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THRIVE FROM THE START

Every infant and toddler deserves a safe, stable, and nurturing start in life. That’s why Housing Is has joined forces with  Prevent Child Abuse America, SchoolHouse Connection, and ZERO TO THREE to launch Thrive From The Start—a cross-sector effort dedicated to addressing homelessness among infants, toddlers, and expectant parents. Visit thrivefromthestart.org to learn more and explore how you can be a part of the solution. 

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Housing Is Working Group 2024-2025 Calendar

Join the Housing Is Working Group to discuss special topics related to cross-sector initiatives and programmatic considerations particularly focused on the intersections of housing, health, and education.

This year’s public webinars cover topics such as child welfare and housing, leveraging Medicaid resources for housing services, out-of-school time, and digital connectivity in a post-ACP world. 

View Calendar
 
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Publication
Community:
Mar 1, 2019
Released bi-monthly, each issue of the ZERO TO THREE Journal focuses on a critical topic within the early childhood development field. Journal articles are carefully composed to present current knowledge, latest research, and practical advice to help early childhood professionals do their best work in support of infants and toddlers.

Authored by: Zero To Three
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Research, Safety
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Mar 26, 2019
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Report
Community:
Mar 1, 2019
The #RealCollege survey is the nation’s largest annual assessment of basic needs security among college students. The survey, which specifically evaluates access to affordable food and housing, began in 2015 under the Wisconsin HOPE Lab. This report describes the results of the #RealCollege survey administered at nearly half of the schools in the California Community College system in the fall of 2016 and 2018.

Authored by: The Hope Center, California Community Colleges, and #RealCollege
Topics: Homelessness, Low-income, Post-secondary, Research, West Coast, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Mar 13, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Education Leads Home’s State Partnerships on Student Homelessness Project brings together policymakers and practitioners from with the goal of overcoming child and youth homelessness through education. Through the partnership, each state is committed to researching and implementing replicable best practices that address the most urgent needs of their unique homeless student populations. The State Partnerships on Student Homelessness Project is a nonpartisan effort to develop best practices that can be replicated by communities and states nationwide. In its inaugural year of the project, Education Leads Home (ELH) awarded six states – California, Kentucky, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington – small grants through a competitive process. ELH will provide ongoing technical assistance.

Authored by: Education Leads Home
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Funding, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Partnerships, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Mar 5, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Feb 28, 2019
In light of the many costs generated by child poverty for the United States, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides evidence-based policy and program packages that could cut the child poverty rate by as much as 50 percent while at the same time increasing employment and earnings among adults living in low-income families.

Authored by: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Topics: Child welfare, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Mar 1, 2019

Child Poverty Rate Could Be Cut in Half in Next Decade Following Proposals in New Expert Report

Publication
Feb 28, 2019
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
In light of the many costs generated by child poverty for the United States, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides evidence-based policy and program packages that could cut the child poverty rate by as much as 50 percent while at the same time incre
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Report
Community:
The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America’s future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children’s ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society.

Authored by: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research
Shared by Housing Is on Mar 1, 2019
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Report
Community:
The monthly benefits provided by SNAP enhance the food purchasing power of eligible low-income individuals and families. However, as described by many studies, including one by the Institute of Medicine, the greatest shortcoming of SNAP is that benefits for most households are not enough to get through the entire month without hunger or being forced to sacrifice nutrition quality. This limitation persists even in the face of overwhelming evidence on the gains from more adequate monthly SNAP benefits.This paper analyzes why SNAP benefits are inadequate, reviews the body of research showing positive effects from more adequate SNAP benefits, and concludes with some of the key policy solutions that can improve benefit adequacy.

Authored by: Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Topics: Food insecurity, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Nutrition, Research
Shared by Housing Is on Mar 1, 2019
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Community:
Feb 1, 2019
This report looks at school breakfast participation and policies in 76 large school districts across the country to evaluate successful practices in reaching more low-income children with school breakfast. This is a companion report to the School Breakfast Scorecard. Also check out our interactive school breakfast participation map.

Authored by: Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Education, Food insecurity, Low-income, Nutrition
Shared by Housing Is on Mar 1, 2019

School Breakfast: Making it Work in Large School Districts, 2017-2018 School Year

Report
Feb 1, 2019
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
This report looks at school breakfast participation and policies in 76 large school districts across the country to evaluate successful practices in reaching more low-income children with school breakfast. This is a companion report to the School Breakfast Scorecard.
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Publication
Community:
Feb 25, 2019
The 2019 state legislative season is in full swing, and SchoolHouse Connection is hard at work on 12 bills in 7 states (IN, KY, ME, NV, TN, TX, UT). We’re also supporting legislative advocates in 4 additional states (AZ, CA, MD, WA), and anticipate additional bills to be filed in LA, MO, NJ, and NC.

Authored by: SchoolHouse Connection
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Funding, Homelessness, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Feb 28, 2019

A Dozen Bills and Counting to Help Youth Experiencing Homelessness

Publication
Feb 25, 2019
SchoolHouse Connection
The 2019 state legislative season is in full swing, and SchoolHouse Connection is hard at work on 12 bills in 7 states (IN, KY, ME, NV, TN, TX, UT). We’re also supporting legislative advocates in 4 additional states (AZ, CA, MD, WA), and anticipate additional bills to be filed in LA, MO, NJ, and NC.
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Community:
Feb 27, 2019
Over the past two decades, criminal justice reform has focused on evidence-based interventions to prevent arrests and incarceration and to facilitate community reintegration. These initiatives represent a movement toward a less punitive, more holistic approach to public safety, targeting critical social factors that lead to and perpetuate criminal justice involvement. Because housing problems are often a key underlying factor for people’s involvement with the criminal justice system, there are ways housing interventions can help lessen criminal justice involvement. Decriminalizing homelessness, for example, can reduce rates of initial arrest and incarceration, especially for people with low-level, nonviolent offenses. A sufficient supply of affordable housing and supportive services could help people stabilize after their release from jail and reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Policymakers, advocates, and practitioners in housing and criminal justice systems can partner to promote and evaluate housing strategies that divert people from the criminal justice system.

Authored by: Kimberly Burrowes for How Housing Matters (Urban Institute)
Topics: Criminal justice, Homelessness, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 28, 2019
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Community:
Welcome to the Food Research & Action Center’s winter issue of ResearchWire. This quarterly newsletter focuses on the latest research, reports, and resources from government agencies, academic researchers, think tanks, and elsewhere at the intersection of food insecurity, poverty, the federal nutrition programs, and health.

Authored by: Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Topics: Child welfare, Food insecurity, Funding, Health, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Nutrition, Research, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 28, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Feb 22, 2019
The development of new digital telecommunications capabilities combined with a persistent digital divide leaves the public sector with enormous responsibilities to promote network quality and deliver equitable access—but it can only do so by sensibly splitting regulatory responsibilities between the national and local levels. Unfortunately, news out of Washington, D.C. reveals the federal government has overstepped its appropriate role, constricting local governments’ abilities to craft locally tailored solutions.

Authored by: Blair Levin for The Brookings Institution
Topics: Broadband, Community development, Legislation & Policy, Low-income
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 28, 2019

Mayors or the FCC: Who understand the broadband needs of metropolitan residents?

Publication
Feb 22, 2019
Blair Levin for The Brookings Institution
The development of new digital telecommunications capabilities combined with a persistent digital divide leaves the public sector with enormous responsibilities to promote network quality and deliver equitable access—but it can only do so by sensibly splitting regulatory responsibilities between the
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Publication
Community:
Jan 31, 2019
For many years, the vulnerabilities of children experiencing homelessness have been glossed over on the assumption that their innate resilience would overcome the impact of homelessness. As someone who worked in the field, I would often hear, “Oh, they’ll never remember.” Today we know better. We know more about how the brain develops and about how trauma impacts brain development. There is a growing recognition among providers that these early years are critical for establishing a foundation for emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing, and that we don’t get a second chance at early childhood.

Authored by: Carol Klocek for SchoolHouse Connection
Topics: Early childhood, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Research, Safety, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on Feb 21, 2019

Real Families, Real Solutions: How Homeless Service Providers Can Meet the Needs of Young Children and Their Families

Publication
Jan 31, 2019
Carol Klocek for SchoolHouse Connection
For many years, the vulnerabilities of children experiencing homelessness have been glossed over on the assumption that their innate resilience would overcome the impact of homelessness. As someone who worked in the field, I would often hear, “Oh, they’ll never remember.” Today we know better.
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Report
Community:
Feb 19, 2019
Integrating health care data with data from other sectors helps address the holistic needs of individual patients while informing the development of population-level programs and policies that can improve outcomes, both in health care and other sectors. This paper provides guidance for those in non-health care sectors (e.g. housing, social services, community-based organizations) on effectively engaging and advancing conversations with health care stakeholders about collaborating to share data, focusing on the specific stakeholder of hospitals/health systems.

Authored by: Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH)
Topics: Health, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Partnerships
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 20, 2019
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Report
Community:
Jan 16, 2019
This report identifies services that help low-income individuals and households achieve upward economic mobility and explores how affordable housing providers offer them. We begin by presenting key economic mobility concepts and definitions. We then discuss the research evidence on interventions across sectors and disciplines that help individuals and households to achieve upward economic mobility. In the third section of this report, we present our findings from interviews with leading organizations and initiatives in the field. Finally, we discuss challenges for affordable housing providers seeking to help their residents achieve economic mobility and opportunities for future research.

Authored by: Eric Burnstein, Megan Gallagher, and Wilton Oliver for the Urban Institute
Topics: Asset building, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research, Workforce development
Shared by Housing Is on Feb 14, 2019

Economic Mobility Services for Affordable Housing Residents: Exploring Resident Services as a Vehicle for Economic Success

Report
Jan 16, 2019
Eric Burnstein, Megan Gallagher, and Wilton Oliver for the Urban Institute
This report identifies services that help low-income individuals and households achieve upward economic mobility and explores how affordable housing providers offer them. We begin by presenting key economic mobility concepts and definitions.
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Community:
Feb 13, 2019
More low-income children across the country are getting the nutrition they need to learn and thrive through the School Breakfast Program, according to the annual School Breakfast Scorecard, released by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC).

Authored by: Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Topics: Child welfare, Food insecurity, Health, Low-income, Nutrition
Shared by Housing Is on Feb 14, 2019

Report Finds More Low-Income Children Start Their Day With a Healthy School Breakfast; Too Many Still Missing Out

Report
Feb 13, 2019
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
More low-income children across the country are getting the nutrition they need to learn and thrive through the School Breakfast Program, according to the annual School Breakfast Scorecard, released by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC).
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Publication
Community:
Feb 1, 2019
While there are many examples of small-scale programs that have integrated care and financing for Medicare-Medicaid eligible individuals, implementation at large scale has been elusive, often limited by concerns that savings will not materialize. The Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office with its Financial Alignment Demonstration was specifically created to allow states to step forward and develop models that could substantially improve care for beneficiaries while delivering savings to states and the federal programs.We are now six years into this audacious set of pilots, which involve 12 states and nearly 440,000 people.

Authored by: Bruce A. Chernof for Milbank Memorial Fund
Topics: Health, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 7, 2019

Integrating Medicare and Medicaid: Success to Date, Lessons Learned, and the Road Ahead

Publication
Feb 1, 2019
Bruce A. Chernof for Milbank Memorial Fund
While there are many examples of small-scale programs that have integrated care and financing for Medicare-Medicaid eligible individuals, implementation at large scale has been elusive, often limited by concerns that savings will not materialize.
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Publication
Community:
Jan 18, 2019
The State of Arizona’s Medicaid agency (AHCCCS) recognizes the vital importance of safe, decent and affordable housing to health. With a portfolio of over 3,000 units of affordable housing for Medicaid members with a determination of serious mental illness (SMI) and/or substance use disorder, housing is a major component of how the State of Arizona assists those trying to recover and stabilize.

Authored by: Josh Crites for The Journal of Housing & Community Development
Topics: Health, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Partnerships, Place-based
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 7, 2019
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Community:
Jan 31, 2019
For a very young child, the relationship with a primary caregiver, most often though not exclusively a mother, lays an important psychological foundation for later flourishing. Successful attachment and bonding in the first two years of life predicts healthy later development on a range of fronts, from mental health to educational skills. When bonding and attachment prove difficult, child development is affected. Recent advances in brain science allow this impact to be shown more clearly and more definitively.

Authored by: Richard V. Reeves for Brookings Institution
Topics: Child welfare, Depression, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Health, Low-income, Mental health, Mobility
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 5, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Jan 7, 2019
Times are changing rapidly for families—our households, work and the workforce do not look like they did just a decade ago. Challenges and barriers for parents continue to grow – skyrocketing costs of health care and child care, lack of flexibility at the workplace, and less time at home. Working parents have to balance their budget and time across an ever-changing landscape of needs: from caring for themselves, their children, and older family members, to affording quality child care and paying household bills. Removing barriers so families can care for their loved ones requires us to rethink and update the supports in place for working parents to keep up with the realities of a changing workforce.

Authored by: Lindsay Broyhill for Ascend: The Aspen Institute
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Family engagement, Health, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Preventative care
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 31, 2019

Family Prosperity: Value All Care, Value Every Family

Publication
Jan 7, 2019
Lindsay Broyhill for Ascend: The Aspen Institute
Times are changing rapidly for families—our households, work and the workforce do not look like they did just a decade ago. Challenges and barriers for parents continue to grow – skyrocketing costs of health care and child care, lack of flexibility at the workplace, and less time at home.
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Publication
Community:
Evidence shows that retrofitting the entire stock of multifamily apartment buildings in the United States could save tenants and property owners $8 billion a year in energy costs and reduce electricity consumption by almost 15 percent. Amid the rising cost of housing, energy efficiency upgrades can provide much-needed relief to low-income families and help keep rental stock affordable, but few documented examples showcase the benefits of energy retrofits in multifamily housing. Addressing this gap, this study measures the impact of a collaborative energy efficiency program in Orlando, Florida, analyzing energy costs before and after retrofits in four multifamily apartment complexes.

Authored by: Nicholas Taylor, Jennison Searcy, and Pierce Jones for Energy Efficiency
Topics: Energy, Housing, Low-income, Research, Sustainability
Shared by Housing Is on Jan 31, 2019

Energy Efficiency Upgrades Can Help Multifamily Housing Remain Affordable

Publication
Nicholas Taylor, Jennison Searcy, and Pierce Jones for Energy Efficiency
Evidence shows that retrofitting the entire stock of multifamily apartment buildings in the United States could save tenants and property owners $8 billion a year in energy costs and reduce electricity consumption by almost 15 percent.
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Publication
Community:
Sep 1, 2018
The firearm, obesity, and opioid epidemics are among the most important public health crises of our time. Each epidemic has a complex etiology that challenges efforts at mitigation. From this, a central question arises for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers: How can we identify what matters most within a broad range of causal factors in these epidemics, and can we draw cross-epidemic inferences that will help inform our thinking?

Authored by: Sandro Galea for Milbank Memorial Fund
Topics: Food insecurity, Health, Low-income, Nutrition, Obesity, Partnerships, Safety, Substance abuse
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 24, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Jan 23, 2019
To explore the benefits and challenges of rapid re-housing support services, How Housing Matters asked a group of experts to weigh in. Contributing to the discussion are Kathryn Monet, chief executive officer at the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Jacob Donnelly, director of supportive services at Swords to Plowshares, and Samantha Batko, research associate at the Urban Institute.

Authored by: How Housing Matters for The Urban Institute
Topics: Asset building, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Supportive housing, Workforce development
Shared by Housing Is on Jan 24, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Jun 15, 2018
Delegates at the 2018 American Medical Association Annual Meeting in Chicago adopted several policies intended to alleviate chronic homelessness and racial housing segregation

Authored by: Sara Berg for the American Medical Association
Topics: Health, Homelessness, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Partnerships
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 22, 2019
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Community:
Quality affordable housing can be a “vaccine” which prevents long-term health problems and promotes healthy, productive lives. When a family’s housing situation is unaffordable and unstable, chances to lead a healthy life dwindle rapidly.

Authored by: Opportunity Starts at Home
Topics: Child welfare, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Partnerships, Seniors, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 18, 2019
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Community:
Jan 15, 2019
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) together boosted the incomes of 29.1 million Americans in 2017, lifting 8.9 million above the poverty line and making 20.2 million others less poor, our analysis of new Census data shows.

Authored by: Jennifer Beltran for Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Topics: Asset building, Dual-generation, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 16, 2019

Working-Family Tax Credits Lifted 8.9 Million People out of Poverty in 2017

Report
Jan 15, 2019
Jennifer Beltran for Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) together boosted the incomes of 29.1 million Americans in 2017, lifting 8.9 million above the poverty line and making 20.2 million others less poor, our analysis of new Census data shows.