greater availability of affordable housing. And we would place an emphasis on the basic human need for secure housing while using research to provide insight into the psychological impact of housing insecurity.
Angel Hall, Psy.D.: The first thing that needs to be done is research. We need to operationally define what affordable housing is so that everyone engaging in the discussion understands what it means. In this instance, I think we would define affordable housing as spending no more than 30 percent of your monthly income on rent, mortgage, room and board, or whatever living circumstance you find yourself in. This is according to guidelines put forth by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
We would also need to define the specific communities the issue may impact. For example, we know that in the greater Los Angeles area there are more than 20 percent of middle-class individuals spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent.
Research and a consensus on how we define the issues will act as the foundation for us to begin further discussion.
Q: What other research might you conduct?
Dr. Hall: When exploring this particular issue, we must examine many different contributing factors that those being negatively impacted may not be very familiar with. It’s not because they don’t care, but rather because they may be consumed with more immediate concerns, like putting food on the table.
However, other factors such as zoning regulations, developmental restrictions, developer incentives, and others all play a role. It is our job to look at each of these individual factors so we can address an issue like this in a very systemic way.
Dr. Bielecki: Agreed. We would also need to examine more data that relates to the broader societal impact of housing insecurity, including the psychological, economic, public health, and public assistance implications.
Q: What role does community psychology play beyond research?
Dr. Hall: The skills of community psychologists can be applied in many different ways, especially when considering the different stakeholders in this issue.
You can have one area of community psychology that acts as an arbitrator, bringing people to the table—grassroots organizations, developers, and policymakers. There is another area of community psychology devoted exclusively to raising awareness about an issue. This may be going from door to door and informing people about a new development project that could affect their housing costs. And then another area of community psychology may focus on rallying the troops in the form of voter registration drives and awareness rallies.
Dr. Bielecki: Yes, there are many other roles that community psychologists can play. These are best reflected in the different careers available to those who have the foundational skills that community psychology provides. For example, some careers may include, community organizing, policy design or politics, consulting, and program evaluation.
Q: What is program evaluation and where does it fit in with this issue?
Dr. Bielecki: Program evaluation is a large part of what working in community psychology entails. It is a careful evaluation of existing programs and efforts that have been designed to address affordable housing. By evaluating the results of current efforts, we can produce opportunities for improvement and, ideally, facilitate collaborative efforts among various organizations to further advance toward the program’s intended goal.
Dr. Hall: Examples of this are grants that have been developed to help provide funds for first-time homebuyers in California that need help covering the closing costs on a house. The Section 8 program would be another example of a program created to help make housing more affordable.
As Dr. Bielecki explained, once a new program is implemented, we still need to evaluate its success. Many federally funded programs have specific guidelines. However, the evaluation process usually involves a series of questions specific to the funding that we have received. We can also gain insight into the performance of our programs through surveys or questionnaires and statistical analysis. We take that information, compile it, and then do a comprehensive report. This is called program review.
Q: How does the Community Psychology program at Pacific Oaks help prepare graduates to impact the affordable housing crisis?
Dr. Bielecki: In our program, students learn how to apply themes that community psychologists identify within their field: prevention, social justice, and environment. We teach the students to explore what the cause of a problem is (prevention), and they come up with ideas on how to stop problems from occurring and providing solutions.
Students also look at how social problems are not provided with the appropriate resources proportionally to always address them (social justice). They are also able to apply what they learn in the classroom during fieldwork experiences and in their places of employment. Some of the organizations in which our students can do their fieldwork are HUD, Section 8, community-based organizations and other Public Housing agencies in California.
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