SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. On April 27, 2006, 180 volunteers turned out to connect 300 people experiencing homelessness to a variety of services that were all located under one roof for the day at Parkside Hall in Downtown San Jose. The event featured 10 service areas and access to 34 different agencies for clients, including food, personal hygiene kits, childcare, employment, federal benefits, county social services, haircuts, a medical clinic, a dental clinic, housing and transportation resources, and legal resources.

Mayor Ron Gonzales kicked off the daylong event by rallying volunteers. "This is a gift of immeasurable value," said Mayor Gonzales of the event. "Every person who walks in here today needs attention, care and support. The people here today are our neighbors. They may need our help now because of hard luck or poor choices - but each of us in this room knows that no one is exempt from what fate may throw at us."

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Ed Cabrera joined the Mayor and City Council Members Nora Campos, Forrest Williams, and Judy Chirco in welcoming volunteers. "San Jose is not alone in embracing this one-stop model to engage homeless people," said Cabrera. "From LA to New York and from Miami to Portland, cities across the country are impacting the lives of homeless people."

San Jose Housing Director Leslye Krutko and Homeless Coordinator Ray Tovar, the primary organizer of the event, were also on hand to rally participants. "Today's objective," Krutko told volunteers, "is to learn from our collective experience, tap into the enthusiasm of committed volunteers, and together, one by one, transition people in need from the streets into housing linked with supportive services.

Key government partners included the County of Santa Clara, the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, among others. One key private sector partner was IBM, which turned out 80 volunteers for the event.

Through the USICH-commissioned National Project Homeless Connect, over 11,000 clients and 7,000 volunteers nationally have been engaged through this model in their communities.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness will hold The National Summit for Jurisdictional Leaders: Moving From Good to Better to Great in Sustaining 10-Year Plans to End Chronic Homelessness May 10-12 in Denver, Colorado. The summit will bring together jurisdictional leaders involved in developing 10-Year plans, innovative thinkers, and practitioners to highlight and advance innovative strategies from cities, counties, regions, and states across the country that are producing results.

The agenda includes a keynote address by Jim Collins, best selling author of Good to Great and Built to Last, peer to peer Discovery and Dialogue Sessions, and an awards luncheon. Mr. Collins will discuss how good performers become great performers and what can cause good performers to slide into mediocrity. The awards luncheon on May 11 will include presentations of "A Home for Every American Award" recognizing outstanding partnership, political will, innovation, and results in ending chronic homelessness. On Friday, summit attendees will have an opportunity to attend a special Denver 10-Year Plan Showcase, which will include learning sessions and site tours of Denver's innovative practices and programs.

Denver is a particularly appropriate choice as the site for this summit since all the elements of a successful 10-Year Plan effort are in evidence: political will, broad partnership, a housing-centered plan, and a focus on results. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was one of the first jurisdictional leaders in the country to commit to developing a 10-Year Plan and has been outspoken in his support of creating supportive housing opportunities for persons experiencing chronic homelessness, including testifying in 2004 at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on the Administration's Samaritan Initiative.

The 41-member Denver Commission to End Homelessness appointed by Mayor Hickenlooper to develop a 10- Year Plan, included representation from a broad stakeholder group of government and business leaders, providers, funders, consumers, neighborhoods and faith based organizations. The resulting plan, Denver's Road Home, released in May of last year, calls for creating over 3100 new permanent housing opportunities for Denver's homeless population, including 942 permanent supportive housing units for persons experiencing chronic homelessness. The plan sets a goal to reduce chronic homelessness by 75% over five years. Roxanne White, manager of Denver's Department of Human Services, chaired the successful Commission effort and has been instrumental in moving the plan forward into implementation.

Results released this week from the most recent point-in-time survey done in January of this year show an 11.5% drop in the number of homeless in the Denver metropolitan region including a 4% drop in the city. A unique characteristic of the Denver plan is the strength of its partnership with the faith-based community, including the involvement of about 100 local religious congregations.

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA. The Durham, North Carolina community has taken its next step toward adopting a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness. The 10-year planning effort is a joint initiative of the city under the leadership of Mayor Bill Bell, the county under the leadership of Commission Chair Ellen Reckhow, and the Triangle United Way led by Executive Director Craig Chancellor. Last week, the 90-member Durham Partnership to End Homelessness, co-chaired by Carolyn Thornton and Peter Anlyan, unveiled a plan to city and county leaders for their review and consideration.

The plan proposes seeking funding to support the development of 150 supportive housing units for persons experiencing chronic homelessness, making available 237 additional housing units for other homeless individuals, and 38 units for families; expanding treatment resources for persons with chronic substance abuse problems; and increasing efforts to identify and help families at risk of homelessness. The recommendations also call for the city and county to jointly provide administrative support for a private, non-profit agency to implement the plan. An executive team composed of local officials, formerly homeless persons, and representatives of the faith community, academia, and service providers would oversee the work of the agency.

At a community forum entitled "Can We End Homelessness" held at the beginning of Durham's planning process last September, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano told the assembled group of over 100 community stakeholders "that the question is no longer 'can we', the deliberation is now 'how do we'. Across this country there is an unprecedented level of political will and community partnership to get this job done." Pictured here is Director Mangano with Durham Mayor Bell and County Commission Chair Reckhow.

Durham is one of twelve North Carolina communities engaged in the 10-Year Plan effort including Asheville/Buncombe County, Chapel Hill/Orange County, Fayetteville/Cumberland County, Greensboro/High Point/Guilford County, Henderson/Vance County, Raleigh/Wake County, and the cities of Charlotte, Gastonia, Shelby, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA. More than 900 representatives from local jurisdictions affected by closures, realignments, and growth actions arising from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process (BRAC) were joined by officials from the White House, and numerous federal departments and agencies including the individual military service branches at a Department of Defense sponsored conference in Atlanta, Georgia last week.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Michael German joined U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) representatives at Homeless Outreach workshops to provide technical assistance covering community responsibilities under the Base Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance Act of 1994. Representing HUD at the workshops were Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs Mark Johnston, Base Redevelopment Team Coordinator Linda Charest, and Lynn Morgan of the Office of General Counsel.

In November 2005, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) announced the results of the latest round of base closures. For each community in which property will become available as a result of the BRAC decisions, a Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) will be responsible for creating a plan to determine how the military facilities will be converted to non-military use. The LRA will be required to advertise the availability of surplus buildings and properties in a newspaper of general circulation within the vicinity of the installation. This advertisement will include notice of the time period during which the LRA will receive notices of interest (NOIs) from homeless assistance providers and state and local governments interested in acquiring any of the surplus properties. A fuller description of the process can be found in HUD's Guidebook on Military Base Re-Use and Homeless Assistance. Another useful web resource is the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment website at www.oea.gov. A list of the LRAs, which have been recognized by DOD as part of the BRAC reuse process, is available on that site.

There are specific information requirements for NOI homeless assistance submissions. At the conference, USICH Regional Coordinator German explained how the 10-Year Plan process outlined in the toolkit the Council has been making available to communities interested in developing such a plan, can be useful in developing the information needed to successfully complete the BRAC-related Homeless Assistance Submission. That toolkit can be read or downloaded from our website at www.usich.gov.

Bryant Monroe, Project Manager for the Department of Defense's Office of Economic Adjustment served as moderator for the Homeless Outreach Workshops Panel, which also included Beth Maerten, Program Manager for Mather Community Campus of Sacramento County, California and Dr. Craig Burnette, Project CHALENG Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

For more information:

Michael German, USICH Regional Coordinator, 404-331-5001 x2147

WASHINGTON, DC. The U.S. Department of Justice' Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is soliciting applications from states, units of local government, and tribal governments for grants authorized by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act. The grants are intended to support the development and implementation of programs to improve outcomes for individuals with mental health illness involved in the criminal justice system.

Specifically, the objectives to be measured under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) are:

1. Reduce recidivism of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system
2. Increase the number of criminal justice personnel trained in or using law enforcement-based diversion strategies
3. Increase the number of court-based diversion programs and alternative jail diversion strategies
4. Increase the number of juvenile justice collaborations
5. Increase the number of correctional based transition programs for mentally ill offenders
6. Increase mental health and other services available to mentally ill offenders

Three categories of grants are available:

Planning grants of up to $50,000 for a 12-month project period. Grantees will receive intensive technical assistance from BJA.

Planning and Implementation grants of up to $250,000 for a 30-month project period.

Implementation Grants, that may include expansion plans, of up to $200,000 for a 24 -month project period.

A minimum 20% cash or in-kind match will be required.

Applications are due June 2 and may be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/06MIOsol.pdf
Questions should be directed to Robert Hendricks at the BJA 202-305-1909.

Mental health disorders and "aging out" of foster care are two factors that correlate to incidences of homelessness. Both are subjects of national public awareness campaigns during the month of May.

A partnership of 14 government and private organizations including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated May as National Foster Care Month and has launched a "Change a Lifetime" campaign to "educate individuals and communities and stimulate their involvement in the hundreds of ways they can help meet the needs of those living in foster care."

Of the more than 518,000 children and youth in foster care today, approximately 20,000 will "age out" of the foster care system this year, generally at age 18. Lacking the employment skills, support network, and resources to live independently, many of them will be at risk of homelessness. In fact, young people ages 18-24 are one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. Homeless youth experience high levels of abuse and often engage in risky behaviors when living on the streets that leave them vulnerable to compromised mental and physical health. Communities developing results-oriented 10-Year Plans will want to include homeless youth and/or representatives of homeless youth service providers as stakeholders in the planning process. Similarly, state interagency councils are encouraged to include foster care programs in their discharge planning protocols. The Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act required the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to prepare, in consultation with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, a report to Congress on Promising Practices to End Youth Homelessness. HHS is expected to finalize the report for transmittal to Congress later this year.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children, Youth and Families is sponsoring a conference, Pathways to Adulthood: Independent Living/Transitional Living, May 17-19, 2006 in Portland, Oregon. This annual conference, coordinated by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development at the University of Oklahoma, brings together over 600 community providers, government agency representatives, policy makers, and researchers to discuss the latest trends and innovations for successful transitioning of foster care youth and other at-risk youth to independent living. The list of nearly four dozen workshops and presenters is a useful resource list of innovations and experts in this field.

May is also recognized as Mental Health Month. Recent estimates suggest that 20% of persons experiencing chronic homelessness have a serious mental illness and that at least 40% have substance use disorders. Often, these individuals have more than one of these conditions, referred to as co-occurring. These factors contribute not only to a person's risk for becoming homeless but also to the difficulty he or she experiences in overcoming it.

This year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has launched a new initiative coinciding with Mental Health Month. The National Childrens Mental Health Awareness Day to "promote resilience, recovery and transformation of mental health services delivery for children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families" will be observed annually during the first full week of May. More information on this initiative can be found on a newly created SAMHSA website, www.systemsofcare.samhsa.gov. Untreated mental health problems in youth have been found to be a marker for adult homelessness.

At a congressional briefing held Monday, May 8th, SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie (pictured here) released data from a national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services Program for Children and Families showing " that children and youth with serious mental health needs make substantial improvements at home, at school, and in the community when served through systems of care that provide community based services." Mr. Curie also reported evaluation data shows that the systems of care approach save taxpayers money when compared to the traditional mental health service delivery systems - on average, saving public health systems $2,7776.85 per child in inpatient costs over the course of a year and saving juvenile justice systems $784.16 per child. The Capitol Hill briefing was organized by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the National Mental Health Association, the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, and the National Association of Social Workers as part of the first ever National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day.

Two innovative programs aimed at ending homelessness are among the 18 "uniquely smart, creative, and effective government initiatives" named last week as finalists from more than 1000 applications submitted this year for the Innovations in American Government Award. The two programs are Connecticut's Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative and HomeBase, a homeless prevention initiative of New York City's Department of Homeless Services. The Innovations in American Government Award is administered by the Council for Excellence in Government in Washington in partnership with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Ash Institute for Democratic Governance. Each of the seven final winning programs to be announced in July will receive $100,000 " to support teaching their model to other jurisdictions."

HomeBase is being recognized as a "groundbreaking community-based program helping shift the homeless services model in NYC away from a focus on shelter. By intervening before legal, medical, family and other problems trigger a period of homelessness, HomeBase focuses resources on keeping New Yorkers housed."

In June 2004, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a plan to end homelessness in his city as part of the national 10-year plan effort promoted by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. In releasing the plan entitled, Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter, Mayor Bloomberg noted that "an over-reliance on providing shelter instead of preventing homelessness has taken a powerful toll on the lives of the very people we have sought to help", and he outlined initiatives that would "redirect the focus away from maintaining an ever growing shelter system and toward preventing homelessness."

Since its inception in September of 2004, the city's HomeBase initiative has served more than 3000 clients in six community districts, helping to "stabilize their housing situation and avoid the trauma of homelessness" through a variety of services that can include family and landlord mediation, household budgeting skills, legal services short-term financial assistance, mental health and substance abuse services, household repairs, assistance in applying for entitlement programs, child care, education, and job assistance.

Six non-profit organizations are partnered with the city to provide these services: Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB), HELP USA, Church Avenue Merchant's Block Association (CAMBA), Builders for Family and Youth (BFFY), the Bushwick Collaborative to Prevent Homelessness, and Palladia.

The State of Connecticut's Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative is being recognized for investing "in housing and services for families and individuals experiencing homelessness, especially those suffering from addiction or mental illness. It implements a cost effective model that demonstrably cuts clients dependence on medical, mental health, criminal justice and other public services."

The Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative is a multi-agency collaboration of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Department of Social Service, the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management and built upon an earlier demonstration program between the State of Connecticut and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. The initiative is expected to create at least 650 units of supportive housing, most of which will serve homeless men, women and families coping with mental illness and/or chemical dependency. The Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative is coordinated through the state's interagency council on homelessness, known formally as the Connecticut Interagency Council on Supportive Housing and Homelessness.

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-news continues its focus on the message of leadership in ending chronic homelessness from federal, state, and city officials. As we gather in Denver this week for The National Summit for Jurisdictional Leaders, it seems appropriate to revisit remarks made by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper during his 2005 State of the City address shortly after embracing Denver's Road Home, the 10-Year plan developed by his appointed Denver Commission to End Homelessness.

"We presently spend roughly $70 million a year on back-end services that are clearly not addressing the root problems of homelessness. Our plan to end homelessness will cost less than $13 million annually, combining dramatic net savings with measurable results. We have chosen a model that is both compassionate and results-oriented. Our plan balances the provision of housing, treatment services, and job training with the expectations of responsibility and self-reliance from those who receive the services. This plan is not about hand- outs, coddling, or expanding the welfare system. It is about creating opportunity, about helping people regain control of their lives, so that we can all regain control of our community.

"We inherit but we are not bound by the choices our predecessors made. We gather recognizing that the choices we make now will write our collective will upon this landscape in ways that will endure into the distant future. The people of Denver are people of courage and enterprise, ingenuity and good will. With those qualities so well represented among us, we can set an example for the nation - and, really, the world - as we build on our strengths, honestly acknowledge and address our weaknesses, and celebrate the possibilities of common ground.

"In this place where landscape and sky invite us to think big, we are surrounded by architectural triumphs. Yet in this place we are also reminded of one of our society's greatest failures. Like so many public spaces here and across the country, this park is a gathering place for many homeless in our community, making residents and tourists feel uncomfortable and unsafe. Government alone cannot solve this problem. But we can serve as a catalyst and convener. Smarter and better government involves strategic investments that deliver maximum results for limited resources. That is the economic principle behind our 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.

"Together, this community can beat homelessness. Together, we must embrace a city where all families have homes, where everyone has the opportunity to be self-sufficient, where residents and tourists can walk our streets without being panhandled or frightened. This vision must allow all people of goodwill to contribute to this effort."