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Tucson reviews progress on Prosperity Initiative; city, county and nonprofits align policies to reduce intergenerational poverty
Summary
City staff reported on year-one implementation of the Prosperity Initiative, a regional framework of 13 evidence-backed policies to disrupt intergenerational poverty. The city has mapped 96 existing programs that align to the initiative and will develop indicators and city-level metrics for annual reporting.
City staff briefed the mayor and council on the first-year progress of the Prosperity Initiative, a regional, multi-jurisdictional program to reduce intergenerational poverty through evidence-based policies across jobs, housing, health and education.
Assistant City Manager Liz Morales and Housing & Community Development staff said the initiative was developed with regional partners and researchers, and that 13 policies were adopted by the city in January 2024 following a cross-jurisdictional task force review. The city has completed an “existing practices scan” identifying more than 96 programs across 13 departments that map to the policies, staff said.
Staff described next steps that include developing and reporting on regional indicators (selected with the Urban Institute Mobility Action Learning Network), convening departmental leadership for orientation to align city operations with the initiative, creating a citywide leadership group to synthesize priorities, and launching a public website to show progress and evidence backing for the policies.
The initiative’s policies include job access and quality, housing mobility and stability, health coverage and prevention strategies and access to early childcare and postsecondary pathways. City staff said HUD Choice Neighborhoods planning funding for the 20 Ninth Street Thrive Zone has been aligned with Prosperity Initiative principles and that the city and Pima County won a $7 million pro-housing grant for regulatory and technical assistance to expand affordable housing.
Vice Mayor Santa Cruz and other council members emphasized the need for clear evidence and return-on-investment metrics to explain the rationale for policy choices and to guide budget decisions. Staff said they would return in the first quarter of 2025 with a workplan, draft indicators and recommended city metrics for annual reporting and that they would expand stakeholder engagement with nonprofit and business partners.
The council supported the effort and asked staff to make the evidence base and implementation metrics readily accessible to the public.
