1. Describe the jurisdiction's goals, programs, and policies for reducing the number of poverty level families (as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually). In consultation with other appropriate public and private agencies (i.e. TANF agency), state how the jurisdiction's goals, programs, and policies for producing and preserving affordable housing set forth in the housing component of the consolidated plan will be coordinated with other programs and services for which the jurisdiction is responsible.
DeKalb County Response:
The discussion of housing needs showed the crucial difference between households with needs and those without needs was their income. Thirteen percent (12.6%) of DeKalb homeowners (2,838 households) and 20.5% of DeKalb renters (7,778 households) with needs had incomes below $10,000, compared to 3.1% of owners and 12.6% of renters throughout the region. For these households with severely restricted incomes, little discretionary income remains after paying monthly housing costs.
One of the objectives of the Consolidated Plan is to encourage new construction and rehabilitation of affordable multifamily rental units. Affordable housing will provide the potential to decrease housing costs for a proportion of these low-income families. Affordable housing will also allow them to allocate more funds to food, clothing, health care, children’s needs, savings and their own personal and economic development.
Similarly, the goal of providing home repair and maintenance assistance to low- income and elderly households would allow these families to re-allocate money that would otherwise be spent on maintenance to secure housing. Additionally, making needed home repairs will lower utility costs for homeowners and help maintain the current housing stock, thereby expanding the supply of affordable housing for future generations.
By addressing the risks posed by lead-based paint, utilizing HUD funded programs, health care risks will be reduced and increased childhood development will be fostered. In addition, by removing barriers to affordable housing, lower income children will have the opportunity to access the education they need to realize their potential intellectual and economic development without diminishing the educational experiences of their peers. This will also provide a higher quality of life for these households.
Children’s Assessment and Family Resource Center was created by the DeKalb County Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS) along with its partners the DeKalb Community Service Board (DCSB), the DeKalb County School System, the DeKalb Juvenile Court, and the Department of Juvenile Justice. The center functions as a “One Stop Resource Center” to provide assessments and resources to families to assure that children are living in a safe and nurturing environment. Evaluations include family status evaluations and child protective service evaluations by DFACS, mental health evaluations by DCSB, physical health evaluation of children, educational evaluations by the DeKalb School System, and other evaluations by the Department of Juvenile Justice. The goal is to keep families together or to at least develop enough information to assure that children are living in a safe nurturing family environment.
Partnership for Community Action, Inc. is a private nonprofit agency that had its roots in Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Established after the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964, the Partnership is the community action agency for DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Rockdale counties.
The organization works to create opportunities leading to family self-sufficiency by providing services and partnering with business, government, and other community- based and faith-based agencies. PCA provides early childhood development programs (Head Start and Early Head Start) in 15 DeKalb and Rockdale centers for children from birth to 5, programs that include an array of services and opportunities for parents.
The Family Support Program includes emergency assistance programs. The Micro- enterprise Initiative is a variety of employment and career services, and the DeKalb Neighborhood Leadership Institute. Other energy services include LIHEAP (the Low- Income Home Energy Assistance Program) and the Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps reduce energy costs by improving the energy efficiency of homes. The Partnership’s 287 employees serve more than 12,000 families every
year. PCA is supported by federal, local, and foundation grants and by private funders.
Housing Authority of DeKalb County (HADC) has the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program to promote the development of local strategies to coordinate the use of Housing Choice Voucher assistance with public and private resources and supportive services, in order to enable eligible families to achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency.
In addition, HADC administers two distinct homeownership programs. The DeKalb First Time Homebuyers Program provides $5,000 to $8,000 in assistance with down payment, pre-paid and closing costs to eligible first time home buyers. The Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program provides vouchers to assist eligible first- time homeowners who are currently in the HCV program with monthly home ownership expenses.
DeKalb Workforce Development (DWD) – One-stop System Partnership is available to all HADC clients from the age of 14 up who are seeking full-time or part- time employment. Locations available for program participants include: Tobie Grant Manor Business Center, satellite offices at Goodwill Industries, and Georgia Department of Labor DWC, Inc. DWD also provides job placement services, job seeker training/preparation, and professional development for career advancement. DWD provide services to all people who are seeking employment.
DeKalb County’s anti-poverty strategy is in agreement with the County’s housing priorities. The main housing objectives include expansion of homeownership and renovation of rental property for low-income residents. The County also continues to partner with multiple agencies to examine and evaluate policies to help eliminate barriers to employment. The County’s affordable housing policy encourages renovation of rental property for low-income residents within proximity of major employment centers. The County also continues to support those economic development programs mentioned above with focus on low and moderate-income persons.
DeKalb County continues to invest in services to attract investment from outside of the County to stimulate economic development and growth of higher salaried job positions. By working together, agencies that provide job placement, job training and preparation, and professional development for career advancement offer better services for County residents and employers. Increasing the number of adults with jobs that pay livable wages provides a steady and healthy life style. In addition, with adequate consumer information and financial education, a family or individual can become financially independent and less reliant on rental housing or any public subsidies.
2. Identify the extent to which this strategy will reduce (or assist in reducing) the number of poverty level families, taking into consideration factors over which the jurisdiction has control.
DeKalb County Response:
DeKalb County’s Anti-Poverty Strategy will reduce the number of poverty level families by promoting programs that will move familird from welfare dependency to economic–sufficiency. The strategy will prevent low and moderate incomes persons
from becoming welfare dependent by promoting public awareness of predatory lending, financial literacy and home ownership counseling before and after the purchase of a house.
Many of the Consolidated Plan objectives directly support the Anti-Poverty Strategy. Through partnerships, referrals and linkages to other agencies and service providers, the County will make an ongoing effort to help serve specific populations and meet their needs.