News

Creating Systems of Safety for Survivors of Domestic Violence Heidi Wooten President & CEO Safehome One in three women are victims of domestic violence. These women are your neighbors, co-workers, and family members. Their children go to your neighborhood schools and daycare centers. It is hard to imagine that this type of violence happens in our community. But it does, and it can happen to anyone. Large numbers of domestic violence crimes go unreported by victims due to many factors, including intimidation, fear for their life, and child custody issues. Numbers that appear in research reports, including the one attached ...

UCS Launches Women’s Health Series Mom takes care of everyone. But who takes care of Mom? Julie Brewer UCS Executive Director Today, UCS is launching a five-part series on issues impacting women and their families. If we want “family first” policies – it starts with centering on women’s health and wellbeing. Women’s health is integral to healthy families. However, daily we see policies that do not address this interrelationship. The adage that mom takes care of everyone else before herself is not healthy for mom, her family, or her community. This year, women’s health and health autonomy has taken center stage ...

U.S. Census Releases 2021 1-Year American Community Survey Data Earlier this month the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2021 1-year American Community Survey (ACS) data. This is the first 1-year data from the ACS since 2019 data was released. One-year data was not released from 2020 due to an overall low survey response rate that year. According to the newly released data, 36,492 people in Johnson County were living at or below the poverty line ($21,960, or $1,830 per month for a family of three) in 2021. Nearly 15% (90,341 people) of Johnson County residents were living at or below ...

KS-505 FY2022 CoC Collaborative Application and Priority Listing Posted September 26th, 2022 Each year, prior to submission of the annual Continuum of Care on Homelessness (CoC) Collaborative Application and Priority Project Applications, KS-505 posts the final draft of the application for funding on its website and notifies the CoC and community of its availability. In FYKS2022, KS-505 will be applying for $995,721 to support the renewal of 2 permanent supportive housing, 4 rapid rehousing, a homeless management information system, and the CoC Planning grants; the expansion of a rapid rehousing project through the CoC Bonus; and the creation of a ...

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Every Day By Erik Erazo Executive Director of Student & Community Engagement, Olathe Public Schools Board Member, UCS Welcome to Hispanic Heritage Month. This month represents the important history and contributions Hispanics have made to this country. It has been celebrated in the United States for more than 50 years, since 1968. Although there have been many well-known people who have paved the way for Hispanics, such as Caeser Chavez (labor leader and civil rights activist) and Ellen Ochoa (an astronaut and engineer who was the first Hispanic woman to go to space), to me Hispanic Heritage Month ...

Take One Small Step with UCS Why does it feel like it's so hard to connect with those around us, especially those who have different views? Perhaps we just need more practice. Perhaps it’s as simple as a conversation. Conversation is a powerful tool for understanding and connecting with one another. It can be used to discuss the differences in perspectives and build a bridge to understanding and acceptance. We know that a healthy, thriving community depends on our ability to overcome our differences, find common ground, and tackle shared challenges together. Collaboration requires that we are first able to ...

What Matters Most to Employees? Engagement. By Janet Barrow Director of Human Resources and Administration, WaterOne Board Member, UCS Since March 2020, the world has been on the change roller coaster. Employment status, work location, redefining work-life balance, and a myriad of safety precautions have polarized every workplace. We have gone full circle concerning unemployment rates prior to the pandemic. In 2019, the nation was experiencing the lowest unemployment rates for more than two decades. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment rates mirrored post-recession rates. Within the prior couple of months, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics listed ...

Fact Sheet: A Case for Raising the Minimum Wage The national minimum wage was created by Congress under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938 to: Stabilize the post-depression economy, Protect the workers in the labor force and Create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees. UCS is committed to advancing policies that increase the financial stability of Johnson County households. Because of this, we track nationwide trends in minimum wage policy to inform how Kansas policy decisions impact Johnson County residents. Since the start of 2022, 24 states have raised the minimum ...

HUD Released 2022 CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on 8/1/22; KS-505 Will Publish Updated Competition Timeline by 8/5/22 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released its FY2022 CoC NOFO – a national competitive funding process opportunity for Continuums of Care (CoC) working to end homelessness. To view the FY2022 NOFO, see View Opportunity | GRANTS.GOV. UCS acts as Johnson County’s CoC lead agency (KS-505) and submits the application annually on behalf of local members to qualify for grant awards funding permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, homeless data management services and CoC planning. In July, KS-505 opened ...

UCS Releases Annual Point-in-Time Count and Data on Homelessness Johnson County’s Continuum of Care on Homelessness is a collaboration of public and private service providers committed to quickly and effectively responding to housing crises to either prevent or end homelessness among Johnson County residents. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that Continuums of Care conduct an annual Point in Time (PIT) count of households within their geographic region experiencing homelessness on one night in the last ten days of January. The count is a snapshot on a single night that is used to monitor trends year ...