What if government, the philanthropic sector, and community advocates could pull a policy lever and advance housing, climate, and racial justice all at once?

That could happen when the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) finalizes the long-awaited Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (AFFH), which was published in February in the Federal Register for a period of public comment—but only if we seize the moment.

More than a bureaucratic formality, AFFH has the potential to move housing justice—and by extension racial, climate, and economic justice—further than ever before by requiring local governments who seek federal housing dollars to take meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation and to foster inclusive communities. The rule would allow HUD, for the very first time, to enforce fair housing policies that have languished on the books of most county and local housing departments for decades.

Here’s how it will work: Every public agency that receives funding from HUD will soon have to gather extensive data on the housing disparities experienced by historically marginalized racial, ethnic, and social groups in their communities; meet with community members about what the data is and what it means; gather community feedback about ways to reduce the disparities; and develop a thoughtful plan of action. Each plan gets turned into HUD. Once its plan is reviewed and approved, each jurisdiction commits to doing the work outlined in its plan.

That’s the gist. Here’s why it matters.

Millions of Americans will participate in the AFFH effort—some as community leaders, others as ordinary citizens who want to know more about housing disparities right where they live and how those disparities came to be. Every jurisdiction across the country will have to comply with the requirements of AFFH to receive their share of federal housing dollars. That means that every housing department across the country will go through the process of collecting and publishing for public consumption the most extensive data on disparities in housing outcomes that we’ve ever had in this country and engage their community residents about it.

Read the full article about the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule by Tiffany Manuel and Dana Bourland at Standford Social Innovation Review.