CSH Invests $13 Million In New Market Tax Credits With Lawndale Christian Legal Center

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 accessible 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 jill.steen@csh.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Image

Motor City Visits the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection on Joint Effort to Address Homelessness

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.
CSH team members with representatives from Detroit and Michigan standing in a group

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."

CSH team members with representatives from Detroit and Michigan sitting at a table and discussing
Michigan representatives visiting a Philadelphia supportive housing residence. There are blue couches and paintings of trees on the walls.

Background Screening Process: Template and Guidance

This template is a resource for housing providers and property managers to use as they implement a background screening process that reduces bias 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.

If your property does opt to utilize a background screening, use this template to institute a process that aims to reduce bias as much as possible, recognizing that the most equitable and efficient process for filling your units would be to eliminate the background check entirely, or utilize a policy no more restrictive than funding requires.

Emerging Practices in Inclusive Tenant Screening

This resource supports housing providers interested in implementing practices that promote more inclusivity and reduce applicant denials based on conviction history with the intention to screen more applicants in, not out. This document is non-exhaustive and is based on emerging practices informed by research and expertise generated in the field. Today, the field is continuing to evolve and research steadily growing to support more inclusive practices and policies related to tenancy of individuals with conviction and arrest history. The guidance below can be used as a starting point as you begin developing your individual tenant selection plan procedures. The adoption of this guidance is strictly voluntary, but encouraged and does not carry with it any statutory conditions or requirements.

Addressing Homelessness Among People With Justice Involvement: Los Angeles County’s Just in Reach Pay for Success Demonstration Project

Article published in Cityscape.

Stephanie Mercier at CSH and Sarah B. Hunter and RAND Corporation co-authored an article in Cityscape, a journal covering research on housing and community development, published by the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This article presents an overview of the execution and results of the inaugural Pay for Success (PFS) initiative with Los Angeles County. In 2017, the county embarked on a program utilizing the PFS framework that offered housing and supportive services as a jail alternative for those with a history of homelessness and persistent health ailments. This innovative model established a financing mechanism of two key investors, paired with funding collaborators, an intermediary team overseeing implementation and outcome benchmarks that included CSH, and an independent evaluator to assess the program's overall impact. The county collaborated with providers of housing rental assistance, service navigation, and intensive case management to administer the program. Participants were tracked over two years after enrollment and placement into supportive housing. Concurrently, the team followed the trends among a comparative cohort of similar individuals who were not program beneficiaries. This article summarizes how the program operated and was financed, what the findings were, and the broader evaluative implications. Its purpose is to spotlight how Los Angeles County applied the PFS approach to furnish supportive housing for those entangled with the justice system.

FUSE 10-Year Follow Up Report: Initial Findings

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.


Summary of State Actions: Medicaid and Justice-Involved Populations

Persons who return to the community after experiencing incarceration face many challenges. Addressing basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter is likely their priority, as many do not have a home to which they can return upon discharge. Even for those who receive family support, it is challenging to navigate the process of obtaining and maintaining the services they need to thrive in the community. To end this inequity, we must provide healthcare coverage, such as Medicaid or Medicare, to people leaving prisons to ensure they have access to life-saving healthcare and medications. Still, few go with healthcare coverage on the day of release, and those who do tend to be persons who have had very short incarcerations, measured in days, not months or years. Depending upon the length of imprisonment, most individuals' benefits like healthcare coverage and food assistance are suspended or terminated upon incarceration. Upon release from incarceration, returning citizens must work to have benefits reinstated with discharge paperwork. This process alone is a barrier.

Recognizing this challenge, various states are requesting that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allow the usage of 1115 research and demonstration waivers so they can facilitate the eligibility of Medicaid for justice-involved persons. If implemented effectively and by engaging people with lived experience (PLE) and cross-sector partners (criminal justice partners, primary care providers, pharmacy, housing options, etc.), these strategies can support continuity of care, improve health equity, decrease costs and prevent recidivism.

The report below highlights the actions states and other entities have taken or are requesting to take to allow benefit activation before people return to their communities after release from long-term incarceration

Just in Reach Pay for Success in Los Angeles

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

Health and Housing: Introduction to Cross-Sector Collaboration (via NASHP)

This article was authored by Marcella Maguire, Allie Atkeson, and Sandra Wilkniss. Dr. Maguire is Director, Health Systems Integration at CSH. Below is an excerpt and link to the article.

For the past decade or more, state leaders have worked across health and housing sectors to strengthen comprehensive services for individuals experiencing homelessness and housing instability. However, challenges remain for successful, person-centered coordination, cross-agency work and implementation. A significant restricting factor that limits coordination is the fragmentation of the health and housing sectors, with persons or households with multiple needs having to navigate multiple systems to address these needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related economic and social crises have further exacerbated long-standing needs for coordinated health and housing services. Structural and institutional racism has created segregated communities and limited access to resources, furthering the need to center equity in states’ health and housing work. Click here to access the entire article.

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.