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1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />49 <br />50 <br />51 <br />I <br />• Fatherhood Initiative <br />• Landlord Guarantee Fund <br />• Provides incentives to landlords who rent to low income or Section 8 tenants <br />• Protects landlords from excessive damage by tenants who move out within two <br />years <br />• Helps to increase the stock of affordable rental units <br />• Has been tried in other locales <br />Hot Topics <br />DSS Recommendations <br />• Provide financial counseling to low income families, particularly those with <br />recurring requests for crisis funds <br />• Explore Landlord Guarantee Fund to increase rental availability <br />• Pay short term rental assistance to prevent homelessness <br />• Reinstate Wheels to Work and car repair program <br />• Use any available Work First funds and pursue any grant possibilities to support <br />subsidized employment <br />• Provide child care for all target groups and reduce wait time for child care to less <br />than six months <br />Nancy Coston said many of the additional programs listed are past programs that the <br />department is no longer able to do or programs that are being considered. She highlighted the <br />Landlord Guarantee fund. She said this is a program to help people gain interest in renting <br />through voucher programs, whether County voucher or section 8. She said this would give <br />some guarantee to landlords that if someone moves out, leaving serious damage, there are <br />some funds to help compensate. She said this might be worth considering. <br />She said DSS used to provide financial counseling to every family that received <br />emergency assistance. She said people who needed crisis funds more than once in a year <br />were required to participate in the counseling program. She said when DSS got overrun and <br />lost staff this was stopped due to lack of resources. She said this counseling was valuable in <br />helping families understand credit issues and bill payment, and it is a good program to have. <br />She recommends looking into the Landlord Guarantee program, because even with <br />homeless grants, finding enough rental properties has been difficult. She said the short term <br />rental funds are helpful, and this is included in the budget for this year. <br />She said the County does not currently have the Wheels to Work or the Car Repair <br />program. She said the Work First funds allows for some car repairs, but a program is needed to <br />help people who are already working and need a car repair to keep them going to work. She <br />said some money for this has been put into the budget for next year, but it also requires <br />resources and time to manage the program. <br />Nancy Coston said there were special monies in the past to subsidize employment, and <br />these are no longer available. She said some of the Work First money has been moved in next <br />year's budget into a temporary line item to allow help with subsidized employment. <br />She said child care is a critical issue, and a concerted effort has been made to clear the <br />waiting list. <br />Tina Clark and Nancy Coston presented the following slide: <br />Hot Topics <br />• Child Care <br />• School -based Social Workers <br />