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Alliance Releases Publications on LGBTQ Homeless Youth
Last week, the Alliance released two new publications
on LGBTQ Homeless Youth. "National Recommended Best Practices
for Serving LGBT Homeless Youth" was prepared
by the Alliance, Lambda Legal, the National Center for
Lesbian Rights, and the National Network for Youth. It
provides recommendations for organizations on how
to review their philosophical approach, practices, and
environment to ensure inclusive services for LGBT
homeless youth. The recommendations are divided
into specific review areas for youth-serving case
workers, supervisors, and residential service
providers.
The Alliance also released "A National Approach to Meeting the
Needs of LGBTQ Homeless Youth." This
two-page fact sheet provides an overview of the
prevalence and experience of LGBTQ youth, causal
factors of homelessness for LGBTQ youth, and risks
to LGBTQ youth while homeless. It also makes best
practices recommendations for youth-serving
professionals, case workers, and advocates;
administrators and supervisors; and residential
service providers.
TAC and CCD Release Report on Housing Affordability for People with Disabilities
Yesterday, April 13, the Technical Assistance
Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens
with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force
released "Priced Out in 2008: The Housing Crisis for
People with Disabilities," which examines housing
affordability problems for people with disabilities living
on incomes far below the federal poverty line. The
study compared the federal Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) payments of people with serious,
long-term disabilities to HUD's Fair Market Rents for
modestly-priced rental units. In 2008, the rent for
modest one-bedroom units exceeded 100 percent of
monthly SSI payments in 219 rental market areas
across 41 states. This represents a 34 percent
increase in the number of communities
with modest rents higher than SSI payments over
2006. The
study found that the amount of monthly SSI income
needed to rent a modest one-bedroom unit has risen
to 112.1 percent of SSI in 2008, from 69 percent in
1998. The report also makes a number of policy
recommendations.
Supportive Housing Pilot Evaluation Summary Released
Last month, Hearth Connection released the
Evaluation Summary for its Supportive Housing and
Managed Care Pilot in Minnesota, which provided
supportive housing to 135 single adults and 157
families with 412 children who had experienced
long-term homelessness. Program participants
significantly increased their housing stability, with 93
percent of participants obtaining permanent housing
within 18 months of enrollment and 88 percent
remaining in permanent housing after 12 months.
They also experienced fewer mental health symptoms
and reductions in substance use. The evaluation
found that the pilot did not significantly change the
overall level of mainstream service costs for
participants, though the report concludes that it did
cause desirable shifts in the types of mainstream
services used. For every $1 provided by the
Minnesota Legislature, Hearth Connection was able
to leverage more than $1 from foundations, state and
federal rental assistance, and Medicaid.
Alliance Updates HPRP Audio Conference Library
The Alliance has updated its HPRP Audio Conference
Library. You can now download recordings of and
materials from three additional HPRP web trainings.
The April 1 webinar, "Obtaining and Utilizing HUD
Homeless Prevention Funding," is posted online.
This webinar was co-hosted by the Alliance and the
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
(NLCHP) and provided an explanation of HUD's
guidance for HPRP. Mark Johnston, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Special Needs at HUD, made a
presentation on the call. The webinar from April 3
on "Obtaining Stimulus Funds for Domestic Violence
Service Providers" is also available. This webinar
provided information to domestic violence service
providers about funds available to them in the
economic recovery act. Lastly, the Alliance has posted
a link to HUD's official Webcast on the HPRP
guidance, which was held on April 8.
Reed Announces Introduction of HEARTH Act
Last Tuesday, April 7, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) held
a press conference at Amos House, a Rhode Island
organization that provides housing and support
services to homeless and low-income people, to
announce the introduction of the Homeless
Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to
Housing (HEARTH) Act in the Senate. Eileen Hayes,
President and CEO of Amos House, and Jim Ryczek,
Executive Director of Rhode Island Coalition for the
Homeless, expressed support for the bill, which
seeks to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Grants program and increase its funding
by $600 million.
At the press conference, Senator Reed noted, "While
strides have been made to reduce homelessness
over the last couple of years, the current economic
decline has halted such progress....This bill invests
$2.2 billion for targeted homelessness assistance
grants and provides local communities with greater
flexibility to spend the money on programs that work."
He stated, "It is a wise investment of federal
resources that will save taxpayers money in the long
run by preventing homelessness, promoting the
development of permanent supportive housing, and
optimizing self-sufficiency." Similar legislation has
recently been introduced in the House as well.
Two Homeless Advocates Recognized
Last week, the Council on Foundations announced
that it would be giving the Distinguished
Grantmaker Award to Robert Hohler of the Melville
Charitable Trust for his work on homelessness. The
award is designed to honor an individual who has
made significant lifetime contributions to the field of
philanthropy. Mr. Hohler is the Executive Director of
the Melville Charitable Trust, which is dedicated to
finding and supporting solutions to end
homelessness. He also serves as the Chair of the
Executive Committee for Funders Together, leading a
national effort to mobilize philanthropic leaders to end
homelessness. The award will be presented to him
in May at the Council's Annual Conference in Atlanta.
Another advocate for the homeless, Kara Stein, Esq.,
was also recently recognized for her efforts to end
homelessness. Ms. Stein, Chief Legal Counsel and
Senior Policy Advisor for Senator Reed, received the
Senator Jack Reed Advocacy Award last month
from the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.
She was honored in large part for her extensive work
on McKinney-Vento reform. Ms. Stein, having been
with Senator Reed's office for nearly ten years, has
worked extensively to draft and finalize reauthorization
legislation, including the HEARTH Act of 2009, and
continues to work toward passage of the bill. The
award was presented at the Coalition's Annual
Luncheon on March 30.
HUD Updates HRE Website
HUD has recently updated its Homelessness
Resource Exchange (HRE) website for the
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing
Program (HPRP). On April 3, HUD updated its HPRP
Questions and Answers document, which now
contains the answers to nearly 60 frequently asked
questions. The HRE page also contains a link to the
recording and materials from HUD's April 8 HPRP Webcast.
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