This webinar, convened by the Florida Housing Coalition on January 9, 2019, will provide guidance to nonprofit board members and executive leadership on building capacity and professional development for organizational self-assessment. The webinar is a pre-requisite training for nonprofit organizations planning to attend a later workshop on adding or expanding affordable housing to their set of programs.

Living in safe “opportunity neighborhoods” that provide quality services, employment, and schools is a recognized way for children and families to increase their economic opportunities and class mobility. The authors of this Urban Institute paper propose using tiered-evidence grantmaking, or funding programs based on the evidence-based robustness of their underlying approach, to increase access to opportunity zones for all. If a program shows promise, tiered-evidence grantmaking lets them apply for more funding for evaluation, scaling, and replication. This model is accessible to local institutions with intimate knowledge of their community’s situations, and also can incentivize new ideas while strongly supporting proven interventions.

This brief reviews the recent trend of intracity income inequality, which is rising at a faster rate than national household income inequality. While policymakers cannot fully control drivers of inequality and the resulting economic and spatial segregation, they can leverage housing as a tool to combat this concerning trend. Researchers recommend implementing affordable housing policies across cities, enforcing fair housing policies to prevent discrimination, and exploring alternative housing models like housing cooperatives or community land trusts. These suggestions can decrease the disparities in education, community resources, and economic productivity that segregated areas face to mitigate the vicious cycle of affluence flight.

Recent causal research shows that people’s earnings are directly linked to the neighborhoods where they grew up, with impoverished and underserved communities at the bottom end of the earning scale. Johns Hopkins’ 21st Century Cities Initiative offers three categories of policy suggestions to help economic mobility for people living in distressed neighborhoods. First, place-based programs like revitalization and infrastructure development can create needed services and economic opportunities. Second, housing mobility programs can provide access to higher opportunity areas. Third, placelinking programs can physically reconnect isolated areas without moving residents or building completely new infrastructure. Together, initiatives like these can revamp and reinvigorate impoverished neighborhoods.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness provides updated statistics and trend analysis in this briefing, while also using the data to discuss implications for efforts to eliminate homelessness. In 2017, homelessness rose slightly for the first time since 2016, which was driven entirely by more unsheltered homeless individuals without families. The Council links to further resources that detail trends for youth, families, worst case housing needs, and affordable housing throughout the country. Considering all of this data, the Council stresses the need for affordable housing, unsheltered support services, and attention to racial disparities through combined federal and local efforts across agencies, sectors, and lawmakers.

Stable and affordable housing continues to be an issue for low-income families as rental and home prices increase and wages may not rise in accordance. This webinar on September 25 is geared toward SNAP Employment and Training stakeholders to demonstrate ways in which SNAP programs can implement approaches to job training that facilitate housing stability for benefit recipients. Drawing on examples from Massachusetts and Arkansas State SNAP agencies, links between housing and workforce initiatives will be highlighted and their importance emphasized to overcome rent burden and homelessness for vulnerable populations.

The paper from Jobs for the Future reviews and make recommendations about the community-focused approach to federal policy and investments. Also known as “place based,” community-focused efforts have two objectives: 1) improve the integration, coordination, and customer-service orientation of federal support for communities; and 2) provide a framework for comprehensive solutions to interrelated challenges. This policy and investment strategy brings federal, state, and local organizations together with community members to break down barriers that prevent individual and community success. Because the design of community-focused programs is responsive to local needs and priorities, the results and strategies vary based on the location.

The Disaster Assistance Improvement Program (DAIP) offers a search tool by ZIP code for areas designated for Individual Assistance. The website also offers a “Find Assistance” tool where the user can answer an anonymous questionnaire to receive a personalized list of possible assistance.

In response to several proposed federal changes to safety net program requirements, the Urban Institute developed a Well Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS) and published a report on the status of individual and family health and well-being. The data serves as a baseline against which to measure deviations as a result of potential policy change. Despite a low unemployment rate and growing labor market, the first round of WBNS data from 2017 shows that nearly 40 percent of adults had trouble meeting at least one basic need, a number which may increase due to proposed safety net changes. Hispanic, black, female, young, ill, and less educated demographics are the most likely to face hardships. The survey will continue to measure potential effects of policy changes and highlight areas of programmatic need.