I want to get involved. What can I do to help support asset building programs?

Your opinion matters! HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency program needs your support. Below is a draft letter written by Jeff Lubell, FSS Partnerships, to urge Senators and Representative to stabilize FSS funding. Feel free to personalize the letter and make it your own. Your support is urgently needed and can make a difference. Also see the October '05 EQUITY Tip of the Month to support IDA legislation.

To find your U.S. Representative: http://www.house.gov/writerep/

To find your U.S. Senator: http://www.senate.gov/

Draft Letter

Dear Senator / Representative:

Even as the Nation responds to the pressing needs of families impacted by Hurricane Katrina, it is important to ensure that our basic safety net is intact and supportive of families' efforts to build assets and acquire an ownership stake in society.

One program that urgently needs attention by Congress is HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program. FSS is an innovative and successful program designed to help families in public housing and the Section 8 voucher program build assets and make progress towards self-sufficiency and homeownership. In addition to providing critical support for asset-building efforts among the 73,000 existing FSS participants, FSS provides an existing and successful model that could be used to help lift thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims out of poverty.

Despite a proven track record, FSS is in danger due to problems with the allocation of HUD funding for FSS and other related funding issues. The impact of these problems has already been felt as HUD data suggest there are 2,000 fewer participants in FSS program than there were just a year ago, and the decline appears to be continuing. The current appropriations bills under consideration by Congress could accelerate the program's decline by reducing the funding available for the coordinators that help link participants to needed services- an essential component of the FSS program. A more stable funding stream is a prerequisite for the program's long-term success.

Most of the problems FSS faces can be fixed within current or requested funding levels for HUD without significantly impacting other HUD programs.

To stabilize funding for the FSS program, we urge Congress to:

1. Provide the full $55 million requested by the Administration for Section 8 FSS Coordinators and direct HUD to distribute these funds in a manner that ensures that each agency with an FSS program of 25 or more slots receives funding for at least one coordinator.

2. Provide the $45 million included in the Senate Conference Report for the ROSS Program that HUD uses to fund public housing FSS coordinators, rather than the $24 million proposed by the House.

3. Direct HUD to specify, in the final public housing operating fund rule, that: (a) HUD will continue its current practice of providing operating funds to cover the costs of public housing FSS escrow accounts and (b) each PHA with a FSS program of at least 25 slots may obtain reimbursement through the operating fund for the costs of its first public housing FSS coordinator.

4. Investigate and address the adverse consequences of the new Section 8 voucher funding mechanism on housing authority participation in the FSS program.

For more information, see the attached issue brief published by the New America Foundation. The Issue brief is titled "Shoring up HUD's Family Self-Sufficiency Program: Recommendations for Congressional Action," by Jeffrey Lubell and Reid Cramer. Links to the paper are available at www.assetbuilding.org and www.fsspartnerships.org.
The direct URL is: http://www.assetbuilding.org/AssetBuilding/Download_Docs/Doc_File_1344_1.pdf

Thank you very much for your help in shoring up this valuable program.