Title
Resolution of the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, Approving the Creation of A Step Up Foundation, Inc. by the Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
After a review of the 2016 School Age Report, which is a summary of data generated by Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority (HRHA), Hampton City Schools (HCS) and Virginia Department of Education (DOE), the HRHA Board began a discussion about action steps the Authority had taken, and would contemplate going forward, to address some of the social and economic conditions that hinder the preparedness of school age children in HRHA housing programs. These discussions eventually opened the door for a partnership with HCS with a goal to improve educational outcomes for students served by both agencies.
Over the course of the last two years, the HRHA Board was updated on numerous initiatives about creating opportunities to connect housing and education, which included an examination of HRHA resources needed for intervention services, efforts to engage other community partners to design a comprehensive approach to bring services together, and various strategies to help fund initiatives to address challenges that are barriers to learning.
In an effort to better understand student needs and performance, HRHA and HCS entered into a data sharing agreement. In the end, data suggested that school age children who live in HRHA assisted housing experience higher risk factors that impede their academic performance than non-HRHA students.
In addition to targeting existing programs and support services, HRHA desires to increase the resources it can share in this effort in order to provide long-term support - from the cradle to career - for its families. The next step is to create a tax-exempt entity which would allow HRHA to enhance the education of all HRHA students, support educators, administrators and school programs for its students, and solicit, manage, and ...
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