Programmatic Overview 

Making Moves provides greater housing options in high opportunity areas for families with school age children in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The team provides mobility counseling and facilitates financial assistance to participating families and recruits new property owners to the HCV program.

Need for Intern Support

Decades of research show that HCV families, especially those with young children, achieve better academic, college attendance, employment, earnings, and health outcomes when they can use their voucher in a safe neighborhood with access to quality schools. 

Last year, Making Moves joined Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) in their American Institutes for Research-funded work to develop tools to help mobility programs better integrate a focus on helping participants access well-resourced schools into their services. This project produced an evidence-informed education-focused model for mobility coaching including the implementation of a comprehensive Web-based school district profiling tool, and parent workshop, that would require time and effort beyond our staff’s current capacity. 

Additionally, the new Neighborhood Resource Index (NRI) tool has added complexity to the housing search for both participants and staff. All Making Moves sites statewide recently transitioned from the original HCR designated Well-Resourced Area (WRA) Map to the NRI, in tandem with tiered opportunity areas. Whereas the WRA Map used poverty and test score data only to designate opportunity neighborhoods, the NRI employs 24 measures including five specific to education:

• Share of free & reduced lunches 
• Student-to-teacher ratio 
• Spending per pupil 
• State school aid 
• Standardized Test Proficiency

While the NRI draws upon a broader panorama of data to better inform neighborhood choice, it also poses greater challenge to Coaches as they support participants in navigating the tool and digesting the information it presents. 

How Intern Would Support Team

A Making Moves summer intern would expand team capacity to support families in selecting communities based on schools, and in sustaining their tenancies post-move. 

We did not receive budgetary support for an Educational Liaison; this role would have worked to synthesize the above into our existing coaching framework, and bridged between students, families, school, and community resources to support student success. 

An intern would focus on the design elements of that role, creating products Coaches can use to optimally educate and empower families in choosing the right high-performing school district for them, navigating the educational system, and adjusting to new schools and communities. 

Objectives

- Research district websites, make calls/visits to the district, and gather families’ feedback to compile high-performing school district information (ex. grade level structure, before/after school programs, transportation, key contacts, extracurriculars, school climate/communication, etc.). 

• Final product will be completed School District Information Forms (PRRAC template) outlining well-resourced school district profiles for the districts we decide to target. 

- Adapt Choosing Homes, Choosing Schools: A Workshop for Parents developed by PRRAC and Mobility Works for use on Long Island. 

- Modify HUD Mobility Toolkit Renter’s Workshop to support families’ housing stability in high performing school districts.

• Create multimedia/video delivery mechanism(s) for these workshops.

Learning Opportunities for Intern

Our intern will develop a more finely tuned regional context, gaining demographic knowledge and familiarity with the unique challenges and opportunities within Long Island’s housing and educational landscapes and communities. 

They will hone their practical skills by developing expertise in creating workshops and multi-formatted educational content, and improving their project management capabilities.

Our intern will develop professional skills in research, communication, and networking, and practice adapting their communication style to work effectively with people and communities across cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

By summer’s end, they will have expanded their capacity to engage in trauma-sensitive community development practice from a position of cultural humility, recognizing the importance of listening to and understanding the life experiences, concerns, and strengths of diverse populations and vulnerable communities. 

Suggested Ideal Candidate Profile

• Aligned with CDLI’s Mission & Vision.
• Studies in Education, Public Policy, Social Sciences (e.g. Sociology, Human Services, Social Work) or Public/Non-Profit Administration.
• An understanding of K-12 educational systems and district-level operations and/or rental assistance and affordable housing programs. 
• Ability to identify and synthesize public information from various school district websites and other relevant data sources. 
• Skill/experience designing engaging, interactive workshops or other educational materials.
• Some foundational knowledge/skill with digital content creation and presentation tools (PowerPoint, Canva, video editing software).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Collaboration skills: working effectively with cross-functional staff (e.g. Making Moves team, Marketing & Development), and diverse community stakeholders.
• Willingness to learn, take feedback, and solve issues independently as appropriate. 

Highly Desired:

• Bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply (especially those who speak English and Spanish or Creole).