In compliance with the Legacy Act of 2003, HUD and the Bureau of the Census have estimated the number of families raising children and headed by a grandparent or relative other than a parent. HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research makes this information available, along with data on the housing where these families live, in a report prepared for Congress titled Intergenerational Housing Needs and HUD Program Options. We'll discuss the characteristics of this population segment, the housing and other challenges faced by these families, and identify some of the resources available to them.

We'll review the findings of a recent study that examines the regulatory (and resulting cost) barriers associated with the development of single-family homes in the United States. While previous analyses have focused on small geographical areas, this inquiry looks at selected jurisdictions from around the nation and develops a national cost estimate of excessive regulations that can drive up home prices and restrict development.

The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has completed research designed to learn how homeowners would react if equipped with the tools needed to actively participate in managing their home's energy use. We'll discuss the impact of providing homeowners with real-time information about their home’s energy consumption, the associated costs, and the technology that allows residents to adjust and control the use of energy down to the appliance level.

HUD's Office of University Partnerships (OUP) encourages its higher education grantees to use grant funds for initiatives that will not only strengthen their communities today, but will also build leaders and capacities for the future. Over a year ago, OUP set out to discover if efforts to instill leadership skills and build capacity in community-based organizations (CBOs) were paying off in particular local communities. ResearchWorks will report on OUP's findings after a year of research and interviews with grantees, community residents, and leaders of CBOs.