Innovative Programs

Solutions for Change

Mission/Goal of Program

Solutions for Change solves family homelessness, one family and one community at a time, delivering a permanent solution to family homelessness and deep poverty through social enterprise. Founded in 1999 by social entrepreneurs Chris and Tammy Megison, Solutions for Change works to transforms lives and communities by permanently solving family homelessness.

Programs/Services Offered

Solutions for Change delivers permanent solutions to family homelessness through an innovative academy-like experience where parents of families in the deepest of poverty are equipped with the skills, knowledge and resources needed to reclaim a contributory stake in society through jobs and by ending dependency. The model blends affordable housing, education, health services, servant leadership and workforce training to create a "work therapy" community.

Participants tripled their income in the first year through employment. 74% achieve the 500-day milestone of full-time employment and achieve their own rental housing. For those participants, TANF and Food Stamp benefits decrease by 62% at 500-day mark and 87% by end of engagement contract (1000 days). 850 families and 2200 children have moved permanently out of homelessness and obtained housing and employment, resulting in $51 million dollars in public support savings and $120 million in employment revenue generated into local economy.

Start Date

Friday, January 1, 1999

Type of Agency/Organization

Community-Based Organization

City

Vista

State

California

Geographic Reach

Onesite

Clientele/Population Served

Homeless Families with Children

Topics/Subtopics

Employment

Education and Training

Supportive Services

Health/Behavioral Health Referrals and Supports

Housing Assistance

Special Populations

Homeless Families

URL

http://solutionsforchange.org/

Beyond Reporting: Using Data as a Performance Management Tool

Record Description

This MDRC brief is part of a series that documents the implementation of the Change Capital Fund, an economic mobility initiative in New York City. The Change Capital Fund was a consortium of donors who invested in local community development corporations that were pursuing antipoverty strategies that integrated housing, education, and employment services. In this brief, the authors focus on how the Change Capital fund used program data as a tool for continuous learning and improvement, including the specific assistance that grantees received to build their capacity to use data for performance management.

Record Type

Posting Date

Wed, 08/16/2017 - 12:00

Combined Date

2017-07-13T20:00:00

Source

OFA Initiatives

SFS Category

Region

City/County

URL

http://www.mdrc.org/publication/beyond-reporting

Publication Date

2017-07-14

Section/Feed Type

Latest Information from Network (Home)

Criteria and Benchmarks for Achieving the Goal of Ending Family Homelessness

Record Description

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness released criteria and benchmarks for achieving the goal of ending family homelessness. The criteria apply to an entire community and are designed to address families with children under the age of 18 who are experiencing homelessness. Those criteria include identifying all families experiencing homelessness, using prevention and diversion strategies whenever possible, using coordinated entry processes, helping families swiftly move into permanent housing, and having plans in place to continue to prevent and end family homelessness. The benchmarks provide indicators that communities can use to measure their progress in ending family homelessness.

Record Type

Posting Date

Wed, 08/02/2017 - 12:00

Combined Date

2017-07-12T20:00:00

Source

Region

City/County

URL

https://www.usich.gov/resources/uploads/asset_library/family-criteria-benchmark…

Publication Date

2017-07-13

Section/Feed Type

Latest Information from Network (Home)

Escaping Poverty: Predictors of Persistently Poor Children’s Economic Success

Record Description

Nearly 12% of American children will spend at least half of their lives from birth to age 17 living in poverty. This report from the Urban Institute analyzes factors that have helped these persistently poor children achieve economic success. Some of those factors include spending more years in an employed family, spending fewer years in a family headed by someone with a disability, and living in less segregated and disadvantaged neighborhoods. The researchers recommend several strategies to help more persistently poor children achieve economic success, such as subsidized employment for parents and programs to help families move out of disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Record Type

Posting Date

Fri, 07/14/2017 - 12:00

Combined Date

2017-05-17T20:00:00

Source

OFA Initiatives

SFS Category

Region

City/County

URL

http://www.mobilitypartnership.org/publications/escaping-poverty

Publication Date

2017-05-18

Integrating Rapid Re-Housing & Employment: Program & Policy Recommendations for Enhancing Rapid Re-Housing

Record Description

Rapid re-housing is a strategy to combat family homelessness; ideally it entails using housing identification services to provide families with permanent housing and a short-term rental subsidy while also offering supportive services, possibly including employment assistance. In this report, Heartland Alliance analyzes the implementation of these programs, using interviews with rapid re-housing providers to make suggestions that could strengthen the implementation of these initiatives. A focus of the recommendations is on ensuring that connections to stable employment or training are facilitated as part of the rapid re-housing process.

Record Type

Posting Date

Mon, 07/03/2017 - 12:00

Combined Date

2017-03-28T20:00:00

Source

Region

City/County

URL

http://nationalinitiatives.issuelab.org/resource/integrating_rapid_re_housing_e…

Publication Date

2017-03-29

Section/Feed Type

Latest Information from Network (Home)

Well-being of Young Children after Experiencing Homelessness

Record Description

In this report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, data on young children who have stayed in emergency homeless shelters is examined to measure child well-being 20 months after a stay in a shelter. The report considers pre-reading skills, pre-math skills, developmental delays, and behavior challenges to see if homelessness has an impact on these indicators of child well-being, using national norms for young children as a comparison. Also considered are links between a lack of housing or child care stability and well-being.

Record Type

Posting Date

Thu, 06/22/2017 - 12:00

Combined Date

2017-03-13T20:00:00

Source

Region

City/County

URL

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/resource/well-being-of-young-children-after-experi…

Publication Date

2017-03-14