Editorial: Housing assistance

Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

In August more than 200 families were kicked out of a public housing complex in North Las Vegas after federal officials said the complex failed five inspections in four years.

To help them find new homes the federal government and the Clark County Housing Authority gave the families Section 8 housing vouchers - without doing criminal background checks.

As reported last week in the Las Vegas Sun by Timothy Pratt, preliminary criminal background checks have since been done and authorities say 144 families have some criminal activity in their past and their federal assistance could be taken away. Further checks will determine whether they are ineligible under the law for aid.

Mujahid Ramadan, a community leader, said the situation invites a new look at federal rules because "the troubling outcome of federal policy is that you may wind up having people homeless."

Ramadan is correct. The rules should be reviewed. It is understandable that federal officials want to be careful about who receives housing aid, but widespread exclusions of people with criminal pasts should be avoided.

Public housing should be a tool to help people improve themselves. Earlier this month, we praised the Family Self-Sufficiency program, which helps people on federal housing assistance go to school and improve their lives. The goal is to help them get off federal aid, and it has been very successful.

The federal government should be looking for ways to expand programs like that and use federal housing grants to give people a chance to succeed.

It seems to us that as long as someone is not a safety risk, he should be eligible for help.