New Updates on The Edge

Message from PD&R Leadership:
Using behavioral science to promote completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
High costs can be a barrier to postsecondary educational opportunities, especially for the low-income individuals that HUD serves. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first step to receiving federal financial aid that can help make postsecondary education more affordable. Calvin Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring, discusses how HUD and federal partners tested a mail intervention designed to increase FAFSA completion rates among youth and full-time students ages 17-20 in households receiving Housing Choice Vouchers.

In Practice:
New Housing and Healthcare for the Homeless in Denver
In March 2014, the nonprofit Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) replaced a clinic that had been in operation for nearly 30 years with a new mixed-use project containing the Stout Street Health Center, a federally qualified health center, and the Renaissance Stout Street Lofts, which offer 78 units of affordable and supportive housing. By including both housing and health care in one building, the $35 million project has enhanced CCH’s ability to provide integrated services to persons experiencing homelessness.

Policy Update:
Reducing Offender Recidivism and Reconnecting Opportunity Youth
A number of programs have emerged in recent years that aim to reintegrate formally incarcerated individuals and at-risk youth into society through the provision of stable housing, supportive services, and education and employment opportunities. Highlighted programs include Returning Home–Ohio and The Burlington Housing Authority's Offender Re-Entry Housing Program, which aim to reduce offender recidivism, and the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions' Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund, which supports initiatives to improve at-risk youth outcomes.

Please send your comments and suggestions to editor@huduser.gov.