Administering An Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program

INTRODUCTIONonline training to better understand how FSS can benefit their agencies and residents. Theonline training takes approximately 8 to 10 hours to complete.The online training introduces key themes from the guidebook, supplemented with videoclips of FSS practitioners discussing their experience and links to additional tools andresources to help FSS staff successfully administer an FSS program. The chapters andsections of this guidebook correspond to the sections in the online training.Overview of Administering an Effective Family Self-SufficiencyProgram: A Guidebook Based on Evidence and PromisingPracticesThis guidebook is organized as follows:Chapter 1: Introduction The introduction starts with an Overview of the Administering an Effective FamilySelf-Sufficiency Program: A Guidebook Based on Evidence and Promising Practices. What is FSS and Why is it Important? briefly describes the FSS program, how itworks, and the benefits of the FSS program for PHAs and owners. The FSS Action Plan and Core Documents for the FSS Program sectiondescribes the requirements applicable to the FSS Action Plan and lists a range ofcore documents that provide requirements and guidance on the FSS program,including the FSS statute and regulations and HUD policy guidance.Chapter 2: Outreach and Goal-Setting Overview of the FSS Program Coordinator Position summarizes the responsibilitiesof the FSS program coordinator, provides recommendations on qualifications andtraining of FSS program coordinators, and offers guidance on the number of participantseach FSS program coordinator can support. The Outreach and Enrollment section describes the rules applicable to selectingFSS participants and identifies a number of innovative approaches that FSSprograms have undertaken to successfully recruit individuals to enroll in FSS. Contract of Participation and Individual Training and Services Plan describesthe requirements associated with these documents, as well as related provisions thatpromote flexibility within the FSS program. The Participant Assessments section describes how FSS program coordinatorscan conduct participant assessments to help identify participants’ strengths, serviceneeds, and barriers to self-sufficiency. Goal Setting and Helping Participants Reach Their Goals describes how FSSprogram coordinators work with participants to develop individual long-term andinterim goals.Administering an Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program pg. 3

INTRODUCTIONChapter 3: Case Management/Coaching The section on A Client-Centered Approach describes how FSS programcoordinators work with participants to help them set and achieve their goals. The Participant Meetings and Communication section provides guidance on thefrequency, manner, and topics for meetings with residents, as well as specifictechniques coordinators can employ to develop rapport and build strongerrelationships with participants. Referrals to Service Providers describes the types of organizations that typicallyserve as service referral sources and provides guidance on when to refer to serviceproviders in the community. The section on Helping Participants Build Executive Skills includes currentresearch on how FSS program coordinators can help participants build criticalorganizational and other executive skills. Executive skills (also known as executivefunction skills) are the basic skills that people need to manage themselves and theirresources in order to achieve a goal. The field’s understanding of executive skills isgrounded in science on how the brain functions.Chapter 4: Helping Participants Increase their Earnings The section on Developing an Overall Approach to Promoting and SupportingEmployment summarizes lessons from several decades of research on employmentand training strategies for low-income adults and describes approaches that haveshown promise in increasing participant incomes. Helping Participants Access Basic Skills and Postsecondary Education andTraining highlights the importance of basic and adult skills and services available toobtain them, and provides guidance on how participants can upgrade theiremployment skills, including by earning postsecondary certificates and degrees. The section on Helping Participants Find and Retain Employment providespractical tips on how FSS program coordinators can help their participants with jobsearch, retention, and advancement.Chapter 5: Helping FSS Participants Build Assets and Financial Capability The Asset-Building and Financial Capability section explains why building savingsand the ability to make good financial decisions are critical for FSS participants anddescribes ways to incorporate asset building and financial capability into casemanagement and coaching services. The FSS Escrow Account section provides an overview of escrow accounts in theFSS program, including regulations governing the escrow account, how coordinatorscan educate participants about their escrow accounts, and how participants accesstheir accrued account funds. Homeownership and Other Housing Transitions describes how FSS programscan help participants transition out of subsidized housing into homeownership ormarket-rate housing.Administering an Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program pg. 4

INTRODUCTIONChapter 6: Building an Effective FSS Infrastructure The Building Partnerships section describes the Program Coordinating Committeerequired of PHA-administered FSS programs and how FSS programs havemaximized the use of Program Coordinating Committees. This section also providesguidance on how to identify and leverage partnerships with service providers,employers, and others to better serve FSS participants. The section on FSS in the Host Environment provides guidance on buildingsupport for FSS within the administering agency and community as well as ondecisions such as whether and to what extent to ask FSS program coordinators totake on additional responsibilities, such as income reexaminations. The Fundraising section describes strategies for raising funding from a variety ofsources to help support the FSS program. FSS Reporting to HUD describes program reporting requirements, including theFSS Addendum to HUD Form 50058. The section also provides guidance on howPHAs can reduce errors in reporting on the FSS program through the PIHInformation Center. The section on Tracking Outcomes outlines the steps FSS programs take to trackthe performance of their participants, including completion of goals, graduation andother exits from the FSS program, and other program outcomes. The Minimum FSS Program Size section describes basic requirements for theminimum FSS program size for certain PHAs, including how the minimum programsize is calculated. (There is no minimum size for programs in multifamily housing.) Portability in the FSS Program summarizes portability provisions within the FSSprogram, including the circumstances under which FSS participants can continueparticipation in the FSS program when they port with their HCV to another jurisdictionand reporting requirements regarding participants that port.Appendices The Lessons Learned from Workforce Development Experience and ResearchAppendix provides additional background on the three broad insights that can bedrawn from past workforce development experience and research as described inChapter 4. The Career Pathways Framework Appendix provides additional detail on thecareer pathways framework presented in Chapter 4. The framework addressesshortcomings of past education and job training efforts by incorporating andconnecting promising new strategies so that workers’ needs can be addressed moreeffectively and holistically. The Technical Requirements of the FSS Addendum and Form 50058 sectiondescribes the events triggering the addendum that must be submitted every time anFSS participant enrolls in or exits the program.Administering an Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program pg. 5

INTRODUCTION1.2 What is FSS and Why is it Important?What is the Family Self-Sufficiency Program?The FSS program helps families in the HCV program and residents of public housing andproject-based Section 8 developments (collectively, “residents”) to increase their earningsand build financial capability and assets. * The program has two key features: A financial incentive for participants to increase their earnings in the form of anescrow savings account that increases as residents’ earnings increase. The escrowaccount helps participants build savings that they can use to improve their quality oflife and advance their personal goals. Escrow funds can also help participants coverthe cost of key services that may be needed to make progress toward goals whileenrolled in the program, such as employment training or car repair. Case management or coaching to help residents access services they may need toovercome barriers to employment, strengthen their financial capability, and addressother challenges holding them back from achieving their goals.Some PHAs are required to run FSS programs, while other PHAs are not. (See Chapter 6for more information on whether and to what extent PHAs must run an FSS program.) FSSis optional for owners of HUD-assisted multifamily developments with a Section 8 contract.Project-based voucher sites that are required to provide supportive services may offer FSSas an option to fulfill that requirement, but a resident may not lose their housing benefit as aresult of not participating in FSS.Under HUD program regulations, resident participation in FSS is completely voluntary. †Residents who choose to enroll in FSS work with an FSS program coordinator who helpsthem identify a series of intermediate and long-term goals and the steps they plan to take toachieve those goals. These steps include services residents may benefit from accessing,such as job training or basic skills education. The individual goals for each FSS participantand the steps to achieve those goals are recorded in an Individual Training and ServicesPlan (ITSP). The ITSP is part of an FSS Contract of Participation signed by theagency administering the FSS program and the head of each participating household. TheContract of Participation records the commitments of the family and the FSS program towork together to achieve the identified goals.*For up-to-date statistics on FSS program enrollment and outcomes in PHA-led FSS programs, see thediscussion of FSS Coordinator Funding in the Congressional Justifications for the most recent HUDbudget. The Congressional Justifications are available through the office of HUD’s Chief Financial Officer.†PHAs participating in the MTW demonstration have the ability to request approval from HUD to makechanges to the FSS program, including its voluntary nature for residents.Administering an Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program pg. 6

INTRODUCTIONAll FSS participants are required to include the following two goals in their ITSP:1. All household members must be independent of welfare cash assistance fromfederal or state welfare programs for at least the last 12 months of theirparticipation in the program. The requirement applies solely to ongoing cashassistance. Food stamps, Medicaid, or short-term non-recurring cash payments(such as a one-time payment of emergency assistance to help a family avoideviction or meet a medical expense) are not included.2. The Head of Household must seek and maintain suitable employment.Residents can also identify other goals. The Contract of Participation lasts for up to fiveyears, but residents can graduate sooner so long as they have achieved their goals. Ifresidents need more time to fully achieve their goals, they can request an extension of up totwo years for good cause.Once families enroll in FSS they become eligible to build savings through the FSS escrowaccount. The FSS escrow account is an account maintained by the PHA or owner thatgrows as the household earnings of FSS participants increase. Like most residents ofsubsidized housing, FSS participants pay rent based on a percentage of their householdincome. When residents’ household income rises, the amount they must pay toward rentalso rises. Unlike other residents, however, FSS participants have an opportunity to captureincreased rent payments in the form of escrowed savings. For FSS participants, the PHA orowner will deposit an amount generally equal to the increase in rent due to the household’sincreased earnings into the FSS escrow account. This allows FSS participants to buildsavings over time. For more details on the escrow calculation, see the FSS Escrow AccountCredit Worksheet id 52652.pdf) and 24CFR §984.305(b).There are two ways FSS participants can access their escrowed savings. First, when FSSparticipants graduate from the program by achieving their ITSP goals, they become eligibleto withdraw the full amount of their escrowed savings, which they may use for any purpose.Second, at the discretion of the FSS program, FSS participants may be allowed to accesstheir escrowed funds prior to graduation when they have achieved one or more interimgoals. FSS escrow funds can only be released early if the funds will be used for a purposeconsistent with the participant’s ITSP. For example, some FSS programs allow participantsto withdraw FSS escrow funds to pay for college tuition or a job training program or repairsto a car needed to commute to work.All FSS programs have program coordinators who provide service coordination toparticipants throughout the course of their participation in the program. FSS programcoordinators help participants stay on track toward achieving their goals and accessresources in the community to support their progress.Administering an Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program pg. 7

INTRODUCTIONTo achieve their individual goals, many participantswill need services. These may include employmentservices (such as resume building, job searchassistance, and job training), services to buildfinancial capability (including credit counseling,financial education, and asset-building programs),educational programs (such as basic skillsdevelopment, ESL classes, GED preparation, two- orfour-year college courses, and job training), andother wrap-around services such as health care,child care, transportation, and emergency services.HUD does not fund these services, and most PHAsand owners do not provide them directly. Instead,FSS programs generally form partnerships withservice providers in the community and then referFSS participants to those partners to access theneeded services. FSS program coordinators alsoassess the needs of FSS participants (or makereferrals for assessments), help participants setgoals, and provide ongoing support andencouragement to help participants achieve theirgoals. (See Chapter 2 for more information on therole of the FSS program coordinator.)What are the Benefits of Offering anFSS Program?FSS programs provide many benefits for PHAs andowners:FSS Program CoordinatorsDiscuss Why FSS isImportantThe FSS program is our singlemost important opportunity toinspire our families to createpositive change in their lives and touse our housing assistance as aplatform for economic security andself-sufficiency. Judson Brown, Santa AnaHousing AuthorityI would recommend to a housingauthority that [it would bebeneficial] for them to have an FSSprogram It empowers individuals tobetter their lives, get a better job,possibly a better education, and[may] eventually help them to getoff a subsidy program. Michelle Molina, John D'Ameliaand AssociatesI think FSS is an amazingprogram. It’s unusual to have afull five years [to work withparticipants]. I've never seen aprogram longer than one or twoyears. So it's a great opportunity toreally help people to change, andgive them hope again, and faith,and to face those changes, and tocope, to learn to cope with thewelfare cliff when they start gettinga job, and suddenly paying higherrent and all kinds of things,transportation needs now, andthings like that. And of course theescrow savings is an automaticsavings as they raise theirearnings. Nancy Scull, HousingOpportunities Commission (retired) FSS programs support efforts by PHAs andowners to help residents make progresstoward economic security. By establishing anFSS program, PHAs and owners gain theability to provide residents with the FSSescrow account. The escrow accountprovides a financial incentive (andcounteracts what many residents see as abuilt-in disincentive) for participants toincrease their earnings as well as a vehiclefor participants to build savings. Whileenrolled in FSS, participants can also workon improving their credit, building savings,budgeting, and strengthening their financial knowledge. FSS programs help support a mixed-income resident body and help PHAs andowners serve more families. FSS helps existing residents increase their earningsand helps some residents make the transition to unassisted housing. This leads to aAdministering an Effective Family Self-Sufficiency Program pg. 8

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guidance on how to run an effective FSS program. By applying the promising practices described in this guidebook to their local FSS programs, FSS program coordinators can strengthen their programs to provide more effective assistance to FSS participants, helping participants to successfully achieve their goals and make tangible progress toward