HUDLines Region IX News
Serving (California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and Pacific)

November 2014

View the published version of the Newsletter with photos

• Note from the Regional Administrator
• HUD Awards $11.2 Million Total to Help Low Income Residents
• HUD Awards $17.5 Million to Protect Children and Families
• HUD Releases Point-in-Time Count Results of Community Homelessness
• New Round of Promise Zone Competitions—Applications Due by Nov 21

Note from the Regional Administrator Ophelia B. Bascal

October is the beginning of Federal Fiscal Year 2015 and we are now operating under a Continuing Resolution that extends to December 11, 2014. We certainly have hopes for a final budget in December that fully addresses our agency's programmatic funding needs for the remainder of the fiscal year.

HUD's new secretary, Julián Castro, developed a new vision for the agency that more clearly defines our various pivotal functions and informs the public about the roles that HUD performs. This is especially important as HUD approaches its 50th anniversary in 2015. I've included the link to the Vision graphic on the HUD website: Our Vision.

HUD Awards $11.2 Million Total to Help Low Income Residents Receive Job Training and Employment in Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam.

On September 29 HUD awarded more than $11.2 million to help public housing and Housing Choice Voucher residents throughout Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam connect with local services to improve their education and employment and to put them on a path to self-sufficiency.

Funded through HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS), these grants allow public housing agencies to work with social service agencies, community colleges, businesses, and other local partners to help public housing residents and individuals participating in HUD's Housing Choice Voucher Program to increase their education or gain marketable skills that will enable them to obtain employment and advance in their current work. In 2014, Congress combined funding for the Public Housing FSS (PH FSS) and Housing Choice Voucher FSS (HCV FSS) programs into one program serving both populations.

• News releases on Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam: HUD Website
• Funding To Aid Job Training For Low-Income Nevadans: KOLO-TV ABC 8 (www.kolotv.com/news/headlines/Funding-To-Aid-Low-Income-Nevadans-277483871.html)
• Valley housing agencies get job training grants: The Business Journal (http://thebusinessjournal.com/news/employment/14047-valley-housing-agencies-get-job-training-grants)
• Hawaii County gets HUD grant: West Hawaii Today (http://westhawaiitoday.com/community-bulletin/hawaii-county-gets-hud-grant)

HUD Awards $17.5 Million to Protect Children and Families in California and Arizona from Dangerous Lead and Other Home Hazards

The grant funding will reduce the number of lead-poisoned children and protect families by targeting health hazards in low-income homes with significant lead and/or other home health and safety hazards. In addition, some of these grants will support research on increasing the effectiveness of hazard reduction methods. These programs have a demonstrated history of success, filling critical needs in communities where no other resources exist to address substandard housing that threatens the health of the most vulnerable residents, and filling research gaps essential for being able to reduce hazard reduction costs.

• HUD Awards $17.5 Million to Protect Children and Families in Arizona and California from Dangerous Lead and Other Home Hazards: HUD Website
• Phoenix gets grant to protect homes vs lead paint: KASW-CW6 & KTVK-3TV

HUD Releases Point-in-Time Count Results of Community Homelessness

On October 30, 2014, HUD released the latest estimate of homelessness in the U.S., noting a continued overall decline in the total number of persons experiencing homelessness and significant reductions particularly among veterans and those persons living on the streets. HUD's 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress finds that there were 578,424 persons experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2014 in the U.S

HUD's annual 'point-in-time' estimates seek to measure the scope of homelessness on a single night in January. Based on data reported by state and local planning agencies across the country, last January's one-night estimate reveals a 33 percent drop in homelessness among veterans since 2010 and a 10.5 percent decline since last year. State and local communities throughout the U.S. also reported a 15 percent decline in the number of families with children experiencing homelessness since 2010, as well as a 53 percent reduction among these families who were found be to unsheltered.

• HUD Reports that Homelessness in U.S. Continues to decline: HUD Website
• Homelessness Down in Arizona: Arizona Public Media (https://radio.azpm.org/p/kuaz-featured/2014/11/3/48389-homelessness-down-in-arizona/)
• HUD Issues Homelessness Report to Congress: National Low Income Housing Coalition (http://nlihc.org/article/hud-issues-homelessness-report-congress-1)
• These five charts show the progress made in fighting homelessness: Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/31/these-five-charts-show-the-progress-made-in-fighting-homelessness/)
• State count on the rise amid nationwide decline: The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
• Hawaii's Homeless Population Increases as Nation's Numbers Decline: The Civil Beat (www.civilbeat.com/2014/10/hawaiis-homeless-population-increases-as-nations-numbers-decline/)
• Nevada's increase in homeless individuals largest in nation: Las Vegas Review-Journal (www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/nevada-s-increase-homeless-individuals-largest-nation)
• California sees 7 percent decline in total homeless since 2010: Central Valley Business Times (www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=27047)

New Round of Promise Zone Competitions—Applications Due by Nov 21

In September, HUD, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Transportation and Education announced a competition to designate a new round of Promise Zones. These Promise Zones are part of the President's plan to create a new pathway to the middle class by partnering with local communities and businesses to create jobs, increase economic security, improve educational opportunities, and reduce violent crime.

Urban, rural, and tribal communities nationwide will be invited to put forward a plan to partner with local business and community leaders to make evidence-based investments that reward hard work and expand opportunity. In exchange, these designees will receive priority access to federal investments that further their strategic plans, federal staff on the ground to help them implement their goals, and five full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members to recruit and manage volunteers and strengthen the capacity of the Promise Zone initiatives.

• Obama Administration announces competition to designate next round of Promise Zones: HUD Website
• Obama Administration Launches Second Promise Zone Competition to Create Economic Opportunity in High-Poverty Communities: White House Website (www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/19/obama-administration-launches-second-promise-zone-competition-create-eco)
• Second round to Promise Zone competitions: The Housing Assistance Council (www.ruralhome.org/whats-new/mn-whats-new/45-announcements/996-second-round-of-promise-zone-competition-announced)
• HUD, administration announce Promise Zone competition: HousingWire (www.housingwire.com/articles/31425-hud-administration-announce-promise-zone-competition)

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