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Conference Updates
The Alliance's annual National Conference on Ending
Homelessness will be held July 29-31 at the
Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel. Please note
that regular registration will close next
Tuesday, July 7. Take advantage of the
regular registration rate of $500 by registering for the
conference by midnight ET on July
7. The late registration rate of $650 will be
available from Wednesday, July 8 until midnight ET on
Tuesday, July 21, at which point all pre-registration will
close. The deadline to receive a full refund for
cancellation has passed. Any cancellations made
from now until July 24, 2009 must be received in
writing and will have a $100 processing fee deducted.
Cancellations received after July 24, 2009 will not be
refunded.
A block of overflow sleeping rooms has been reserved
at the Sheraton Four Points, which is extending a
special room rate of $189/night plus tax to all Alliance
conference attendees, based upon availability, until
July 13. For information on how to make your
reservations via phone, please visit the
hotel page of the
conference website. To make reservations via the
internet, please click here. The
Sheraton Four Points is just a short walk to the
conference hotel.
Two facilitated discussions are being added as
conference workshops. They will focus on the
response of public
and community leaders to increasing
homelessness rates and the
shifting orientation of services. Katie Kitchin of
Memphis, TN
will lead a facilitated discussion among city and
community leaders representing San Francisco, CA,
New
York, NY, and Montgomery County, MD. Nan Roman
will be joined by public officials and community
leaders from Australia, Canada, and other countries
for a roundtable discussion to explore how the U.S.
response to homelessness compares with those of
other nations and what we can learn from one another.
Hill Update
SEVRA Introduced in House
Last Thursday, June 25, the Section 8 Voucher
Reform Act (SEVRA) was introduced in the House.
The legislation, H.R. 3045, was introduced by
Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), along with
Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Joe Baca
(D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Judy Biggert (R-IL).
H.R. 3045 would streamline and make improvements
to the Housing Choice Voucher program and
authorize 150,000 new vouchers in fiscal year (FY)
2010. It has been referred to the Financial Services
Committee.
Resolution on Children's Right to Adequate
Housing Introduced in House
Last Tuesday, June 23, Congresswoman Maxine
Waters (D-CA) introduced a resolution into the House
which would recognize children's right to adequate
housing. H. Res. 582 calls for the development of
programs at the federal, state, and local levels to
address housing needs for low-income children and
youth who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Appropriations: Senate Committee Approves
CJS Spending Bill
Last Thursday, June 25, the Senate Appropriations
Committee approved its Commerce, Justice, and
Science (CJS) FY 2010 spending bill. The full Senate
is expected to consider the legislation in the coming
weeks. The House passed its version of the
legislation on June 18. The Senate version of the
legislation included $64 million for Second Chance
Act programs (including $50 million for grant
programs), which is $50 million less than in the
House version and in the President's budget request.
Appropriations: House Approves $200 M for
EFSP
Last Wednesday, June 24, the House passed its FY
2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill. The
legislation includes $200 million for the Emergency
Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), which represents
level funding from FY 2009, but $100 million more
than President Obama requested. On June 18, the
Senate Appropriations Committee approved draft
legislation that would authorize $175 million for
EFSP. The full Senate is expected to vote on its
version of the measure in the coming weeks.
Appropriations: House Committee Approves
Funding for Homeless Veterans
Last Tuesday, June 23, the House Appropriations
Committee approved the FY 2010 military construction
and Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) 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, as well as
$21 million to hire additional personnel for
the HUD-Veterans' Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH)
program. The full House is scheduled to consider the
legislation in the coming weeks, and the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction
and VA is scheduled to mark up draft legislation after
the July 4 recess.
Frank Introduces Bill to Capitalize Housing
Trust Fund
Last Friday, June 26, Representative Frank introduced
H.R. 3068, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
for Main Street Act of 2009.
Among other things, the legislation directs $1 billion to
capitalize the National Housing Trust Fund. The
funding would come from the dividends currently
being produced from TARP. H.R. 3068 also directs
$1.5 billion
of TARP dividends toward the Neighborhood
Stabilization Program.
Senate Confirms Márquez for Assistant
Secretary at HUD
Last Thursday, June 25, the Senate confirmed
Mercedes Márquez to be Assistant Secretary for
Community Planning and Development (CPD) at
HUD. Since 2004, Ms. Márquez has served as
General Manager for the City of Los Angeles Housing
Department.
Congress in Recess
Congress is in recess this week for the July 4
Independence Day holiday. Both chambers will
resume legislative business the week of July 6.
Update: Health Care Reform Debate
Over the past two weeks, Congress has begun
debating health care reform legislation. The Alliance
and our partners are working to make sure homeless
populations are not forgotten. We have two main
priorities: that any Medicaid eligibility expansion
includes all homeless children and adults, and that
Medicaid benefits properly reimburse integrated
health care models, especially for frequent users of
hospital and emergency services.
Progress has been made on expanding Medicaid to
include all homeless populations. Current House
and Senate draft proposals include expanding
Medicaid coverage based on income rather than
family status or the presence of a disability. In the
House, current draft proposals indicate a willingness
to expand Medicaid to those with incomes below 133
percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), while Senate
proposals expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals
below 150 percent of FPL. However, this does not
mean these provisions will be included in health
reform; expanding Medicaid could lose support due to
the costs. The health reform debate is expected to
last through the summer. Watch Alliance Online
News for updates as the process moves forward.
President Launches National Service Initiative
On June 22, President Obama announced that he is
launching a new national service initiative in
partnership with the Corporation for National and
Community Service, the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD), and other federal
agencies. The initiative, called "United We Serve," will
last until September 11, which has been designated
the National Day of Service and Remembrance.
Nonprofits can register service opportunities and
projects on the initiative's website, and volunteers can
then search the site to connect with service
opportunities across the country. To register a project,
simply visit Serve.gov and click on
the "Register Your Project" button on the right-hand
side of the screen.
Lynn Rosenthal Named Special Advisor on Violence Against Women
Last Friday, June 26, Vice President Joe Biden
announced that Lynn Rosenthal would become the
Advisor to the White House on Violence Against
Women. In this newly-created position, Ms. Rosenthal
will work with the White House on domestic violence
issues. Ms. Rosenthal has served as the Executive
Director for both the New Mexico Coalition Against
Domestic Violence and the National Network to End
Domestic Violence, and she gave a keynote address
at the Alliance's National Conference on Ending
Family Homelessness in San Diego in February
2009. In her remarks following the announcement,
Ms. Rosenthal urged domestic violence groups to
encourage their networks of local organizations to
explore how Homelessness Prevention and Rapid
Re-Housing Program (HPRP) resources can assist
survivors of violence.
Alliance Updates Media Library
Last week, the Alliance updated its multimedia library
to include a recording of the June 23 webinar entitled
"Implementing HPRP in Rural
Areas." During the webinar, speakers explored
the unique challenges that rural communities face as
they implement their Homelessness Prevention and
Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) plans. They also
discussed new and significant opportunities to
address these challenges through effective program
design and collaborative strategies. This webinar has
been added to the HPRP Audio Conference Archive.
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