Transform Our Frayed
and
Inadequate Safety Net
Our social safety net is letting too many people fall through the cracks. The policies and funding have not adapted to the needs and changing landscape of our city. Too many people are impoverished, hungry, without safe or adequate housing, and struggling. Yes, some of this is a result of federal and state policies, programs, and funding. But Detroit can shift the paradigm for what is possible at a city level by using the power we do have, whether in funding allocation, program implementation, or advocacy and lobbying efforts. This is even more important now, given the current national political context. We need to enact better solutions that do not put the financial burden on the already overtaxed population.
In order to mend our social safety net in the city, we must:
01
Advance Housing Security
Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home. Just like communities across the United States, Detroit needs to address our housing affordability, preservation, and land use from a variety of angles to ensure that people have a stable roof over their heads. Equally important, we must maintain and expand rental protections and ensure that our most vulnerable residents have a place to call home. City planning should consider where housing is being built, to be alongside schools, jobs, commercial corridors, parks and public transportation options. Research shows that under a broader definition of homelessness that includes not only children in shelters but also those doubled up with family or friends or in some other sort of temporary arrangement, 16% of Detroit children are homeless at any given time. First, we call on the next Mayor to set an ambitious and defensible north star goal for housing Detroit families of all types over the next 10 years. To advance this goal, we call on the next Mayor of Detroit to: ●Finance the building of affordable housing units leveraging asset backed financing options, Community Development Funds, and the City’s Land Trust fund among other options. ●Actively support and incentivize the building of residential property units by supporting the infrastructure necessary including preparing the site, soil, and managing water, gas, and other utility hookups. ●Establish incentives or requirements for landlords to keep or transition their units to affordable and accessible housing. ●Reinstate the City’s down payment assistance program for first time home buyers and lower income home buyers. ●Increase fair-chance housing options for people who are justice impacted. ●Establish a fund for home repair resources. Second, we also call on the Mayor to advance protections for residents who are property renters: ●Fully fund the right to counsel for renters facing eviction. ●The Detroit Residential and Tenant Ordinance, which the City Council revised in October 2024, aims to improve safety and quality in rental homes while simplifying compliance requirements for property owners and strengthening tenant protections. The ordinance is set to be piloted in May 2025. We call on the next Mayor to actively monitor the implementation of the new ordinance and produce a report of findings and recommendations for further improvement of tenant protections and rental property safety. ●Currently, there is little to no comprehensive, timely data available to understand the housing conditions and experiences of renters in Detroit. The lack of information on rental properties promotes a housing market of minimal oversight and can create conditions for deferred maintenance and tenant mistreatment. This lack of oversight, combined with the overall scarcity of homes affordable for low-income renters in most communities, creates a housing market in which property owners have excessive power over predominantly low-income renters with very few alternative affordable housing options. We call on the next Mayor of Detroit to establish a rental registry and require landlords that are renting at least six units to populate it with information such as: Up-to-date contact information of key individuals involved with the management and maintenance of the property, and an emergency contact who can be contacted 24 hours a day. Information and documentation regarding the last property inspection, the number of units owned, and how much has been and is currently being charged for rent. The property's connections to water and electricity, and an average monthly utility cost.
02
Enact a Working Parents Tax Credit to put more money into the hands of hard working parents across our city.
The share of Michigan households that did not earn enough to pay for basic necessities increased sharply between 2021 and 2022. And most social safety net programs in Michigan reach only a small fraction of households in need. A working parents tax cut could be life changing for families who are raising an estimated 250,000 children in Michigan by putting more money into the pockets of hard-working parents. Evidence suggests that a Working Parents Tax credit could encourage work and is good for families, employers, and entire communities as the spillover effects due to increased income that could be spent in local communities on basic needs. We encourage the next Mayor of Detroit to actively support a Working Parents Tax Credit at the state level. Equally important, we call on the next Mayor of Detroit to welcome the expansion of RX Kids implementation in Detroit in order to expand the reach of cash support for parents of young children. Doing so would bolster the wellbeing of children and families.
03
Increase investment in early childhood education services.
The needs of Detroit’s early childhood education sector are vast. Detroit has a shortage of more than 15,500 childcare seats if we want to meet the needs of Detroit families. The number of early educators continues to drop due to the low wages and lack of benefits. Providers continue to grapple with cumbersome and expensive zoning & licensing processes that make it difficult to open or expand their locations, and a funding model that does not cover the true cost of their work. Parents are contending with childcare costs that consume 23% to 31% of the average median household income. There has been great movement in Detroit to transform our early education system through the work of a vast array of community partners, early educators, parents, and business owners. But more needs to be done to figure out the solutions and the funding mechanisms to pay for them. Other cities and states have addressed the issue of limited early childhood education head on, by bringing together those closest to the solution to identify how government can be a part of the solution rather than a distraction. This includes places like DC which provides free childcare, healthcare, and drastically increased wages for their early childhood educators, or regions across Michigan who developed comprehensive strategies to address the barriers and needs of their parents and providers through deep research and community engagement. Denver launched a coordinated and funded effort to recruit, educate and support new early childhood educators while simultaneously supporting providers with funding and technical assistance to remodel or expand their facilities. Philadelphia’s Child Care Facility Fund provides up to $25,000 for providers, including home based providers, to upgrade their facilities. We encourage the next Mayor of Detroit to be a leader in the State, and find a path to invest in the infrastructure, funding, and support necessary to ensure all children have a great start and working parents have access to quality care.
04
Enact an early childcare education subsidy for all job seeking and education seeking parents.
Giving parents the ability to enroll their children in safe, nurturing, and educationally sound early childhood education programs can provide the flexibility and time they need to focus on their job search or education. Current state subsidy is a cumbersome process that many parents simply do not have the time to wade through. Michigan also limits subsidies to those working or those seeking a high school diploma, with some exceptions for those in job training. Over half of all states provide childcare subsidy to job seeking parents and parents in school, including Ohio. We call on the next Mayor of Detroit to advocate for changes at the state level that allow job and education seeking parents access to state child care subsidy. There have also been local examples where using flexible funding to cover the cost of high quality childcare has increased employment, job stability and economic mobility for parents. In these instances, the amount of paperwork and eligibility screening burden was low for both the parents and the provider. The next Mayor also has the ability to identify other innovative solutions within our existing systems.
