Reed announces $940K in HUD funding to help RI public housing residents increase job skills, education

 HUD Secretary Castro unveils new $24 million “Jobs Plus Pilot Program”

CENTRAL FALLS, RI — Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed brought new U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Julián Castro to Rhode Island. 

Secretary Castro began the day by joining Senator Reed, Governor Lincoln D. Chafee, Mayor James Diossa, and Congressman David Cicilline for a neighborhood tour of Central Falls.  HUD is one of the key federal agencies assisting city officials to jumpstart a revival of economic development in the city.

During the tour, the officials saw how federal investments are being put to work creating jobs and opportunities for more Rhode Islanders, as well as improving neighborhoods and helping low-income families become more self-sufficient.

The tour began at La Casona Restaurant, which has received a federal micro-enterprise zone grant for small businesses through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  Other stops along the way included Jenks Park, where $100,000 in CDBG funding was used to improve Cogswell Tower, and the city is eyeing additional federal funding to possibly upgrade the park.  Continuing down Ledge Street, Senator Reed and Mayor Diossa pointed out how $410,000 in CDBG funding has been used for the rehabilitation and development of affordable rental housing units on Ledge Street for low and moderate income families.  They also got a look at the proposed Center for Teaching and Learning on Illinois Street.  This year, $75,000 of CDBG funding was used for the environmental work and acquisition of a proposed tutoring and research center.  The proposed center will be a collaborative effort of Achieving Together: Central Falls/Rhode Island College (RIC) Innovation Lab.  Located adjacent to Central Falls High School, it would serve as a hub for professional learning and bring the presence of a higher education institution to the City.  Furthermore, the upper levels of the center could be utilized as graduate apartments that would be assigned to college students, who in exchange for living space will provide tutoring and mentoring services to Central Falls students.

Senator Reed also pointed out that the Central Falls School District has just been awarded nearly $3.7 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative.  The federal funds will be used to conduct a pilot project on how to make schools safer, primarily through the use of “restorative justice” case conferences, in which students, teachers, and families work together to resolve conflicts and repair any harm caused by misbehavior.  Reed also noted that thanks to a 2013 COPS Hiring grant of nearly $140,000, Central Falls was able to hire a School Resource Officer for Central Falls High School. 

“I appreciate Secretary Castro taking the time to come to Rhode Island to see firsthand some of the challenges and opportunities we face and the progress we are making.  Through federal-local partnerships and continued leadership from Governor Chafee, Mayor Diossa, and others, Central Falls is putting federal funding to effective use, building ladders of opportunity, and paving the way for future job growth and economic revitalization,” said Senator Reed, a senior member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, as well as a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD), which oversees HUD funding.

The tour concluded at Forand Manor, where the Central Falls Housing Authority is located.  The officials met with graduates from HUD’s Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Program.  Senator Reed announced that housing agencies in eleven Rhode Island cities and towns – including Central Falls – will receive a total of $944,261 in federal FSS funding to assist communities in developing local strategies to help public and assisted housing residents find work, access job training resources, and achieve economic independence.

Specifically, these grants allow public housing agencies to work with social service agencies, community colleges, businesses, and other local partners to help public housing residents and individuals participating in HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program increase their education or gain marketable skills that will enable them to obtain employment and advance in their current work.  Earlier this year, Congress combined funding for the Public Housing FSS and the Housing Choice Voucher FSS programs into one program serving both populations, a streamlining effort made possible by legislation authored by Reed.  The ultimate goal of the program is to support local partners in the development of a comprehensive program that provides participating FSS family members with opportunities to develop the skills and experience necessary to help them obtain employment and increase their earnings, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for welfare assistance.

“The Family Self-Sufficiency Program is about setting goals and working hard to achieve them.  This federal funding will help individuals in public housing learn marketable skills, improve their job prospects, and set them on a path towards greater economic independence and self-sufficiency,” said Reed, who introduced the Family Self Sufficiency Act.  Reed’s bipartisan bill, co-authored by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), seeks to enhance the FSS program by streamlining the administration of this program, broadening the range of supportive services that can be provided to a participant, and extending the reach of the FSS program.

Communities slated to receive the federal FSS funds include: Central Falls ($62,927); Coventry ($51,141); Cumberland ($66,764); East Greenwich ($68,424); East Providence ($24,266); Narragansett ($68,424); North Providence ($19,853); Pawtucket ($136,849); Providence ($195,103); and Warwick ($68,424).  Rhode Island Housing will also receive $182,086 in FSS funds to help other local communities with their FSS programs.

During the event, Secretary Castro also announced the availability of funding of approximately $24 million for the “Jobs Plus Pilot” program for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to develop locally-based approaches to increase earnings and advance employment outcomes for Public Housing residents.  Applications are due by December 17, 2014.

The goal of the program is to improve employment and earnings outcomes for public housing residents through supports such as work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, and financial literacy.

 -end-