P&P August 2016

financial empowerment or literacy. As a result, unsustainable financial situ- ations can result in individuals and families needing to access emergency benefits repeatedly. The Local Council proposes strategi- cally adjusting the current entitlement and eligibility-based methodology for distributing financial supports to increase the likelihood of improved overall outcomes for individuals, setting them on a path toward greater self-sufficiency. The Local Council has joined to design self-sufficiency tools, a Self-Sufficiency Financial Calculator and a Financial Cliff Forecaster that caseworkers and clients can use to flexibly manage and distribute indi- vidualized benefits tailored to the true self-sufficiency needs of the family. These tools create the capacity to assess and evaluate a family’s self-sufficiency “financial readiness” in an “as-is” state and then develop the ability to apply financial assistance modeling and related investments across the social determinants of health in order to affect the overall self-sufficiency plan. Lack of access to affordable housing is likely to be one of the most difficult barriers to eliminate. Coordinating integrated health and human service systems is critical to the success of these efforts. Many local members participate in state and national efforts to reduce homelessness, with some success. In communities where cost burdens are high or there is rapid growth, however, many local members continue to see growth in family and youth homelessness. To break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and give these young families and their children a chance at becoming gainfully employed and self-sufficient, there must be wrap-around services to provide themwith social and emotional support and eliminate the barriers to housing, child care, health care, child support, and food insecurity. Many have also aged out of the child welfare and may need specific supports targeted toward their unique trauma-related needs. The power of APHSA’s local members is the opportunity to demonstrate The Role of Housing in Constructing Well-Being

an evidence-based approach across diverse localities nationwide. The goal of local members is to test and spread a two-generation approach focusing on young, homeless families, specifically disconnected youth and their families in multiple local jurisdictions simulta- neously. To accomplish this, they plan to: � design and implement a set of targeted interventions � identify and remove federal, state, and local policy barriers � simultaneously create new braided and blended funding streams in order to scale up these services across our diverse communities Anchoring this work in universal, holistic, family-focused assessment tools like the Self-Sufficiency Matrix, Self-Sufficiency Financial Calculator, and Financial Cliff Forecaster will create a comprehensive and viable approach that will be scalable and flexible across jurisdictions. Local agencies are natural labora- tories for generating transformative change that can achieve improvements in service response more quickly, along with supports to families. Local agencies are among those at the forefront, developing and testing models and tools to generate a more viable environment by strengthening families’ capacities and foundations. This article is an excerpt from the Local Council “A New Pathway to Prosperity and Well-Being” vision document. For more information about the Local Council vision, or to learn how you can get involved, contact Christine Tappan, APHSA Local Liaison, at ctappan@aphsa.org. Reference Notes 1. For information is available at http://www.naco.org. 2. Leadership for a Networked World. The Human Services Value Curve: A Framework for Improved Human Services Outcomes, Value, and Legitimacy. http:// lnwprogram.org/sites/default/files/ HSVC%20Guide.pdf. 3. McGrath, Maggie. “63% of Americans Don’t Have Enough Savings to Cover a $500 Emergency. Forbes , January 6, 2016. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/ sites/maggiemcgrath/2016/01/06/63-of- americans-dont-have-enough-savings-to- cover-a-500-emergency/#33acc5e66dde

case-planning framework that is rooted in financial planning and economics but is accessible, using plain language. Tools for Constructing Well- Being: The Self-Sufficiency Financial Calculator and the Financial Cliff Forecaster For all of us, financial stability is essential to reach our potential and thrive. Stresses like job and income loss or family health emergencies make everything harder. Many families lack the resources necessary to weather large, or even small, shifts in their financial stability. Even short-term hardships can quickly strain resources and capabilities, negatively affecting an individual or family’s social, emo- tional, and physical health. In fact, 63 percent of Americans do not have enough savings to cover a $500 emer- gency. 3 Chronic poverty generates even greater stress. Over time, it drains mental bandwidth, reducing space for problem solving and planning for future self-sufficiency, as well as for parenting, household management, job performance, and other important life responsibilities. In many instances, agencies issue benefits to address these symptoms and miss the opportunity to identify and address significant root causes. The current system reacts to, and provides, “defined benefits” or “treat- ment” for symptoms. The current system of benefits eligibility and dis- tribution does not use a standardized self-sufficiency scale to categorize the actual degree of need (i.e., crisis, at-risk, safe, stable, thriving) that would make it possible to put federal, state, and local funding to work to offer each family an individualized forward path toward self-sufficiency. Benefits are also not currently struc- tured in a way that acknowledges the way in which a challenge in one area of life affects another (e.g., the role of affordable child care in achieving job stability). By addressing root causes and better aligning investments, improved outcomes can be achieved. When issuing benefits, the human service system is not structured in an agile way that promotes recipients’

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August 2016   Policy&Practice