Alliance Online News: HUD Releases 2011 Point-in-Time Count

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Newsletters | December 13, 2011

December 13, 2011    
ISSUES  \|  POLICY  \|  SOLUTIONS  \|  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Anna Blasco

Spotlight On...
HUD Releases 2011 Point-in-Time Count

This afternoon, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the results of the January 2011 point-in-time count. According to their report, 636,017 people were homeless in the United States on a single night in January. This represents a 2.1 percent decline from the year before. Earlier this morning, HUD and the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a 12 percent decline in the number of veterans experiencing homelessness. The number of veterans experiencing homelessness decreased from 76,329 homeless veterans to 67,495 homeless veterans between January 2010 and January 2011.

According to press releases, these declines are largely attributed to federal programs providing housing to homeless people and families, including the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program and the HUD-VA Supportive Housing Program.

Read VA Press Release

Read the Point-in-Time Report

 

Hill Update

Congress Expected to Finish FY 2012 Appropriations This Weekend
The House and Senate are tentatively scheduled to release the details of the remaining nine fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations bills this week. Congress may pass the bills, which include funding for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Education, and Veterans Affairs, among others, by this weekend. Although funding for some government agencies was finalized in November, the remaining agencies are being funded through a stopgap measure that expires this Friday, December 16. Next week's Hill Update will include details of funding levels for specific programs related to homelessness, should they be available.

House Subcommittee Approves Homes for Heroes Act
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity approved the Homes for Heroes Act (H.R.3298) last Thursday, December 8. This bill establishes a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve the collaboration of housing services and veterans affairs within the federal government. The bill now awaits approval by the full Financial Services Committee.

Alliance Releases New Brief on Successful Prevention Targeting
Since the implementation of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) began in 2009, communities have been working to find the best possible way to use prevention funds. Figuring out how to target this limited resource is an important part of this and other homeless assistance grants. The Alliance has released a new brief entitled "Prevention Targeting 101" that sheds light on how communities can use local data to reach and preserve the housing situations of the households most at risk of homelessness. Techniques for evaluating success in prevention targeting efforts are also discussed. The paper is located in the Front Door Strategies section of the Alliance website, alongside resources on coordinated entry and diversion. Toolkits on all of these topics will be available on this site at a later date.

HUD, VA Announces 12 Percent Reduction in Veterans Homelessness

This morning, the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that homelessness among veterans declined by nearly 12 percent, from 76,329 homeless veterans to 67,495 homeless veterans, between January 2010 and January 2011. In a press release distributed today, HUD and VA largely attributed the decline to federal programs providing permanent housing and stated that this decline kept the administration on track toward their goal to end veterans homelessness by 2015.

Alliance Releases Brief on the Potential Impact of Sequestration on Affordable Housing, Homeless Programs

Last month, the Super-Committee failed to produce bipartisan legislation to reduce the federal deficit, triggering "sequestration" - an estimated 9.1 percent across-the-board cut to non-defense discretionary programs, including virtually all targeted homelessness and affordable housing programs. The Alliance has written a one-page brief on the potential impact of sequestration on homeless assistance and affordable housing programs, highlighting the number of people and families who will not be served as a result of the funding cuts.

Alliance President to Serve on Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission

Nan Roman, President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, has been selected as one of the 17 members serving on the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Housing Commission. The Housing Commission will be led by former U.S. Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros and Mel Martinez. The Commission's co-chairs include former U.S. Senator Kit Bond and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. The Housing Commission is tasked with creating a new vision for federal housing policy in the form of comprehensive and practical policy recommendations set to be announced in 2013.

Co-Chairs:
  • Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros
  • Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former U.S. Senator Mel Martinez
  • Former U.S. Senator Kit Bond
  • Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and BPC Founder George Mitchell
Commissioners:
  • Carin M. Barth, Co-Founder and President, LB Capital, Inc.
  • Ed Brady, President, Brady Homes
  • Alfred DelliBovi, President and CEO, Federal Home Loan Bank of New York
  • Robert M. Couch, Counsel, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
  • Laurie Goodman, Senior Managing Director of Amherst Securities
  • Renee Lewis Glover, President and CEO, Atlanta Housing Authority
  • Frank Keating, President and CEO, American Bankers Association
  • Bruce Morrison, Member of Congress from Connecticut
  • Janet Murguia, President and CEO, National Council of La Raza
  • Nicolas P. Retsinas, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
  • Nan Roman, President and CEO, National Alliance to End Homelessness
  • Ronald A. Rosenfeld, Former Chairman, Federal Housing Finance Board
  • Robert M. Rozen, Partner, Ernst & Young's Washington Council
  • Richard A. Smith, President and CEO, Realogy Corporation
  • Marilyn Jordan Taylor, Dean of School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
  • J. Ronald Terwilliger, Chairman Emeritus, Trammell Crow Residential
  • Barry Zigas, Director of Housing Policy, Consumer Federation of America

Holiday Giving: Gifts that Give Back
Give your loved ones a meaningful gift through the Alliance's holiday giving program. Donations made between now and December 31 can be given on behalf of a special relative or friend. These gifts will honor your loved one while also supporting our vital work to end homelessness. The individual(s) honored by your gift will receive a personalized holiday card notifying them of your generosity. Gifts can be made online or by mail using our donation form.

Register for Alliance Webinar on Integrating PSH and Health Care

The Alliance is hosting a webinar at 3 pm ET on Wednesday, January 11, to highlight new policies and best practices that integrate health care services with intensive housing solutions. Solutions like permanent supportive housing (PSH) have tremendous potential to end chronic homelessness and improve the lives of those who have experienced it. To provide supports that are appropriate to each individual, PSH strategies have to coordinate services and funding from many sources. This webinar will present approaches to integrating PSH and health care, featuring model programs in the field and comments from national policy leaders. Speakers include: Graydon Andrus, Downtown Emergency Service Center, Seattle; Sam Tsemberis, Pathways to Housing, Vermont; Jennifer Ho, US United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; and Charlene LeFauve, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
   ABOUT US

The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a nonpartisan, non profit organization dedicated to solving the problem of homelessness and preventing its continued growth.

www.endhomelessness.org
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The Alliance is participating in this year's Combined Federal Campaign under the Human Care Charities of America Federation. Look for our listing under, "Homelessness, National Alliance to End," #10022.
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February 9 -10, 2012
Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles
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Visit the Center for Capacity Building to learn more about the ways the Center can help your community end homelessness.


 

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