[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13850-13852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6156]
[[Page 13849]]
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Part V
Department of Housing and Urban Development
_______________________________________________________________________
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
_______________________________________________________________________
Public Housing Family Investment Centers After-School Program: Notice
of Demonstration; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 14, 1995 /
Notices
[[Page 13850]]
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
[Docket No. N-95-3886; FR-3871-N-01]
Public Housing Family Investment Centers After-School Program:
Notice of Demonstration
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian
Housing, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of demonstration program.
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SUMMARY: This Notice announces the Department's intention to contribute
up to $3.5 million from the Family Investment Center (FIC) program to
assist in developing and expanding effective after-school programs that
provide safe environments that help children to develop their full
potential while permitting their parents to receive education or
training or go to work. These programs will be located at housing
authorities in Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA; Philadelphia, PA; and
Kansas City, MO. The purpose of this effort is to demonstrate ways to
promote, through supervised activities and joint community and private
sector collaboration, the long-term welfare of children ages 7 to 13
living in public housing communities. This demonstration will create
safe havens where children can develop skills, knowledge, and
competencies, while simultaneously exposing the children to different
lifestyle choices that will assist in their positive development. These
intervention programs will pull together public and private resources
to link adults who work with children to build self-confidence, provide
homework counseling, tutoring, mentoring, and support as an alternative
to gang-related activities that exist in and around public housing
communities. This demonstration will also improve accessibility and
supportive service coordination efforts among public housing
authorities, local schools systems, the colleges and universities
system, and the public and private sectors. This notice provides
guidelines for the use of these funds and invites comments on the
proposed demonstration.
DATES: Comment due date: April 13, 1995. Applications will be due May
30, 1995, unless as a result of significant changes made in the
application requirements upon consideration of public comments, the
Department publishes a separate notice changing that deadline.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this rule to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street,
SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the above
docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable. A
copy of each communication submitted will be available for public
inspection and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays at the
above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Hardy, Housing Management
Specialist, Office of Community Relations and Involvement, Department
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 4112,
Washington, DC 20410; telephone number (202) 708-4214 (TDD users may
call the Federal Information Relay Service at (202) 708-9300 or 1-800-
877-8339). (Other than the ``800'' number, telephone numbers are not
toll free.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
The information collection requirements contained in this notice
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget, under
section 3504(h) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520), and assigned OMB control number 2577-0189.
Authority
Section 22 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437t) provides for the establishment of Family Investment Centers
(FICs). As indicated in the FIC NOFA published on February 15, 1995 (60
FR 8900), the Department intends to use $3.5 million of the funds
available for the FIC program in FY 1995 for purposes of demonstrating
ways for families living in public and Indian housing in a neighborhood
undergoing a concentrated effort of local revitalization to gain access
to 4-H After-School programs for children to develop the self-
confidence needed to reach their full potential and achieve success.
The demonstration will enable housing authorities to create after-
school programs for children who may otherwise have no supervised place
to go during non-school hours. These funds will be used to: (1) Cover
administrative costs and other eligible activities; (2) mobilize public
and private resources to expand and improve delivery of supportive
services; (3) improve the capacity of management to assess the
supportive services and training needs; and (4) provide for supportive
services and related training that cannot otherwise be funded. The
Department expects that this funding will demonstrate the importance of
comprehensive support services in contributing to the local
neighborhood revitalization.
The FIC, as described in Section 22 of the Housing Act of 1937 and
the FIC NOFA published on February 15, is to ``provide families living
in public and Indian housing with better access to education and job
opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency and independence.''
Appropriately, the FIC After-School Program provides safe havens for
children that will help their parents to take better advantage of
education, job opportunities and social services to achieve self-
sufficiency and independence, as well as directly helping the children
to develop similar skills, knowledge, and competencies, while
simultaneously exposing them to different lifestyle choices that will
assist in their positive development. This demonstration will be a part
of a comprehensive strategy to bring together resources among housing
authorities, local school systems, the colleges and universities
system, and the public/private sector.
In accordance with the requirements of section 470(a) of the
Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 3542), this
notice describes the proposed demonstration and invites public comment.
Any changes made in this demonstration as a result of the Department's
consideration of public comments, and any extension of time for the
commitment of funds necessary because of these changes, also will be
published in the Federal Register. The Department will not commit funds
for the proposed demonstration until after the latest of: (1) The date
the Department has considered any comments received in response to this
notice; (2) May 15, 1995, which is 60 days after today's publication
date; and (3) the date the Department has received and approved
proposals that meet the requirements imposed in this notice and any
subsequent notice announcing changes in the demonstration. Applications
will be due May 30, 1995, unless as a result of significant changes
made in the application requirements upon consideration of public
comments, the Department publishes a separate notice changing that
deadline.
Background of Demonstration
The 4-H After-School program is a partnership between the public
and [[Page 13851]] private sector to bring organized, after-school
activities to children ages 7-13 who live in public housing communities
with strong private sector support. The funds will be used to expand
the Los Angeles model and replicate the program in Oakland, CA;
Philadelphia, PA; and Kansas City, MO. The Los Angeles model is a
strong partnership among the private sector; HUD; Extension Service,
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); University of
California Cooperative Extension Service; and the National 4-H Council.
The program is coordinated by the UNOCAL Petroleum Corporation and the
Los Angeles 4-H Council, is backed by the Los Angeles City Council, and
draws on the resources of VISTA, the University of California, the
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified
School District, and HUD.
Inner cities are experiencing a serious crisis with youth gangs.
The demonstration will involve joint investment by the public and
private sectors to provide counseling, tutoring, mentoring, and other
supportive services designed to reduce gang-related activities. HUD
expects that this funding will demonstrate the success of public/
private partnerships and commitments in public housing communities that
address specific, long-term counseling needs, thereby resulting in
reduced gang-related activities and enhanced lifestyle choices. This
demonstration serves ``at-risk'' children living in public housing
communities, 2-5 times per week on a year-round basis. The program is
intended to create a nurturing environment that offers a positive
alternative to unstructured, unsupervised free time in neighborhoods
where gang-related activities are prevalent.
The system of services and outreach planned by the community will
not only increase the intensity and variety of youth activities and
supportive services available to neighborhood residents, it will also
establish a delivery system involving residents who will work with
neighbors to ensure progression towards resolving gang-related
activities. Residents will work with trained coordinators to manage the
program. Together with service providers, the public and private sector
will form ``Community Vision Teams'' at the community level to bring
together the multiple supportive service programs and financial
supporters.
As a result of this demonstration, HUD expects that the children
participating will be more likely to avoid the lure of the gangs and
instead choose to stay in school with a goal of employment and economic
independence. HUD also expects that the parents of participating
children will be encouraged to pursue training, education, and
employment opportunities leading to self-sufficiency, because their
children will be in secure environments while the parents are away from
home.
Because of the working partnership taking place at the local level
in Los Angeles, there is an ideal demonstration environment for service
delivery integrated across existing Federal and private sector program
lines. Too often the requirements of Federal programs have dictated
institutional structures at the local level that stand in the way of
comprehensive delivery of housing and services to those who need these
services to achieve self-sufficiency. This coordination creates a rare
opportunity for the Department to test the capacity of its existing
programs to serve in the context of a truly integrated and
comprehensive transformation effort.
HUD has chosen four public housing agencies that already have
partnerships in place to develop a comprehensive strategy to provide
safe environments for children ages 7-13 living in public housing
communities. This will happen through cooperative arrangements among
housing authorities, local school systems, the colleges and
universities system, the active involvement of supportive service
agencies, and strong private sector support. The strategy must provide
activities that link adults who work with children to build self-
confidence, provide homework counseling, tutoring, mentoring, and
supportive services during non-school hours.
The key factors that make Oakland, CA; Philadelphia, PA; and Kansas
City, MO, unique have been the strong interest of the housing
authorities of those cities, USDA, the University Cooperative Extension
Service, the National 4-H Council, and the private sector to form
Community Vision Teams that bring together educational and other public
and private resources for the benefit of public housing children who
otherwise have no safe place to go during non-school hours.
Funding
For purposes of this demonstration, the Department will make up to
$3.5 million available to the Los Angeles, Oakland, Philadelphia, and
Kansas City Housing Authorities for use in establishing and expanding
FIC 4-H After-School programs in the public housing neighborhoods. The
funding will be used in accordance with the statutory requirements of
the FIC program, and as established in this notice and any subsequent
notice issued after the comment period has closed, to contribute to an
integrated network of supportive services for public housing and other
neighborhood residents.
Most of the funding provided under this demonstration will be used
for administration and service coordination by the Community Vision
Team and for core support services. The 4-H After-School activities and
supportive services will help children to overcome personal
difficulties that inhibit their readiness to learn and be successful in
school. Core support services and Community Vision Team activities
supported by FIC funding provided under this demonstration will be
targeted to ensure that a proportionate number of public housing
families are served.
In addition to the FIC funding proposed under this demonstration,
public and private organizations will support the demonstration
project. This network will deliver necessary services to public housing
children as part of the larger community, through the community-wide
system developed by the housing authorities, the University Extension
provider, and the private sector. The Department believes that the
institutional integration--of which this demonstration will be one
part--will enhance the quality, continuity, and impact of support
provided to public housing children and their families. The private
sector entity must have committed funding and in-kind donations to the
project. The Department expects that this demonstration will leverage
more public and private funding as the effort progresses, with private
funding ultimately being responsible for contributing total financial
support.
Eligible Activities
Funds may be used for the following activities:
(1) The provision of not more than 15 percent of the total cost of
supportive services (which may be provided directly to eligible
residents by the HA or by contract or lease through other appropriate
agencies or providers), but only if the HA demonstrates that:
(a) The supportive services are appropriate to improve the access
of eligible residents to educational opportunities; and
(b) The HA has made diligent efforts to use or obtain other
available resources to fund or provide such services; and
(2) The employment of service coordinators. [[Page 13852]]
Eligible Costs
Activities that may be funded and carried out by an HA include, but
are not limited to, the following:
(1) Administrative costs. Costs that are reasonable and include
maintenance, utility costs (telephone, fax, light, gas), postage,
printing, copier, building leasing/rent costs, Service Coordinator/Case
Manager, accounting staff, initial equipment purchase (i.e., desks,
chairs, computer equipment, tools, etc.).
(2) Other program costs. Costs that include advertisement,
reimbursement for participant travel costs, travel stipends, vehicle
lease (to transport participants to program-related activities),
insurance liability costs (personal property/property off HA site) and
technical assistance (T/A contractor fees, etc.).
Applicable Requirements
The PHA will be required to meet the applicable programmatic and
application requirements set out in the NOFA for Public and Indian
Housing Family Investment Centers (published at 60 FR 8900, February
15, 1995) and any subsequent notice that is published after the comment
period for this notice has closed. When applicable, recipients of
funding under this demonstration also are subject to the
certifications, findings, determinations, and requirements listed in
the ``Other Matters'' section of the FIC NOFA.
In order to receive the funding proposed in this notice, each
housing authority must submit an original and one copy of a proposal
describing its program in detail. Proposals must be prepared in
accordance with instructions in the FIC Application Kit (available by
contacting the person listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above)
and must include:
(1) A brief summary of the proposed program (not to exceed 150
words), including a brief description of the key program components;
(2) A copy of the signed agreement(s) between the PHA, 4-H
Extension Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
private sector entity, and the community vision team members for each
demonstration site;
(3) A description of how the eligible participants will be
recruited, with an accompanying implementation schedule;
(4) A description of supervised activities and joint community and
private sector youth intervention projects;
(5) A description of resident (including parents) involvement in
the program's planning and implementation;
(6) A description (based on projected needs) of the type of
supportive services that are to be provided over at least a 5-year
period after the initial receipt of funding under this program;
(7) A description of efforts to use or obtain other available
resources to fund or provide supportive services that enhance
educational opportunities;
(8) A description of efforts to improve accessibility and provide
supportive services coordination efforts among public housing
authorities, local schools systems, the college and university system,
and the public and private sectors;
(9) A description of how the program will be evaluated, describing
the baseline indicators against which success will be measured and
replicated;
(10) A description of plans for continuing operation of the program
and the provision of services to residents after completion of the
demonstration phase;
(11) A narrative on the location and accessibility of the 4-H
After-School facility; and
(12) A narrative, budget, timetable, and list of milestones for the
5-year period. Milestones shall include number of families to be
served, types of services, and dollar amounts to be allocated over the
5-year period.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1437t and 3535(d).
Dated: March 3, 1995.
Joseph Shuldiner,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 95-6156 Filed 3-13-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-33-P
