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practices increase the price of single-family, owner units. <br /> Reversing these practices will for allow for the development of <br /> more starter homes, which will in turn, allow moderate-income <br /> households to more readily access and pay for housing in <br /> Washington County. <br /> 3. Anti-poverty strategy, lead-based paint strategy, and other activities: Washington County <br /> provides a wide range of services that aim to help families at risk of falling into poverty, <br /> as defined by the Federal Poverty Guidelines, to maintain self-sufficiency and to assist <br /> those in poverty to move toward self-sufficiency. These services include the Minnesota <br /> Family Investment Program (Minnesota's welfare program under TANF), the <br /> Diversionary Work Program which provides short term financial assistance, and services <br /> for rapid workforce attachment for those at risk of going on welfare, Child Care <br /> Assistance, Medical Assistance(Medicaid), Food Stamps, crisis assistance for certain one <br /> time expenses that threaten a family's security and a number of other programs and <br /> services. <br /> One of Washington County's key strategies is integrate services and form strong <br /> collaborations. Washington County has integrated within its Community Services <br /> Department all of its financial assistance programs and the employment and training <br /> services, as well as, the housing related programs funded by HUD. Partnerships have <br /> been established with all major community agencies providing complementary services, <br /> many of which are provided on site. Washington County works closely with the <br /> Minnesota Department of Human Services in state planning and intervention related to <br /> reducing family poverty. <br /> Currently, Washington County Community Services has three initiatives underway to <br /> enhance our work in this area. One is an anti-racism initiative that is intended to promote <br /> diversity in our operations and to improve cultural competency in service delivery. <br /> Another is our disparities in outcomes initiative which specifically relates to improving <br /> success in helping poor families from racial and ethnic minorities to achieve self- <br /> sufficiency. An integrated services project within our Workforce Center seeks to improve <br /> services and outcomes by improving communications and strengthening collaboration <br /> within the County and the larger service community. A central goal of this project is to <br /> reduce housing instability, which is a significant contributing factor to persistent poverty <br /> for some families. A unique aspect of the service within this project is its ability to <br /> provide assistance to families who do move to other counties, i.e. the service follows <br /> families in the new county. The purpose of this is to sustain progress which is often lost <br /> in moving and to facilitate rapid establishment of necessary supports in the new county to <br /> help families continue and,ultimately, succeed in their efforts toward self-sufficiency. <br /> 4. Public Housing Authority(PHA) and Continuum of Care (CoQ activities: The PJ <br /> recognizes the importance of coordinating the Consolidated Plan with the Continuum of <br /> Care plan. Fortunately, the PJ works in the same department with staff who are <br /> responsible for the Continuum of Care plan. Additionally, the PJ has developed a good <br /> working relationship with the Washington County Housing and Redevelopment <br /> 12 <br />