[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 139 (Thursday, July 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-17704]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 21, 1994]


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Part III





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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NOFA for Public and Indian Housing Family Investment Centers; Notice of 
Demonstration
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
[Docket No. N-94-3714; FR-3397-N-06]

 

NOFA for Public and Indian Housing Family Investment Centers: 
Notice of Demonstration

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 
Housing; Office of Policy Development and Research; and Special Actions 
Office, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of demonstration program.

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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