FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the billions spent on affordable housing, and why so few get the help they need.

More working Americans are struggling to make rent than at any time since the Great Depression. FRONTLINE and NPR join forces to investigate the crisis in affordable housing and why so few are getting the help they need.

In a nine-month investigation that takes them from Dallas to Miami, to an upscale resort in Costa Rica, NPR’s Laura Sullivan and FRONTLINE’s Rick Young (who previously collaborated on an investigation of the Hurricane Sandy relief effort, "Business Of Disaster") find that just one in four households eligible for Section 8 assistance are getting it, and the nation’s signature low-income housing construction program is costing more and producing less.

The team follows a money trail that raises questions about the oversight of a program meant to house low-income people. "Poverty, Politics And Profit" also explores the inseparability of race and housing programs in America, tracing a legacy of segregation that began more than 80 years ago.

From exploring why even those who receive Section 8 vouchers often struggle to find housing, to examining charges that developers have stolen money meant to house low-income people, "Poverty, Politics And Profit" is a timely and probing exploration of a system in crisis — and who’s being left behind.

Published on Jul 28, 2017