# NOFA for Public and Indian Housing Family Investment Centers: Notice of Demonstration > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-17704 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Uncategorized Document - **Published:** July 21, 1994 ## Text SUMMARY: This Notice announces the Department's intention to contribute up to $1 million from the Family Investment Center (FIC) program to assist in developing a center to anchor an integrated family support network in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. The system of services and outreach to which the demonstration will contribute will increase the intensity and variety of educational and supportive services available to eligible residents. The Department had indicated in a Notice of Funding Availability published earlier (59 FR 9592, 9592; February 28, 1994) that it would be publishing notice of such a demonstration. This notice provides guidelines for the use of these funds and invites comments on the proposed demonstration. DATES: Comment due date: September 6, 1994. ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the above docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable. A copy of each communication submitted will be available for public inspection and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays at the above address. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Valerie Piper, Special Projects Officer, Special Actions Office, Room 10232, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 708-1547 (TDD users may call the Federal Information Relay Service at (202) 708-9300 or 1-800-877-8339). (Other than the ``800'' number, telephone numbers are not toll-free.) SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Paperwork Reduction Act Statement The information collection requirements that would be applicable through this notice have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget, under section 3504(h) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and assigned OMB control number 2577-0189. Authority Section 22 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437t) provides for the establishment of Family Investment Centers (FICs). On February 28, 1994, the Department published a Notice of Funding Availability announcing the first competition for grant funds under the program (59 FR 9592; amended at 59 FR 18570 (April 19, 1994) and 59 FR 29816 (June 9, 1994)). In the February 28 notice, the Department also indicated that it: * * * intends to use $1 million for purposes of demonstrating ways for families living in public and Indian housing in a neighborhood undergoing a concentrated effort of local revitalization to gain access to education and employment activities to achieve self- sufficiency and independence, by enabling housing authorities to develop training and support services. These funds will be used to mobilize public and private resources to expand and improve delivery of services, to provide funding for essential training and support services that cannot otherwise be funded, to improve the capacity of management to assess the training and services needs of eligible families, to coordinate the provision of training and services that meet such needs and to ensure the long-term provision of such training and services. The Department expects that this funding will demonstrate the importance of comprehensive support services in contributing to the local neighborhood revitalization. 59 FR 9592 (February 28, 1994) In accordance with the requirements of section 470(a) of the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 3542), this notice describes the proposed demonstration and invites public comment. Any changes made in this demonstration as a result of the Department's consideration of public comments, and any extension of time for the commitment of funds necessary because of these changes, also will be published in the Federal Register. The Department will not commit funds for the proposed demonstration until after the latest of: (1) the date the Department has considered any comments received in response to this notice; (2) September 19, 1994, which is 60 days after today's publication date; and (3) the date the Department has received and approved an application that meets the requirements imposed in this notice and any subsequent notice announcing changes in the demonstration. If funds are committed for this demonstration, the Department also will publish in the Federal Register a notice announcing this fact. Background of Demonstration Community Building in Partnership (CBP) is a long-term partnership between the residents of the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, the City of Baltimore (Maryland), and The Enterprise Foundation. CBP acts as a focal point for coordinated planning and action to achieve objectives set by the residents of Sandtown-Winchester, as supported by planning professionals and City staff, over a two-year planning and program design period. The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) also is integrally involved in the effort to transform the neighborhood, which contains over 850 units of public housing. For purposes of this demonstration, the Department will make up to $1 million available to the HABC for use in establishing a FIC in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood. The funding will be used in accordance with the statutory requirements of the FIC program to contribute to an integrated network of supportive services for public housing and other neighborhood residents. The system of services and outreach planned by the community, CBP, the City, and the HABC will not only increase the intensity and variety of educational and supportive services available to neighborhood residents, it will also establish a delivery system involving residents who will work with neighbors to ensure progression towards self- sufficiency. Residents involved as ``Family Advocates'' will work with trained social workers to manage the most complex cases. Together with service providers, the advocates and case workers will form ``Family Support Teams'' and will create a new system to integrate, at the community level, the multiple supportive service programs that affect most Sandtown-Winchester residents. The focal point of this service provision and outreach activity will be a Family Resource Center located in a City-owned facility on Mount Street in Sandtown-Winchester. Most of the funding provided under this demonstration will be used to renovate and expand the Mount Street facility. Remaining funds will be used for service coordination by the Family Support Teams and for core support services. Core support services will help families and individuals to overcome personal difficulties that inhibit their readiness to work, and will include such services as literacy and G.E.D. training and drop-in day care. In addition to the FIC funding proposed under this demonstration, public and private organizations will support the Family Resource Center, its core services, and the Family Support Teams. This network will deliver necessary services to public housing residents as part of the larger community, through the community-wide system developed by HABC, the City, and CBP. The Department believes that the institutional integration--of which this demonstration will be one part--will enhance the quality, continuity, and impact of support provided to public housing residents. HABC will be a particularly active partner in this endeavor, drawing upon its experience with the Family Development Center at Lafayette Courts, which provided one of the models for the national FIC program. Core support services and Family Support Team activities supported by FIC funding provided under this demonstration will be targeted to ensure that a proportionate number of public housing families are served. Funding from other sources will support the provision of services to other neighborhood residents. Private foundations and the City of Baltimore have both committed funding and in-kind donations to the project. The Department expects that this demonstration will leverage more public and private funding as the project progresses. The Department will allocate up to $1 million to HABC to carry out its part of the project, pending receipt and approval of an application that is consistent with program and submission requirements as established in this notice and any subsequent notice issued after the comment period has closed. Sandtown-Winchester Throughout the nation, collaborations between community-based organizations and private foundations are establishing partnerships to address the full range of human needs in disadvantaged communities-- public safety, education, job training and placement, health and human services, housing and open space development, and others. These comprehensive community development and revitalization efforts seek not only to accomplish specific projects, but also to build community-based institutions that will continue to provide for residents' needs over the long term. Government at the local, State and Federal levels, as well as corporate partners and intermediary development organizations, have become involved in these projects to varying degrees. In Baltimore, the CBP comprehensive community-based strategy is especially well-advanced. Working with the CBP, the City of Baltimore and its Housing Authority have made the transformation of the Sandtown- Winchester neighborhood one of their highest priorities. The CBP partnership aims to ``transform all of the dysfunctional conditions and systems in Sandtown to enable all residents to achieve their highest potential.'' The dysfunctional systems the partnership addresses cross the full range of typical public and human services. Additional Federal, State, and private participants in the transformation of the neighborhood include: the United States Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Health and Human Services; the Maryland State Housing Finance Agency and Community Development Agency; the National Community Development Initiative; the Kellogg Foundation; the Abell Foundation; the Mott Foundation; the Goldseker Foundation; the Strauss Foundation; Baltimore Gas & Electric Company; NationsBank; Habitat for Humanity; local churches; and many local community development groups, including Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development. The community of Sandtown-Winchester contains the 571-unit Gilmor Homes public housing development, as well as over 300 scattered-site public housing units. Nearly half of Sandtown-Winchester residents able to work are unemployed; one-third of the residents have no health insurance. The rate of death from influenza and pneumonia is 2.5 times that of the City of Baltimore. The rate of HIV infection is double that of the City, and is sixth in the State of Maryland. Students in local public schools consistently perform far below state standards on reading, writing, and math tests, and absenteeism is a major problem. Forty-nine percent of all residents live in poverty, and five of six poor children live in single-parent households headed by women. The Sandtown-Winchester crime rate is one of the highest in the City. Typical systems for delivering basic public services of employment, human services, health, education, housing, and public safety have not met the complex and interrelated needs of the residents in Sandtown- Winchester, who have needs typical of residents in many disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout the nation. Large amounts of resources have flowed into the neighborhood from various public and private sources, particularly from government programs meant to address only distinct elements of the many interrelated problems, which have persisted from generation to generation, that are faced by Sandtown-Winchester's residents. CBP is working to change the delivery systems for these programs and resources, to make these services and housing opportunities more accessible to and effective for neighborhood residents. Through the Family Support Teams that will work with clients and their changing needs, the Family Resource Center will transform the delivery system for supportive services from a fragmented maze into a highly responsive personal- and neighborhood-based system. In addition to the core services planned to be available at the Family Resource Center, public housing and other residents of the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood will be able to access other CBP and partner activities and programs. The Family Resource Center, with its outreach and case management capabilities, will identify residents' needs, connect them to neighborhood-based and City-wide service providers, and monitor their clients' progress. Programs available to residents will include community-based job training, job placement and small business technical assistance, and health care that is focused on preventative measures and primary health care needs. A new Neighborhood Development Center has begun to coordinate the efforts of several community development corporations and other housing providers to construct or renovate housing in the area and to offer counselling and referrals for rental, special needs, and ownership opportunities. Plans to treat substance abuse in the neighborhood include residential, outpatient, support group, and in- home counselling. Youth education and activities programs will include targeted outreach to children from birth to five years of age, to ensure school readiness through a variety of support strategies. Extensive school to work programs and expanded summer recreation and after-school activities involving parents are also planned. Because of the initiative already taken at the local level and the working partnership forged there, the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood transformation project is an ideal demonstration environment for service delivery integrated across existing Federal program lines. Too often, the requirements of Federal programs have dictated institutional structures at the local level that stand in the way of comprehensive delivery of housing and services to those who need these services to achieve self-sufficiency. The City of Baltimore, HABC, and the community have all come together, supported by The Enterprise Foundation and many private contributors, to implement the Sandtown- Winchester neighborhood transformation. This coordination creates a rare opportunity for the Department to test the capacity of its existing programs to serve in the context of a truly integrated and comprehensive transformation effort. Applicable Requirements Through this demonstration, the Department will explore ways to encourage neighborhood transformation partnerships by, for example, meshing its programs to the needs of the local agencies to coordinate the delivery of programs and services. The strategy to which the demonstration will contribute will integrate public housing residents fully into the services and activities available to the rest of the community, in order to reduce the isolation often imposed by different institutional delivery systems acting within small geographical areas. In order to receive the funding proposed in this notice, the HABC will be required to meet the applicable programmatic and application requirements set out in the NOFA for Public and Indian Housing Family Investment Centers (published at 59 FR 9592 (February 28, 1994), and amended at 59 FR 18570 (April 19, 1994) and 59 FR 29816 (June 9, 1994)) and any subsequent notice that is published after the comment period has closed. When applicable, the certifications, findings, determinations, and requirements listed by the Department under the ``Other Matters'' section of that NOFA also apply to this notice. Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1437t, 3535(d), and 3542. Dated: June 28, 1994. MaryAnn M. Russ, Acting Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing. [FR Doc. 94-17704 Filed 7-20-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4210-33-P --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-17704. Public record. Not legal advice.