Maurice Jones, deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will deliver the keynote address at the two-day conference “Implementing the Duty to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing” on Sept. 20 and 21, 2013, hosted by The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center and Clinic.
Jones will address participants at 9:15 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, on “HUD’s Duty to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing—What It Means and How It Is Being Implemented.”
His presentation will be followed by leading academics and practitioners discussing what the duty means and how fair housing laws should be implemented. The morning program will focus on federal, state and local governmental initiatives, particularly in the area of eliminating racial segregation. The afternoon session will focus on the financial crisis and the government’s duty to insure that it does not produce more rather than less segregation.
On Saturday, Sept. 21, the program will focus on the special problems experienced by persons with disabilities and how the government can ensure that these individuals have access to housing that meets their special needs.
Participants also will help the Clinic mark its 20th anniversary at an evening reception on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Cliff Dwellers Club.
The Friday program will open with a 9 a.m. introduction to the issue delivered by Professor Michael P. Seng, co-executive director of the Fair Housing Legal Support Center, discussing a year-long study the Center conducted on housing discrimination for the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
Following Jones’ address, the 10:15 a.m. session will be on “The Role of States and Local Government—The Consolidated Plan and the Analysis of Impediments and Compliance With the Fair Housing Act” given by Sara Pratt, deputy assistant secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), followed by a panel discussion with Sheryl Whitney, a partner at Whitney Jennings LLC; Daniel Lauber of the Law Office of Daniel Lauber; Joel Williams, executive director of PADS Lake County; and Maurice McGough, director, Region V, HUD.
The luncheon address at 12:45 p.m. on “The Role of Private Civil Rights Litigation for Damages and Equitable Relief in Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” will be given by Chris Brancart a partner at Brancart & Brancart.
The first afternoon session at 1:45 p.m. on “The Financial Crisis and Its Effect on the Duty to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing” will be discussed by James Carr, a consultant with Housing Finance, Banking and Urban Policy.
At 2:30 p.m. panelists for “The Role of Financial Regulators in Furthering Fair Housing” will include Pratt of HUD; David Berenbaum, chief program officer for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition; Stella Adams, executive director of the North Carolina Fair Housing Center, Inc.; and Spencer Cowan, vice president, Woodstock Institute.
Opening the second day of the conference at 9 a.m. will be a look at “The Duty to Affirmatively Further the Fair Housing Rights of Persons with Disabilities” with Karen Tamley, commissioner, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities; Pratt of HUD; and Steve Rosenbaum, chief of the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at the U.S. Department of Justice.
The final panel at 10:45 a.m. will focus on “Olmstead and the Duty to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing” with Kenneth Walden, managing attorney for Access Living; Jeanine Worden, associate general counsel at HUD; and Kevin Kijewski, deputy chief at the U.S. Department of Justice.
There is a $395 fee for this event. Registrations are being accepted at https://events.jmls.edu Attorneys can earn approximately 10.5 hours of CLE for this program.
