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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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Case study
Community:
Aug 9, 2018
The Vita Health & Wellness District is a one-mile corridor in Stamford, Connecticut, that has positioned itself as a “health-themed neighborhood,” offering mixed-income housing, health care services, community farming, early childhood education programming, and supportive services to residents. Led by the city’s public housing authority Charter Oak Communities and Stamford Hospital, this collaboration of city agencies and community-based organizations has focused on building physical and social capacity in a distressed neighborhood, with an emphasis on leveraging collective investments to yield a positive impact on neighborhood health and well-being.

Authored by:
Topics: Community development, Education, Food insecurity, Funding, Health, Housing, Nutrition, Partnerships
Shared by Housing Is on Aug 9, 2018

Tapping into a Collective Vision: Emerging Strategies for Integrating Health and Housing

Case study
Aug 9, 2018
The Vita Health & Wellness District is a one-mile corridor in Stamford, Connecticut, that has positioned itself as a “health-themed neighborhood,” offering mixed-income housing, health care services, community farming, early childhood education programming, and supportive services to residents.
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Policy Brief
Community:
Aug 9, 2018
This brief outlines how state agencies can employ shared measurement and joint accountability across sectors as tools for improving population health outcomes. States can use these tools to drive coordination of preventive efforts and broaden the boundaries of population health achievements that no sector, or isolated incentive, can achieve alone.

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Data sharing, Education, Family engagement, Health, Housing, Low-income, Metrics
Shared by Housing Is on Aug 9, 2018
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Policy Brief
Community:
Aug 9, 2018
The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) amended the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, as well as Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The ESSA amendments include many provisions designed to improve training, identification, enrollment, stability, and success, from pre-school through high school, and the transition to post-secondary education. A brief summary is provided.

Authored by: SchoolHouse Connection
Topics: Early childhood, Education, Homelessness, Legislation & Policy
Shared by Housing Is on Aug 9, 2018
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Publication
Community:
Aug 9, 2018
This short document provides basic information to help housing and homeless assistance providers advocate with their families and youth for appropriate educational services, from birth through higher education. The rights and protections outlined here apply to all children and youth experiencing homelessness, as defined by the education subtitle of the McKinney-Vento Act.

Authored by: SchoolHouse Connection
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Education, Homelessness, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, School-readiness
Shared by Housing Is on Aug 9, 2018
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Research
Community:
Aug 1, 2018
Homelessness among children is correlated with developmental delays, fair or poor health, and high healthcare utilization. Associations of homelessness specifically among infants younger than 12 months, however, are unknown. This study evaluates homelessness during infancy as a risk for adverse infant and maternal health and hardship.

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Depression, Disabilities, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Education, Family engagement, Food insecurity, Grade-level proficiency, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Metrics, Partnerships, Pre-natal, Research, School-readiness, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Aug 1, 2018
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Publication
Community:
Jan 1, 2018
SAHF members believe that connecting residents of affordable housing with needed supports – such as educational resources or health services – can help vulnerable families and seniors achieve a better quality of life. SAHF began the Outcomes Initiative to create a common framework for its members to demonstrate with data the impact on residents of providing housing-based services and support in the five key areas listed below.

Authored by: Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF)
Topics: Asset building, Cost effectiveness, Dual-generation, Education, Exercise, Food insecurity, Health, Housing, Mental health, Metrics, Nutrition, Safety, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 26, 2018
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Research
Community:
Jul 23, 2018
The Moving to Opportunity (MTO) experiment offered randomly selected families living in highpoverty housing projects housing vouchers to move to lower-poverty neighborhoods. We present new evidence on the impacts of MTO on children’s long-term outcomes using administrative data from tax returns. We find that moving to a lower-poverty neighborhood significantly improves college attendance rates and earnings for children who were young (below age 13) when their families moved. These children also live in better neighborhoods themselves as adults and are less likely to become single parents. The treatment effects are substantial: children whose families take up an experimental voucher to move to a lower-poverty area when they are less than 13 years old have an annual income that is $3,477 (31%) higher on average relative to a mean of $11,270 in the control group in their mid-twenties

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Cost effectiveness, Dual-generation, Education, Housing, Low-income, Mobility, Research
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 23, 2018

The Effects of Exposure to Better Neighborhoods on Children: New Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment

Research
Jul 23, 2018
The Moving to Opportunity (MTO) experiment offered randomly selected families living in highpoverty housing projects housing vouchers to move to lower-poverty neighborhoods. We present new evidence on the impacts of MTO on children’s long-term outcomes using administrative data from tax returns.
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Infographics
Community:
Jul 19, 2018
School readiness, school attendance, and summer learning

Authored by:
Topics: Attendance, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Education, Family engagement, Grade-level proficiency, Literacy, Out-of-school time, School-readiness
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 19, 2018
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Publication
Community:
Jul 13, 2018
This guide is intended to provide information to public health department staff and advocates about the many public agencies that make policy decisions and implement projects  related to the physical environment.

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Community development, Education, Exercise, Green, Health, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Place-based, Safety, Smoke-free, Stability, Substance abuse, West Coast
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 13, 2018

Partners for Public Health: Working with Local, State, and Federal Agencies to Create Healthier Communities

Publication
Jul 13, 2018
This guide is intended to provide information to public health department staff and advocates about the many public agencies that make policy decisions and implement projects  related to the physical environment.
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Publication
Community:
Jul 12, 2018

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Dental, Early childhood, Education, Exercise, Family engagement, Health, Housing, Medicaid / Medicare, Mental health, Nutrition, Partnerships, Place-based, Preventative care, Seniors, Vision
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 12, 2018
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Report
Community:
Jul 12, 2018
We examined the influence of maternal health literacy on child participation in social welfare programs. In this cohort, 20% of the mothers had inadequate or marginal health literacy. Initially, more than 50% of the families participated in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Food Stamp Program, and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, whereas fewer than 15% received child care subsidies or public housing. In multivariate regression, TANF participation was more than twice as common among children whose mothers had adequate health literacy compared with children whose mothers had inadequate health literacy

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Education, Family engagement, Food insecurity, Health, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Nutrition, Pre-natal, Preventative care, Research, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 12, 2018
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Interactive
Community:
Jul 12, 2018
How does housing affect your family's well-being?

Authored by: How Housing Matters
Topics: Asset building, Asthma, Child welfare, Early childhood, Education, Health, Housing, Stability
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 12, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Jul 5, 2018

Authored by: Brittany Collins for Purpose Built Communities
Topics: Dual-generation, Education, Family engagement, Low-income, Mobility, Post-secondary, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 11, 2018
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Podcast
Community:
Apr 26, 2018
The Opportunity Starts at Home podcast takes a deep look at opportunity in America, especially how housing shapes that opportunity. Of all the factors that affect our ability to thrive, both economically and socially, few are more important than the homes in which we are raised. Housing predicts the kind of neighborhood you’ll grow up in; the quality of school you’ll attend; and your access to transportation, amenities, resources, job opportunities, and social networks. Housing is simply fundamental to achieving the American Dream. Episode 1 - "Good Housing is Good Health" with Dr. Megan Sandel Episode 2 - "Broadening the Housing Movement," A Panel Discussion Episode 3 - "Housing Policy is School Policy" with Heather Schwartz

Authored by: Opportunity Starts at Home
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Health, Housing, Partnerships
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 10, 2018
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Case study
Community:
Jul 10, 2018
Reducing Pediatric Asthma through Home Improvements and Education

Authored by:
Topics: Asthma, Child welfare, Community development, Cost effectiveness, Data sharing, Early childhood, Education, Family engagement, Health, Healthy homes, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Metrics, Partnerships, Place-based, Preventative care, Research, Safety
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 10, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Jul 5, 2018
"There's no silver bullet" to end chronic absenteeism, but a simple "nudge" letter has shown real success in reducing truancy. It's working in Tacoma, and it's caught the interest of the Seattle Housing Authority, which houses 10 percent of Seattle's public-school students.

Authored by: Neal Morton for The Seattle Times
Topics: Attendance, Dual-generation, East Coast, Education, Family engagement, Low-income, Research, West Coast, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 9, 2018
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Research
Community:
Jan 1, 2018
A Promising Approach to Improving Student Outcomes

Authored by: Janet Quint and Barbara Condliffe for MDRC
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Funding, Mental health, Metrics, Place-based, Research, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 5, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Jan 24, 2018

Authored by: Lee Romney for EdSource
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Education, Mental health, Post-secondary, Research, Safety, South, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 5, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Jan 29, 2018
Chicago’s troubling homicide rate could be significantly reduced through a massive increase in state spending for Chicago schools.

Authored by: Larry Yellen for Fox 32
Topics: Child welfare, Community development, Cost effectiveness, Education, Funding, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Midwest, Research, Safety, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 5, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Feb 5, 2018
A Nashville elementary school takes a comprehensive approach to trauma-informed practices, creating a space where students feel known and supported.

Authored by: Tom Berger for Edutopia
Topics: Child welfare, Depression, Domestic violence, Education, Low-income, Mental health, Safety, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 5, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Feb 15, 2018

Authored by: Jon Marcus and Matt Krupnick for The Hechinger Report (originally featured in The Atlantic)
Topics: Community development, Education, Family engagement, Low-income, Midwest, Post-secondary, Research, Workforce development, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 5, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Mar 14, 2018
Education leaders reconvened on Tuesday to continue discussing how to help kids by helping their parents. The approach, known as the “Two-Gen” method is based on data showing a child’s trajectory is largely determined by their parents’ stability.

Authored by: Ryan McKinnon for the Herald-Tribune
Topics: Child welfare, Dual-generation, Education, Family engagement, Literacy, Low-income, School-readiness, Workforce development, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jul 5, 2018
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Report
Community:
Nov 1, 2017
Why do some neighborhoods appear able to launch effective local improvement initiatives, while others are more hampered by fragmentation and mistrust? Why can some communities mobilize diverse constituencies to influence public policy, while others cannot? Answers to these questions may be found in the specific patterns of collaboration that form among community organizations, and between these groups, schools, public agencies, and elected officials, according to MDRC, a preeminent social-policy research organization.

Authored by: MDRC
Topics: Asset building, Child welfare, Community development, Data sharing, Dual-generation, Education, Family engagement, Funding, Health, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Metrics, Midwest, Mobility, Out-of-school time, Partnerships, Place-based, Preventative care, Research, Safety, Stability, Workforce development, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jun 29, 2018

Network Effectiveness in Community Collaborations: Learning from the Chicago Community Networks Study

Report
Nov 1, 2017
MDRC
Why do some neighborhoods appear able to launch effective local improvement initiatives, while others are more hampered by fragmentation and mistrust? Why can some communities mobilize diverse constituencies to influence public policy, while others cannot?
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Video
Community:
Jan 8, 2018
Increasingly, a wide range of entities—housers, educators, cities—are using data sharing as a way to increase effectiveness across systems. Data sharing exemplifies this community of practice’s intent to align systems to improve life outcomes for low-income children. We have many robust examples on the local level and this panel will discuss what data systems beyond local partners can look like and accomplish. Dennis Culhane, Co-Principal Investigator, Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: Asset building, CLPHA, Data sharing, Education, Housing, Low-income, Metrics, Partnerships, Research
Shared by CLPHA Admin on Jan 8, 2018
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Video
Community:
Jan 8, 2018
This panel provides updates on the future of ConnectHome, the program’s partnership with Google Fiber, and what’s next for using data to assess the program, as well as lessons learned from Google Fiber’s ambitious initiative to provide free high-speed internet to housing authority residents. Calvin Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Erica Swanson, Head of Community Impact Programs, Google Fiber

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: Broadband, CLPHA, Education, Low-income
Shared by CLPHA Admin on Jan 8, 2018

Innovation Spotlight: Building Digital Connections - Affordable Housing & Education Summit 2016

Video
Jan 8, 2018
CLPHA
This panel provides updates on the future of ConnectHome, the program’s partnership with Google Fiber, and what’s next for using data to assess the program, as well as lessons learned from Google Fiber’s ambitious initiative to provide free high-speed internet to housing authority residents. Calvin