Intervention (Hidden)
The FUP program is designed to serve families where lack of adequate housing is a primary factor in the imminent removal of a child from the household, or where it is a barrier to reunification, and families are deemed eligible by the Public Housing Agency for a Housing Choice Voucher. Typically, families are identified by child welfare case workers as meeting the child welfare criteria and then referred to the public housing authority to verify eligibility for the voucher. The minimum eligibility criteria for a housing choice voucher are that the family has inadequate housing, has an income below 30 percent of the area median income, there is no adult sex offender living in the household, and no adult living in the household has been convicted of producing methamphetamines in public housing. Public housing authorities may have additional eligibility requirements around criminal history or housing history (e.g., no felonies in the last three years, the family does not owe arrears to the public housing authority). The additional criteria are often complicated allowing for appeals and exceptions.
The primary service provided by FUP is a housing voucher. The family generally pays 30 percent of their income toward rent and utilities, and the voucher makes up the difference—up to a locally defined rent cap. The voucher is permanent as long as the family continues to meet the eligibility requirements and complies with other requirements (e.g., recertification of income eligibility).
Other services that comprise the FUP program may include case management; housing search assistance, especially in low-poverty census tracts; financial assistance; post-move counseling; and HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program, or a comparable self-sufficiency program. Sites are highly encouraged to provide case management by HUD. Per the HUD 2018 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), case management must include, at a minimum, “…a needs assessment to identify all of a family’s needs including housing-related needs and non-housing-related needs (such as behavioral health, physical health, employment, child care, and other services needed), referrals to services to address the family’s needs, and regular contact (based on need) with the family to follow up on these referrals and provide new referrals as necessary” (HUD 2018 NOFA, p. 32.). While not all families will receive case management, among those that do the length of time during which the family receives case management services typically varies from 6 to 12 months. Housing search assistance must include, but is not limited to, “…providing participants with a current list of other organizations that can help families find units in low-poverty census tracts, and at least one of the following activities: neighborhood tours, unit viewings, landlord introductions in low-poverty census tracts, or financial assistance to participants for moving costs (such as security and utility deposits).” Prior research shows that some FUP sites will offer assistance not mentioned in the NOFA such as help obtaining documents, filling out applications, transportation aid, and landlord advocacy (Cunningham, Pergamit, Baum, and Luna, 2015). Financial assistance may include, but is not limited to, “…moving cost assistance, security deposit assistance, and utility startup (including utility arrears).” Post-move counseling must include “…at least one of the following: budget counseling, credit counseling (including credit restoration counseling), periodic check-ins, subsequent-move counseling if the family…decides to move a second time, or landlord-tenant mediation.”