UCS has released its annual fact sheet on Cost of Living in our metro area.  As has been reported, poverty is a reality for nearly 37,000 residents in Johnson County.  An individual or family with income at or below the federal poverty level has limited funds to spend on life's essentials such as a safe place to live, health care, reliable transportation, nutritious food and child care.  Consequently, these residents consistently face difficult choices about how to use their limited resources to meet basic needs. 

As UCS has noted in our 2015 Framework for Reducing Poverty and Creating Opportunity, income growth is an integral part of the conversation around reducing poverty and creating opportunity.  As unemployment has decreased in our county, poverty rates have not been

significantly impacted and remain stagnant.

      Johnson County Poverty Rates More Than Doubled 2000-2014 

 

UCS acts as Johnson County's  Continuum of Care on Homelessness' (CoC) lead agency and writes the collaborative application annually on behalf of local members.  In FY 2015, $675,000 was awarded to members of Johnson County's CoC to support 10 programs. 

In its role as CoC lead agency, UCS is also responsible for managing the CoC Rank and Review process, conducting regular meetings of the CoC membership and board, and providing educational/best practices opportunities for all entities involved in serving our county's homeless population.

The Johnson County CoC's Rank and Review Committee and Board have officially released KS-505's FY2016 HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) NOFA Rank and Review results for this year's competition. Thank you to the Rank and Review Committee for their invaluable expertise and the volunteer time they devoted to this process.  To review the full results, please click here.

Please direct any questionis about the process and/or results to Valorie Carson, valoriec@ucsjoco.org or call 913-438-4764.