Welcome to "Foundations"

Foundations is the new Foundational Community Supports newsletter. Its purpose is to build awareness, advocacy, and partnership for supportive housing and supported employment  services in Washington State.

Foundations will be published each month. Please share freely, and encourage your partners and stakeholders to subscribe. 

The Foundational Community Supports (FCS) program is part of the Healthier Washington Medicaid Transformation. 

Duff's story: How a home and a job changed everything

After experiencing homelessness for five years, Duff France was able to move into a home and find a job through a partnership between Foundational Community Supports’ housing and employment services and Yakima Neighborhood Health Services. 

Reflecting on his new life with a stable home and a good job, Duff says "it makes you feel like a human being again, you know, part of society... it means everything." Watch the video.

FCS is reaching the people who need it most

The Department of Social and Health Services' Research and Data Analysis (RDA) Division has published new supportive housing and supported employment reports that highlight the service needs of FCS participants. As of the end of July, more than 77 percent of FCS participants had a serious mental illness. Check out the reports to learn more about who FCS is reaching.     

RDA's FCS participant reports are updated monthly and will be published online and shared via this newsletter. 

New housing discrimination law opens doors for FCS participants

A new law went into effect September 30 that removes barriers to housing for people who need help to pay their rent. 

The new law bans what is called "source of income discrimination." It makes it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants and would-be tenants based on the source of their rent payments and the use of rental vouchers.

This form of housing discrimination is experienced by many FCS participants as a barrier between them and the housing they seek.

The new law creates a Landlord Mitigation Program, offering incentives to encourage landlords to accept tenants who pay rent with vouchers. 

Kitsap County landlord Jim Adrian has been a decades-long advocate for the new law. He believes removing barriers to housing for people who use rental assistance is a "win/win for landlords and tenants." 

Read the full story.

In this issue

• Welcome to "Foundations"
• Duff's story: How a home and a job changed everything
• FCS is reaching the people who need it most
• New housing discrimination law opens doors for FCS participants

Upcoming events

Co-occurring Disorder and Treatment Post-conference FCS Institute 

October 17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Red Lion Hotel Yakima Center, 607 E Yakima Avenue, Yakima 
Register for this event 

Adding Foundational Community Supports to Your Organization's Book of Business  

October 18, 2 to 3 p.m.
Register for this webinar

Amerigroup FCS Advisory Council meeting

October 23, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Seattle or webinar
Email for information

Learning from Los Angeles: The historical milestones that launched critical resources to address homelessness

November 1, 2 to 3 p.m.
Register for this webinar

Great Minds at Work Supported Employment Conference

November 7-8, Tacoma
Register for this conference

Learn how to braid Foundational Community Supports with other funding sources

November 15, 2 to 3 p.m. Register for this webinar

Healthier Washington quarterly webinar series: Connecting Housing, Employment, and Health

November 29, noon to 1 p.m.
Register for this webinar 

Find more FCS events on the Healthier Washington calendar.

If you have questions about Foundational Community Supports, please email 
Kate Baber.