FSS Toolkit

If you would like to recommend a resource for inclusion on this page, please send a proposed write up in the same format generally used on this page to: toolkit@fsspartnerships.org .

NOTE: Many of the selections included in the initial release of this Toolkit were developed through HUD's Technical Assistance contracts with Quadel Consulting and the Nelrod Company in which Abt Associates Inc. and ICF Consulting Inc. participated as sub-contractors. Although prepared initially in connection with the Welfare-to-Work Voucher program, all of these public domain materials summarized here have application to FSS. The summaries of such materials provided below are generally excerpts from longer write-ups prepared by the technical assistance provider.

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Cars

Contact: Kimm Phillips, Family Services Administrator, NHHFA, 603-310-9230, kphillips@nhhfa.org

FSS participants need reliable transportation but often cannot qualify for conventional financing to purchase a car. To meet this need, NHHFA partnered with a local non-profit to provide reliable cars at affordable prices. Wheels to Work, a non-profit program operated through a local community action program, operates a vehicle donation and distribution program and works with various referring agencies who serve low-income people entering the workforce. Financing of the vehicles was supported through a local bank with stringent credit requirements and market interest rates. Since a large number of FSS participants have past credit issues, however, many were not able to obtain the financing needed to purchase the cars. Wheels to Work and NHHFA's FSS Program collaborated to allow financing for FSS participants through NHHFA's Loan & Grant Program. FSS participants now have access to low-mileage, reliable vehicles, that are priced well-below book value, and financed with a one-percent interest rate. Since March 2002, five FSS participants have financed Wheels to Work vehicles through the FSS Loan Program. All of these participants were denied conventional bank financing because of problem credit or a lack of established credit history. The vehicles distributed were all 1997 or newer with less than 60,000 miles. The average loan payment is less than $100/month and carries a term of 2.5 years.

Case Management -- Leveraging Additional Resources for

Organizations: Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) and Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Assistance (DPA)

The YES program is a partnership between the state housing agency (AHFC) and the state TANF agency (DPA) to expand participation in the FSS program among TANF households. Under this partnership, DPA provides case management while the FSS participant is receiving TANF assistance and for up to six months thereafter. AHFC handles case management for the remainder of individuals’ FSS terms. Since the program helps advance the objectives of both agencies, each agency covers its own costs of participation.

Since 1995, AHFC has contracted with DPA to provide FSS case management in Anchorage. Building on the success of that relationship and further collaboration to implement a welfare-to-work voucher program, AHFC and DPA wanted to find a way to expand FSS to up to seven more communities in Alaska where both agencies have a field office. A project called “YES” for Your Earnings Saved was created to implement FSS enrollment and case management within the TANF environment.

Before implementing the YES program more broadly, AHFC and DPA decided to implement it on a pilot basis in Anchorage. The resulting YES Anchorage Can Pilot Project has just completed its first twelve months of operation. All TANF case managers in Anchorage have been trained to initiate FSS enrollment of eligible housing participants. They recruit potential participants for the program and prepare enrollment forms which are sent to the housing authority for processing. TANF case managers appreciate FSS/YES as an additional incentive to work for many families on their caseloads.

TANF workers and contractors continue to provide case management support for new FSS participants while they are still enrolled in the TANF program and for up to six months after they leave the TANF roles. AHFC staff are then able to pick up case management responsibilities for the time remaining in a participant's FSS contract. Since most of the intensive case management happens during the first few years of the contract, AHFC finds it is able to handle many more FSS participants through this collaboration with DPA than it could on its own.

As of September 2004, this approach has allowed AHFC to nearly double the reach of its FSS program, from 157 to 275 participants statewide. In January 2005, the program experienced its first graduates: one graduate accumulated $4,417.56 after just 15 months in FSS. Two other graduates increased their incomes so dramatically that they no longer needed housing assistance.

FSS Toolkit

Contents

Cars

Case Management -- Leveraging Additional Resources for