Wolf Administration Announces Investments in Employment, Eviction Protection, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs in North Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA – Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller today announced $4.3 million in funding for additional services in North Philadelphia’s Health Enterprise Zone (HEZ). The funding will support pathways to employment for people receiving public assistance, home visiting programs that support healthy child and family development, and eviction prevention services for people at risk of losing their homes.

“Our goal at DHS is to help families break the cycle of poverty and live healthier lives; In order to do so, we must invest in disadvantaged communities and establish whole-person and whole-family supports that help people in poverty overcome barriers.,” said Secretary Miller. “The HEZ was set up to reduce health disparities, improve health outcomes, and stabilize and reduce health costs, and with this funding for these additional services, we will continue to work towards those goals and help people achieve a better life.

The additional funding will be allocated as follows:

·  $600,000 to support expanded employment and training programs for public assistance recipients in the HEZ aimed at moving people out of poverty. In order to help people move out of poverty, employment and training programs must provide skills that lead to good-paying jobs and support long-term success in employment through barrier remediation. These funds can support establishing new programs dedicated to serving people in poverty and expanding existing programs like SNAP 50/50. SNAP 50/50 sites are partnerships between non-profit organizations, the United States Department of Agriculture, and DHS at the state level. Non-profit organizations leverage their funding with matched funds from the federal government to provide career-specific skills training for people receiving SNAP benefits. Funding would support investments in SNAP 50/50 programs serving the HEZ and will be matched with federal funds. There are currently five SNAP 50/50 programs in Philadelphia; three of these are located within the HEZ.

·  $2.7 million to expand home visiting services in the HEZ. Home visiting programs are proven to reduce incidences of child abuse and neglect, improve birth outcomes, improve school readiness for children, increase high school graduation rates for mothers in the program and connect families to necessary resources. This funding will expand evidence-based home visiting services to 443 families by the end of 2020 through existing partnerships with evidence-based home visiting providers Maternity Care Coalition, Carson Valley Children’s Aid, and Public Health Management Corporation.

·  $1 million to expand services related to eviction prevention and affordable housing. DHS, via its grant agreement with the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network (PLAN), specifically PLAN’s Community Legal Services, provides legal advice, representation, and information to hundreds of families who are on the verge of homelessness and living in unhealthy conditions. Increasing this grant to $1 million will provide legal services for a total of 1,360 cases in the HEZ, providing a mix of foreclosure and eviction prevention along with habitability cases.

“DHS has previously funded trauma-informed practices among teachers, staff, parents, and community members and has increased funding for lead remediation projects in schools within the HEZ since its creation in 2016,” Sec. Miller said. “We are proud to continue the work that will improve the lives of people in North Philadelphia.”

The HEZ was identified through a partnership between the Department of Human Services, the City of Philadelphia, area hospitals, universities, and community partners. The zone spans from the beginning of Broad Street in the West Oak Lane section of the city to City Hall and includes four health systems, three of which are academic medical centers. Despite this, beneficiaries in zip codes around this corridor experience multiple health conditions and significant socio-economic barriers that result in high medical costs and utilization and chronic poor health.

Nearly 320,000 Medicaid recipients – nearly 13 percent of Pennsylvania’s total Medicaid population – live within the HEZ. As a whole, 31 percent of residents within the HEZ live below the federal poverty line, twice the national average, and the life expectancy of children in the HEZ is 20 years shorter compared to children in wealthier ZIP Codes. These investments will build on the work of community health workers already operating in the HEZ to bridge the gap between health care providers and patients by helping patients navigate the health systems and social support services available in their community, as well as advocate for the patients they work with.