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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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Report
Community:
Jun 29, 2022
Looking largely at the 2020-2021 school year, the report is chock-full of information about how schools apply research-based strategies in a variety of different contexts – from very different school systems across multiple states – to make research translate into positive experiences and outcomes for students and their teachers in three critical areas: • Instructional work, where math or English-language-arts teams, including instructional coaches, special-education teachers, and English learner/multilingual teachers, work to improve the quality of instruction within classrooms. • Early Warning and Response strategies, where grade-level or cross-functional teams work to create more supportive school environments, where young people are connected to adults, each other, and the school community. • Well-Matched Postsecondary initiatives, where school-based teams of counselors, service providers, district and school leaders, teachers, and other staff band together to implement evidence-based strategies and processes that support postsecondary application, enrollment, and persistence. At its heart, improvement is about learning. Each of these networks study their own work, and consistently and strategically make adaptations to increase their effectiveness as the organizational hub supporting schools. And they demonstrate how lessons need not fade away, but when codified, systematized, and shared, they can deepen our collective capacity to accelerate the field’s learning and growth.

Authored by:
Topics: Advocacy, Attendance, Child welfare, CLPHA, Community development, Education, Grade-level proficiency, Housing, Literacy, Low-income, Partnerships, Place-based, Supportive housing, Sustainability, Youth
Shared by Karina George on Jun 29, 2022
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Video
Community:
Jun 17, 2022
When public libraries and public housing authorities intentionally join forces, the benefits are real and lasting for those living in public housing. This session highlights the partnership between Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and Cleveland Public Library (CPL). CMHA and CPL executive leaders will discuss how their agencies strategically aligned their vision for impact and are meeting community needs through the library’s free and accessible resources. CMHA and CPL leaders will also share strategies for creating effective cross-sector partnerships that can drive greater economic mobility and better education and health outcomes for individuals and families.

Authored by:
Topics: Advocacy, Asset building, CLPHA, Education, Family engagement, Homelessness, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Literacy, Low-income, Supportive housing
Shared by Karina George on Jun 17, 2022

CLPHA Housing Is Summit 2022: Deepening Community Impact Through Housing Authority and Library Partnerships

Video
Jun 17, 2022
When public libraries and public housing authorities intentionally join forces, the benefits are real and lasting for those living in public housing. This session highlights the partnership between Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and Cleveland Public Library (CPL).
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Video
Community:
Jun 17, 2022
Housing providers are uniquely positioned to find innovative and meaningful ways to engage residents with lived experience in program design and implementation to ensure investments are focused, efficient, and culturally appropriate. Learn how the King County Housing Authority in Washington and The Community Builders in Cincinnati, OH are responding to the needs and desires of their residents in new ways that leverage the assets and strengths of their residents to ensure that young children thrive. Attendees will leave this session with new ideas to incorporate resident input in early childhood programming to make it more effective.

Authored by:
Topics: Advocacy, CLPHA, Education, Family engagement, Housing, Low-income, Research, Supportive housing, Sustainability
Shared by Karina George on Jun 17, 2022

CLPHA Housing Is Summit 2022: Designing and Implementing Programs with Residents and Families at the Center

Video
Jun 17, 2022
Housing providers are uniquely positioned to find innovative and meaningful ways to engage residents with lived experience in program design and implementation to ensure investments are focused, efficient, and culturally appropriate.
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Video
Community:
Jun 17, 2022
This panel discussion will examine the results of efforts to significantly expand the reach of HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program through partnerships between the nonprofit Compass Working Capital and the Boston and Cambridge Housing Authorities. Panelists will discuss their program model and its evaluation, how they have scaled up FSS, what results they have experienced to date, and where they plan to go from here. An FSS program participant will participate in the panel and share their perspective on how the program has benefitted them.

Authored by:
Topics: Advocacy, Asset building, CLPHA, Early childhood, Education, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Research, Supportive housing
Shared by Karina George on Jun 17, 2022

CLPHA Housing Is Summit 2022: Taking FSS to Scale - Lessons from Compass' Partnerships in Boston and Cambridge

Video
Jun 17, 2022
This panel discussion will examine the results of efforts to significantly expand the reach of HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program through partnerships between the nonprofit Compass Working Capital and the Boston and Cambridge Housing Authorities.
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Video
Community:
Jun 17, 2022
This session will review the extent to which local jurisdictions engaged with school districts in the 2016-17 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) process and preview the potential for PHAs to engage with school districts and school data in the upcoming renewal of the HUD AFFH process.

Authored by:
Topics: Advocacy, Attendance, CLPHA, Data sharing, Education, Family engagement, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Research, Sustainability
Shared by Karina George on Jun 17, 2022

CLPHA Housing Is Summit 2022: Working with School Districts and School Data

Video
Jun 17, 2022
This session will review the extent to which local jurisdictions engaged with school districts in the 2016-17 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) process and preview the potential for PHAs to engage with school districts and school data in the upcoming renewal of the HUD AFFH process.
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Video
Community:
Jun 17, 2022
Public and affordable housing agencies and organizations have the potential to serve as a crucial foundation for promoting early school success for economically challenged, fragile and otherwise marginalized children and families through a 24/7/365 multigenerational system of support and an ability to meet families 'where they are.' During this engaging session, Housing Is and our long-time partner The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading will elevate the critical importance of these housing-education partnerships, with special attention to the way in which such collaborations begin. This plenary will explore initial partnership development work taking place in Kansas City, MO, one of the 20 finalist communities recently announced for the 2022 All-America City Awards. The theme of this year's award is "Housing as a Platform to Promote Early School Success and Equitable Learning Recovery." Attendees have the unique opportunity to hear from a partnership in its earlier stages of development and learn alongside the speakers how critical cross-sector work can be launched.

Authored by:
Topics: Advocacy, CLPHA, Early childhood, Education, Healthy homes, Housing, Low-income, Supportive housing, Sustainability
Shared by Karina George on Jun 17, 2022

CLPHA Housing Is Summit 2022: Housing as a Platform to Support Early Learning

Video
Jun 17, 2022
Public and affordable housing agencies and organizations have the potential to serve as a crucial foundation for promoting early school success for economically challenged, fragile and otherwise marginalized children and families through a 24/7/365 multigenerational system of support and an ability
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Video
Community:
May 18, 2021
Roundtable: Cross-Sector Efforts on COVID-19. More than a year into a global pandemic, we continue to see disparities in infections, access to care, and economic supports, with an unequal burden on low-income and communities of color. This roundtable will discuss perspectives from housing, health, and policy for what we have seen and what may be to come, as well as ideas we may enact to create more permanent solutions, in addition to addressing current crises.

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Community development, COVID-19, Education, Health, Housing, Partnerships
Shared by Housing Is on May 18, 2021
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Report
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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Webinar
Community:
Feb 12, 2020
A discussion with attorney Alex Elson from the National Student Legal Defense Network and director of FAIL STATE, Alex Shebanow, to talk about predatory for-profit institutions and how that affects low income residents. About the film: Over five years in the making, FAIL STATE investigates the for-profit college industry and the decades-long reports of student loan abuse within the sector. The film’s central thesis: aided by a cabal of politicians, nationwide disinvestment in public colleges and universities, and an unscrupulous desire to maximize profits at all costs, for-profit colleges have exploited millions of low-income and minority students, leaving them with worthless degrees and drowning in student loan debt. With echoes of the subprime mortgage crisis, director Alexander Shebanow traces the rise of the for-profit college industry in American higher education and uncovers a story that the Los Angeles Times calls “truly eye-opening and crucial.” The film premiered to sold-out shows at DOC NYC, SXSW EDU, Cleveland International, and debuted on STARZ in December 2018. Director Alexander Shebanow and Executive Producer Dan Rather were awarded the 2019 William Randolph Hearst Award for Outstanding Professional Media Service for their work on FAIL STATE.

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: Advocacy, CLPHA, Education, Housing Is Working Group, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Post-secondary
Shared by Abra Lyons-Warren on Feb 12, 2020

CLPHA Education Working Group: Predatory PostSecondary Institutions Webinar

Webinar
Feb 12, 2020
CLPHA
A discussion with attorney Alex Elson from the National Student Legal Defense Network and director of FAIL STATE, Alex Shebanow, to talk about predatory for-profit institutions and how that affects low income residents. About the film: Over five years in the making, FAIL STATE investigates the fo
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Video
Community:
May 24, 2019
Join CLPHA and the Kresge Foundation as we announce the release of our new report, Eliminating Barriers to Postsecondary Success: Cross-Sector Collaborations to Improve Postsecondary Achievement for Students Served by Public Housing Authorities. The report provides an overview of promising practices at the intersection of public housing providers and higher education shared during a convening of five pioneering PHAs and their postsecondary partners. This press event is open to all attendees and will be immediately followed by a panel discussion, which will spotlight the innovative housing and postsecondary partners featured in the report.

Authored by: Housing Is, CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Communications, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Partnerships, Post-secondary
Shared by Housing Is on May 24, 2019

Housing Is Summit 2019 - PRESS CONFERENCE AND DISCUSSION OF CLPHA'S POSTSECONDARY REPORT: "ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS"

Video
May 24, 2019
Housing Is, CLPHA
Join CLPHA and the Kresge Foundation as we announce the release of our new report, Eliminating Barriers to Postsecondary Success: Cross-Sector Collaborations to Improve Postsecondary Achievement for Students Served by Public Housing Authorities.
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Video
Community:
May 24, 2019
Building Internal PHA Capacity for Cross-Sector Partnerships: How to creatively expand and enhance internal capacity to support cross-sector partnerships.

Authored by: Housing Is, CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Education, Health, Housing, Partnerships
Shared by Housing Is on May 24, 2019
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Webinar
Community:
Apr 10, 2019
Advocacy is everyone's job and it is essential to the children and communities we serve. CLPHA’s Education Working Group hosted a webinar to learn about advocacy efforts to build support and investment in housing. Representatives from Partnership for Children and Youth (PCY) – a California-based advocacy organization that promotes and supports learning opportunities for underserved students – discussed strategies for providing, sustaining, and increasing access to Out-of-School-Time services in housing. PCY also touched on a range of advocacy strategies and preliminary results from the Save After School Campaign in California.

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Education, Housing, Housing Is Working Group, Legislation & Policy, Out-of-school time, Partnerships, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Apr 10, 2019
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Webinar
Community:
Feb 12, 2019
During CLPHA’s Education Working Group Webinar on addressing school attendance at PHAs, representatives from the King County Housing Authority and the national nonprofit Attendance Works presented on tools for addressing chronic absenteeism, as well as strategies for fostering a culture of attendance among residents.

Authored by: CLPHA, Housing Is
Topics: Attendance, CLPHA, Dual-generation, Education, Housing, Housing Is Working Group, Low-income, Metrics, Partnerships, Place-based
Shared by Housing Is on Feb 12, 2019
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News Article
Community:
Jan 30, 2019
FRESNO COUNTY, California - Research shows that a child's enviornment, where they live, can have a huge impact on the outcome of their education. We take a look at how Fresno County's philosophy about public housing is having a positive impact on families.

Authored by: Juanita Stevenson for yourvalley.com
Topics: Broadband, CLPHA, Education, Housing, Low-income, Out-of-school time, Research, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Feb 11, 2019

Inspiring the Valley: Positive changes in public housing creates a 'transformative' environment

News Article
Jan 30, 2019
Juanita Stevenson for yourvalley.com
FRESNO COUNTY, California - Research shows that a child's enviornment, where they live, can have a huge impact on the outcome of their education. We take a look at how Fresno County's philosophy about public housing is having a positive impact on families.
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News Article
Community:
May 15, 2018
Since federal public housing assistance was first created in 1939 amid the Great Depression, public housing advocates have struggled with how to move low-income families to higher-opportunity neighborhoods, typically defined as neighborhoods with less poverty (though experts argue there are other ways to measure opportunity, including quality of schools and access to public transportation, and KCHA uses a broader “opportunity index” to compare locations). The Moving to Opportunity program, a federal demonstration in the 1990s, documented outcomes of families moving to neighborhoods with lower poverty rates. The program didn’t show immediate health and economic gains at its conclusion, but in 2015, a landmark paper by Raj Chetty and others showed that for children who moved before the age of 13, the economic and social gains were dramatic. Not coincidentally, 12 and younger was the target age for kids participating in the KCHA opportunity moves.

Authored by: Rebecca Gale for Slate
Topics: Child welfare, CLPHA, Early childhood, Education, Mobility, MTW, Pacific Northwest, Partnerships
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 18, 2019

The Seattle Area is Solving on of Housing's Biggest Challenges

News Article
May 15, 2018
Rebecca Gale for Slate
Since federal public housing assistance was first created in 1939 amid the Great Depression, public housing advocates have struggled with how to move low-income families to higher-opportunity neighborhoods, typically defined as neighborhoods with less poverty (though experts argue there are other wa
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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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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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Report
Community:
Oct 24, 2018
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative is engaged in a number of cross-sector activities focused on developing partnerships, facilitating a community of practice, resource development, promoting best practices, online collaboration, policy and advocacy, and training and education. Read about recent activities in this Fall Update.

Authored by:
Topics: Child welfare, CLPHA, Community development, Cost effectiveness, Data sharing, Early childhood, Education, Family engagement, Funding, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Mental health, Partnerships, Place-based, Post-secondary, Research, Stability, Substance abuse, Workforce development, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Oct 24, 2018

Housing Is Fall 2018 Update

Report
Oct 24, 2018
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative is engaged in a number of cross-sector activities focused on developing partnerships, facilitating a community of practice, resource development, promoting best practices, online collaboration, policy and advocacy, and training and education.
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News Article
Community:
Oct 16, 2018
Some community colleges have found innovative partnerships with their public housing authorities may help combat student homelessness.

Authored by: Ashley A. Smith for Inside Higher Ed
Topics: Asset building, CLPHA, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Partnerships, Post-secondary, Stability, Workforce development
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Oct 24, 2018
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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
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Video
Community:
Jan 3, 2018
Anchor institutions can provide invaluable expertise, as well as serve as reliable third party entities, especially in our resource-constrained environment. Chicago Housing Authority and the University of Chicago describe how their partnership has increased their efforts and made it more efficient. Cassandra Brooks, Education Specialist, Chicago Housing Authority Denali Dasgupta, Researcher, Chapin Hall, University of Chicago Nick Mader, Senior Researcher, Chapin Hall, University of Chicago

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Education, Housing, Low-income, Midwest, Partnerships, Place-based, Research, Stability
Shared by CLPHA Admin on Jan 3, 2018
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Video
Community:
Dec 22, 2017
James Cole, Jr., U.S. Department of Education General Counsel/Delegated the Duties of Deputy Secretary, gives a keynote speech at CLPHA's 2016 Affordable Housing & Education Summit.

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Education, Housing, Legislation & Policy, Partnerships
Shared by CLPHA Admin on Dec 22, 2017
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News Article
Community:
Sep 7, 2017
In Tacoma, Washington, and other U.S. cities, housing departments are collaborating with school districts to give low-income and homeless students a leg up.

Authored by: Mimi Kirk for CITY LAB
Topics: CLPHA, Education, Housing, Pacific Northwest, Partnerships, Place-based, Stability
Shared by Abra Lyons-Warren on Sep 7, 2017
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Video
Community:
Jul 19, 2017

Authored by: CLPHA
Topics: CLPHA, Data sharing, Education, Housing, Low-income, Pacific Northwest, Partnerships, West Coast
Shared by CLPHA Admin on Jul 19, 2017

VIDEO: Making Data Sharing Agreements Work (CLPHA's 2017 Affordable Housing & Education Summit)

Recorded at CLPHA's 2017 Affordable Housing & Education Summit on July 12, 2017.

Increasingly, a wide range of entities—housers, educators, cities—are using data sharing to increase effectiveness across systems. Yet, many systems still do not want to engage in dating sharing or have encountered resistance. This roundtable not only discusses how partners made data sharing possible, but also looks to the future: how the process has gone since initial implementation, what partners have learned from their data sharing efforts, and next steps for the work.

Video
Jul 19, 2017
CLPHA