While supportive housing is the central component of a child welfare-focused supportive housing initiative, it may also be one of the most difficult for communities to identify. Supportive housing involves a combination of multiple resources—rental assistance or subsidies that ensure that housing is affordable to very low-income families, funding for services, and in some instances, capital funding to develop affordable or supportive housing buildings. To create supportive housing, communities not only need access to these often scarce resources, but also a means of linking and coordinating them so that affordable housing and supportive services can come in one combined package. Click here to learn more about operating pro formas for supportive housing.
So how can communities identify housing resources?
CSH suggests three potential approaches that may be possible in some communities:
Identify Supportive Housing Units Currently in the Development “Pipeline”
Secure Rental Subsidy Commitments or Unit Set-asides from Public Housing Authorities
Identify Affordable Housing Units Currently in the Development “Pipeline”
