United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)

$851 million released in Recovery Act Capital Improvement Grants for Community Health Centers (full story below)

Over $1 billion in Recovery Act TCAP funds awarded to state housing finance agencies in 26 states to jumpstart stalled affordable rental housing projects (full story below)

HUD Secretary Donovan Announces Expanded Eligibility for ” Making Home Affordable” Refinancing

The VA has released a handbook on the VA portion of procedures for the HUD-VASH program that combines HUD “Housing Choice” voucher rental assistance with case management and clinical services provided by the VA to assist homeless Veterans and their families. This new handbook clarifies the admission process and procedure for homeless Veterans into the HUD-VASH Program and the duties of those assigned responsibilities under the program including the responsibility of VA case managers to provide housing search assistance to HUD-VASH participants with rental vouchers.

HUD and USDA team up to add HUD Recovery Act-funded project data to the USDA-created geospatial web mapping tool. The tool allows an internet user to locate USDA – and now HUD - projects that are funded by the Recovery Act nationwide. Users can view the total amount of Recovery Act funds going to each state and how many grants and/or contracts are being signed under a specific program. Users can search by agency, state or amount of money that is obligated to grantees.

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Solis Announces Over $25 million in Homeless Veterans Reintegration Grants

Assisting homeless Veterans to reintegrate back into the civilian workforce is the goal of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). 15,000 homeless Veterans are expected to benefit from this week’s announcement by U.S. Department of Labor Secretary and U.S. Interagency Council Vice Chairperson Hilda Solis of the award of 98 HVRP grants totaling more than $25 million. "This funding will help Veterans across the country access the resources they need to find good jobs and build a bright future for themselves and their families," said Secretary Solis.

The 50 new grants and 48 second and third year continuing grants were awarded on a competitive basis to state and local workforce investment boards, local public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including faith- based and community organizations. Grantees coordinate their efforts with local, state and federal social service providers to see that homeless Veterans receive occupational, classroom and on- the-job training, as well as job search and placement assistance, including follow-up services. The grants included continuation funding for cooperative agreements with the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and Virginia Commonwealth University for the HVRP National Technical Assistance Center. The Center provides technical assistance to current grantees, potential applicants and the public; gathers grantee best practices; conducts employment-related research on homeless Veterans; conducts regional grantee training sessions and self-employment boot camps; and performs outreach to the employer community to increase job opportunities for Veterans.

Read more about HVRP and other DOL programs to benefit Veterans and returning service members in testimony

by DOL Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training John McWilliam at the June 3rd House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on A National Commitment to End Veterans Homelessness. The President’s FY 10 budget calls for a 34% increase in funding for the HVRP program.

First Lady Michelle Obama Announces $851 million in Community Health Center Capital Improvement Grants from the Department of Health and Human Services

During a visit to the Unity Upper Cardozo Health Care Center in downtown Washington DC this week, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the release of $851 million in Department of Health and Human Services Recovery Act-funded Capital Improvement Grants to address immediate and pressing community health center facility and equipment needs. "Community Health Centers provide care to the Americans who need it most and their work has never been more important," said Mrs. Obama.

This week’s announcement is the third set of grants for health care centers provided through the Recovery Act. On March 2, President Obama announced grants worth $155 million to establish 126 new health center sites. Those grants will provide access to essential preventive and primary health care for more than 750,000 people in 39 states and two territories. On March 27, $338 million in Increased Demand for Services grants were awarded to health centers. Health centers are using the Increased Demand for Services grants to provide care to more than 2 million additional patients over the next two years, including approximately 1 million uninsured people. Altogether the Recovery Act included $2 billion for grants to Health Care Centers over a 2-year period -- $500 million to be used to support new health center sites and service areas, increase services at existing sites, and address spikes in uninsured populations; and $1.5 billion to support construction, renovation and equipment, including health information technology systems, in health centers and health center controlled networks. Read More about the Recovery Act funded health care center initiatives. .

To find a local Health Care Center, click here.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan Announces over $1 billion in Recovery Act Funds to Jump Start Affordable Rental Housing Construction Stalled by the Recession in 26 States

On Tuesday, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary and U.S. Interagency Council Chairperson Shaun Donovan announced HUD is approving plans submitted by 26 state housing finance agencies for $1,035,322,485 under the Recovery Act’s Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) to jumpstart stalled affordable rental housing projects that rely on Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.

"The funding being announced today is an important step in achieving the goal of putting the American people back to work while providing quality, affordable housing options for low-income families at a time when those options are needed more than ever,” said Secretary Donovan.

Tax credits create an incentive for investors to provide capital to developers to build multi-family rental housing for moderate- and low-income families across the nation. Since the contraction of the credit market, and as traditional investors remain on the sidelines, the value of tax credits has plummeted putting many projects on hold. In response, the Recovery Act provided HUD with $2.25 billion for TCAP, a grant program to provide capital investments in these stalled LIHTC developments that ultimately is expected to provide affordable rental housing for an estimated 35,000 households. All 50 state housing credit agencies plus the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are eligible to receive a formula-based allocation of TCAP funds upon submission and approval of their plans. Projects awarded low income housing tax credits in fiscal years 2007, 2008, or 2009 are eligible to be selected by the state housing credit agencies for funding, however, since a major purpose of the Recovery Act is job creation, state housing credit agencies are required to give priority to projects that can begin immediately and be completed by February 16, 2012.

State housing credit agencies in the following states received plan approval this week: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin. The remaining 26 state agency applications are expected to receive approval in the coming weeks. Learn more about TCAP. For a list of state housing finance agencies with links to their websites, click here.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

United We Serve - a nationwide call to service by President Barack Obama to encourage Americans to respond to growing community needs resulting from the economic downtown and create meaningful change in their communities by engaging in service - launched this week with an 81-day summer initiative that began with a National Day of Service on June 22 and will culminate with the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11, 2009.

Traveling to California to keynote the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, co-convened by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Points of Light Institute, First Lady Michelle Obama led by example--joining California First Lady Maria Shriver and over 300 volunteers in kicking off the United We Serve initiative by rebuilding a playground at the Bret Harte Elementary school in San Francisco. Providing other examples of opportunities to serve,

The www.serve.gov web site, where you can search for volunteer projects in your community and also register projects for which you are seeking volunteers, is being managed by the federal Corporation for National and Community Service. Toolkits to inspire projects in education, health, energy and environment, and community renewal have been posted to the site.

Project Homeless Connect and VA Stand Downs offer volunteer opportunities to participate directly in the effort to end homelessness. Please visit our National Project Homeless Connect web page to learn more about this innovation including a toolkit and other resource information for planning a Project Homeless Connect in your community. Several communities already have PHC events scheduled between now and September 11. Click on the links below to learn about volunteer opportunities at these Connect events and others that have been scheduled through October 8.

The VA currently estimates there are 131,000 homeless Veterans on any given night. The first Stand Down was organized in 1988 by Vietnam veterans in San Diego to reach out to homeless veterans in their community. In 2008, more than 30,000 Veterans and 4,500 family members received outreach services from Stand Downs aided by 24,500 volunteers. Each 1 to 3 day event is a collaborative effort of the local VA, other government agencies, and community organizations to offer homeless veterans a welcoming atmosphere, safe gathering place, and access to a broad range of services and resources. This calendar includes the local VA contact for each scheduled event

"THE YEAR OF COMMUNITY LIVING"

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in the case of Olmstead v. L.C., and seeking to further the goal of that decision that persons with disabilities have meaningful choices to live and participate in the community, President Barack Obama this week launched "The Year of Community Living."

"The Olmstead ruling was a critical step forward for our nation, articulating one of the most fundamental rights of Americans with disabilities: having the choice to live independently," said President Obama. "I am proud to launch this initiative to reaffirm my Administration's commitment to vigorous enforcement of civil rights for Americans with disabilities and to ensuring the fullest inclusion of all people in the life of our nation."

President Obama directed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan to have their departments work together to identify ways to improve access to housing, community supports, and independent living arrangements. In keeping with that direction and funding made available in the FY 2009 appropriation, HUD announced this week that it will allocate funding for up to 4000 housing choice vouchers for non-elderly families with disabilities, including 1,000 vouchers specifically targeted to those transitioning out of nursing homes and other care facilities. The 1,000 vouchers are intended to fill a gap identified in an HHS initiative which is helping persons who reside in health care settings move to community-based living. While HHS' Money Follows the Person (MFP) program offers health care, case management and other services to qualified families, it does not include funding for housing. HUD's funding initiative is designed to fill that gap.

"As individuals with disabilities leave institutional care, it is essential that they have housing options that will allow them to live independently," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "As we prepare to launch this initiative, we also want to make certain that we get input from local housing experts, disability rights advocates and others who can help us target this assistance to those who need it most. We also recognize how important it is for HUD and HHS to coordinate our resources to enable community-living for those individuals that live with disabilities." The Proposed Notice of Funding Availability for these resources as well as the Request for Comments appears in the June 22nd Federal Register. Comments are due by July 13.

At HHS, Secretary Sebelius also made an announcement of new resources intended to help achieve the goal of enabling “individuals of all ages to live in the most integrated community setting suited to their medical needs, have meaningful choices about their living arrangements, and exercise more control over the services they receive.” Since 2003, HHS’ Administration on Aging (AoA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have jointly funded Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) pilot programs in 45 states and territories. $10 million in new funding is being made available to build on and expand the existing pilots and ensure that every state can offer this program and its services to their citizens. Read more about ADRCs and view the AoA funding opportunity. Additionally, CMS is offering an opportunity to programs in California, Hawaii, Maryland and North Carolina to strengthen ADRC partnerships with hospitals so that more people who are being discharged and need post- acute care will be able to receive that care at home rather than in a nursing home. Read More about HHS "Year of Community Living" efforts.

COEUR D’ALENE, IDAHO UNVEILS CITY/COUNTY 10 YEAR PLAN FOCUSED ON HOUSING FIRST AND ONE - STOP SERVICES

June 2009. Even as they were working to formally complete their 10 Year Plan, Coeur D’Alene leaders began adopting the strategies that will help them prevent and end homelessness in the community— Project Homeless Connect, creating a single point of entry, and securing housing grants for persons who are homeless with disabilities.

Earlier this month, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson joined community leaders at the unveiling the completed Coeur D’Alene/Kootenai County plan which calls for the creation of new permanent supportive housing units in a community that in the past has had few such resources, establishing a unified system of emergency care, and coordinating case management services among the area non-profit and government agencies. In her introduction to the plan, Mayor Sandi Bloem said, “While it may be difficult, in America and in Coeur d’Alene, nothing is undoable, and we need to do what we can, in our community, to once and for all end homelessness. . .it’s time to stop wringing our hands and time to get to work.”

City Councilor Mike Kennedy, who championed creation of the plan and who has convened a broad group of elected officials, executive level public officials, and prominent local citizens to oversee the implementation, noted that the City had determined that the local community was spending in excess of $6.5 million annual “just to service homelessness.” This cost data which he noted “was just the cost of our homeless systems, and doesn’t include our hospital and jail costs” helped solidify support for the now completed plan.

Meeting with the community leaders, Regional Coordinator Carlson said, "This plan will work to the degree that the community backs it with authority. The providers are using smart strategies but they can’t do it by themselves. They must have your active support and leadership."

The community is eagerly awaiting the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing funding being made available through the Recovery Act. "We have a building and plan to co-locate the work of fourteen local agencies," said St. Vincent de Paul director Jeff Conroy. "The new HUD Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing grant, comes at the perfect time when we were already starting to coordinate all the efforts in our community to prevent homelessness."

Coeur D’Alene is the second community in Idaho to have completed development of a 10 Year Plan. Boise adopted its 10 Year Plan in 2007.

UNITED STATES INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS CONVENES FOR FIRST FULL COUNCIL MEETING OF OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

June 19. The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) yesterday convened for the first Full Council meeting of the Obama Administration, under the leadership of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary and Council Chairperson Eric Shinseki. U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was elected Chairperson for the upcoming year, and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was elected Vice Chairperson. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Melody Barnes, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, also participated in the meeting.

In a statement released for the meeting, President Obama said: "It is simply unacceptable for individuals, children, families, and our nation's Veterans to be faced with homelessness in this country. I am confident that the Interagency Council on Homelessness, under Secretary Donovan's leadership, will have a renewed focus on coordinating efforts across federal agencies and working closely with our state, local, community-based, and faith-based partners to address these serious issues."

Secretary Shinseki welcomed Council members and noted the importance of continuing efforts to end chronic homelessness, continuing to reduce veterans' homelessness, and addressing the homelessness of families during the economic downturn. The Secretary indicated that the Council's record showed the importance of collaboration in making progress in preventing and ending homelessness. On behalf of the White House, Ms. Barnes greeted Council members and noted that the meeting came a "critical moment" which both recognizes past efforts and renews focus on the problem of homelessness with the promise of Administration leaders to partner both policy and budget in the effort to prevent and end homelessness.

HUD Secretary Donovan reported that progress has been made during the first 150 days of the Administration, pointing to the successful collaboration of HUD and VA through the HUD-VASH housing program, as well as through the new $1.5 billion Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program under the Administration's Recovery initiative. Secretary Donovan noted the recent reauthorization of the Department's homeless programs under the HEARTH legislation (Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009, enacted as Division B of PL 111-22) signed by the President last month, including the creation of a new rural homelessness initiative.

"Ending the continuing tragedy of homelessness demands thoughtful and focused leadership," said Secretary Donovan. "President Obama and I are committed to working through the USICH, the agencies it represents and our state, local and non-profit partners to build a thoughtful and compassionate response to this crisis. The bottom line is that through our combined efforts every man, woman and child in this nation should have access to a safe, affordable place to lay their head at night."

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said her agency "stands ready" to be a partner in making services accessible for people experiencing homelessness and in promoting best practices. Secretary Sebelius described increases proposed in the President’s 2010 budget for targeted mental health and treatment services.

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary and new Council Vice Chairperson Hilda Solis reported to the Council on Labor's initiatives for homeless veterans, youth, and women, including women veterans. She noted the potential for increasing the impact of Job Corps for youth aging out of foster care, and the proposed 2010 budget increase of over 30% for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. Secretary Solis pointed out the proposed $4 million funding level for the Department's initiative for incarcerated veterans employment services.

Secretary Shinseki asked all Council members to report on agency initiatives ranging from the Department of Commerce's preparation for the 2010 census to the Department of Energy's job creation goals using Recovery Act resources, and including results from a multi-year Social Security Administration initiative to enroll homeless persons into SSA benefits. Council partners heard about the Department of Homeland Security's continuing post-Katrina housing and case management activities, the Department of Agriculture's accessibility opportunities for food and nutrition programs, the Department of Justice's reentry and special courts efforts, and the Department of Education's resources for education of homeless children during the economic downturn. Xavier de Souza Briggs, Office of Management and Budget Associate Director for General Government Programs, and Mark Weatherly, Deputy Associate Director, Housing, Treasury and Commerce Division, affirmed recent federal increases in targeted spending on homelessness.

EX-OFFENDER RE-ENTRY IS FOCUS OF US CONFERENCE OF MAYORS SURVEY AND BEST PRACTICE REPORT; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONSIDERS FY 2010 FUNDING FOR SECOND CHANCE ACT

June 16. Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island June 12-15 for their 77th Annual Meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a 79-city survey on prisoner re-entry efforts including greatest challenges and successful approaches. The survey, which included cities large and small in varying parts of the country, was produced by the Conference’s Ex-Offender Task Force co-chaired by Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and Irvington, CA Mayor Wayne Smith. In a press release accompanying the release of the report, Mayor Dixon said, “A job and a place to live are the most essential elements of a stable life for any person returning from prison. Unfortunately, they are the elements most seriously compromised by the current economic crisis.” Mayor Smith urged all mayors to review the report. “This is a time when we need to identify reentry models that work, and we need to share them with mayors across the nation who are struggling through this recession to find the jobs, housing, and support services that keep people from returning to prison.”

Among survey findings, 36% of the survey cities have made changes in ordinances or policies that had been preventing ex-offenders from successfully reentering the community. Among these, 77 percent changed ordinances or policies relating to employment, and 58 percent changed those relating to access to housing. These changes are described in the report. 43% of the survey cities have a re-entry council at the local level; for 53%, a re-entry council functions at the state level. 72% of survey cities are partnered in their re-entry efforts with non profits most often in providing employment services (93%). Two thirds of the survey cities involve multiple city agency collaborations, most often among police departments, social service, and workforce development agencies. Two thirds of the cities are working with correctional agencies including probation and parole departments, jails and detention centers and prisons. 47% of the survey cities are using federal funding in their efforts.

The survey cities provided descriptions of re-entry approaches and initiatives that are working in their community. Three cities - Miami, St. Louis, and Spokane - specifically identified homelessness prevention as a key goal of their re-entry efforts. Results for the St. Louis Reconnect program, which is part of their 10 Year Plan implementation and was profiled in the Council’s 2008 Innovation Series, show that from March 2007- December 2008, only 8.2% of the Project ReConnect participants re-offended compared to 34.5% of the non program participants.

This week the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to consider an appropriations bill, HR 2847, which includes FY 2010 funding recommendations for the Second Chance Act. (See Council’s March 18, 2008 special edition e-newsletter for background on the Second Chance Act). The House Appropriations Committee has recommended $100 million for Offender Reentry Programs authorized by the Second Chance Act, the same level as requested in the President’s budget which would be a $75 million increase over FY 2009. The report accompanying the bill notes that,

. . . The (Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations) Subcommittee conducted seven hearings focused on the challenges facing offenders as they reenter communities, programs that facilitate reentry and reduce recidivism, and the state of research on `what works' for offender reentry. An eighth hearing focused on efforts by many states to reform fundamentally their criminal justice systems in a way that responsibly reduces prison populations while reinvesting a portion of the associated savings on services to prevent crime and reduce recidivism.

. . . The lessons learned from those hearings are that investments in prisoner reentry program demonstrations and research are critical to making prisoner reentry more successful and reducing the rate of recidivism, and that successful prisoner reentry can significantly reduce the personal, social and economic costs associated with crime and incarceration. The hearings also made clear that, in order to have a significant impact on reducing recidivism, prisoner reentry efforts must be coordinated at the State level, based on comprehensive plans developed through input from a broad array of stakeholders.

Additionally within the $529 million recommended for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants program, $10 million would be for activities related to criminal justice reform and recidivism reduction efforts by states.

House consideration of the bill is just one step in the congressional appropriations process which will be followed by Senate action and later reconciliation of any differences. The new fiscal year begins October 1.

WHITE HOUSE "ROADMAP TO RECOVERY" AIMS TO ACCELERATE RECOVERY ACT SPENDING INCLUDING CREATING MORE CAPACITY AT HEALTH CARE CENTERS

June 15. The White House announced last week that following the first 100 days of the Recovery Act implementation, a new thrust to accelerate Recovery Act spending (“Roadmap to Recovery”) is beginning that will continue through the summer. Cabinet agencies have identified ten initial categories of Recovery Act activity for this accelerated effort including enabling 1,129 Health Care Centers in 50 states and 8 territories to provide expanded services to 300,000 patients. Altogether the Recovery Act included $2 billion for grants to Health Care Centers over a 2-year period -- $500 million to be used to support new health center sites and service areas, increase services at existing sites, and address spikes in uninsured populations; and $1.5 billion to support construction, renovation and equipment, including health information technology systems, in health centers and health center controlled networks. To find a local Health Care Center, click here.

Among the communities benefiting from the Recovery Act funding to expand the number of, and services available, through Health Care Centers is Nashua, New Hampshire where on June 29 Harbor Homes, Inc. will open a health care walk- in clinic for homeless adults and children funded with a $930,000 2-year Health Care for the Homeless grant. In addition to providing prevention and primary care services, the Center will link patients with community partners for substance abuse counseling, and mental health outreach. Center services will also include discharge planning assistance and assistance with health and disability insurance enrollment.

The non-profit Harbor Homes Inc, was established in 1980 to “create and provide quality residential and support services for persons (and their families) challenged by mental illness and homelessness.” Starting with a 9 bed group home, Harbor Homes now serves more than 1,000 clients annually, about half of whom receive residential housing services integrated with supportive services. The 20 unit Buckingham Place project opened by Harbor Homes in 2007 was unique in the nation for providing up to 24 months of transitional housing for homeless male and female veterans and homeless families in a single facility. The project was funded with a combination of government and private funds including Grant and Per Diem funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and resources from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development CDBG and HOME programs.

Peter Kelleher, CEO of Harbor Homes, provided significant leadership in the 2004 development and subsequent implementation of the Nashua 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. The result has been a significant decrease in homelessness. Between 2003 and 2008, the number of persons experiencing chronic homelessness dropped by 61% and overall homelessness dropped by 45%. Harbor Homes also serves as the site for Nashua’s annual Project Homeless Connect.

The Recovery Act also includes $200 million to encourage 3300 primary medical care, dental and mental health clinicians to work at health care centers and other community based programs in medically underserved areas that have been approved for participation in the National Health Service Corps program. In exchange for two years of service during which they are paid a competitive salary by the employing site, participants in the National Health Service Corps receive education loan repayments up to $50,000. Locate vacancies. Learn More.

NEW YOUTHBUILD GRANT AWARDS ANNOUNCED

June 15. On Friday, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced $114 million in YouthBuild grants to 183 community groups, which included over $47 million in Recovery Act funding and over $66 million from the regular FY 2009 competition. Organizations chosen for YouthBuild funding include workforce investment boards, faith-based and community groups, and local and nonprofit housing development agencies.

YouthBuild provides job training and educational opportunities for at-risk youth ages 16-24 while constructing or rehabilitating affordable housing for low-income or homeless families in their own neighborhoods. Youth split their time between the construction site and the classroom, where they earn their GED or high school diploma, learn to be community leaders, and prepare for college and other postsecondary training opportunities. YouthBuild includes significant support systems, such as a mentoring, follow-up education, employment, and personal counseling services; and participation in community service and civic engagement. Participants in YouthBuild programs include individuals who have been in the juvenile justice system, youth aging out of foster care, high school dropouts and others. Many YouthBuild participants are learning "green" building techniques, assisting with retrofitting existing homes, and discovering how to help make their communities sustainable and environmentally friendly.

USDA HOUSING HELP FOR RURAL LOW INCOME FAMILIES

USDA has published a Federal Register Notice that final congressional action on the FY 09 budget included nearly $5 million for implementation of the Demonstration Rural Development Voucher Program which is intended to prevent low income residents of Section 515 USDA funded multifamily housing projects from facing economic hardship that could lead to homelessness resulting from an increase in rent due to prepayment or foreclosure of the property. In order to be eligible for the Rural Development voucher a family must (a) be residing in the Section 515 project on the date of the prepayment of the Section 515 loan or upon foreclosure by Rural Development; (b) the date of the prepayment or foreclosure must be after September 30, 2005; (c) as required by 42 U.S.C. 1436a the tenant must be a citizen, United States non-citizen national or qualified alien. Read the Notice.

On June 9, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that he has appointed Tammye Trevino to be the Administrator for Housing and Community Facilities Programs in USDA's Rural Development agency.

“SITUATION SOLVED!”

June 10. “Situation solved!” With those words, Jackson County, OR Circuit Court Judge Lisa Greif demonstrated the “immediacy of service” and problem solving that are hallmarks of the Project Homeless Connect innovation. During last week's Project Homeless Connect held at the Oregon National Guard Armory in Medford, Judge Greif resolved numerous outstanding warrants for minor offenses that had kept the homeless consumers appearing before her from being able to access housing and employment. “I was able to work with one homeless man who had a warrant out for failure to complete his community service,” reported Judge Grief. “I had him complete that service right here by working in the kitchen. Situation solved!” Homeless Court proceedings to clear minor warrants and quality of life infractions on the spot for homeless consumers have become a Project Homeless Connect Best Practice.

Jackson County is located along the Oregon - California border in an area known as the Rogue Valley and includes the communities of Medford and Ashland. Many of the community's homeless live in informal camps in the nearby forests. This was the community's first Project Homeless Connect and it kickstarted implementation of the Jackson County 10 Year Plan that had been endorsed earlier in the week by the Jackson County Board of Supervisors. The plan was developed by the Jackson County Government, United Way of Jackson County, and the Jackson County Homeless Task Force together with community partners. Jackson County became the 10th Oregon County to adopt a 10 Year Plan (see related Oregon 10 Year Plan story below). U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson joined County Commissioner C.W. Smith, who officially released the plan during a press conference at the Connect event, during which 400 homeless and at risk persons were welcomed and helped by over 100 volunteers and 45 service agencies. A hot lunch, dental care, mental health assessments, bus passes, clothing vouchers, haircuts, food distribution, even veterinary care were among the many valuable services offered at the event which was organized by Ed Angeletti of ACCESS Inc, the local community action agency, with support from the Jackson County United Way and Jackson County Bar Association.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS HOLDS HEARING ON ENDING VETERANS' HOMELESSNESS

June 5. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, chaired by Congressman Bob Filner, held a hearing this week on “A National Commitment to End Veterans’ Homelessness.” In opening remarks at Wednesday’s hearing, Chairman Filner noted that the Committee and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who is also the current chair of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, have made ending Veterans homelessness a priority and encouraged the four panels of witnesses to tell the Committee “what’s working, what’s not, and what you need” to accomplish this goal.

The Committee received testimony from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Labor officials, national and community based organizations, and researchers on the effectiveness of service and treatment programs being provided to homeless Veterans directly by the VA and in partnership with other federal agencies, local governments, and community based organizations. During the hearing, attention was also focused on the special needs of homeless and at risk women Veterans and on expanding outreach/marketing and early intervention efforts to prevent homelessness. Witnesses widely praised the VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program, the VA’s largest collaborative effort with local communities that has resulted in the development of nearly 14,000 supportive transitional housing beds for homeless Veterans with funding for another 1000 beds due to be awarded later this summer. Several recommendations were made for improving administration of the program, including the calculation and payment of the per diem rate, and increasing the program funding level to $200 million a year.

Testifying on behalf of the VA, Homeless Programs Director Pete Dougherty, who is also the Acting Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, told the Committee that Secretary Shinseki’s goal is to eliminate homelessness among Veterans in five years. Mr. Dougherty spoke of the “unprecedented commitment and collaborative relationships at the Federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government level . . . and the more than 500 community, non profit and faith based service providers working in tandem with the VA’s health care and benefits staff.”

Mr. Dougherty told the Committee the VA has estimated from local data that there were approximately 131,000 homeless Veterans on any given night in 2008, a 33 percent reduction in homelessness over the last three years. “This progress demonstrates to us that this scourge of homelessness, while difficult to address, is not impossible,” he said. He reviewed with the Committee members progress being made through existing programs and new initiatives being developed, particularly those focused on homelessness prevention including a congressionally authorized VA-HUD pilot prevention program for at risk Veterans and their families and a VA-Department of Labor pilot effort which will begin in FY 2010 to demonstrate effective homeless prevention approaches for Veterans being discharged from institutional settings. Department of Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training John McWilliams also testified on the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

Additional presenters at the hearing were: John Driscoll, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans; Dwight Radcliff, Sr, US Vets; Marsha Four, Vietnam Veterans of America Committee on Women Veterans; Sam Fann, Manna House-Johnson City, TN; Phil Landis, Veterans Village of San Diego; Carol Adams, Ph.D, Illinois Department of Human Services; George Basher, VA Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans; and Carol Caton, Ph.D, and Brendan O’Flaherty, Columbia Center on Homelessness Prevention Studies, which is the nation's only NIMH-funded research center on more effective approaches to homelessness prevention. Center Director Caton provided a brief summary of the Center’s work that has included studies on the efficacy of Housing First and Critical Time Intervention strategies, and several ongoing and upcoming studies.

New York City Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Rob Hess reported on the continuing progress of the City’s efforts to end Veteran homelessness led by the 2006 Operation Home initiative of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and then VA Secretary James Nicholson which charged a Task Force with “creating a dedicated veterans service system outside the transitional homeless service system that would meet the unique needs of homeless Veterans and tie them to the rich array of resources already provided by the VA.” A first goal of housing “100 veterans in 100 days” while the Task Force completed its work was not only exceeded when 135 Veterans were housed but since then 1900 more Veterans have moved from temporary shelter into permanent housing.

Between December 2006 and May 2009, the number of Veterans living in New York City shelters has been reduced by 60%. The City’s new system includes a multi-service center which became operational in May 2008 serving as a single point of access for homeless Veterans and for those at-risk of becoming homeless which integrates DHS intake services with access to medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment available through the VA medical system, as well as housing and other support services. The Center also makes available preventive services needed to divert those Veterans who are at risk of becoming homeless. Soon to open is a Veteran specific Safe Haven, a housing model proven to be particularly effective at engaging those living on the streets. Mr. Hess credited the “creation of specific and measurable goals” as a major factor in the City’s success so far and also spoke of the importance of “federal partners in bringing initiatives to scale.” He noted that of the 1000 HUD-VASH funded vouchers the city received from the $75 million funding made available nationally last year, 701 had already been distributed by May 1. Commissioner Hess was accompanied by Mr. Ronald Marte, who after serving in Iraq had become homeless and has been able to move from a shelter into permanent housing with a HUD-VASH voucher.

Visit the Committee’s website to read the witnesses’ prepared statements and Committee members statements.

(note: The Committee held a special roundtable in May on women Veterans issues. On Thursday, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health considered and approved with an amendment legislation, HR 1211, on health care services for women Veterans. Also this week, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, along with cosponsors Senators Durbin of Illinois, Menendez of New Jersey and Brown of Ohio, formally introduced S 1160, the Homes for Heroes Act of 2009, housing assistance legislation for homeless and very low income Veterans and their families which had been championed by President Obama when he was a Senator.)

FEMA 2009 HURRICANE SEASON PREPAREDNESS MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE

2009 Hurricane Season began June 1. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has developed a number of resources to help citizens, local governments, and community organizations better prepare for responding to a disaster:

"THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME . . ."

May 28. Last week, Linn County became the 9th Oregon County to unveil a 10 Year Plan to end homelessness. County Commissioner Roger Nyquist and Albany Mayor Sharon Konopa were joined by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson and Oregon Housing and Community Services Deputy Director Rick Crager at an unveiling ceremony held just before the doors opened for Albany’s third Project Homeless Connect, known locally as “Heart to Heart.” Mr. Crager is also chair of the Governor’s Ending Homelessness Advisory Council, which is Oregon’s state interagency council on homelessness.

Another key community leader at the unveiling was Albany Police Captain Ben Atchley who after being called upon to shut down a homeless camp in 2006, became a driving force behind the Heart to Heart event and together with then Albany Councilor and now Mayor Konopa and County Commissioner Nyquist helped lead the development of the “There’s No Place Like Home . . .” 10 Year Plan. Since 2006 when Portland/Multnomah County became the first Oregon community to adopt the innovation of Project Homeless Connect, there have been nearly two dozen Connect events in the state.

VA STRENGTHENS LEADERSHIP ROLE IN PROMOTING RECOVERY ORIENTED CARE FOR HOMELESS AND AT RISK VETERANS WITH NEW NATIONAL CENTER ON HOMELESSNESS AMONG VETERANS

May 23, 2009. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary and current Interagency Council Chair Eric Shinseki announced on Wednesday the creation of a National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans. The announcement was made by the Secretary during remarks at the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) National Conference. “President Obama has made it clear that homelessness among Veterans is unacceptable,” Secretary Shinseki said. “We have a moral duty to prevent and eliminate homelessness among Veterans.” The Center will be an opportunity to “develop, promote, and enhance policy, clinical care, research and education to improve homeless services, so that Veterans may live as independently as possible in a community of their choosing.” The VA estimates there are 131,000 homeless veterans on any given night.

The Center is designed to be a national resource for both VA and community partners, improving the quality and timeliness of services delivered to homeless or at-risk Veterans and their dependents. The Center will be co-located with the Philadelphia VA Medical Center and the Tampa VAMC with the support of host-site academic affiliates, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of South Florida. Initial research studies include Evaluating Housing Programs for Homeless Veterans (in conjunction with the University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute) and Applying Administrative Data to Estimate the Prevalence of Veterans Among Homelessness Program Users and their use of VA-Funded Health Services (in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania). Both research efforts will be rolled out first in VISNs 4 and 8. The VA provides services to veterans through 21 VA Service Networks (VISN). VISN 4 covers 104 counties in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Ohio. VISN 8 includes Florida, Southern Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Note: On June 3rd, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Veterans Affairs will hold a hearing on “A National Commitment to End Veterans’ Homelessness.”

CONGRESS TO BEGIN MARKING UP THE FY 2010 APPROPRIATIONS BILLS

May 26. House and Senate action on the FY 2010 federal budget will move forward when Congress returns next week from the Memorial Day recess. With House leaders having indicated a desire to have all 12 appropriation bills passed in the House by the scheduled August recess, House Appropriations Subcommittee markups are expected to begin in early June. FY 2010 begins October 1. After providing Congress and the nation in February with an overview of his budget themes, A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise, President Obama’s submitted his detailed FY 2010 budget to Congress earlier this month. Click here to read a summary analysis of the President’s budget proposals by agency for both targeted federal homelessness assistance programs, including new initiatives for homeless and at risk veterans and their families, and for other federal programs that offer resources that can help prevent and end homelessness.

NEW DATA SHOW JURISDICTIONAL EFFORTS TO END CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS THROUGH 10 YEAR PLAN STRATEGIES ARE PROVIDING HOUSING SOLUTIONS AND DEMONSTRATING COST SAVINGS

New data from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Seattle/King County, WA, and Sioux Falls/Minnehaha County, SD demonstrate clearly that the random ricocheting of vulnerable and disabled persons experiencing chronic homelessness through health care, treatment, and law enforcement systems comes at great expense to the taxpayer and with no improvement in the lives of these individuals. The new data affirm the importance of jurisdictional commitment to strategies that invest in housing solutions with supportive services that end the homelessness of those who are not only the most vulnerable and disabled but also the most costly to the community, and in doing so, improving the quality of life for everyone - housed and homeless alike.

The study, funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by University of Washington professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and adjunct professor of psychology Dr. Mary E. Latimer, documented cost savings of over $4 million for the 95 individuals who were the subject of the study and who had previously cost local taxpayers $8.2 million in hospitalizations, emergency services, jail time, detox, and sobering center visits. After being housed, the per person costs per month declined to $1,492 after six months and $958 after one year. The total cost for all 95 participants for one year was $4,094,291, a reduction of more than $4 million. The researchers also found that residents drank less the longer they remained housed, and their cost to public systems continued to decline.

Outgoing King County Executive Ron Sims, who has been nominated by President Obama to be Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, attended the news conference along with Dr. Latimer and Downtown Emergency Service Center Executive Director Bill Hobson, whose agency operates 1811 Eastlake. Mr. Sims, acknowledging that he’d originally been skeptical about a Housing First strategy for chronically homeless alcoholics, said “This is an extraordinarily successful program” and noted, “Our return on investment has exceeded any expectation.” Read More.

Massachusetts State Data on Home and Healthy for Good (Housing First) Initiative Shows Dramatic Medicaid Savings

When the Massachusetts Legislature passed an FY 2007 line time to invest state resources in a new statewide pilot Housing First program for chronically homeless individuals, the expectation was that the Home & Healthy for Good (HHG) initiative would replicate the national success rate of Housing First and end the costly random ricocheting of chronically homeless individuals through state systems. New state data released last week from an unprecedented state research initiative relying on Medicaid claims data show a 67% decrease in annual health care costs per person after housing placement. The Home & Healthy for Good Initiative is operated by the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) with twelve partner agencies around the state.

The Massachusetts Medicaid system tracked chronically homeless individuals successfully stabilized through the statewide initiative and used individual state Medicaid health care payment data to identify annual health care costs per person that decreased from an average of $26,124 before housing placement to $8,500 after housing placement, a savings of $17,625 per person. Read More.

Sioux Falls/Minnehaha County 10 Year Plan Permanent Supportive Housing Pilot

Project Safe Home, a permanent supportive housing pilot for 20 individuals undertaken as one implementation strategy of the Sioux Falls/Minnehaha 10 Year Plan, has documented a 50% decrease in per person costs for health care, detox, law enforcement, and other county services. Costs dropped from $32,000 per person to $16,529. The most dramatic decline was in health care costs, which fell from a total of $109,109 in the first quarter of the initiative to $12,730 in the last quarter of the pilot program, according to data presented to Minnehaha County commissioners by Human Services Director Hugh Grogan. Read More.

RECOVERY ACT INCLUDES RESOURCES TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS

On February 17, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This wide-ranging legislation includes a number of provisions that provide additional assistance and resources to prevent and end homelessness. Key provisions are listed below with more detailed information about each one available on a Read More page accessed at the end of the list.

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT:
Emergency Shelter Grants, $1.5 billion
Neighborhood Stabilization Program, $2 billion
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), $1 billion
HOME, $2.250 billion to coordinate with Low Income Housing Tax Credits
Public Housing Capital Fund, $4 billion
Promoting HUD Assisted Housing Stability and Increased Energy Efficiency, $2.250 billion

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES:
Community Health Centers, $2 billion
Community Services Block Grant, $1 billion
Child Care and Development Block Grant, $2 billion

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
Education for Homeless Children and Youth, $70 million

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE:
Violence Against Women Transitional Housing, $50 million

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR:
Employment and Training. $2.95 billion for WIA formula grants; $50 million for YouthBuild
Jobs Corps, $250 million

USDA (Department of Agriculture):
Rural Housing, $200 million will support over $11 billion in single family loans
Rural Community Facilities, $130 million to support over $1.2 billion in loans and grants
Emergency Food Assistance (Commodity), $150 million
SNAP (Food Stamps), 13.6% increase in benefits

TAX PROVISIONS INCLUDE:
"Making work Pay" Tax Credit
Economic Recovery Payment of $250 for social security, SSI, railroad retirement and disabled veteran compensation recipients
Unemployment Compensation Benefits
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Tax Incentive for hiring unemployed veterans and disconnected youth

CREATING RESULTS THROUGH INNOVATION

Are you eager to learn how communities are achieving results in preventing and ending homelessness? The Council’s Innovation Series has answers for you! In 2008, our three-part Innovation Series put the spotlight on 33 far-ranging replicable efforts focused on our common mission to end homelessness. Beginning with our “20 innovations in 20 days” series in May, followed by the July “5 in 5” series, and concluding with our holiday “08 in 08” series, each innovation was profiled in a special edition of our e-newsletter that identified the innovation and the innovator, how it works, who benefits, the results being achieved, and who to contact for more information.

Interested in learning how communities have created successful dedicated revenue streams?
You’ll want to read the five innovations we profiled in our July “5 in 5” series.

Interested in learning about successful veterans housing and reintegration strategies?
You’ll want to read Innovations 11, 13, and 20 in our May “20 in 20” series.

Are your homeless consumers challenged in their efforts to access programs and benefits by lack of identification?
You’ll want to read Innovation 7 from our “08 in 08” series and Innovation 3 in our “20 in 20” series.

Want to enhance the effectiveness of your downtown engagement and housing strategies?
Innovations 14 and 17 from our “20 in 20” series and Innovations 2, 4, and 6 in our latest “08 in 08” series will help you.

These are just a few of the subject areas covered in our 2008 Innovation Series, which together with other innovative ideas, can be found on our Innovations web page


Privacy Statement	Last Updated: July 2, 2009	The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness 409 Third Street SW \| Suite 310 \| Washington, D.C. 20024 Phone (202) 708-4663 \| Fax (202) 708-1216

MOVING FORWARD