U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Agency Mission and Goals

The mission of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing in communities of increased opportunities. In working toward that goal, HUD provides assistance to cities, housing sponsors, and public and Indian housing authorities (HA's) as they construct, renovate, manage, and improve housing and communities throughout the United States. Much of HUD's assistance is targeted to housing and communities in need with a concentration of lower income families, in which parents with children are in the greatest need.

Families in need have limited access to the most effective delinquency prevention programs: afterschool, education, and job-training programs. These same families are most likely to have a son or daughter in the juvenile justice system.

HUD recognizes that to improve communities, it must promote the understanding that communities have multiple, interrelated needs that must be simultaneously addressed if they are to truly help families and youth. The Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) initiative and the public housing Urban Revitalization Demonstration (URD) communities are showing positive results. They bring together social, economic, and physical redevelopment efforts to provide for the rebirth of communities.

Funding is not the only solution, and HUD is not the sole assistance provider. Communities will undertake and experience rebirth only with training, technical assistance, and leadership from the widest variety of Federal, State, and local agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Education (ED), Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice (DOJ), and Labor (DOL).

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Activities and Priorities Relating to Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

HUD's goals are to contribute to the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention aspects of community rebirth. HUD's activities and priorities that relate to these goals are described below.

Goal 1. To support the provision of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention services for communities of opportunity.

HUD's collaborative work with DOJ's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a natural development. Both are working to create neighborhoods where community needs are met, and crime and drug abuse prevention efforts play a major role in community development efforts in public and Indian housing. HUD's activities to accomplish this goal include:

Goal 2. To promote the design of juvenile law enforcement and prevention activities to meet the particular needs of those communities of opportunity.

HUD will continue to work for the interests of communities with DOJ and other cabinet agencies. HUD is working to ensure that the interests of all communities are represented in the delinquency prevention, job training, and educational work of every agency. HUD's activities to accomplish this goal include:

Goal 3. To provide technical assistance and training for community leaders who wish to provide juvenile justice and delinquency services and leverage resources for those services for targeted communities.

To make housing communities affordable, decent, and safe, HUD provides a wide variety of funding and training opportunities. Most of the funds and activities are administered by the Office of Public and Indian Housing, the Office of Housing, and the Office of Community Planning and Development. HUD activities to accomplish this goal include:

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Collaborative Efforts

HUD supports the development of Communities of Learning. This initiative connects residents of communities, including at-risk youth and their parents, with opportunities for learning and employment. It builds on an emerging set of initiatives at HUD (Campus of Learners/Community Connections) to bring education and employment to low-income housing through new technology and services.

This initiative can be supported by funds and technical assistance from public housing, CDBG's, and EZ/EC assistance. The technological infrastructure for Communities of Learning can be put in place at times of redevelopment, construction, or acquisition to support education and job training. Technical assistance, training, greater flexibility in the use of HUD funds, and coalitions with local educational and business institutions can work to jump-start these initiatives. This work, in turn, supports DOJ's Operation Weed and Seed efforts, DOL's Step Up program, and ED's Goals 2000.

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Future Directions

Communities have many interrelated needs, including those concerning juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. To meet those needs, HUD will continue to work with communities of opportunity to target assistance, redesign existing assistance, and train leaders and service providers. HUD will continue to encourage community and Federal agency collaboration to support juvenile justice and delinquency prevention efforts in this manner.

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FY 1995 Funds

FY 1995 funds expended on specific youth-related programs and activities include:

In addition to these specific youth-focused initiatives, the following major program initiatives also provide services and activities for youth as part of their overall program strategy and approach:

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