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Resources for Community and Supportive Services (CSS)

The Community and Supportive Services (CSS) division of the HUD HOPE VI program developed this page to provide CSS Staff with links to news, research and other resources on a variety of topics to which they can refer for supplementary guidance and information. The page is organized alphabetically into various categories, e.g. demographic information, grants, health, resident-specific topics, sustainability, etc.

Please check this site regularly for news and updated information and take a moment to review HUD’s Strategic Plan. We are proud to present the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2018-2022.

Community Building

Demographic Information

The following sites can help CSS staff collect economic and demographic information for their local areas:

Elderly Issues and Research

Reports

Senior Citizens

  • HUD webpage for Senior Citizens - This webpage includes a variety of links and helpful information related to housing (public housing and other housing), care-giving, health, protection against fraud and discrimination, and other federal, state and local resources.

Consumer Protection

Visit FTC.gov to learn more information on how to protect yourself or an older adult against frauds and scams. Read more...

Federal Interagency Collaborations

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Financial Literacy / Asset Building

Our partner, Treasury is focused on increasing the financial capacity of America’s youth.  By financial capability, we mean helping young people gain the knowledge, the information, the skills, and the opportunity to make good choices about financial matters in the near term, and throughout their lives. Many young people don’t get important lessons on how to manage their money and plan for their future at home or at school. Research from across disciplines has pointed out that connecting young people to the financial mainstream enables them to build and carry out “healthy financial behaviors” into adulthood.

Helpful Tips

A number of programs are underway to connect youth jobs programs with financial capability.  Here are some findings from these programs, and some links to places to learn more:

Encourage direct deposit of pay into a safe account:

Seek out high quality financial education partners:

  • Many communities have existing non-profit or other financial education organizations that can provide train-the-trainer, much like FDIC’s MoneySmart, or direct education to youth, like MyPath. The federal government offers free online resources, such as the Financial Literacy & Education Commission’s MyMoney and the FDIC’s Money Smart. Many non-profits provide free online resources as well. For example, US Conference of Mayors offers education resources and incentives as part of its  DollarWise Summer Youth Jobs Contest.   Mobile apps, online games, contests, and peer learning are all being used to get young people excited about learning financial concepts and effectively managing their money. For example, The MindBlown Labs’s game Thrive N Shine and the Doorways to Dream Fund, have seen positive results from gamification using mobile apps.

Financial Literacy Asset-Building HUD Webinar

In case you missed it, HUD collaborated with other Federal Agencies in November 2014 to introduce their Notice on Empowering Low-Income Families through Financial Literacy and Asset Building.  Those collaborating agencies are the U.S. Department of Treasury, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  This Notice introduces a variety of tools and resources to assist with financial empowerment. 

Topics covered include: 

Non-government resources identified in this Notice will be featured in a follow-up webinar.  To view the webinar, presenters’ slides and other materials, please see the links below. If you would like to hear future presentations on specific topics related to this presentation, please send an email to Sandy Norcom, Grant Manager, Sandra.Norcom@hud.gov.

FDIC’s Money Smart Program http://www.fdic.gov/ moneysmart/

Money Smart is a free financial education curriculum designed to help low- and moderate-income individuals outside the financial mainstream enhance their financial management skills and create positive banking relationships.  Money Smart has reached over 3 million consumers since 2001.  Research shows that the curriculum can positively influence how consumers manage their finances, and these changes are sustainable in the months after the training.  The curriculum is available in formats to teach to consumers or for consumers to learn online, for different age groups, and in nine languages.

FDIC’s Money Smart for Older Adults
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/olderadult.html

Money Smart for Older Adults is an instructor-led training program developed jointly by FDIC and CFPB.  The module provides awareness among older adults and their caregivers on how to prevent elder financial exploitation.  It is also intended to encourage advance planning and informed financial decision-making.

Help for parents and caregivers who want to grow children's money skills (CFPB and FDIC). The CFPB and FDIC have launched a joint education and awareness campaign to help parents and caregivers talk with their children about money and prepare them for a bright financial future. Your organization can help raise awareness among parents and give them tips for getting started. You can post updates and graphics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can pull from a series of articles and use them in your blog posts, newsletter articles, e-bulletins, web posts, and any other form of communication your organization uses. The social media posts and articles point parents to a compilation of online resources to help with money conversations, at consumerfinance.gov/parents. On an ongoing basis, messages will be tailored for parents to help them take advantage of key opportunities to talk with their children about money. To join the campaign and start sharing tips and resources, please e-mail financialeducation@cfpb.govor communityaffairs@fdic.gov. Please include “Parents and Caregivers” in your subject line.

Numerous studies have detailed the fact that many low-income individuals do not have banking accounts and have poor or non-existent credit. Many Housing Authorities have gotten their partners to begin Financial Literacy classes as a crucial part of a self-sufficiency curriculum.

Grants and Other Funding Opportunities

The following are links to sites that can help PHAs identify grants and other funding opportunities:

A. Federal Government

  • Grants.gov - This site allows you to register to receive federal funding announcements as well as apply for federal grant opportunities
  • HUD's Funds Available

B. Foundations and Nonprofits

Grant-making foundations and nonprofits can be found by going to the following sites:

Health and Wellness

Useful information for smoke-free public housing and multi-family communities:

Homelessness 

Housing Organizations

Consider signing up for their email updates.

Job Training/Job Readiness

  • Jobs Plus Pilot Program - The purpose of the Jobs Plus Pilot program is to develop locally-based, job-driven approaches to increase earnings and advance employment outcomes through work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, educational advancement technology skills, and financial literacy for residents of public housing. The place-based Jobs Plus Pilot program addresses poverty among public housing residents by incentivizing and enabling employment through income disregards for working families, and a set of services designed to support work including employer linkages, job placement and counseling, educational advancement, and financial counseling. Ideally, these incentives will saturate the target developments, building a culture of work and making working families the norm. Read more...
  • MDRC paper on helping residents find and keep jobs
  • Department of Labor - Education and Training Administration
  • Career One Stop - For assistance in career exploration, education and training, resumes and interviewing and salary and benefits
  • Joint HUD-DOL Letter
  • Mynextmove.org - resources for those entering the workforce
  • Myskillsmyfuture.org - resources for those returning to the workforce

Listserves

Neighborhood Networks

The Digital Literacy portal provides free training resources for practitioners working in the field of computer/digital literacy. It also provides resources for job-search and job training, as well as opportunities to provide content and rate existing content. Featured on the Web site is a "In the Community" section where several Neighborhood Networks centers are highlighted including the HA of the City of Pittsburgh's HOPE VI Bedford Dwellings Neighborhood Networks center. To post your own story, please go to :  https://digitalliteracy.gov/communities and click on "Suggest an Article."

Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative

Organizations that Publish Relevant Research

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Partnerships

Joint PIH/CPD Notice on Promoting Partners to Utilize Housing as a Platform for Improving Quality of LIfe

HUD’s Strategic Plan 2010-2015 envisions housing as a platform for improving residents’ quality of life. This notice strongly encourages Community Planning and Development (CPD) funding recipients and Public and Indian Housing (PIH) funding recipients, including Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), to forge partnerships with public and private agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure that HUD-assisted residents are connected to health care, education and social services, as needed.

Prisoner Re-entry and Public Housing

Professional Development/Information

Resident Councils/Resident Leadership

Resident Services/Service Coordination

  • Do you have residents enrolling in LIHEAP? Winter is the time of year when many residents apply for heating assistance - and they will often be asked for proof of income to complete their application.

    Did you know that they can now request this information online? The Social Security Administration site is the fastest and easiest way to verify Social Security benefit information (including Social Security, SSI, and Medicare).

    Request Proof of Income Letter Online
    If they do not have access to the Internet, residents can also prove their income with the cost-of-living letter they received in December.

Other useful resources from the National Resident Services Collaborative

Resources

  • Canivote.org - This is a cool and invaluable tool for voter empowerment! Canivote.org is a tool that allows anyone nationally to check their voting status and update on line if that your state has the ability.
  • State-by-State Listing of Online Access to Benefits - The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has updated its report "Online Services for Key Low-Income Benefit Programs: What States Provide Online" for several key low-income benefit programs including Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, child care assistance and CHIP. Virtually all states have made basic program information on the five main state-administered low-income benefits available to the public via the Internet.   

Sample Memoranda of Understanding

Section 3

Section 3 is a HUD regulation that states that when Housing Authorities use HUD funds they should, to the extent feasible, hire public housing residents, Youth Build graduates, and other members of the low income community to perform. In addition, when contracts are lost, Section 3 firms should be considered.

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Sustainability

This sustainability plan was generously provided to us by the Indianapolis Housing Agency. Since there is no HUD-prescribed format for sustainability plans, it is being provided as an example. The new HOPE VI development is built, the funds have been expended, all the units are occupied. Great! But how do you maintain services, how do you make sure that the new development doesn't become what it once was? A key step in this process is to develop a Sustainability Plan that details how you and your partners will sustain needed services over the upcoming years.

2008 CSS Sustainability Conferences

Here you will find archived information from the four regional CSS Sustainability conferences held in 2008.

A Toolkit for Federal Staff Who Work With Comprehensive Community Initiatives

Transportation

  • National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination (http://web1.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=23&z=2)

Volunteers

Volunteers can provide invaluable support, energy and creativity for your agency or organization. The following programs and resources will help you access dedicated volunteers with a strong desire to serve your community.

  • The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), is the government agency that oversees national service programs, including those described below.
    • AmeriCorps awards grants that partially fund the volunteer programs of organizations and local government agencies. The organizations receiving AmeriCorps grants are responsible for recruiting AmeriCorps members, who receive small stipends to serve for up to three years. A cash and in-kind match is required. Read brief for PHAs on AmeriCorps Programs and Public Housing Authorities, given by Kaitlin Nelson, Federal Career Intern, Office of Public Housing Investments.
    • SeniorCorps also provides grants that enable organizations and agencies to engage adults aged 55 and older as volunteers. SeniorCorps funds three different programs: the Foster Grandparent Program, Senior Companion Program, and RSVP.
    • A study currently is underway on the sponsoring of AmeriCorps members by PHAs. A report on the study, including information on PHA best practices and lessons learned, will be posted soon.
  • The Points of Light Institute is "a powerful, integrated national organization with a global focus to redefine volunteerism and civic engagement for the 21st century." The institute provides a number of different resources along with a list of programs on their site for organizations in search of volunteers.
  • Volunteer Solutions provides a volunteer matching application that helps connect individuals to volunteer opportunities in their community. For example, see United Way's use of the application on their website
  • The following two websites connect organizations with volunteers:

Youth/Education

Tobacco Free College Campuses: Resources, Tools and Support to Keep Students Healthy at School

The Department of Labor has launched its new on-line community- WorkforceGPS

This site houses several youth related Communities of Practice and Collections all opened to the public:

  • Career Pathways, https://careerpathways.workforcegps.org/, helps workforce development leaders, practitioners, and policymakers expand state and local career pathways efforts currently underway or being planned.
  • Reentry Employment Opportunities, https://reo.workforcegps.org/, offers practitioners new ideas and tools to do the invaluable work of changing lives and renewing futures of former offenders.
  • YouthBuild, https://youthbuild.workforcegps.org, is a shared electronic space where grantees can share and review documents, exchange ideas, read and comment on blogs, and much more!
  • YouthCareer Connect, https://youthcareerconnect.workforcegps.org/, is a place where YouthCareer Connect grantees can find valuable resources and share ideas and best practices
  • Youth Connections, https://youth.workforcegps.org/, is an on-line learning destination for public workforce system staff and partners who serve youth.

There are 3 simple steps:

  1. Register for your WorkforceGPS account
  2. Go to “Communities” from the menu and choose one or more of the communities listed
  3. Be sure to bookmark the Communities for future accessibility: https://youthbuild.workforcegps.org/.

If you find that an account has already been created for your email address, you can reset your password here.

Having books to read – at home and in the classroom – is the number one predictor of reading success.

Click here for more information.

The Affordable Care Act and Adolescents: New Issue Brief and Infographic

The Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March of 2010.  Millions of Americans have already benefited from many of the law’s provisions including coverage for preventive health services, a ban on lifetime limits, and insurance coverage for young adults.  The expansion of Medicaid coverage and launch of the Health Care Marketplace will help millions more obtain insurance coverage in 2014.  The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation created a series of research and issue briefs to analyze the impact of the Affordable Care Act. The most recent brief in this series, "The Affordable Care Act and Adolescents," and this accompanying infographic describe how the law addresses the unique health needs of adolescents. Both were developed in conjunction with the HHS Office of Adolescent Health.

 

Children of Incarcerated Parents Launches Website

There are 2.7 million children in the United States with an incarcerated parent.  On June 12, 2013, the Federal Interagency Working Group on Children of Incarcerated Parents (COIP), led by the Domestic Policy Council (DPC), officially launched its website.  Here service providers, families, and caregivers can access information and tools for better supporting the needs of COIP, and follow the federal government’s efforts regarding improving outcomes for this population.  Read more...

Various efforts are underway that specifically prepare youth for disasters and how to best protect themselves and others during emergencies, particularly when they become separated from their families.  These resources are helpful to youth living in any part of the US; however, it is particularly helpful to those youth living in areas frequently hit by hurricanes, tornados, severe flooding etc.  Please take some time to learn about the various resources available.

Implementing a Youth Preparedness Program as You Kick Off the New School Year Webinar

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP) works to identify and engage organizations that can a play a role in improving the coordination and effectiveness of programs serving youth. IWGYP promotes the achievement of positive results for all youth through collaboration, dissemination of information, and development of an overarching strategic plan for federal youth policy.

Adolescence

The Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), Department of Health and Human Services provides remarkable resources combining all health related information and services within HHS applicable to adolescents.  You can learn how to sign up for OAH’s E-Updates, and obtain a list of E-Updates at Adolescent Health Insider E-Updates; For information about teen dads, see the June 2011 E-Update on Father’s Day as a Teen Dad; The National Resource Center for HIV/AIDS focuses on prevention among adolescents; and for information on supporting adolescent mothers, see the Pregnancy Assistance Fund Initiative-- and much more!

Free on-line tools that can be helpful to low-income parents with school-aged children:

Coordinating Housing with Education

Early Learning

Education

Resources

Transitioning Youth

Youth service systems at all levels must work collaboratively in designing and coordinating programs focused on helping the nation's neediest youth to successfully transition to adulthood. To better understand this population, States must be aware of the most current information on the youth they serve. Click on the links below to find reports, statistics and other information on targeted youth.

Partnerships

  • HUD, GreatSchools team up to give public housing, voucher families tool to make informed school choices

    GreatSchools and HUD will team up to give parents living in public housing or who receive rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher Program the tools to make informed educational choices for their children and become even more involved in their children’s education. For example, GreatSchools will provide housing authorities informational materials, including a video tutorial, tailored to housing authorities and parents. GreatSchools has also developed a factsheet outlining the essential steps to choose the right school. HUD will encourage housing authorities’ executive directors to offer these resources to parents and include a portal to GreatSchools on their agency website.

    Based in San Francisco, GreatSchools is a national non-profit organization that supports parents through a wide variety of web-based resources available at www.greatschools.org. They provide a database of school performance information for more than 200,000 public, private and charter schools across the U.S. Their user-friendly website also has information about how parents can help their children achieve success in PreK-12, including subject-area worksheets, homework help and college preparation.

    The HUD-GreatSchools partnership is part of HUD’s greater commitment to using housing assistance to improve educational outcomes.

  • America's Promise - Brings together national and local organizations to deliver resources at the local level. The web site also provides research on children and youth.
  • Mentoring.org - Resources and research on mentoring youth.

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