The Beyond Shelter/UCLA South Central Community Needs Assessment Project
As a result of a grant from the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships, Beyond Shelter Institute staff and graduate students from the University of California, Los Angeles are conducting a comprehensive community needs assessment of an area targeted by the Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project, along South Broadway in South Los Angeles. The needs assessment will be utilized to help expand the design of neighborhood services coordination at Broadway Village I and provide a basis for the implementation plan for neighborhood services coordination at Broadway Village II when construction is completed in 2005. This project will also demonstrate a practical application in Los Angeles that will be replicable in other neighborhoods in L.A. County and throughout the country.

California Endowment  – Neighborhood-Based Services Coordination Demonstration Project (2002-2004) The purpose of this project was to pilot a model for improving the social and economic well-being of residents of a neighborhood surrounding a new affordable housing and childcare facility in South Los Angeles. The model, neighborhood-based services coordination, represents a new Beyond Shelter initiative and is a tool that connects residents of a neighborhood with access to resources and services in the greater community. It emphasizes the use of existing resources, interagency collaboration, and partnerships between residents, service-providers, and other stakeholders, thereby reducing barriers to existing services and promoting the development of additional services where gaps exist. A key element is that residents of the neighborhood participate in the planning processes and ongoing implementation of programs and activities. Neighborhood-based services coordination is a preventative approach as opposed to a crisis-oriented approach to meeting human needs. It is a component of the Broadway South Neighborhood Revitalization Project.

The Federal Department of Labor (DOL) – Welfare-to-Work Demonstration Project (One of five grants awarded in the Los Angeles area; 1998-2001.) This $1.2 million, 30-month project provided job placement and retention services to over 200 hard-to-employ, primarily single females, who had been long-term recipients of Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). The project focused on stabilizing participants in permanent housing as an essential supporting factor for their employment. Case  management services were provided for one year subsequent to each participant's employment to ensure their long-term job retention. 

All of the participants in the program faced major barriers to employment, such as lack of education, poor work histories or recovery from drug and/or alcohol addictions. Over 90 percent of participants were minority, single female heads of household. The program utilized Beyond Shelter's team approach methodology, which involves a collaboration between a case manager and an employment counselor to help clients find and retain jobs. Case managers addressed the needs of the family as a whole, while employment counselors worked exclusively on employment-related issues. 

Beyond Shelter exceeded the project's goals of addressing the employment barriers of 200 TANF-dependent families and placing 100 participants in unsubsidized employment for at least six months. At the project's end the agency had served 265 participants, with 206 successfully completing the program. Of those, 102 were placed in unsubsidized employment and 86 in subsidized employment.

The research center at the University of Southern California, School of Social Work was the evaluator of the project. For more information, read about Beyond Shelter's Welfare-To-Work Demonstration Project Program.

 The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – Moving to Opportunity Demonstration Project (1995-96) This five-city  (Boston, New York, Chicago, Baltimore and Los Angeles ) demonstration project was conducted in collaboration with the Housing Authority of Los Angeles and was designed to help families move from public housing projects to low-poverty census track neighborhoods. It involved the provision of one year of case management to help families transition to social and economic self-sufficiency.

The Federal Department of Health and Human Services – Family Support Center Demonstration Project (One of 24 grants awarded nationwide; 1992-95.) This project relocated 320 homeless families to permanent housing. It involved the provision of intensive case management and supportive services for up to one year, including child development classes, money management classes and job development assistance. The project also assisted families with Section 8 certification.

The Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – Los Angeles Early Intervention Demonstration Project for Recently Homeless and At-Risk Families (One of five grants awarded nationwide; 1990-93.) The project was implemented collaboratively with Para Los Ninos in L.A.'s Skid Row. Phase I involved the provision of emergency and crisis services and Phase II involved the provision of permanent housing relocation assistance and case management services to 75-100 families per year. Through this project, Beyond Shelter launched the Los Angeles Coordinating Council for Homeless Families.