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JCHS Releases State of the Nation's Housing 2009
Yesterday, June 22, the Harvard University's Joint
Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released "State of
the Nation's Housing 2009." The report includes
chapters on housing markets, demographic drivers,
homeownership, rental housing, and housing
challenges. Between 2001 and 2007, there was an
increase in the number of households with severe
cost burdens. As a result, an unprecedented 16
percent of households spent more than half of their
incomes on housing in 2007, with more than 19
percent paying 30 to 50 percent of their income toward
housing. The report also cites data from January
2007 point-in-time homelessness counts, noting the
10 percent decrease in overall
homelessness between 2005 and 2007; it also notes,
however, that many cities are starting to note
increases in homelessness as a result of the
recession. JCHS concludes that full-time
employment is not sufficient for many low-income
families to afford decent housing while only paying 30
percent of their incomes toward housing.
Hill Update
House Appropriations Approves $200 M for
EFSP
Last Friday, June 12, the full House Appropriations
Committee approved fiscal year (FY) 2010 Homeland
Security legislation. The legislation included $200
million for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program
(EFSP), which represents level funding from FY 2009
levels, but $100 million more than the President
requested. Last Thursday, June 18, the full Senate
Appropriations Committee marked up its version of
the FY 2010 Homeland Security bill, which included
$175 million for EFSP. Both the House and Senate
may consider their respective versions of the
legislation as early as this week.
House Passes CJS Spending
Bill
Last Thursday, June 18, the full House Committee
approved the FY 2010 Commerce, Justice, and
Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill, which includes
$114
million for Second Chance Act programs. This
represents $100 million for Department of Justice
grant programs, a
$75 million increase over the FY 2009 level, as well as
$14 million for the Bureau of Prisons for staff to
implement the programs. The legislation also
included $12 million for Mentally Ill Offender Treatment
Program and $18 million for transitional housing
grants for victims of domestic violence. The Senate
Appropriations CJS Subcommittee is scheduled to
mark up its version of the legislation tomorrow, June
24, with the full Appropriations Committee to consider
it on Thursday, June 25.
House Subcommittee Approves Funding for
Homeless Veterans
Last Tuesday, June 16, the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans'
Affairs marked up its FY 2010 spending bill. The
legislation included $26 million for a pilot prevention
program for homeless veterans, as requested by
President Obama. It also included $150 million for the
Homeless Veterans Grant and Per Diem program, $6
million above both President Obama's request and
the FY 2009 level. The full House Appropriations
Committee is scheduled to consider the legislation
today.
Donovan Testifies at House Appropriations
T-HUD Subcommittee Hearing
Last Friday June 19, Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan
testified at a hearing of the House Transportation and
HUD (T-HUD) Appropriations Subcommittee.
Secretary Donovan discussed the Choice
Neighborhoods Program, the future of Hope VI, and
the status of Section 8 funding, among other issues.
Secretary Donovan also mentioned that he recently
discussed with Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the
possibility of developing a partnership between HUD
and HHS to aid the development of better linkages
between permanent housing and homeless services.
USICH Holds First Meeting, Announces HUD-VASH Allocations
Last Thursday, June 18, the U.S. Interagency Council
on Homelessness (USICH) met for the first time
under the Obama Administration. USICH works to
coordinate the federal response to homelessness.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was elected
Chair of the Council for the upcoming year, while
Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was
elected Vice Chair.
During the meeting, Secretary Donovan and Secretary
Eric K. Shinseki of the Department of Veterans' Affairs
(VA)
announced the allocation of $75 million to local public
housing authorities for the HUD-VA Supportive
Housing (HUD-VASH) program. The allocations have
not yet been posted online.
NLIHC Hosts Audio Conference on Funding for Trust Fund
On Friday, June 26 at 1 pm ET, the National Low
Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) will host a
conference call to clarify the situation surrounding the
National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) budget. This
fund, signed into law by President Bush and
supported by President Obama during his election
campaign, will provide permanent, ongoing support
for those living in low-income housing. President
Obama followed up on his support by including $1
billion in his FY 2010 budget to capitalize the NHTF.
The NHTF is part of the "mandatory" spending in the
budget, meaning that it will not have to compete with
appropriations issues, such as HUD programs, or
other "discretionary" spending. Since there has yet to
be a clear statement regarding from the funding
source for the $1 billion, NLIHC will host this call to
address any confusion about NHTF and its funding.
Sheila Crowley, President of NLIHC, will lead the call.
Participants should dial 1.877.486.3171 and enter
pass code 967187.
HUD Posts Update to HPRP FAQ
HUD recently updated the Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) section of its HPRP resources on the
Homelessness
Resource Exchange (HRE). The updates include
a clarification of when HPRP resources can be used
to assist people with a housing subsidy: "...rental
arrears can be paid on behalf of a person receiving a
subsidy from another public program (e.g., Section 8)
because it represents a different time period and cost
type than the rental subsidy..." HUD has also posted
documents
detailing
the data elements of the HPRP Initial and Quarterly
Reports, as well as the revised HMIS standards.
U.S. Conference of Mayors Releases Reentry Report
Last Tuesday, June 16, the U.S. Conference of Mayors
released a report on prisoner reentry efforts in 79
cities. The report is based on survey results from 79
cities across the country. It found that 36 percent of
the surveyed cities have made changes in ordinances
or policies that had previously hindered reentry for
ex-offenders. Among these cities, 58 percent
changed ordinances related to housing. The report
also included information on the successes,
challenges, and goals that communities have had.
Miami, St. Louis, and Spokane all identified
homelessness prevention as a key goal of their efforts
in the area of reentry.
SHNNY Releases Video on Impact of Supportive Housing in Neighborhoods
The Supportive Housing Network of New York
(SHNNY) recently released a new video entitled "Good
Housing. Good Neighbors," which highlights
community members' reactions to three buildings
providing supportive housing to people living with
mental illness. The video, which lasts approximately
five minutes, includes interviews with representatives
from the supportive housing programs (both residents
and staff), the New York State Assembly, the police
force, block associations and community councils,
and the New York University Furman Center for Real
Estate and Urban Policy, among other groups.
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