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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.

View Calendar
 

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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Publication
Community:
Jan 9, 2019
In this post, we hope to inspire others working in PreK-12 educational settings to examine rates of chronic absenteeism among the students they serve. We define chronic absenteeism and share three graphic displays of chronic absence data from our school district, the Washoe County School District located in Reno, NV.

Authored by: Tori Vohland and Jennifer Harris for Schoolhouse Connection
Topics: Attendance, Child welfare, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Partnerships, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 24, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Jan 24, 2019
Affordable housing campaigns are not new, of course, but what is unprecedented and transformative about Opportunity Starts at Home is the scope and diversity of the partners that are joining forces to advocate for more robust and equitable federal housing policies. The campaign is advised by a Steering Committee including leading national organizations representing a wide range of interests that are working shoulder-to-shoulder to solve the affordable housing crisis.

Authored by: Opportunity Starts at Home
Topics: Asset building, Child welfare, CLPHA, Community development, Early childhood, Education, Food insecurity, Funding, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Immigrants, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Mobility, Out-of-school time, Partnerships, Racial inequalities, Safety, Seniors, Stability, Substance abuse, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 24, 2019

Within Reach: Ambitious Federal Solutions to Meet the Housing Needs of the Most Vulnerable People

Publication
Jan 24, 2019
Opportunity Starts at Home
Affordable housing campaigns are not new, of course, but what is unprecedented and transformative about Opportunity Starts at Home is the scope and diversity of the partners that are joining forces to advocate for more robust and equitable federal housing policies.
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News Article
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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News Article
Community:
Jan 16, 2019
Nearly 60 percent of Oklahoma K-12 kids qualify for free and reduced lunches at school. It's a meal they can rely on during the most of the year, but when summer comes around the meal often goes away. The Summer Food Service Program helps fix that problem in much of the state, but not all of it.

Authored by: Mitchell Willetts for Enid News & Eagle
Topics: Child welfare, Food insecurity, Low-income, Midwest
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 22, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Quality affordable housing can be a “vaccine” which prevents long-term health problems and promotes healthy, productive lives. When a family’s housing situation is unaffordable and unstable, chances to lead a healthy life dwindle rapidly.

Authored by: Opportunity Starts at Home
Topics: Child welfare, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Partnerships, Seniors, Stability
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 18, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Teachers know that children learn better and are more likely to graduate when they live in a stable, affordable home.

Authored by: Opportunity Starts at Home
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Education, Housing, Partnerships, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 18, 2019
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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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Report
Community:
Jan 7, 2019
When the school day ends, far too many children return home to empty refrigerators and bare cupboards. The federal Afterschool Nutrition Programs provide healthy meals and snacks to children to ensure they are fed after school (and on weekends and during school holidays). According to FRAC’s latest Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation report, the District of Columbia had the highest participation in the nation of children in the Afterschool Supper Program, with a 31.6 percent increase in participation between October 2016 and October 2017.

Authored by: Paige Pokorney for Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
Topics: Child welfare, East Coast, Education, Food insecurity, Health, Low-income, Nutrition, Out-of-school time
Shared by Housing Is on Jan 16, 2019

Expanding the Reach of Afterschool Meals in the Nation's Capital

Report
Jan 7, 2019
Paige Pokorney for Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
When the school day ends, far too many children return home to empty refrigerators and bare cupboards. The federal Afterschool Nutrition Programs provide healthy meals and snacks to children to ensure they are fed after school (and on weekends and during school holidays).
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News Article
Community:
Jan 6, 2019
These programs, available at 10 Wichita middle and high schools so far, include extended serving times in cafeterias, grab-and-go breakfasts from carts or kiosks, and “second-chance breakfast,” in which students are offered breakfast after homeroom or first period.

Authored by: Suzanne Perez Tobias for The Wichita Eagle
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Food insecurity, Health, Low-income, Midwest, Nutrition, Youth
Shared by Housing Is on Jan 16, 2019

Lots of kids start the school day hungry. Here's how Wichita is trying to help

News Article
Jan 6, 2019
Suzanne Perez Tobias for The Wichita Eagle
These programs, available at 10 Wichita middle and high schools so far, include extended serving times in cafeterias, grab-and-go breakfasts from carts or kiosks, and “second-chance breakfast,” in which students are offered breakfast after homeroom or first period.
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News Article
Community:
Jan 10, 2019
The federally funded School Breakfast Program is critical to addressing childhood hunger and food insecurity. While most schools participate in the program, many students are reluctant to eat breakfast in the cafeteria before school starts — the traditional service delivery model for school breakfast. To combat this, four of the top organizations in education, food insecurity and school nutrition came together to form Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom, with the support of the Walmart Foundation. The Partners, which include FRAC, the School Nutrition Foundation, the NEA Foundation and the National Association of Elementary School Principals, are working to address barriers to school breakfast consumption through an innovative solution: serving breakfast in the classroom.

Authored by: Etienne Melcher Pilbin for Medium
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Food insecurity, Health, Low-income, Nutrition
Shared by Housing Is on Jan 16, 2019
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News Article
Community:
Dec 27, 2018
Basic necessities like food and water have been restored since the October afternoon when the storm pummeled Panama City. But a new crisis has emerged over a need even more primal — housing.

Authored by: Kathryn Varn for Tampa Bay Times
Topics: Child welfare, Health, Housing, Low-income, Safety, South
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 7, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Jan 2, 2019
Housing quality, instability, and unaffordability threaten the well-being of millions of children across the nation. Research shows that housing is the first rung on the ladder to economic opportunity and that a person’s access to opportunity is intrinsically linked with that of the community where they live. As home prices increase, the gap between rents and incomes continues to widen, and nearly half of today’s renters are cost burdened. Child welfare professionals, educators, and pediatricians can strengthen their work by understanding the central importance of housing as a determinant of wide-ranging outcomes for the country’s youngest generation.

Authored by: Veronica Gaitan for How Housing Matters
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Health, Housing, Research, Safety
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 7, 2019
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Interactive
Community:
Jan 1, 2019
A collection of resources that cover public health issues such as dental care, diabetes, vaccines, and nutrition.

Authored by: Mark Barna for The Nation's Health
Topics: Child welfare, Health, Low-income, Safety
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 7, 2019
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Report
Community:
Jan 1, 2019
Environmental health services, from asthma home visiting programs to lead testing, can help protect children from the dangerous environmental exposures they encounter every day. But the problem for parents and caregivers is accessing such services, a new analysis from APHA’s Center for Public Health Policy shows.

Authored by: Julia Haskins for The Nation's Health
Topics: Asthma, Child welfare, Health, Healthy homes, Housing, Lead, Low-income, Place-based, Preventative care, Research, Safety
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 7, 2019
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Publication
Community:
Aug 22, 2018
Because many children attend elementary schools in their own neighborhood, a child’s access to high-quality schools is dependent on where they grow up. Racial residential and school segregation, along with policies and practices that inequitably distribute resources across neighborhoods and schools, have created a system in which students of color often lack access to high-quality schools compared with white students residing in the same region.

Authored by: Ruth Gourevitch for How Housing Matters
Topics: Child welfare, Education, Low-income, Racial inequalities, Research, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Jan 7, 2019
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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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Publication
Community:
Dec 17, 2018
Stricter work requirement policies for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the federal level were left out of the recently passed farm bill, but state policymakers are still considering whether to expand or establish their own work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid, with the goal of incentivizing employment. There’s no question that good jobs help spur upward mobility. But if we are serious about helping people work, we have to get serious about helping people improve their skills.

Authored by: Gina Adams and Shayne Spaulding for The Urban Institute
Topics: Child welfare, Cost effectiveness, Dual-generation, Early childhood, Food insecurity, Legislation & Policy, Low-income, Research, Stability, Workforce development
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 17, 2018

Work requirement policies must consider parents' need for child care

Publication
Dec 17, 2018
Gina Adams and Shayne Spaulding for The Urban Institute
Stricter work requirement policies for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the federal level were left out of the recently passed farm bill, but state policymakers are still considering whether to expand or establish their own work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid, with the goa
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Report
Community:
Oct 17, 2018
Prioritizing young children in Medicaid through cross-sector, innovative practice change has the potential to improve their lifetime trajectories, overall population health and long-run savings.

Authored by: Elisabeth Wright Burak for Georgetown University Health Policy Institute: Center for Children and Families
Topics: Child welfare, Early childhood, Health, Low-income, Medicaid / Medicare, Research
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 13, 2018

Promoting Young Children's Healthy Development in Medicaid and CHIP

Report
Oct 17, 2018
Elisabeth Wright Burak for Georgetown University Health Policy Institute: Center for Children and Families
Prioritizing young children in Medicaid through cross-sector, innovative practice change has the potential to improve their lifetime trajectories, overall population health and long-run savings.
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Report
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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Webinar
Community:
Watch this recording of our live session where Senior Content Manager, Kama Einhorn, talks about resources from Sesame Street's Traumatic Experiences topic page.

Authored by: Sesame Street
Topics: Child welfare, Low-income, Mental health, Partnerships
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018
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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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Research
Community:
Nov 19, 2018
Nearly 115,000 students in New York City schools experienced homelessness during the 2017–18 school year, according to new data released by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) last month. As reported by the New York Times, that figure represents 1 in 10 New York City public and charter school students. Our look at the data on noncharter public school students shows that even that alarming share hides the pervasiveness of student homelessness in some communities.

Authored by: Patrick Spauster for Urban Institute
Topics: Child welfare, East Coast, Education, Homelessness, Housing, Low-income, Racial inequalities, Research, Youth
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 12, 2018
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News Article
Community:
Dec 6, 2018
Recent research shows that social safety net programs benefit everyone.

Authored by: David L. Kirk for The New York Times
Topics: Asset building, Child welfare, Community development, Food insecurity, Legislation & Policy, Medicaid / Medicare, Racial inequalities, Research, Workforce development
Shared by Mica O'Brien on Dec 6, 2018