HHS invests in strategies to provide effective and innovative pathways that lead to equitable economic success for all individuals and families. HHS facilitates system enhancements and partnerships across the federal government to coordinate resources and technical assistance to individuals and families hoping to achieve sustain economic independence. Below is a selection of strategies HHS is implementing.
In the context of HHS, this Strategic Plan adopts the definition of underserved populations listed in Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government to refer to “populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, who have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life”; this definition includes individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. Individuals may belong to more than one underserved community and face intersecting barriers.
Contributing OpDivs and StaffDivs
ACF, ACL, ASPE, CDC, CMS, HRSA, IHS, and OASH work to achieve this objective.
Strategies
Facilitate system enhancements and partnerships across the federal government to coordinate resources and technical assistance to individuals and families hoping to achieve sustain economic independence
- Build state, tribe, and territorial capacity to expand safety net program coverage, enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, streamline eligibility determination, and improve enrollment in order to provide effective assistance to address the economic conditions of underserved populations
- Encourage states to collaborate across programs and systems so that families hoping to achieve economic security have access to income and housing support, education, and training as well as work supports, such as childcare, transportation, and Medicaid and health insurance.
- Apply knowledge and best practices to help grantees and partners provide services that focus on social determinants of health and factors that affect economic mobility.
- Support naturalization among refugees and inclusion efforts, as called for in the Executive Order 14012: Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans, by reducing barriers to the legal immigration system.
- Enable research use of data collected through federal funded programs to accelerate the production of evidence on factors affecting refugees’ resettlement outcomes, including those of refugee youth.
- Invest in low-income, tribal, and communities of color through funding opportunities to promote social and economic self-sufficiency to lessen economic inequalities.
- Expand access to culturally- and linguistically-appropriate employability, economic development, education, and support services for vulnerable refugee populations, through specialized programming and collaboration with federal partners
- Expand the development of resources for communities disproportionately affected by economic inequalities including native and indigenous populations, refugees, and asylees, facilitate the translation of materials for the public to the top five languages currently spoken in the U.S.
