Population: Justice-Involved

The investment will support development of the innovative K-Town Residential Workforce Development Center.

Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) is pleased to announce a $13 million New Market Tax Credit Allocation (NMTC) to Lawndale Christian Legal Center (LCLC) for its planned K-Town residential workforce development center in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.

The NMTC allocation will fund the redevelopment of the property into 20 supportive housing units and a job training center for men aged 18 to 24 facing housing instability and involvement with the justice system. In addition to housing, the investment will support holistic wraparound social supports, a culinary training program for the residents and additional office spaces for staff.

The LCLC award marks CSH’s first NMTC investment for individuals involved with the justice system and is its inaugural NMTC investment in Chicago. LCLC will leverage the award with other funding sources to provide job training and “efficiency style” apartments for men exiting the justice system.

“CSH is pleased to support LCLC and the K-Town residential workforce development center that will transform the lives of people who have experienced trauma as a result of their involvement with the justice system,” said Jill Steen, Director, New Market Tax Credits at CSH. “This award is part of CSH’s ongoing multimillion-dollar investment for housing and services that are owned, operated, and serve communities who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).”

CSH expects the K-Town development project to create more than 150 construction jobs, most of which will be for workers with less than a two-year college degree and over 40 permanent, full-time jobs.

CSH, a national nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), plays a pivotal role in supporting the development of quality, affordable and supportive housing, and services. CSH actively increases housing and service pipelines by providing Technical Assistance (TA), training, and consulting services to developers, service providers, and jurisdictions.

For more information about this project or CSH’s New Market Tax Credit offerings, please contact Jill Steen, Director, NMTC at [email protected].

In a collaborative effort organized by CSH, representatives from two cities recently gathered in Philadelphia for a multi-day convening focused on addressing the complex challenge of street homelessness and people experiencing mental illness or substance use disorder. Coordinated by the CSH Michigan and Metro (NY, NJ, and PA) teams, this meeting brought together key stakeholders from each city, including officials from mayoral offices, city agencies, police departments, housing and service providers, and community-based organizations.

Detroit’s delegation, including officials from Mayor Mike Duggan’s Office, the Housing and Revitalization Department, Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, and the Detroit Police Department, joined counterparts from Philadelphia, represented by various departments and organizations such as the Office of Homeless Services, the Managing Director’s Office, the Office of Criminal Justice, Families Forward Philadelphia, the House of Passage Access Point, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, the Philadelphia Police Department, Project HOME, and Pathways to Housing PA.

The meeting served as a platform for an exchange of best practices, lessons learned, successes, and challenges in addressing homelessness, mental illness, and substance use disorders. As the host city, Philadelphia showcased innovative initiatives in homeless services, police diversion, response to the opioid epidemic, and behavioral health investment in housing and homeless services.

For instance, the Philadelphia Police Department highlighted its Police-Assisted Diversion (PAD) program, a pilot initiative redirecting individuals with low-level, non-violent offenses toward supportive, peer-based social services instead of the carceral and justice systems. Additionally, host organizations shared details about preventative programs such as the Overdose Prevention and Community Healing Fund, a $3.5 million grantmaking program, and innovative harm reduction practices by Pathways to Housing, including in-unit technology that supports tenants and prevents overdoses.

“CSH expresses gratitude for the opportunity to collaborate with communities committed to improving services for individuals facing complex barriers to housing. The insights gained from this meeting provide valuable lessons for other communities looking to implement person-centered preventative programs,” said Brian McShane, Associate Director of CSH PA/NJ. “The collaborative efforts witnessed in Philadelphia underscore the potential for impactful, city-wide change, setting a precedent for future collaboration and progress in addressing homelessness.”

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.

The New York City Frequent Users System Engagement program (FUSE) was part of the CSH’s Returning Home Initiative, a multi-year effort of public, inter-agency collaboration and investment that provided supportive housing for people cycling between incarceration and homelessness. NYC FUSE targeted persons with recurring homelessness and incarceration, most of whom challenged also by health, mental health, and/or substance use issues.

Columbia University researchers evaluated FUSE by comparing program participants with a closely matched comparison group of “frequent users.” This evaluation found that supportive housing significantly reduced participants’ (re)admissions to and time spent in jail and homeless shelters and their use of crisis healthcare services. These reductions resulted in significantly lower costs for publicly supported services, offsetting housing and other program costs. Results have inspired jurisdictions throughout the US to launch similar efforts.

Now, 10 years later, the FUSE Long Term Study presents a unique opportunity to examine stable housing as a critical component of successful community reentry, not simply in the short term but over people’s lives.

How to Assess the Landscape of Background Screening in your Community

Criminal background screenings are a significant barrier to accessing housing for people involved in the justice system. It is crucial to understand how these screening procedures operate in each community to address the unfair impact of criminal background screenings in housing applications.

A “Landscape Assessment” can help identify trends in screening procedures and areas for reducing barriers. CSH designed this Landscape Assessment tool to help you conduct a comprehensive analysis of criminal background screening procedures in your community that can reduce barriers to housing and lead to recovery and stability for people involved in the justice system.

This toolkit uplifts the 2021 New Jersey Fair Chance in Housing legislation to provide insight to advocates in other jurisdictions working to expand access to housing for people with prior justice system involvement.

New Jersey was the first state to pass statewide Fair Chance in Housing legislation, also known as “ban the box” in housing, that limits the ability of landlords to consider criminal legal background checks at the beginning of the rental application process. This campaign passed with bipartisan support during the summer of 2021. This toolkit includes the following insights from New Jersey leaders of the Fair Chance in Housing campaign:

• Establishing the Campaign
• Building the Coalition
• Navigating Challenges
• Examples Other Jurisdictions Can Reference
• Understanding What’s in the Bill
• Key Lessons Learned

The Just in Reach Pay for Success (JIR PFS) project used upfront funding from investors to provide supportive housing to 349 individuals with disabilities and histories of homelessness who were exiting the Los Angeles County jail system. These participants received services from Intensive Case Management Service (ICMS) providers aligned with housing subsidies to ease their transition from jail and reentry into the community. The program focused on two primary objectives for the participants: increasing their stay in homes long-term and reducing recidivism. These measures were the basis for success payments made by Los Angeles County as part of the performance-based contract for the project. After four years of successful program operations, JIR PFS accomplished its objectives. The project’s success was sufficient to fully repay the amount provided by investors and yield a modest return on their investment.

This report will overview how the initiative came together and discuss its performance against the payment-related outcome measures. In addition, RAND Corporation, the project’s evaluator, conducted an impact evaluation and cost analysis, including a quasi-experimental assessment of the impacts and cost analysis of the program

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.