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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING &
URBAN DEVELOPMENT

I am Ronald T. Ashford, and I served in the Department of Housing and Ur-
ban Development (HUD). For over 20 years, I was the Director for the Public
Housing Supportive Services, involved with other Federal Agencies on a
number of issues, including Reentry. I represented HUD on the Department

of Justice (DOJ) led Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Coordinating Council, where we focused on developing strategies to deter

youth from becoming involved in the criminal justice system. I also repre-
sented HUD on the Federal Reentry Council, where 23 Federal Agencies
came together to develop policies that give returning citizens an opportunity
to be successful after their release from prison. One initiative we developed

was an expungement program with funds that were transferred from DOJ to
HUD. The funds were then competed, and 21 Public Housing Authorities
(PHAs) and their legal partners were awarded grants to expunge the records of

youth up to the age of 25.

My HUD colleagues and I orchestrated the development of three significant
HUD documents: A letter signed by Secretary Shaun Donovan to PHAs clari-

fying HUD’s position on criminal backgrounds and urging PHAs to give re-
turning citizens a second chance; a Notice that PHAs could not simply use an
arrest to deny housing to an individual (which also confirmed that “One

Strike” is not HUD policy); and a publication “It Starts With Housing,” which
details efforts PHAs are undertaking to provide housing for returning citi-
zens. Our team convened a national conference to discuss with PHAs initia-
tives they could launch in the reentry area. Finally, we worked to expand the

New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Pilot, an effort by NYCHA, the
VERA Institute for Justice, and several nonprofits to unite returning citizens
with their families in public housing.

As the Director of HUD’s Public Housing Supportive Services, focused on
Non-Reentry, I supervised a team that was responsible for disbursing grants
and overseeing programs that benefited public housing residents. Our team

monitored all Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere grants (HOPE
VI), a $6 billion grants program, which replaced severely distressed public

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