In an effort to help public housing and Housing Choice Voucher residents in Indiana find jobs and improve their education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently awarded $1.2 million to housing agencies across the state through the Family Self-SufficiencyProgram (FSS).
HUD’s FSS Program promotes the development of local strategies to connect Housing Choice Voucher recipients and families living in public housing with public and private resources to increase earned income and financial literacy, reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance, and make progress toward economic independence and self-sufficiency.
In 2014, Congress combined fun-ding for the Public Housing FSS and Housing Choice Voucher FSS programs into one program serving both populations. The grants announced recently will allow public housing agencies (PHAs) to work with social service agencies, community colleges, businesses, and other local partners to help public housing residents and Housing Choice Vou-cher Program participants to increase their education and/or gain marketable skills that will enable them to obtain employment and advance in their current work.
As the Department of Opportunity, HUD is supporting folks with job training and computer access, said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. These grants will link people to the tools they need to compete and succeed in the workplace and become self-sufficient.
These Family self-sufficient grants will help empower individuals and their families to get them on a pathway towards prosperity to help them reach their full-potential, said Antonio R. Riley, HUD Midwest Regional Administrator.
The FSS grant helps PHAs to hire service coordinators who work directly with residents to connect them with programs and services that already exist in the local community. Service coordinators also build relationships with the network of local service providers so as to more effectively serve the residents.
