Advocacy Update: House McKinney Sign-On Letter
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National Alliance to End Homelessness
Advocacy Update | March 3, 2010
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It's a busy time for
Congress, and there are several important action items for advocates to take
right now to get Congress to increase resources to prevent and end
homelessness. Find more information
below on how advocates can urge Members of Congress to: -
Provide $2.4 billion in FY
2011 for McKinney-Vento programs
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Provide $120 million in FY
2011 for SAMHSA Homeless Services programs
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Attend
a Congressional Briefing on chronic homelessness
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FY 2011 McKinney
Appropriations Campaign
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Yesterday, March 2, Representatives
Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Geoff Davis (R-KY) began seeking signatures on a letter
to the House Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (T-HUD)
Appropriations Subcommittee, asking for $2.4 billion to be included for HUD's
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011
Appropriations bill.
Please help us get
signatures from as many Representatives as possible, so that we can show the T-HUD
Subcommittee that there is widespread support for this appropriations request
in the House.
What You Can Do
Ask your Representatives to
sign onto the FY 2011 McKinney Appropriations Congressional Sign-On
Letter. We will alert you when a similar
letter begins circulating in the Senate, which is expected to happen very soon. -
Please contact the staff person who works on housing
or homelessness in the offices of your House members THIS WEEK and NEXT WEEK. Click here for sample talking points.
- Ask him/her
if their boss will sign the House
Congressional sign-on letter. If the staff person says their boss can't
sign the letter, ask him/her to include a request for $2.4 billion for McKinney in their
official list of FY 2011 HUD appropriations priorities.
- Ask him/her if their boss will visit a local homeless assistance program over the spring
Congressional recess (March 29 - April 9).
Report any responses you
receive from staff to Amanda Krusemark
(akrusemark@naeh.org). Please let us
know if you would like help planning a site visit and/or deciding which Members
of Congress to invite.
To
sign onto the letter,
Congressional offices should contact Andrew Stevens (Moore) at Andrew.Stevens@mail.house.gov
or Lauren
O'Brien (Davis) Lauren.OBrien@mail.house.gov.
More Information
Last May, Congress passed
the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act,
which reauthorizes and improves HUD's McKinney-Vento programs. The HEARTH Act
changes the way that funds are proportioned and increases funding for
activities, particularly homelessness prevention and assistance to families and
rural areas. However, to fully implement these changes, we need
$2.4 billion - a 28 percent increase - for McKinney programs in FY 2011. Without this level of funding, there may be
little to no funding for new CoC projects in your community. The President's Budget proposed $2.055
billion for these programs. While we're
thrilled that he proposed an increase, it isn't enough to fully implement the
HEARTH Act. For more information on the McKinney Appropriations Campaign, click here.
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SAMHSA Homeless Services Campaign
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Work on services
appropriations is also underway. The Alliance is urging Congress
to include $120 million for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) Homeless Services programs in the FY 2011
Appropriations bill. This funding level
would include a $16 million initiative proposed by the President for a joint
HUD/HHS initiative to couple Housing Choice Vouchers with Medicaid and SAMHSA
services funding. If you are interested
in working on the services campaign, please contact Sarah Kahn (skahn@naeh.org).
More Information
The Administration's FY 2011
Budget proposed a $12 million increase for SAMHSA Homeless Services funding, to
$87 million. We are requesting $120
million so that there will be additional funds available for current SAMHSA
Homeless Services programs, as well as for the President's proposed
program. The President's new initiative
would give public housing authorities additional housing vouchers and make funding
for wraparound services available if they show that the vouchers will go to
clients who can use Medicaid and SAMHSA services. Click here for more information.
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Congressional Briefing on Chronic Homelessness
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On Tuesday, March 23 at 10
am, the Alliance
and the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) are co-hosting a Congressional
briefing entitled "Policy Solutions to Chronic Homelessness." The briefing will educate Members of Congress
and their staff about the impact that federal programs have on ending chronic
homelessness in their communities, and what investments Congress can make to
continue making progress. Members of
Congress and their staff have been invited to attend, and the Alliance is asking advocates to encourage
their Congressional delegation to attend the briefing. Any
Congressional staff who wish to attend should RSVP to Amanda Krusemark (akrusemark@naeh.org) for further details.
More Information
We are still confirming the
speakers for the briefing. The content will
focus on how all of the panelists use specific federal programs in their
community to help reduce and end chronic homelessness. Nan Roman,
Alliance President, will moderate the briefing.
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BUILDING
POLITICAL WILL
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The Alliance works collaboratively with its local, state, and national partners to advance policies and programs that prevent and end homelessness.
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| CONTACT US |
Sarah Kahn
Director of Field Mobilization
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National Alliance to End Homelessness \| 1518 K Street, NW Suite 410 \| Washington, D.C. \| DC \| 20005
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