Alliance Recommendations for the Federal Plan to End Homelessness

Federal Policy Brief | 8 Feb 2010

Show zero tolerance for homelessness among vets;

Deploy 60,000 units of permanent supportive housing, targeted to veterans experiencing chronic homelessness (30,000 already in the pipeline);
Provide prevention and rapid rehousing services to 250,000 veterans per year;
Improve system of outreach in order to identify every veteran experiencing housing instability and link with income, services and housing opportunities; and
Identify people at risk of homelessness at the time they discharge from armed services and follow up through VA.

Finish the job of ending chronic homelessness;

Create all-inclusive packages of federal resources for subsidizing permanent supportive housing at a significant scale;
Make it easier for people who are ready and interested to exit permanent supportive housing;
Reduce barriers to entering subsidized housing;
Fund research into strategies for identifying people at risk of chronic homelessness, including patterns of service utilization that predict chronic homelessness; and
Implement performance measures in Federal programs that encourage the provision of housing and services for people experiencing chronic homelessness.

End family homelessness;

Equip publicly funded programs that serve families who are vulnerable to homelessness (e.g. TANF and child welfare) so they have the capacity (and responsibility) to respond, and resolve, their clients’ housing crises;
Increase the supply of affordable housing to families with very low incomes through expanding permanent, short- and medium-term rental assistance; and
Improve access to, and program coverage of, income benefits and supportive services to low income individuals and families to help them achieve greater economic self-sufficiency and improve child and family well-being.

Combat youth homelessness;

Expand federal investment in youth housing services and infrastructure to serve an additional 50,000 homeless and street-dependent youth annually;
Offer Congress and the Administration clear data on the incidence of youth homelessness, research on the extent of long-term homelessness among homeless youth populations, and identification of interventions targeted to specific typologies of homeless youth; and
Reconfigure the federal homeless youth services system to achieve outcomes related to permanency in family settings, connection to caring adults, and housing stability for unaccompanied homeless youth.

Don’t neglect the single, non-chronic homeless population; and

Maintain a crisis response system that quickly moves single, non-chronic homeless individuals into housing as rapidly as possible.

Ensure the federal plan is outcome-focused and sets measurable goals.