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Housing Is Working Group 2023-2024 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 the mobility asthma project, trauma-informed approaches to housing, resident-focused racial equity work, out-of-school time, and how FCC grantees are supprting voucher holders.

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Elements of a Successful Partnership

With generous support from the MacArthur Foundation, CLPHA developed an in-depth report on regional housing-education collaborations taking place at housing authorities across the Pacific-Northwest.

Read the Multimedia Report
 
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Report
Community:
May 1, 2023
Federally funded Responsible Fatherhood programs work with fathers to promote healthy relationships and marriages, strengthen parenting practices, and help fathers attain economic stability. For programs to improve fathers’ outcomes, they need to be able to recruit fathers, engage them in services, and keep them actively participating in program activities. However, it is challenging for programs to achieve these participation goals. The Strengthening the Implementation of Responsible Fatherhood Programs (SIRF) study was designed to strengthen programs and build evidence on promising practices to improve the enrollment, engagement, and retention of fathers in program activities. Fatherhood programs participating in SIRF iteratively implemented and assessed promising approaches to addressing implementation challenges, with the support of and in partnership with the SIRF team.

Authored by: Charles Michalopoulos, Emily Marano, Becca Heilman, Michelle S. Manno, Patrizia Mancini, Scott Cody for MDRC
Topics: Family engagement, Healthy homes, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research, Stability
Shared by Sandra Ware on Jun 1, 2023
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Community:
Feb 7, 2023
In the 2020-21 school year, more than 25 million children and youth – roughly half of all elementary and secondary students in the United States – attended schools in school districts that lacked dedicated funding to identify and support students experiencing homelessness. This significant funding gap increases the likelihood that many children and youth experiencing homelessness will not be identified, and even in cases where they are identified, that they will not receive the educational protections and services that can stabilize their education and their lives. Ensuring access to these supports is an important part of creating a school system that meets the needs of all our nation’s children and youth. SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan analyzed publicly-available preK-12 federal education data for the 2020-2021 school year to examine patterns that are correlated with under-identifying and inadequately supporting children and youth experiencing homelessness.

Authored by: SchoolHouse Connection and University of Michigan
Topics: Early childhood, Education, Funding, Homelessness, Low-income, Research, School-readiness, Stability, Youth
Shared by Sandra Ware on Feb 21, 2023

Seen and Served: How Dedicated Federal Funding Supports the Identification of Students Experiencing Homelessness

Report
Feb 7, 2023
SchoolHouse Connection and University of Michigan
In the 2020-21 school year, more than 25 million children and youth – roughly half of all elementary and secondary students in the United States – attended schools in school districts that lacked dedicated funding to identify and support students experiencing homelessness.
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Community:
Sep 22, 2022
New research from Urban Institute housing experts explores the characteristics of youth and young adults living in federally assisted housing and the neighborhoods in which they live. Stable housing is essential for young people as they transition from adolescence to adulthood, and public housing agencies often play a critical role in providing them with affordable homes. In 2021 alone, 755,000 youth (people ages 14 to 18) and 513,000 young adults (people ages 19 to 25) received federal housing assistance. Youth and young adult heads of household in federally assisted housing tend to have extremely low incomes. They are less likely to live in metropolitan areas, and 11 percent were experiencing homelessness at the time of their admission into housing. Little information is available about these young people and their experiences accessing stable and affordable housing, and this brief demonstrates that more work must be done to guide service providers, advocates, and policymakers to strengthen supports and services. If you have questions or would like to speak with the research team, please email me at aelsbree@urban.org.

Authored by: Olivia Fiol, Matthew Gerken, Susan J. Popkin, and Abby Boshart for THE URBAN INSTITUTE
Topics: Child welfare, Housing, Stability, Youth
Shared by Sandra Ware on Oct 4, 2022
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Report
Community: Postsecondary
May 20, 2021
Higher education offers millions of people the opportunity to improve their financial well-being. However, higher education is prohibitively expensive and can saddle people with insurmountable debt. Costs beyond tuition—such as housing, food, child care, and transportation—are large, essential components of the cost of attending college for students. In order to better understand how these living costs add up and vary, this report offers estimates of costs beyond tuition for older students between the ages of 25 – 45, who make up roughly one-third of college students and face unique barriers to college access and completion. The report shows that the real cost of college for older students is higher than commonly understood, examines older students’ challenges with financial aid and public benefits programs, and offers policy recommendations to address costs beyond tuition and improve college access and success for older students.

Authored by: Vincent Palacios, Casey Goldvale, Chris Geary & Laura Tatum for GEORGETOWN LAW
Topics: Attendance, Community development, Education, Housing, Post-secondary, Stability, Workforce development
Shared by Housing Is on May 20, 2021

Obstacles to Opportunity: Increasing College Success by Understanding & Addressing Older Students’ Costs Beyond Tuition

Report
May 20, 2021
Vincent Palacios, Casey Goldvale, Chris Geary & Laura Tatum for GEORGETOWN LAW
Higher education offers millions of people the opportunity to improve their financial well-being. However, higher education is prohibitively expensive and can saddle people with insurmountable debt.
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Community: Youth
Dec 1, 2020
420,000. Based on the new report, "Lost in the Masked Shuffle & Virtual Void: Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Amidst the Pandemic" from SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, that’s how many fewer children and youth experiencing homelessness have been identified and enrolled by schools so far this school year. According to our data and insights - gathered from educators and homeless liaisons across 49 states - the number of children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness has likely increased due to the economic crisis. Yet, because of COVID-19 challenges in identifying children and youth experiencing homelessness, hundreds of thousands may not be getting the education and support they need - from internet access, to housing, to food, to child care. What’s more, only 18% of respondents indicated that federal coronavirus relief education funding provided by the CARES Act is being used to meet the needs of students experiencing homelessness. To break generational cycles of homelessness, we must take swift action to support the increasing number of children, youth, and families in need. Check out our report to learn more and take action. We have included recommendations for Congressional leaders, state and local educational agencies, homeless, housing, food, and other relief agencies, and philanthropic organizations.

Authored by: Poverty Solutions at THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN & SCHOOLHOUSE CONNECTION
Topics: Attendance, Child welfare, Early childhood, Education, Funding, Health, Homelessness, Low-income, Stability, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Dec 1, 2020
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Community:
Sep 27, 2017
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that from 2014-2024, employment in healthcare occupations is projected to grow by 19 percent and add about 2.3 million jobs. Yet, these workers often do not earn enough to live in communities they serve. The report, which focuses on the affordability challenges faced by healthcare workers, highlights five fast growing healthcare occupations: dental assistant, emergency medical technician, home health aide, licensed practical nurse and physical therapy aide.

Authored by: Kaitlyn Snyder for NATIONAL HOUSING CONFERENCE
Topics: Funding, Legislation & Policy, Stability, Workforce development
Shared by Housing Is on Oct 20, 2020
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Community:
Oct 14, 2020
This report examines trends among career-age families living in publicly supported rental homes and offers new insights into how COVID-19 threatens the economic stability of these families. Before the pandemic, most career-age families living in publicly supported homes that can work were working. However, many employed assisted renters that continue to work likely face a high risk of COVID-19 exposure. Forty-six percent of assisted renters employed last March worked in occupations that would become frontline occupations, one-fifth worked in occupations exposed to infectious diseases once a month or more, and nearly one-third worked in occupations that require working in moderate or close proximity to others. At the same time, one-third of assisted renters employed in 2018 reported having a risk factor that increases the likelihood of contracting a severe case of COVID-19.

Authored by: PUBLIC AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING RESEARCH CORPORATION
Topics: Healthy homes, Housing, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on Oct 20, 2020

2020 Housing Impact Report: Career-Age Families

Report
Oct 14, 2020
PUBLIC AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING RESEARCH CORPORATION
This report examines trends among career-age families living in publicly supported rental homes and offers new insights into how COVID-19 threatens the economic stability of these families. Before the pandemic, most career-age families living in publicly supported homes that can work were working
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Community: Postsecondary
May 2, 2019
Innovative public housing authorities (PHAs) are collaborating with college access partners and community colleges to increase postsecondary educational achievement for low-income residents and college students experiencing homelessness. This report elevates 11 shared learnings from a recent convening of these five pioneering PHAs and their postsecondary collaborators, and offers a series of recommendations to policy makers, PHAs, and philanthropic organizations seeking to develop emerging cross-sector collaborations between housing and education organizations. The report also includes an overview of the federal policies that support and limit postsecondary achievement for students served by PHAs, and profiles of the five partnerships: CHA and partners City Colleges of Chicago and One Million Degrees; CMHA and partner Columbus State Community College; HACLA and partner Southern California College Access Network (SoCal CAN); LMHA and partner Family Scholar House; and THA and partner Tacoma Community College.

Authored by: Abra Lyons-Warren for CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Education, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Partnerships, Post-secondary, Stability
Shared by Abra Lyons-Warren on Oct 6, 2020

Eliminating Barriers to Postsecondary Success: Cross-Sector Collaborations to Improve Postsecondary Achievement for Students Served by Public Housing Authorities

Report
May 2, 2019
Abra Lyons-Warren for CLPHA
Innovative public housing authorities (PHAs) are collaborating with college access partners and community colleges to increase postsecondary educational achievement for low-income residents and college students experiencing homelessness.
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News Article
Community:
May 21, 2019
Food is necessary to live, remain healthy, and work. The Improving Access to Nutrition Act, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) May 16, would keep food on the tables of people struggling to find quality employment—instead of leaving them to find a job on an empty stomach.

Authored by: Elizabeth Lower-Basch and Parker Gilkesson for The Hill
Topics: Asset building, Food insecurity, Nutrition, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on May 28, 2019
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Community:
Apr 17, 2019
A survey of LGBTQ Midwesterners and their families finds they are more likely to receive public assistance than non-LGBTQ people.

Authored by: Cincinnati Public Radio
Topics: Low-income, Midwest, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on Apr 22, 2019
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Community:
Mar 5, 2019
Disasters are becoming more common in America. In the early and mid-20th century, fewer than 20 percent of U.S. counties experienced a disaster each year. Today, it's about 50 percent. According to the 2018 National Climate Assessment, climate change is already driving more severe droughts, floods and wildfires in the U.S. And those disasters are expensive. The federal government spends billions of dollars annually helping communities rebuild and prevent future damage. But an NPR investigation has found that across the country, white Americans and those with more wealth often receive more federal dollars after a disaster than do minorities and those with less wealth. Federal aid isn't necessarily allocated to those who need it most; it's allocated according to cost-benefit calculations meant to minimize taxpayer risk.

Authored by: Rebecca Hersher and Robert Benincasa for NPR
Topics: Community development, Funding, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Racial inequalities, Research, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Mar 7, 2019
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Community:
Feb 12, 2019
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave the green light for San Diego County to apply for up to $125 million in state funding to help people get off the streets and receive mental health treatment.

Authored by: Alexander Nguyen for Times of San Diego
Topics: Funding, Homelessness, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Mental health, Stability, Substance abuse, West Coast
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 14, 2019
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Community:
Feb 4, 2019
The U.S. territory needs to urgently tackle issues such as "widespread informal housing" and "the exorbitant amount of abandoned spaces" as it rebuilds after Hurricane Maria.

Authored by: Nicole Acevedo for NBC News
Topics: Community development, Food insecurity, Funding, Homelessness, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Nutrition, Safety, Stability, U.S. Territories
Shared by Housing Is on Feb 4, 2019
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Community:
Jan 25, 2019
A long understudied facet of the American housing market, evictions have hit no area of the country harder than the South, a region home to most of the top-evicting large and mid-sized U.S. cities, according to a list released by Princeton’s Eviction Lab.

Authored by: Max Blau for The Telegraph
Topics: Homelessness, Housing, Research, South, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 31, 2019

Black southerners are bearing the brunt of America's eviction epidemic

News Article
Jan 25, 2019
Max Blau for The Telegraph
A long understudied facet of the American housing market, evictions have hit no area of the country harder than the South, a region home to most of the top-evicting large and mid-sized U.S. cities, according to a list released by Princeton’s Eviction Lab.
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Community:
Jan 30, 2019
More than 130,000 households in Los Angeles County receive some form of federal rental assistance and were at risk of not being able to pay their rent if the shutdown had lasted through the end of February. But the mere threat of thousands of poor people returning to homelessness in L.A. — and the possibility of that threat happening again — has rattled government officials and affordable housing advocates.

Authored by: Benjamin Oreskes and Doug Smith for The Los Angeles Times
Topics: CLPHA, Funding, Homelessness, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Stability, West Coast
Shared by Housing Is on Jan 30, 2019

The government shutdown is over, but uncertainty remains for tenants in public housing

News Article
Jan 30, 2019
Benjamin Oreskes and Doug Smith for The Los Angeles Times
More than 130,000 households in Los Angeles County receive some form of federal rental assistance and were at risk of not being able to pay their rent if the shutdown had lasted through the end of February. But the mere threat of thousands of poor people returning to homelessness in L.A.
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Community:
Jan 22, 2019
A D.C. housing development serves as a refuge for grandparents raising young children. Is it a model for the rest of the country?

Authored by: Andrew L. Yarrow for The Washington Post
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, East Coast, Family engagement, Low-income, Place-based, Seniors, Stability, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 22, 2019
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Community:
Jan 14, 2019
The San Jose Unified School District has its own plan: raze aging school buildings, send their students to new facilities, and turn that land into affordable rental housing for at least 300 teachers and school workers.

Authored by: Dana Goldstein for The New York Times
Topics: Education, Housing, Low-income, Partnerships, Stability, West Coast
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 17, 2019
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Community:
Jan 16, 2019
In 2018, over half a million people experienced homelessness on a given night in the US. Of those, roughly one in three experienced unsheltered homelessness in a car, outside, or in other places not meant for human habitation.

Authored by: Aaron Shroyer How Housing Matters
Topics: Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Stability, Supportive housing
Shared by Housing Is on Jan 17, 2019
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Community:
Jan 10, 2019
Island School is one of 247 “community schools” in New York. These are regular public schools, with a twist. They have longer days and longer school years: Island stays open 12 hours a day, six days a week, including spring and winter breaks as well as the summer. A psychologist makes weekly rounds. A dentist comes by regularly. So does an optometrist, and students who need glasses get them free.

Authored by: David L. Kirk for The New York Times
Topics: Community development, Dual-generation, East Coast, Education, Family engagement, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Mental health, Metrics, Partnerships, Stability, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 10, 2019
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Community:
Dec 24, 2018
When homeless people get released, their issues combined with living on the street will usually land them back in emergency rooms, costing hospitals like Harborview Medical Center — which operates on a thin margin — time and money. One solution is a type of respite program that provides short-term care to homeless patients who are too sick to be on the streets or in a shelter, but not sick enough to continue to take up a hospital bed.

Authored by: Scott Greenstone for The Seattle Times
Topics: Health, Homelessness, Housing, Pacific Northwest, Partnerships, Place-based, Preventative care, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 7, 2019
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Community:
Nov 1, 2018
The Colorado Division of Youth Services is working to transform the family experience by taking a two-generation (2Gen) approach to the services it provides.

Authored by: Tony Gheradini for Ascend: The Aspen Institute
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Family engagement, Low-income, Partnerships, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 13, 2018
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Community:
Dec 12, 2018
Lily, a character introduced seven years ago to address child hunger, returns. This time her family does not have a place to live.

Authored by: Nikita Stewart for The New York Times
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Stability, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018
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Community:
Nov 14, 2018
This report is intended as a practical tool for those seeking to understand how capital does and does not flow to communities, businesses, and households. This can inform efforts by community developers to identify projects in need of financing, raise capital, and design and market new financial products and services. We provide a concise how-to guide across five approaches to assessing community need, a four-step process to study capital flows, and eleven approaches to determining capital gaps. To help ground this, we provide examples drawing from original data about the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Authored by: Brett Theodos, Eric Hangen, Carl Hedman, and Brady Meixell for Urban Institute
Topics: Asset building, Community development, Midwest, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018
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Community:
Dec 10, 2018
As state and federal officials increasingly search for ways to curb rising health care costs, a decades-old idea is gaining traction: helping people with challenges that have nothing to do with medical care but everything to do with their health.

Authored by: Misty Williams for Roll Call
Topics: Cost effectiveness, Food insecurity, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Nutrition, Partnerships, Preventative care, Stability, Transportation
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 10, 2018
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Community:
Nov 30, 2018
The city and county of Durham, GoTriangle and the Durham Housing Authority are committed to enhancing opportunities for existing low-income families as well as to increasing the production of affordable housing. The light-rail project is critical to the success of these goals, and the success of these goals is critical to the light-rail project.

Authored by: Anthony Scott and John Tallmadge for The Herald Sun
Topics: Community development, Funding, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Partnerships, South, Stability, Transportation
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 3, 2018