Geography: National

This template is a resource for housing providers and property managers to use as they implement a background screening process that improves fairness and lowers barriers for people who have historically been excluded from housing opportunities.

The template can be used as is or adjusted to suit the needs of the community.

While the most fair and efficient process for filling housing units would be to eliminate background checks entirely, or use a policy that is the least restrictive possible, this template can help housing providers create a process that aims to improve fairness if they do opt to utilize a background screening.

This resource outlines best practices for housing providers who want to promote more fairness and reduce applicant denials based on conviction history. These best practices are intended to help housing providers screen more applicants in, rather than screen them out.

These best practices are non-exhaustive and are based on emerging practices informed by research and expertise from the housing field. Today, the housing field is continuing to evolve. Research is growing to support more fair screening practices and policies related to tenants with conviction or arrest histories.

This guide can be used as a starting point as providers begin developing tenant selection policies. The adoption of this guidance is encouraged but strictly voluntary, and does not carry with it any statutory conditions or requirements.

This resource presents frequently asked questions and answers regarding background screening processes. This FAQ resource addresses the most common concerns when building fair tenant screening policies for supportive housing.

These briefs discuss how Family Unification Program (FUP) and Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) federal housing vouchers can support transition, wellbeing, and stability for youth/young adults’ transitions from foster care involvement with the child welfare system. Part 1 provides an overview of FUP and FYI vouchers. Part 2 offers a detailed guide to administering FUP and FYI vouchers for youth and young adults. 

The publications were made possible in collaboration with Casey Family Programs, whose mission is to provide, improve – and ultimately prevent the need for – foster care.

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To access Part 1, please continue to through the link below.

Meaningful changes to decrease the impact of the child welfare system on families must be led by the people most impacted by these systems. CSH hired a part-time Keeping Families Together (KFT) Fellow to work with CSH staff in a one-year project to co-design CSH strategy and approach to engaging parents highly impacted by child welfare and housing instability. The KFT co-design team approached their work in a relational way, co-creating every aspect of the work: from team meeting structure to determining final deliverables.

Below is a summary of major themes and recommendations from interviews and other experiments implemented by the KFT co-design team.

These briefs present information on federal housing voucher programs, such as the Family Unification Program (FUP), that child welfare and housing leaders can use to stabilize families through cross-sector partnerships. These briefs provide strategies for successfully administering FUP vouchers and identifying FUP eligible families. They also dispel common myths around the administration of FUP vouchers, so that these critical housing resources can be leveraged to to help strengthen families and keep children safe.

The publications were made possible in collaboration with Casey Family Programs, whose mission is to provide, improve – and ultimately prevent the need for – foster care.

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To access the Brief on Family Housing Vouchers – Part 2, follow the link below.

In the summer and fall of 2022, CSH and Casey Family Programs hosted a virtual talking circle and a series of subsequent conversations with Native American leaders, service providers and families from across the United States that work in the fields of child welfare, Indian Child Welfare Act and supportive housing. These conversations were led by Patty Beech Consulting, and focused on how to better connect quality, affordable housing and supportive services to Native American families who are at-risk of being separated or who have child welfare system involvement and are facing homelessness or housing instability.

This brief provides ten steps that child welfare and family support leaders and their communities can take to advance a family eviction prevention plan. This plan aligns with broader shifts in child welfare policy and practice to build community- based preventative supports that strengthen families and keep children safe.

These briefs report on the impact of evictions on families and present information on what child welfare and family support leaders and their communities can do now to prevent evictions for families and the importance of immediate and long-term cross-sector prevention strategies. In addition, the briefs include a list of ten steps to advance a family eviction prevention plan aligned with broader shifts in child welfare policy and practice and efforts to build community-based preventative supports that strengthen families and keep children safe.

The publications were made possible in collaboration with Casey Family Programs, whose mission is to provide, improve – and ultimately prevent the need for – foster care.

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For additional information, download our brief on 10 things to do to prevent family evictions:

This paper published with the generous support from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation shares critical information about the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program and how it can boost ‘services’ in supportive housing. HCBS services help individuals live comfortably in their own homes, despite challenges commonly faced by people with disabilities and all of us as we age. HCBS will be an essential supplementary resource to help supportive housing tenants thrive in their community at all ages.