Family Self-Sufficiency Program Graduates Honored in New Jersey

Four housing authorities in New Jersey joined forces to celebrate 23 Morris County families that graduated from HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program. The Madison, Morris County, Dover, and Morristown Housing Authorities, and Northwest New Jersey Community Action Partnership (www.norwescap.org/)(Norwescap) proudly recognized recent graduates during a ceremony held at the Madison Community Arts Center ceremony.

HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency program encourages and enables HUD-assisted families to increase their earned income and reduce their dependency on rental subsidies. Once an eligible family decides to participate in the program, a five-year contract is executed, specifying the family's individual goals, which may include job training and other educational objectives, English language proficiency, homeownership education, debt reduction, and budgeting.

This year the Madison Housing Authority alone honored 15 FSS graduates. Their accomplishments included substantially increased earned income, obtaining bachelor's degrees and employment certifications, obtaining U.S. Citizenship, English language tutoring, eliminating debt, and improving credit scores — and voluntary withdrawal from the rental subsidy program.