Call For Papers

Cityscape Symposium - Lessons Learned from HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program Evaluation

Submission Deadline: May 1, 2024

In 2025 Cityscape intends to publish several articles in a symposium that explore strategies for improving program outcomes for HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program. We seek evidence-based solutions that improve outcomes for participants that have enrolled in the Family Self-Sufficiency Program across the country. A central goal is to highlight programs that perform well on a range of measurable outcomes, including reducing the FSS drop-out/exit rate, recruiting and retention strategies, and achieving long-term income growth. Papers may be from any discipline but broad enough for a multidisciplinary audience. Articles must be original work not published elsewhere.

Topics to be considered for the Family Self-Sufficiency symposium include but are not limited to:

• Effectiveness — The effectiveness of FSS program interventions on a range of outcomes: homeownership, barriers to work, increase in savings, long-term income growth, goal attainment, program completion, and graduation;
• Feasibility — The feasibility of such interventions on health, economic, financial, political, or material well-being, including potential societal benefits of the program;
• Innovation — Case studies that focus on innovative solutions to common program challenges: recruitment and retention, triage approaches, reducing drop out rates, and various escrow models;
• Enhancement — Strategies for enhancing job training and Workforce Development programs that focus on the potential for employment and income growth; and,
• Opportunities — Understanding why people leave the program — positive and negative reasons and potential strategies for reducing program exits.

Submitted papers deemed appropriate for the symposium will be peer reviewed and may need to be revised and resubmitted before a final decision on publication is made. To be considered for the Cityscape symposium on Lessons Learned from HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program, papers must be submitted by May 1, 2024. Submit papers to both of the following email addresses: Mark Shroder (mark.d.shroder@hud.gov) and Regina Gray (regina.c.gray@hud.gov).

We are also seeking reviewers. If you are interested in being a peer reviewer for this symposium, please let us know and provide a current CV so that we can match you with appropriate papers.

Cityscape is published three times a year by the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with the goal of bringing high-quality original research on housing and community development issues to scholars, government officials, and practitioners.