| |
|
| |
Spotlight On...
USICH Releases Federal Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) released a new federal strategic plan geared toward preventing and ending homelessness today. The Secretaries of the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs unveiled Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness together at a White House ceremony this morning. The plan, the first comprehensive federal plan developed to prevent and end homelessness, borrows heavily from the principles used in many community plans with similar goals.
Opening Doors sets four major goals:
- Finish the job of ending chronic homelessness in five years;
- Prevent and end homelessness among veterans in five years;
- Prevent and end homelessness for families, youth, and children in ten years; and
- Set a path to ending all types of homelessness.
Results from annual point-in-time homeless persons counts will be used to measure progress. The latest data (from January 2009) showed that there were approximately:
- 111,000 people experiencing chronic homelessness;
- 107,000 veterans who were homeless;
- 79,000 homeless families with 238,000 adults and children; and
- 643,000 homeless people overall.
The plan was required by the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, which was enacted into law in May 2009. The 67-page plan includes dozens of strategies and ten objectives, ranging from "[Providing] affordable housing to people experiencing or most at risk of homelessness" to "[Transforming] homeless services to crisis response systems that prevent homelessness and rapidly return people who experience homelessness to stable housing."
As a next step, federal agencies are meeting to prioritize which strategies should be implemented first and to develop implementation plans. USICH will report annually on progress toward implementation and achieving reductions in homelessness.
Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
|
|
| |
Available tracks include Domestic Violence, Veterans' Homelessness, Advocacy, HEARTH, Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP), the 100,000 Homes Campaign, and Ten Year Plan Implementation. Information on the Veterans' Homelessness, Domestic Violence, HPRP, and HEARTH tracks is currently posted on the Alliance Conference website under the "Tracks" tab. The Advocacy track can be found here. More information on each track will be posted on the conference website as it becomes available.
Regular Conference Registration Rate Ends Tomorrow
The regular conference registration rate of $500 is only available through tomorrow, June 23, at midnight ET. Register now to take advantage of this reduced rate!
On Thursday, June 17, the Senate voted on legislation to fund the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF). The legislation, H.R. 4213, is known as the "Tax Extenders Bill" and would provide $1 billion for the NHTF, which will enable communities to build, rehabilitate, and preserve housing for extremely low and very low income households. For more information on the NHTF, click here. The legislation also includes provisions of $2.5 billion for the TANF ECF, which provides cash assistance, subsidized employment, and short-term assistance to low-income families. The TANF ECF was originally enacted under the Recovery Act and is set to expire on September 30, 2010. H.R. 4213 would extend the ECF to September 30, 2011.
With a vote of 56-40, the bill failed to pass on June 17. As a result, Senate leadership plans to continue to make changes to the bill to ease budgetary and deficit concerns unrelated to the NHTF or TANF ECF provisions. Another vote on an amended version of the bill is expected to be held in the coming weeks.
In addition, at 3 p.m. ET, the Alliance will host a webinar entitled "Creating a High Performing Rural Continuum, Part II: Increasing Stakeholder Engagement and Strengthening Collaboration." Webinar presenters will include Melany Mondello and Scott Tibbits of the Maine Balance of State Continuum of Care (CoC) and Ragan Claypool of the Wood, Seneca, Ottawa, Sandusky (WSOS) CoC in Ohio.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
