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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:
Apr 10, 2018
State and local governments are debating and adopting new landlord-tenant laws and pilot programs, such as expanded legal representation and just-cause eviction requirements. Yet, few housing experts understand evictions well enough to channel the demand for change into clarity about specific eviction problems and potential solutions. Now is the time for policymakers and advocates to get smart. Here are five strategies for policymakers to consider as they address America’s eviction crisis.

Authored by: Maya Brennan for Urban Institute
Topics: Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 21, 2018
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Publication
Community:
Dec 1, 2018
New York City’s UAC has generated substantial interest as other jurisdictions across the U.S. consider or implement similar programs. In June 2018, San Francisco voters approved a ballot initiative requiring the city to establish, fund, and run a program to provide legal representation to all tenants facing eviction regardless of income. The Los Angeles City Council approved a motion in August 2018 instructing the housing department to develop recommendations for a new eviction defense bill or program.

Authored by: Vicki Been, Deborah Rand, Nicole Summers, and Jessica Yager for NYU Furman Center
Topics: Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 21, 2018
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Case study
Community:
Dec 6, 2018
The Denver Housing Authority (DHA) wins a 2017 Award of Excellence in Client and Resident Services for creating the Health Navigators (HN) program, which provides mental health education, resources, and doctor referrals.

Authored by: Ashanti Wright for Journal of Housing & Community Development
Topics: Disabilities, Health, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Mental health, Partnerships, Place-based, Seniors
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 21, 2018

Tackling Mental Health

Case study
Dec 6, 2018
Ashanti Wright for Journal of Housing & Community Development
The Denver Housing Authority (DHA) wins a 2017 Award of Excellence in Client and Resident Services for creating the Health Navigators (HN) program, which provides mental health education, resources, and doctor referrals.
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Interactive
Community:
Through our conversations with King County, Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver Housing Authorities, as well as Home Forward, Portland’s housing authority, and partners from school districts, out-of-school time programs, and community-based organizations, we learned why they endeavored to better intersect housing and education, elements of a successful partnership, lessons learned, their challenges, and how the work can be replicated. We hope this will be a resource for other individuals and communities as they begin and strengthen partnerships of their own in order to improve life outcomes for low-income individuals and families.

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Education, Housing, Out-of-school time, Partnerships, Place-based
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 20, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Dec 17, 2018
Despite the booming economy, homelessness in the United States rose slightly for the second year in a row, with spikes in high-rent cities like New York and Seattle, according to an annual report released on Monday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Authored by: Glenn Thrush for The New York Times
Topics: Funding, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income
Shared by Housing Is on Dec 20, 2018

Homelessness Rises Slightly Despite Strong Economy, Federal Report Finds

News Article
Dec 17, 2018
Glenn Thrush for The New York Times
Despite the booming economy, homelessness in the United States rose slightly for the second year in a row, with spikes in high-rent cities like New York and Seattle, according to an annual report released on Monday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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Publication
Community:
Mar 28, 2018
Communities can leverage local housing and neighborhood policies to address gun violence through tools such as demolition, vacant property maintenance and reuse, foreclosure mitigation counseling, homeownership support programs, code enforcement, and zoning.

Authored by: Christina Plerhoples Stacy for How Housing Matters
Topics: Community development, Housing, Partnerships, Place-based, Safety
Shared by Housing Is on Dec 20, 2018
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Report
Community:
May 1, 2018
Housing and health systems need to work together. Public housing authorities (PHAs) are significant providers of housing to those in need, offering the health sector scale and expertise. Little was known about how PHAs worked with the health sector writ large. With a national survey, we found that PHAs across the country are engaged in a wide range of partnerships with different health organizations that address various target populations and health priorities. Barriers to housing-health collaboration, such as funding and staffing capacity, can be overcome with cross-system partnerships that seek to address these needs.

Authored by: CLPHA and PAHRC
Topics: Child welfare, Funding, Health, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Partnerships, Preventative care, Research, Seniors, Smoke-free
Shared by Housing Is on Dec 19, 2018

Health Starts at Home: A National Snapshot of Public Housing Authorities' Health Partnerships

Report
May 1, 2018
CLPHA and PAHRC
Housing and health systems need to work together. Public housing authorities (PHAs) are significant providers of housing to those in need, offering the health sector scale and expertise. Little was known about how PHAs worked with the health sector writ large.
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Webinar
Community:
Dec 17, 2018
Webinar slide deck that provides a brief overview of FUP, building blocks of successful FUP voucher implementation, facilitated panel on increasing impact and enhancing FUP operations, and other opportunities and resources.

Authored by: CSH: 1 Roof and CLPHA
Topics: Child welfare, CLPHA, Foster care, Funding, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Partnerships, Preventative care, Safety, Supportive housing, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 18, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Dec 1, 2018
When schools started back up this fall, many across the country witnessed something that’s become as common on the first day as new backpacks and freshly sharpened pencils: another surge of homeless and housing-insecure schoolchildren.

Authored by: Mattie Quinn for Governing
Topics: East Coast, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Pacific Northwest, Partnerships, Transportation, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 18, 2018
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Publication
Community:
Dec 17, 2018
Housing assistance plays a crucial role in stabilizing so many elements of a family’s daily life, including employment, education, and health. But despite its important role, our nation’s public housing program faces an uncertain future.

Authored by: Susan J. Popkin, Diane K. Levy, and Corianne Payton Scally for The Urban Institute
Topics: Funding, Housing, Legislation & Policy, RAD
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 17, 2018

America's public housing program faces an uncertain future

Publication
Dec 17, 2018
Susan J. Popkin, Diane K. Levy, and Corianne Payton Scally for The Urban Institute
Housing assistance plays a crucial role in stabilizing so many elements of a family’s daily life, including employment, education, and health. But despite its important role, our nation’s public housing program faces an uncertain future.
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News Article
Community:
Dec 7, 2018
On any given day, there are over 400,000 kids in foster care in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A little more than half will find homes. For kids and parents making that transition, the Bridge Meadows housing community in Portland, Oregon is experimenting with inter-generational living to help the new families work. Based on a model in rural Illinois, Bridge Meadows rents town homes to children who are making the transition out of foster care, and their adoptive parents, at far below the market rate. It also offers affordable housing for its senior residents, who assist with child care as part of their lease agreement.

Authored by: Melanie Sevcenko for MarketPlace
Topics: Dual-generation, Foster care, Housing, Low-income, Place-based, Seniors, West Coast
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 13, 2018
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Research
Community:
Dec 12, 2018
Indoor housing quality problems, which are commonly found in public housing, are associated with asthma. Prior research has found that adults living in assisted housing (either public housing or rental assistance) in Boston are more likely to report health problems, including asthma, than other Boston residents, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors.

Authored by: Amar J. Mehta, Daniel P. Dooley, John Kane, Margaret Reid, and Snehal N. Shah for American Journal of Public Health
Topics: Asthma, Health, Housing, Low-income, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 13, 2018
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Policy Brief
Community:
Dec 12, 2018
In many US cities and towns, housing costs are increasing faster than incomes. Americans who rent their homes have been hit especially hard: nearly half of renters shoulder unaffordable housing costs. A forthcoming report by the New York University Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy shows that between 1970 and 2016, the share of rent-burdened households went up in the 100 largest metropolitan areas nationwide.

Authored by: Ingrid Gould Ellen and Mark A. Willis for How Housing Matters (Urban Institute)
Topics: Funding, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 13, 2018

Rent Regulation and Housing Affordability: Context, Evidence, and Program Design

Policy Brief
Dec 12, 2018
Ingrid Gould Ellen and Mark A. Willis for How Housing Matters (Urban Institute)
In many US cities and towns, housing costs are increasing faster than incomes. Americans who rent their homes have been hit especially hard: nearly half of renters shoulder unaffordable housing costs.
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News Article
Community:
Dec 11, 2018
Public housing is increasingly taking a role in supporting kids’ education, according to Megan Gallagher, senior research associate at the Urban Institute. Such supports include after-school and summer learning programs, tutoring and mentoring.

Authored by: Stell Simonton for Youth Today
Topics: Housing, Out-of-school time, Partnerships, Place-based, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018
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Webinar
Community:
Dec 11, 2018
CLPHA’s Education Working Group hosts a webinar including presentations on efforts from the Chicago Housing Authority to work with residents on pursuing postsecondary opportunities, as well as an update from HUD’s Office of Policy Development & Research on data collection around tracking and increasing FAFSA utilization.

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Cost effectiveness, Data sharing, Education, Funding, Housing, Housing Is Working Group, Low-income, Metrics, Midwest, Post-secondary, Research, Stability, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018

CLPHA Housing Is Postsecondary Efforts and Data Webinar - December 11, 2018

Webinar
Dec 11, 2018
CLPHA
CLPHA’s Education Working Group hosts a webinar including presentations on efforts from the Chicago Housing Authority to work with residents on pursuing postsecondary opportunities, as well as an update from HUD’s Office of Policy Development & Research on data collection around tracking and inc
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News Article
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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Interactive
Community:
Dec 12, 2018
Using the story of Lily, a resilient, hopeful Muppet whose family is experiencing homelessness, Sesame Street developed a set of free, bilingual resources for children and families experiencing homelessness and the providers who serve them. Many different kinds of providers serve children experiencing homelessness, including school district homeless liaisons, early childhood programs, and homeless assistance and housing programs. To help these providers quickly and effectively leverage Sesame Street’s resources in the context of their specific work, SchoolHouse Connection has produced tip sheets organized by provider role.

Authored by: SchoolHouse Connection
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018
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Interactive
Community:
Activities and videos about homelessness for children and families

Authored by: Sesame Street
Topics: Education, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018
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Report
Community:
Nov 14, 2018
Denver’s expansion of supportive housing through the Denver Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative is beginning to pay off for the city of Denver, its homeless residents, and a group of investors banking on social impact. This fact sheet highlights interim results of the program.

Authored by: Urban Institute
Topics: Housing, Research, Supportive housing, West Coast
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018

Finding Stability through Housing: Interim Lessons from Denver's Expansion of Supportive Housing

Report
Nov 14, 2018
Urban Institute
Denver’s expansion of supportive housing through the Denver Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative is beginning to pay off for the city of Denver, its homeless residents, and a group of investors banking on social impact. This fact sheet highlights interim results of the program.
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News Article
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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Publication
Community:
Dec 1, 2018
With collectively more than 100 years of policy expertise and values-based leadership between us, Ascend at the Aspen Institute and the Housing Opportunity and Services Together initiative at the Urban Institute partnered to develop a set of recommendations on how to harness assisted housing and public-private housing partnerships for better outcomes for families.

Authored by: The Urban Institute and ASCEND: The Aspen Institute
Topics: Dual-generation, Early childhood, Education, Family engagement, Health, Housing, Low-income, Place-based, Research, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 6, 2018

Place Matters: A Two-Generation Approach to Housing

Publication
Dec 1, 2018
The Urban Institute and ASCEND: The Aspen Institute
With collectively more than 100 years of policy expertise and values-based leadership between us, Ascend at the Aspen Institute and the Housing Opportunity and Services Together initiative at the Urban Institute partnered to develop a set of recommendations on how to harness assisted housing and pub
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Interactive
Community:
The 2018 Purpose Built Conference in Orlando, Florida from October 24 – 26 was a tremendous opportunity for thoughtful engagement and energetic conversations with Network Members and attendees from all across the country. Our panel of guest speakers represented a wide range of industries and brought unique perspectives and insights.

Authored by: Purpose Built Communities
Topics: Community development, Education, Health, Housing, Low-income, Mobility, Partnerships, Place-based
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 5, 2018
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Interactive
Community:
People living just a few blocks apart may have vastly different opportunities to live a long life in part because of their neighborhood. Unfortunately, significant gaps in life expectancy at birth persist across many United States cities, towns, ZIP codes and neighborhoods. The latest estimates of life expectancy at birth reveals differences down to the census tract level. Explore how life expectancy in America compares with life expectancy in your area, and resources to help everyone have the opportunity to live a longer, healthier life.

Authored by: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Topics: Health, Housing, Low-income, Place-based, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 5, 2018
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Interactive
Community:
Nov 29, 2018
With political divisions on the rise and global cooperation imperiled, city officials worldwide are stepping up to lead, solving local problems while sharing solutions and innovations across borders. Making cities such as New York, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles inclusive, safe, and sustainable is vital to the future of the United States—and the globe. Driven by the need to act locally while thinking globally, a growing number of metro areas are adapting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint for progress.

Authored by: The Brookings Institution
Topics: Community development, Housing, Partnerships, Place-based, Sustainability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 3, 2018
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News Article
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