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Community Development and Housing

Self-sufficiency efforts are directed at building stronger, more stable families and creating safe communities that meet the needs of their members in a healthy, sustainable way. The community development and housing field uses a locally-driven approach to empowering communities that emphasizes affordable, safe housing and regionally-based job and economic development as key strategic elements for sustaining healthy communities. This section of the SSRC includes resources on homelessness, home ownership, neighborhoods, rural and urban planning and development, as well as programs and approaches related to banking, energy assistance, public and Indian housing, and an assortment of community level programs.

View recommendations from the SSRC Librarian on Community Development and Housing and relevant Federal laws and regulations below. 

group of kids playing

 

Homelessness impacts low-income individuals' and families' ability to find and maintain employment and raise their children in a consistent, safe environment. Housing supports, such as rent subsidies and emergency assistance to prevent eviction assist low-income individuals and families in obtaining affordable housing and paying rent and other bills on time to avoid eviction. Place-based strategies are community-level approaches to combat homelessness, improve self-sufficiency, and increase the availability of jobs for low-income individuals in communities. 

SSRC selections: Housing stability and supports for older foster youth

This set of selections focuses on housing stability and supports for older foster youth. SSRC Selections highlight research, evaluation reports, and other publications that inform the field about key issues in, and effective practices for, fostering economic self-sufficiency.

 

SSRC Notes: Overcoming the systemic challenges of growing up in a poor neighborhood: The role of place

This SSRC note focuses on poor neighborhoods and self-sufficiency.

 

SSRC Selections: Homeless families and self-sufficiency

This set of selections focuses on homeless families and self-sufficiency.

 

SSRC Selections: Emergency preparedness

This set of selections focuses on emergency preparedness.

 

SSRC Notes: New approaches for addressing family homelessness

This SSRC Note addresses family homelessness and various approaches to mitigating it.

 

SSRC Notes: Housing First: A consumer-centered approach to ending homelessness

This SSRC Note examines Housing First, an approach that centers on providing homeless people with housing quickly, then providing support services as needed.

 

The Great Recession hits home: Asset depletion and foreclosure in Boston

This webinar explored the ways that foreclosure affects households, including finances, health, trust in lending institutions, and stability. Based on interviews with families in Boston, MA, the Scholar relayed her findings as to why households in foreclosure often end up spending their hard-earned savings and wealth in a process of asset depletion.

 

Promoting work in public housing: Employment service programs

This webinar explored Public Housing Authorities' integration of employment supports and their impacts in supporting residents' job training and work placement. Speakers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, MDRC, the Urban Institute, Abt Associates, and ICF International described their experiences implementing and evaluating economic and job development programs that focus on public housing residents.

 

SSRC Selections: Housing assistance, work, & welfare

This set of SSRC Selections focuses on housing assistance, work, and welfare.

 

SSRC Selections: Impoverished communities

This set of selections focuses on impoverished communities.

 

Federal legislation and regulatory guidance provides the operational context for community development and housing programs. Click the first link below to view legislative resources specific to community development and housing programs. Click the second link to browse additional self-sufficiency legislation and policy in the SSRC library.

View legislative resources on Community Development and Housing

  • Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
  • Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2008
  • Community Opportunities, Accountability, and Training and Educational Services Act of 1998
  • Housing and Community Development Act of 1974

Search the SSRC library for additional self-sufficiency legislation and policy

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  • Search Regulations