Who needs tenement slums when we’ve got public housing projects? The supposed “market failure” of the private sector to provide the poor and working class with decent shelter provided the justification for the federal government to get into housing business in the 1930s. We all know the result. Uncle Sam turned out to be the worst slumlord of all. In desperation, the government tried outsourcing to the private sector. How’s that working out?

I’ve highlighted the disastrous Kippax Place in Hopewell in previous posts. Now, courtesy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, we learn that Essex Village in Henrico County has similar problems. Here’s how Debbie Truong leads off the story:

Inside one apartment building in Henrico County’s largest federally subsidized housing complex, the bathroom ceiling leaked, the stove thermostat was faulty and the windows wouldn’t stay open.

Across Essex Village, stairs were in disrepair, and there were mice and leaking water heaters. In November, raw sewage bubbled to the surface of manhole covers and, in December, drains backed up in four ground-level apartments.

Since April 14, 140 cases of building code violations were either reported or discovered by the county as part of an enhanced effort to turn around what officials say has languished into the county’s most poorly maintained housing complex.

Henrico County officials have vowed to get the housing complex back up to an acceptable standard. It will continue to pursue inspections aggressively and it will pilot a “family stabilization” project that will bring health, financial literacy, social services and other resources to the 1,600-resident complex, reports Truong.

GHC Housing Partners, which owns the 496-unit complex, said it has addressed the building code violations, which were “fairly minor” in any case. Also, CEO Gregory Perlman noted that Henrico had failed to support a proposal last year seeking federal tax credits that would have helped pay for renovations.

Who is this Perlman person? In 2012 he claimed to have invented a “new approach to affordable housing.” This comes from a GHC press release:

“We focus on our residents and provide them with the opportunity to better their lives through self-improvement programs as well as support from the non-profit Perlman Foundation.”

… GHC Housing Partners specializes in acquiring and managing primarily Section 8 housing and providing social services and amenities that go far beyond HUD requirements. Vegetable gardens, dog parks, job counseling, college scholarships and summer camps are only part of this transformation of affordable housing. GHC Housing Partners is focused on initiatives and programs that improve lives and provide bootstrap opportunities for residents to achieve a higher standard of living.

Wrapping public services around public housing is the hot concept in the non-profit world. But how has the idea fared in the real world? The building code violations speak for themselves. The T-D also quotes a Rev. Joe Ellison who previously ran a day care at Essex and served as a pastor in the community. He left in 2005 “crestfallen over the living conditions.”

He said he approached management at Essex two  years ago, hoping to establish a program that involved mentoring and job creation. After a lukewarm response, he instead turned his sights to Fairfield Court in Richmond.

GHC warrants a closer look, far closer than I can provide in this quick blog post. The company is part of a housing-industrial complex that has grown up around public housing and, some have told me, exists as much to provide a comfortable living for a vast ecosystem of for-profits, non-profits, consultants and government administrators as for the poor themselves.

On its website, the Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based GHV claims to be the ” industry’s leading affordable housing owner and developer.” Since 1993, the company has acquired 20,000 housing units across 24 states in $1.25 billion worth of projects.

I infer that the company is for-profit, as the website makes no mention of a non-profit status. The parent company, GHC Housing Partners, is affiliated with GHC Investment Holdings, which acquires, owns and manages affordable housing; GHC Development, which develops properties using tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits; PK Management, a property management arm whose mission includes providing “quality service to its residents;” and a charitable arm, the All Ways Up Foundation.

In 2014, according to its IRS 990 form, the All Ways Up Foundation provided $128,777 in grants to organizations and $123,935 to individuals — sums that work out to an average of $12 per housing unit across the GHC system — and hosted an educational summit.

PK Management, which manages 18,000 units, purports to employ 41 social service coordinators to oversee resident welfare, focusing on delivering expanded services to its residents. It also offers “educational and professional opportunities designed to break the cycle of generational poverty.” (It’s not clear from the website if PK Management serves Essex Village, nor who pays for these services.)

The federal government turned to outsourcing after it became clear that it was doing a terrible job of running public housing projects itself. Perhaps it is time to ask if the non-profits and for-profits are doing any better. Anecdotal evidence is piling up that they are not, although Essex and Kippax may not be representative of performance at other housing projects. My suspicion is that private players master the latest buzz words and throw out a lot of flash-and-dazzle to impress the bureaucrats and win big contracts but that there’s not much follow through.

Perhaps the Times-Dispatch could do a little digging. What is the precise nature of GHC’s relationship with Essex Village? Does it own the property outright? Does it have a contract with the federal government? Does it provide wrap-around social services? Does the All Ways Up Foundation provide any grants? How much revenue does the project generate, and what is the cost structure? Most pertinently, how much money does GHC devote to maintenance and upkeep? Surely, this information would be available through the Freedom of Information Act.

Related questions: Who in the federal government, if anyone, is responsible for looking over GHC’s shoulder to make sure it is maintaining basic standards — and why has Henrico been forced to step in?