Housing Is Education

CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative recognizes the key role public housing authorities can play in a variety of educational efforts benefiting both low-income children and adults. Research has shown that housing stability has a significant impact on children’s school performance and long-term outcomes, such as graduation rates and post-secondary activities. Housing authorities are actively exploring how they can align with and add value to local approaches that aim to improve educational outcomes.

  • Housing authorities are providing additional support for residents’ education, from early childhood through adult learning opportunities. Some of these efforts are provided by the housing authority, such as through initiatives to improve attendance; others are joint efforts with partners, such as offering after-school programming on-site or digital literacy classes.
  • With support from the Housing Is initiative and other partners, housing authorities are using research to inform their work, as well as conducting program evaluation of their own initiatives to contribute to the field.
  • CLPHA works with a wide range of education partners at the national, regional, and state level to support the testing of innovative ideas and implementation of evidence-based best practices aligning education and housing.
  • Housing Is conducts advocacy efforts such as working with Senator Patty Murray’s (D-WA) office to write the AHEAD Act, a bill that would incentivize partnerships between different sectors to improve educational outcomes.
  • Some of our current areas of focus are: data sharing, out-of-school time; family engagement, two-generation initiatives, homelessness, early childhood, and connectivity.

Please contact CLPHA’s Director of Cross-Sector Initiatives Abra Lyons-Warren (abra@clpha.org) with inquiries about our housing and education work.

Innovative public housing authorities (PHAs) are collaborating with college access partners and community colleges to increase postsecondary educational achievement for low-income residents and college students experiencing homelessness. Learn more in CLPHA's report "Eliminating Barriers to Postsecondary Success: Cross-Sector Collaborations to Improve Postsecondary Achievement for Students Served by Public Housing Authorities.

Housing Is Education News
1.12.22
From My Edmonds News: The Edmonds School Board of Directors, at its Dec. 14 business meeting, unanimously approved a resolution to declare approximately 2.2 acres of property adjacent to Cedar Valley Community School as surplus and then lease it to Housing Hope, which will develop affordable housing on the site.
1.6.22
Wednesday, January 19, 2:00 p.m. ET  Join us for the first of a four-part webinar series co-hosted by CLPHA and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Webinar Description
11.18.21
 Public housing authorities know that providing stable housing is only the first step in helping families thrive. A comprehensive approach that combines health, education, and housing programs has shown to dramatically improve life outcomes for low-income families. Public housing authorities have been in the vanguard developing cross-sector initiatives for their residents, who represent extremely...

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