Public Housing Work Requirements: Case Study on the Chicago Housing Authority

Record Description
This Urban Institute report examines a case study of the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA’s) work requirement, which has been in existence for 10 years. The study covers the CHA staff and resident perceptions of the work requirement’s implementation and outcomes.
Record Type
Combined Date
2019-04-15T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/public-housing-work-requirements-cas…
Publication Date
2019-04-16
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Where the Other 1 Percent Live: An Examination of Changes in the Spatial Concentration of the Formerly Incarcerated

Record Description
This Russell Sage Foundation research journal article identifies changes in the spatial distribution of returning citizens in greater Chicago. While traditional reintegration among ex-offenders typically occurs within urban communities, this article also identifies changes in the spatial makeup of metropolitan regions, such as demolition of public housing and greater poverty in suburbs. These changes dispel the conventional wisdom for the reintegration of formerly incarcerated persons using 16 years of prisoner release data.
Record Type
Combined Date
2019-01-31T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/5/1/255
Publication Date
2019-02-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)
Innovative Programs

Connections to Success

Mission/Goal of Program

Originally founded in 1998 as Dress for Success Midwest, Connections to Success is a nonprofit organization serving Kansas, Missouri and Illinois that empowers individuals in their transformation to economic stability. As an OFA Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education grantee, CTS provides workforce training, life coaching, relationship education, and intergenerational support to low-resourced individuals and families.

Their mission is to break the cycle of generational poverty by helping people living in challenging situations re-establish hope, get connected with needed resources and implement a plan to reach economic independence.

Programs/Services Offered

Connections to Success (CTS) uses a holistic, evidence-based model to help individuals and families gain social capital and achieve economic independence. The organization’s approach is intergenerational, focused on improving outcomes for both parents and their children through programming and collaborations with other service providers. CTS’s model integrates training opportunities, life transformation coaching, support services and job development to equip participants for long-term success. CTS offers ongoing support to foster continued growth and career advancement. Through its holistic Pathways to Success model, CTS targets families impacted by generational poverty, incarceration, and unemployment. The model includes a Personal and Professional Development workforce training and focuses on healthy relationships, parenting, employment services, life coaching, education and skills training, volunteer engagement, and mentoring.

Interagency collaboration has been key to the program’s success. By having multiple partners involved, the team has been able to help remove barriers many individuals coming out of prison face. For example, the team helped enroll the men in SNAP, secure housing, and meet with Child Support and Probation and Parole. Additionally, employers participated in mock interviews and representatives from an apprenticeship program shared opportunities. CTS also provided new suits to each of the men, and many received job offers.

CTS focuses on intergenerational impact to ensure outcomes extend beyond the immediate future and empower the next generation. Of CTS program graduates, 74% become employed and 70% retain employment at nine months following initial employment. Additionally, 82% of those employed received earnings increase within six months of employment. CTS participants involved in the organization’s reentry programs have experienced a 14% recidivism in 12 months after release from incarceration, and for those who also participated in their mentoring program, the recidivism rate is only 8% (compared to the national average of 44%). 

Start Date
Thursday, January 1, 1998
Type of Agency/Organization
Community-Based Organization
City
St. Charles
State
Illinois
Kansas
Missouri
Geographic Reach
Multistate
Clientele/Population Served
Low-income individuals and families transitioning from generational poverty, incarceration, domestic violence and other challenging and disadvantaged situations
Topics/Subtopics
Employment
Assessment
Job Readiness
Mentoring
Supportive Services
Post-employment Supports
Special Populations
Homeless Families
Incarcerated and Individuals with a Criminal Record
URL
https://connectionstosuccess.org/

Findings from the Accelerating Opportunity Evaluation

Record Description
This brief examines the Accelerating Opportunity initiative that began in 2011, which helps adults with low basic skills obtain well-paying jobs through increasing their credentials. It reviews the implementation, impact, and cost benefits evaluations of the program in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, and Louisiana. It showed promising gains for low-skilled adults in the area of education, but earnings impacts were mixed.
Record Type
Combined Date
2018-01-29T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/findings-accelerating-opportunity-ev…
Publication Date
2018-01-30
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

How Communities Work Together: Lessons from the Chicago Community Networks Study

Record Description
This series from MDRC explores what networks of organizations can accomplish in communities. The researchers are focusing on nine Chicago neighborhoods, combining social network analysis with in-depth interviews to see how community organizations can collaborate with one another on local improvement projects. Specifically, the researchers are studying how networks affect the power of individual community groups, how networks promote effective partnerships, how those partnerships can unite people from diverse communities, and how those networks change over time. The first two parts of the series provide an introduction to social network analysis and illustrate the power in networks of community organizations.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2017-09-20T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
URL
http://www.mdrc.org/chicago-community-networks-study/power-community-networks
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Webinar: Connecting Youth Experiencing Homelessness to Employment: Policy, Programs, & Practice, September 27, 2017

Record Description
Employment is crucial for preventing and ending youth homelessness, and programs need to be well-designed and implemented to help these youth find and keep jobs. The Heartland Alliance is hosting this webinar to share policy approaches, program models, and best practices aimed at helping youth experiencing homelessness find employment. Speakers will include representatives from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, A Way Home America, and Heartland Alliance’s National Initiatives, as well as practitioners from New Moms/Bright Endeavors in Chicago and Daybreak Dayton/Lindy & Company in Dayton. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, September 27th from 2:30 to 4:00 PM EST.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2017-09-27T11:30:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://nationalinitiatives.issuelab.org/resources/28295/28295.pdf
Publication Date
2017-09-21

Improving Business Processes for Delivering Work Supports for Low-Income Families: Findings from the Work Support Strategies Evaluation

Record Description
This report by the Urban Institute describes findings of the Work Support Strategies (WSS) initiative, which helps states improve their service delivery, run programs more effectively, and modernize. Through technical assistance, grants, and peer learning, WSS aids state programs in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. This report discusses business process redesign efforts undertaken by these states and the outcomes of these efforts.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2016-02-29T19:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
SFS Category
Region
City/County
URL
http://www.urban.org/research/publication/improving-business-processes-deliveri…
Publication Date
2016-03-01

OFA Regions IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting

Record Description
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Regions IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII hosted the Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting on May 3‐5, 2016 at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Mall of America Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The meeting brought together Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Native Employment Works (NEW) stakeholders to discuss innovative strategies and collaborations to promote economic and social well‐being for individuals, families, and tribal communities. During the meeting, tribal representatives engaged in talking circles and listening sessions, shared best practices, and participated in workshops and action planning in order to more successfully serve the program participants in their communities.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2016-06-08T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2016-06-09
Upload Files
Attachment Size
Agenda 706.05 KB
Participant List 521.82 KB
TANF Drug Testing FY2014 - Elaine TopSky 228.35 KB
TANF Drug Testing FY2016 - Elaine TopSky 196.85 KB
Intake Process for Clients - Elaine TopSky 94.08 KB
OFA Regions IV-VIII Tribal TA Meeting Action Planning Template 352.18 KB
2Gen in Tribal Communities - Holly Snowball Morales 1.44 MB
Employment Strategies for Youth and the Hard-to-Employ - Charles Modiano 825.51 KB
Human Trafficking in Indian Country - Sadie YoungBird-Barusto_Linda Thompson 3.47 MB
Opportunity Link: Havre, Montana - Barbara Stiffarm 1.88 MB
Building Individual and Community Prosperity in Northcentral Montana - Barbara Stiffarm 1.05 MB
Case Management Strategies for Participation and Engagement in Career Pathways Programs, Pt. 1 - Jodie Sue Kelly 4.12 MB
Case Management Strategies for Participation and Engagement in Career Pathways Programs, Pt. 2 - Jodie Sue Kelly 3.79 MB
Garden of Truth_The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota - Nicole Matthews 817.74 KB
Speaker Biographies 519.53 KB
Tribal Talking Session_Start-Up and Planning 235.88 KB
WECARE_White Earth Coordination Assessment Resources and Education - Kim Turner 3.64 MB
Workin with Tradition_Barbara Stiffarm 1.82 MB
Summary Report 1.44 MB

Work Support Strategies Initiative: 12 Lessons on Program Integration and Innovation

Record Description
This resource from CLASP presents 12 key lessons from the Work Support Strategies (WSS) initiative, which provided grant funds and technical assistance to help six states (Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, and Idaho) analyze their service delivery systems and implement improvements to ensure that more families get the full package of work support benefits for which they are eligible. The information can help leaders and advocates in other states review programs and streamline processes to ensure that low-income working families can access and keep benefits for as long as they are eligible.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2016-03-31T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/publication-1/WSS_Lessons_4.1.1…
Publication Date
2016-04-01

Building Career Pathways for Adult Learners: An Evaluation of Progress in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin After Eight Years of Shifting Gears

Record Description
The Joyce Foundation launched Shifting Gears in 2007 to assist six Midwest states to increase the number of low-skilled adults with the education and skills they need to succeed in the 21st century economy. The Joyce Foundation extended Shifting Gears funding from 2012 – 2014 in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. These states had committed to expanding adult education bridge programs to increase the number of students transitioning into postsecondary education. This report examines the progress made in each state from 2012 – 2014, and also briefly reviews how the Shifting Gears work influenced the national discourse on increasing skills and credentials for adult learners.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2015-09-29T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
http://www.joycefdn.org/assets/images/joyceFnd_ShiftingGears3.0_update.pdf
Publication Date
2015-09-30