The Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded nearly $100 million in grants to help public and assisted housing residents find employment and help the elderly maintain independent living.
The funding can also be used to retain or hire “service coordinators” or case workers for these HUD-assisted families to connect them to the supportive services that meet their individual needs. Read more about local impact of HUD’s grant funding.
“Providing housing assistance alone is often not enough to help individuals increase their independence,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “The service coordinators funded through these programs open doors that help HUD-assisted families find jobs, access services and assist the elderly and disabled to continue living as independently as possible in their homes.”
The funding comes from a variety of sources including approximately $35 million through the Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency – Service Coordinators Program (ROSS-SC) Program; approximately $15 million through the Public Housing – Family Self-Sufficiency Program (PH-FSS); and $45 million through the Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Program (MHSC).
The MHSC program provides funding to private housing developments that work with HUD to house low income individuals and allows them to hire on contract service coordinators to assist elderly people with disabilities. The grants are awarded for an initial three-year period to eligible owners of multifamily housing for the elderly or disabled, to enable them to hire and support a service coordinator.
Combined, HUD estimates this funding will allow the grantees to hire new employees or retain approximately 650 service coordinators that are currently working with HUD-assisted individuals.
Written by John Yedinak
