HUD Archives: News Releases


HUD No. 08-189  
Donna White
(202) 708-0685
For Release
Tuesday
December 31, 2008

HUD AWARDS $49 MILLION IN GRANTS TO HELP LOW-INCOME FAMILIES GET JOB TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston today announced that public housing agencies in 48 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico will receive nearly $49 million to provide low-income people with the necessary job training to put them on a path toward self-sufficiency (see attached).

Funded through HUD's Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency Program (HCV/FSS), the grants allow public housing agencies (PHAs) to work with welfare agencies, schools, businesses, and other local partners to develop a comprehensive program to help participating individuals develop the skills and experience to enable them to obtain jobs that pay a living wage.

“This program has proven its effectiveness in helping families develop the skills that lead to stable employment,” said Preston. “Getting a decent job and increasing a person's potential for higher paying employment is the first step to becoming economically independent.”

PHAs use the funding to hire family self-sufficiency coordinators to link adults in the Housing Choice Voucher program (formerly Section 8) to local organizations that provide job training, childcare, counseling, transportation and job placement. PHAs can also hire homeownership coordinators to help families get homeownership counseling.

Participants in the HCV/FSS program sign a contract that stipulates the head of the household will get a job and the family will no longer receive welfare assistance at the end of the five-year term. As the family's income rises, a portion of that increased income is deposited in an interest-bearing escrow account. If the family completes its FSS contract, the family receives the escrow funds that it can use for any purpose, including a down payment on a home, paying educational expenses, starting a business or paying back debts.

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StateAmountStateAmount
Alabama$589,942Missouri$904,910
Alaska$64,909Montana$172,241
Arizona $1,083,043 Nebraska $314,078
Arkansas $712,171 Nevada $458,514
California $5,197,292 New Hampshire $397,477
Colorado $872,685 New Jersey $1,722,430
Connecticut $513,813 New Mexico $478,836
Dist. of Columbia $198,000 New York $3,269,907
Florida $1,481,544 North Carolina $1,465,790
Georgia $871,536 North Dakota $190,103
Guam $53,672 Ohio $2,614,013
Hawaii $384,335 Oklahoma $272,058
Idaho $580,049 Oregon $1,624,188
Illinois $1,417,505 Pennsylvania $1,736,806
Indiana $1,172,659 Puerto Rico $64,180
Iowa $885,416 Rhode Island $668,370
Kansas $465,045 South Carolina $408,100
Kentucky $1,224,556 South Dakota $143,049
Louisiana $221,956 Tennessee $967,019
Maine $287,419 Texas $2,272,895
Maryland $1,315,919 Utah $466,342
Massachusetts $2,553,395 Vermont $321,881
Maine $44,653 Virginia $1,224,880
Michigan $1,152,837 Washington $1,379,009
Minnesota $624,037 West Virginia $359,315
Mississippi $577,079 Wisconsin $506,421
Total Funding:$48,948,279

Recipients by Housing Authority listed by State

 
Content Archived: March 3, 2011