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Planning the Housing Opportunity and Services Together Demonstration Challenges and Lessons Learned Susan J

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Planning the Housing Opportunity and Services Together Demonstration Challenges and Lessons Learned Susan J BrIe f# 0I Housing Opportunity fe B. 2012 and Services Together www.urban.org InSIDe THIS ISSue •The HOST demonstration will implement and test strategies that use housing as a platform to deliver services to vulnerable populations in two cities. •Both sites will employ case management and dual-generation interventions. •The formative evaluation plan consists of a process evaluation, an outcome evaluation, and a detailed cost analysis. Planning the Housing Opportunity and Services Together Demonstration Challenges and Lessons Learned Susan J. Popkin, Molly M. Scott, Joe Parilla, Elsa Falkenburger, Marla McDaniel, and Shinwon Kyung The multisite Housing Opportunity and Services Together (HOST) demonstration is an ambitious effort to test strategies that use housing as a platform for services to improve the life chances of vulnerable children, youth, and adults. This brief provides an overview of the project’s early challenges and successes to offer practitioners insights on the planning and design of “dual-generation” interventions and to inform policy supporting comprehensive place-based initiatives. aunched in December 2010 with the Urban Institute and the Chicago Housing support of the Open Society Authority (CHA) piloted from 2007 –2010 During its two-year Foundations’ (OSF) Special Fund for with residents of Dearborn Homes and the Poverty Alleviation, the multisite Madden/Wells development. While this implementation, the LHOST demonstration tests innovative, two- model showed promising gains for even the generation service models to improve the life highest-risk adults, the benefits did not HOST demonstration chances of vulnerable low-income families extend to their children. Parents reported that living in public and mixed-income housing their teens were struggling in school, engag - will identify strategies communities. At its core, the demonstration ing in risky behavior, being arrested, and aims to address parents’ key barriers to self- pregnant and parenting at rates far above and services that help sufficiency—such as poor physical and men - average (Popkin and Getsinger 2010 ). tal health, addictions, low levels of literacy, Developing effective place-based models that the families at greatest lack of a high school diploma, and historically reach youth is critical not only for improving weak connection to the labor force—while the lives of individual children and youth, but risk and offer the best simultaneously integrating services and sup - also for ensuring the health and viability of ports for children and youth. public and mixed-income communities. If potential for strength - HOST builds on lessons learned from the youth engagement strategies are successful, successful wraparound service model that the they can reduce critical neighborhood ening the community. Planning the Housing Opportunity and Services Together Demonstration and ( 4) commit to participating in a research figure 1. HOST Demonstration Theory of Change demonstration and evaluation. HOST’s first two partner agencies— Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) and HOST demonstration: developing comprehensive, coordinated service models Home Forward (formerly the Housing Authority of Portland, Oregon)—both have a INTERVENTION history of developing innovative service mod - Urban Institute and Site Partners Case management and wrap-around services for els for their HOPE VI redevelopment initia - adults with strategies to engage children and youth tives, working with the Urban Institute, and participating in research projects. The part - ners’ Moving-To-Work (MTW) status also grants them greater flexibility to shift their ENGAGEMENT AND FOLLOW-UP AND ONGOING PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION ADJUSTMENT OF SERVICES federal funds to pay for resident services. 2 Site Partners Urban Institute and Site Partners Both housing authorities are implement - ing dual-generation case management models, but their programs target substantially differ - ADULTS Increased self-sufficiency/ ent communities and residents (table 1). CHA improved health and well-being is focusing its efforts on Altgeld Gardens, its CHILDREN AND YOUTH last remaining large public housing develop - Positive educational, health, and behavioral outcomes ment, which sits in an extremely isolated com - munity on the far south side of Chicago near the Indiana border. CHA’s HOST program Sustainable community Improved well-being builds on the previous case management revitalization for families and youth demonstration, which identified heads of household who were sporadically employed, did not have high school diplomas, had high rates of physical and mental health problems, problems such as vandalism, drug trafficking, Department of Justice’s Byrne Criminal and had children in the household noted as fighting, and gang activity—the disorder and Justice Innovation program. 1 Looking for - “high risk” and most in need of intensive case violence that have considerable impact on ward, HOST will help answer critical management (Theodos et al. 2010 ). For residents and can drive others away. Figure 1 ques tions about what works for whom and HOST, CHA has targeted 230 “high-risk” shows the theory of change for the HOST provide important insight into how local households where the head of household was demonstration sites. communities implement similar dual-gener - “work able” but failed to obtain employment During its two-year implementation, ation models to improve the life chances of during the first nine months of 2011 . Many of the HOST demonstration will identify their most vulnerable children and families. these residents are longtime public housing strategies and services that help the families at residents and all are African American. In greatest risk and offer the best potential for An Overview of HOST Partners addition, children living in these targeted strengthening the community. This informa - and Program Models households are less likely than youth living tion is vital as the federal government begins The first step in putting together any demon - in employed households to participate in to take place-based initiatives to scale stration is to identify suitable partners. For extracurricular activities offered at Altgeld. through its multiagency Neighborhood HOST, partners must have the capacity to ( 1) Home Forward has opted to build on Revitalization Initiative, which encompasses implement dual-generation case management its existing Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) pro - the Department of Housing and Urban models, ( 2) integrate meaningful programs gram initiatives, which hold rent constant Development’s Choice Neighborhood pro - for children and youth into their service plans, and provide case management to help resi - gram, the Department of Education’s (3) leverage federal and local funds to comply dents increase their income and save addi - Promise Neighborhoods program, and the with OSF’s required dollar-for-dollar match, tional earnings in a five-year escrow account 2. Planning the Housing Opportunity and Services Together Demonstration accessible upon program completion. For individual components including case man - absenteeism and failing grades). Project Match HOST, Home Forward is enhancing one of agement and services for youth. The local staff will be integrated into UCAN’s HOST these programs, the Opportunity Housing workforce investment board, Work Systems case management team and will provide a Initiative (OHI), by offering more services for Inc., will deliver employment-related pro - system of incremental goal setting, incentives, adults and incorporating case management grams along with Portland Community verification, and public recognition. The case for youth. HOST also allows Home Forward College; Innovative Changes runs a series of managers and Project Match staff will work to reach more than twice as many households financial literacy workshops for HOST par - to link HOST children and youth to services as before with this enhanced version of OHI. ticipants; and another outside consultant available on site, including UCAN’s after- The housing authority already requires resi - manages the youth component. school programming and groups for male and dents of Humboldt Gardens, one of its Intensive interaction between case man - female teens. smaller mixed-income developments, to par - agers and families serves as the centerpiece of Home Forward’s youth component is also ticipate in OHI and has expanded access in its HOST in both sites. CHA and Home highly tailored to the needs of individual largest mixed-income development, New Forward are using the opportunity presented children and youth but is structured quite dif - Columbia, and an adjacent public housing by the HOST demonstration to enhance their ferently. A multicultural team of experienced property, the Tamarack apartments. Home existing service models and to move from a licensed clinical social workers will coordinate Forward’s 136 HOST families are much more traditional case management approach to a closely with Home Forward’s HOST case diverse than CHA’s and include immigrant collaborative “coaching” model that will more managers to identify children and youth with and refugee populations, as well as African actively engage residents and leverage their acute behavioral or academic problems. The Americans, Latinos, and whites. And, since strengths and assets (Theodos et al. forthcom - youth case managers will then work intensively the Portland program targets mixed-income ing). Home Forward is also offering the Pacific with these children and their
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