Catholic Charities to assist state in housing program

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, will help shelter 25 needy families in Middlesex County as part of an expansion of the state’s permanent supportive housing program, Keeping Families Together (KFT).

A unique partnership between the Department of Children and Families ( DCF) and the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is leading the state-wide effort to support New Jersey’s most vulnerable families. DCA committed 150 project-based housing choice vouchers to the program. Twenty-five of these will be allocated to Middlesex County and administered by Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen.

KFT is a model of permanent supportive housing designed specifically for child welfare-involved families struggling with homelessness and other challenges.  KFT provides families access to supportive services, including case planning and evidence-based and trauma-informed coordinated services to support each family’s unique needs.  The initial Keeping Families Together pilot showed promise improving child well-being and decreasing child welfare involvement in New York City, according to Metis Associates. 

“Catholic Charities is excited to receive the Keeping Families Together award, and be a part of this coordinated effort between DCF and DCA to expand housing options for those most vulnerable in Middlesex County, said Catholic Charites Executive Director Marianne Majewski.  “The goal of this expansion is to keep families together, keep children safe, prevent foster care placement, and reduce homelessness, all core values of the mission of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen. This is an innovative project that will be life changing for families on their way to self-sufficiency.”

The vouchers are essential to helping these families find an affordable and safe place to live, and this latest expansion of NJ’s permanent supportive housing program brings the number of NJ families benefitting from the program to 173 across nine counties.  DCA anticipates $5.4 million in annualized funding for the vouchers and $250,000 in discretionary Community Services Block Grant funds for coordinated services. Over the past five years, New Jersey homelessness has decreased nearly 29 percent and family homelessness has dropped by 49 percent. In 2016, the homelessness rate among families with children declined by 10.9 percent. As said by DCF Commissioner Allison Blake,  “Instead of despair and hopelessness, these families will now have a foundation upon which to build better futures for their children, and change for the better the lives of generations to come.”