Summary:
ED/SS provides grants that aid public and Indian housing authorities in creating and operating programs that increase resident self-sufficiency and support independent living for their elderly and disabled residents.
Purpose:
About 40 percent of public housing residents currently list welfare as their primary source of income. ED/SS seeks to help these families to move to work and achieve self-sufficiency. The program also helps housing authorities defray the potentially significant cost of providing supportive services to their elderly residents and residents with disabilities.
Type of Assistance:
ED/SS provides competitive grants, which HUD awards in two categories: Family Economic Development/Supportive Services and Elderly/Disabled Supportive Services.
Eligible Grantees:
Public and Indian housing authorities may apply for ED/SS grants.
Eligible Customers:
ED/SS benefits residents of public and Indian housing; however, up to 25 percent of program beneficiaries may be Section 8 residents.
Eligible Activities:
ED/SS funds a broad range of activities to benefit public housing residents. For residents moving from welfare to work, activities include: economic and business development; entrepreneurship training; establishing micro-loan funds or credit unions; employment training and counseling; employer linkage and job placement; and supportive services such as child care, supportive health care, tuition assistance, youth mentoring, and transportation costs. For elderly and disabled residents, activities include: meals, personal assistance, housekeeping, transportation, personal emergency response, and wellness. Service coordination is an eligible expense in both categories. The program requires housing authorities to develop an overall plan, work with community partners, have measurable goals that can be achieved within 24 months, obtain at least a dollar-for-dollar funding match from the community, and track the progress of individual residents into employment.
Application:
ED/SS NOFAs and application kits are available from HUD's Resident Initiative Clearinghouse (RIC), 1-800-955-2232, TTY: 1-800-877-8339, or may be downloaded from HUD's web site. Funds for the 1997 ED/SS program and the Tenant Opportunities Program (TOP) were announced in a combined NOFA. Combining the announcements highlights HUD's parallel restructuring of the two programs, and reflects the Department's view that these two activities are complementary and should be operated in concert in the future, in order to improve the targeting and management of limited resources for public and Indian housing self-sufficiency.
Funding Status:
Congress appropriated $55 million for ED/SS in FY 1998. In FY 1997, Congress funded ED/SS at $60 million. Of this total, $5 million was set aside for the TOP program, $5 million for the Moving to Work Demonstration, $2.5 million for the Resident Uplift and Economic Development Program, and $5 million for service coordinators--leaving just over $42 million available for competitive grants for ED/SS. Ten percent of this amount is set aside for Indian housing authorities.
In 1997, grants were awarded by a sliding scale system. For the family economic development category: no more than $250/unit--up to $150,000 for HAs with fewer than 781 units; up to $500,000 for HAs with 781-7,300 units; up to $1 million for HAs with 7,301 or more units. For the elderly and disabled services category: no more than $250/unit for units occupied by elderly or disabled residents--up to $100,000 for HAs with up to 217 units; up to $200,000 for HAs with 218-1,155 units; up to $300,000 for HAs with 1,156 or more units.
Technical Guidance:
ED/SS is authorized under the Community Planning and Development section of the FY 1997 Appropriations Act (P.L. 104-204). It is administered by the Community Safety and Conservation Division, Office of Public and Indian Housing. Contact Maria Queen, 202-708-4214.
For More Information:
General information on ED/SS and other supportive services for public housing residents is available from the Resident Initiative Clearinghouse (RIC), 1-800-955-2232, TTY: 1-800-877-8339.