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(c) Housing Assistance Council, December 1999
Permission is granted ONLY to nonprofit community-based organizations to reproduce and/or adapt this document, and only for their own use.
III.
DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL FARM LABOR HOUSING
Few
communities support the development of migrant or seasonally operated housing,
regardless of the importance of agriculture in the area.
The “not in my backyard” mentality seems to be magnified when
farmworkers are involved. While
community approval may not be a paramount consideration in the minds of those
seeking to develop the housing, it will certainly become an issue when zoning,
subdivision, and construction approvals are needed.
A.
Community Relations
Potential
developers of labor housing projects should anticipate community opposition
and be prepared to head it off in advance.
HAC recommends that potential sponsors make a wide range of attempts to
gain local support by (1) including local people, especially community
leaders, in the developing organization, when possible; (2) establishing
advisory committees; (3) seeking advice of local leaders; (4) employing local
people when at all possible; and (5) developing plans that the community can
understand well enough to allay unwarranted fears.
State and regional organizations may find that establishing or using a
local nonprofit as sponsor is the best means to assure community acceptance.
As it has been said: “The
best defense is a well prepared offense.”
It
is important that units be attractive, not only for the benefit of the
tenants, but to minimize community opposition.
It is equally important to develop a project requiring as few variances
from local codes as possible. In
most communities, use of the RHS standards for seasonal housing (which are
less strict than standards for buildings to be occupied year-round) will
require some variance. Whenever
possible, this should be the only deviation from existing codes.
B.
The Importance of the Farmer
While
many farmers will support improved farm labor housing activity, others will be
undecided or opposed, and they have been known to provide formidable
opposition. Most farmers who use
intensive farm labor recognize the need for improved housing, but face
economic constraints in providing it or fear the possibility of losing control
of their labor force if RHS assists. Organizations
that develop farm labor housing are working on behalf of the farm employees,
and farmers have an interest in the project.
No project should go beyond the initial planning stage without
communication between the sponsor and local farmers.
Housing
farm laborers who live in the community year-round is a simpler, less
controversial task than housing migrant laborers. Since time is such a critical factor in planting and
harvesting crops, farmers who grow perishable crops will understandably look
for ways to ensure a dependable supply of labor.
The use of labor contractors and the provision of housing owned or
controlled by the grower are two common means of ensuring the supply.
Traditionally, grower-provided housing is substandard, is expensive to
upgrade or maintain, and may lead to clashes with regulatory agencies and
farmworker advocates. Nevertheless,
farmers tend to resist RHS-financed labor housing that is developed by
nonprofits and public bodies because the law prohibits employment by a
particular grower as a precondition for occupancy.
Potential
applicants for the RHS seasonal program cannot stand on some real or imagined
social principle and ignore the farmer. Seasonal
housing, to be useful, must have tenants.
A cooperative effort is necessary.
There are economic benefits derived by farmers through well housed
workers. Methods should be
developed to ensure that growers have the necessary supply of labor without
requiring that individual tenants work on a given farm.
For example, it is common practice by one housing authority to
stabilize housing use and labor supply by encouraging:
-
workers to sign contracts with growers prior to migrating;
-
growers to pay unit bonuses to those who work the entire contract season;
-
growers and housing authority to develop good, integrated management plans;
-
smaller growers to share crews.
The
potential sponsor is helped by grower support in its dealings both in the
community and with RHS/Rural Development.
To ensure grower support, farmers should be included in the development
process. If a local organization
is formed to sponsor the project or if an advisory committee is created,
farmers should be asked to participate.
C.
How to Work Successfully with RHS/Rural Development
It
is impossible to provide a fail-safe formula for gaining RHS’s approval on a
project. It is, however, possible
to minimize the possibility of rejection by observing a few basic rules.
-
Read the Instructions to learn what RHS is looking for in a project.
-
Once informed about RHS requirements, and prior to publication of the funding NOFA, set up a meeting with Rural Development Area or State Office officials to determine their expectations or priorities.
-
Follow the instructions published in the NOFA.
-
Prepare a complete and accurate preapplication and application. Submit them in the order requested in the RHS/Rural Development Instructions and NOFA (unless there is a specific procedure in your state or locality).
-
Provide solid market data that support the need for units and assure RHS/Rural Development that all units will be rented. Do not limit the market survey to canned data, such as Census figures. Such sources can be used, but need to be supplemented. Other data should come from farmworkers and growers. (See RD Instruction 1944-D Exhibit A-1 I. B, which is Appendix 3 to this guide.)
-
Submit a plan that is as simple as possible. Avoid having every aspect of the proposed housing be a demonstration of something new. While innovation is important, its overuse can lead to misunderstanding, delay, or rejection.
-
Provide, or arrange for, tenant support services. In the 1999 regulations, RHS requires applicants to include a supportive services plan in a preapplication.
D.
Beyond Construction
Housing
development encompasses much more than building the physical structure.
Planning is the real key to a successful project.
Well-planned tenant marketing throughout the planning and development
processes is critical. While this
is true in any rental housing planning, it is critical for farm labor housing.
Housing
farm laborers, especially migrant farm laborers, is extremely complex.
Prospective tenants are often far away much of the year and not
necessarily individually identifiable. Current
practice may be for the grower to supply free housing.
However inferior that housing might be, laborers will probably be
initially reluctant to exchange it for shelter at the cost of 30 percent of
adjusted income. Contact
farmworkers, farmworker organizations, the state department of labor, growers,
and grower organizations for marketing suggestions.
E.
Program Limitations
There
are two regulations that limit effective participation in this program:
-
RHS-approved nonprofit corporations must be membership organizations. This effectively excludes other potential nonprofit sponsors from an already meager field.
-
At least eight members of a regional or statewide nonprofit corporation applicant must be from the employment area served by the project. This requirement is intended to ensure local community involvement, but in reality it often dilutes the potential number of prospective sponsors. For example, a statewide or regional organization may find compliance impossible. Adding members for each project could either be cumbersome or detract from the organization’s other purposes. Regional groups have often assisted small, local nonprofit organizations to apply as the eligible sponsor.