Federal Policy Brief | February 15, 2012

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This document summarizes the proposals included in the Obama Administration's fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget. This document compares the FY 2013 proposal to FY 2012 funding levels and is not adjusted for inflation.

Highlights

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants
The budget for FY 2013 proposes $2.231 billion for HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants. This would be a 17 percent increase over the 2012 level of $1.905 billion. It includes an increase in appropriated funds for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), as well as funding for Continuum of Care projects and planning and for the new Rural Housing Stability Assistance Program.

The funding level would allow HUD to continue implementing changes made by the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act.

• ESG would receive $286 million. In 2012, ESG received $250 million from Congress. In addition to funding shelter and outreach, the new ESG program funds homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing activities and is designed to replace a portion of expiring Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) funds.
• The new competitive Rural Housing Stability Assistance Program (RHSP) would receive $5 million. In order to reflect the different face of homelessness in rural communities, RHSP has a different set of eligible activities than the Continuum of Care program.
• The funding would also be sufficient to renew all existing grants and provide a modest amount of funding for new projects and for CoC planning.

This funding level would fall short of the amount needed to fully implement the HEARTH Act, but it would take a large step toward full implementation. The 17 percent increase to this program in a time of tight budgets reflects the priority the Administration places on implementing the HEARTH Act and the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.

Veterans Affairs Zero Homelessness Initiative


The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is increasing funding for three programs that are key to ending homelessness for veterans. Overall funding for these programs is rising by $333 million (33 percent) from 2012 levels to $1.352 billion.

This funding level would bring VA programs very near to the level necessary to completely eliminate homelessness among veterans by 2015, three years from now.

• Funding for Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) would be tripled to $300 million in FY 2013. This would allow the program to serve 67,000 veterans and their families in 2013.
• Funding for the Grant and Per Diem program would increase from $224 million to $235 million. Currently, GPD assistance is limited to transitional housing and services. VA is planning to propose legislation that would allow GPD grantees and subgrantees to utilize a ―transition in place model and provide permanent housing.
• The VA budget provides funding for 10,000 new HUD-VASH vouchers. The Housing Choice Vouchers would be provided by HUD (See Tenant-Based Rental Assistance below), but VA would provide $245 million – a 21 percent increase – for HUD-VASH case management.

In addition, the President’s Budget Proposal provides for advance appropriations for FY 2014. The budget requests flat funding - $1.352 billion – for VA homelessness programs in FY 2014.

Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA)


RHYA programs would receive $115 million, the same as in FY 2012. The amounts for specific activities would be: $53 million for Basic Centers, $44 million for Transitional Living Programs, and $18 million for Street Outreach Grants to Reduce Sexual Abuse.

HUD programs

Tenant-Based Rental Assistance/Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers
The budget proposes a modest increase to just over $19 billion for tenant-based vouchers to continue serving approximately 2.2 million households. The Administration proposed new vouchers for homeless veterans and an increase in administrative fees. The budget does not include funding for new Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers. The request includes:

• $75 million for the HUD-VASH program, which will provide housing for approximately 10,000 homeless veterans and their families matched with services provided by VA (see Veterans Affairs Zero Homelessness Initiative above).
• $111 million to renew mainstream vouchers provided by the Section 811 program.
• $1.575 billion in administrative fees, an increase of about 17 percent over the FY 2012 level of $1.350 billion.

The budget also assumes savings from a number of reforms to the Section 8 program, including an increase in the minimum rent from the current ceiling of $50 to a set amount of $75 for all non-MTW PHAs. (All Moving to Work PHAs would continue to have authority to set minimum rents at whatever level they choose.)

Project-Based Rental Assistance
The Administration's budget proposes to decrease funding for the project-based voucher program by $639 million to $8.7 billion by not funding all contracts for the full 12 months. The Administration estimates that, under this funding level, approximately one-third of contracts would continue to receive 12 months of funding. The remaining 10,600 contracts (covering about 739,000 units) would be funded for less than 12 months. HUD states that this reduction in upfront funding will not reduce or delay landlord payments or impact the number of households served.

The proposed minimum rent of $75 (see Tenant-Based Rental Assistance above) would also apply to this account.

(Note: This is not the program that allows PHAs to fund new project-based vouchers. New project-based vouchers are usually funded through the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance account. The Project-Based Rental Assistance program funds contracts that were made directly between HUD and property owners many years ago.)

Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA)
The budget proposes a small decrease in funding from $332 million to $330 million.

Public Housing
The budget recommends increasing funding for the Public Housing Capital Fund by 10 percent to $2.07 billion, as well as a 14 percent increase in funding for the Operating Fund to $4.524 billion.

The President’s Budget Proposal recommends combining the operating and capital funding streams into a single public housing fund. The Administration plans to submit legislation to Congress that would allow PHAs to use both funds for any eligible capital or operating expense.

Choice Neighborhoods Initiative
The Administration is proposing a 25 percent increase to $150 million for the Choice Neighborhood Initiative, which replaces the HOPE VI program.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
CDBG would receive $2.948 billion in FY 2013 under the Administration's proposed budget – the same amount as in FY 2012. The program was cut by nearly 12 percent between FY 2011 and FY 2012.

HOME
The budget proposes providing the same amount of funding ($1 billion) for the HOME program as in FY 2012. In FY 2012, HOME was cut by 38 percent compared to FY 2011.

Section 202 Housing for the Elderly
The budget proposes a nearly 27 percent increase to $475 million for the Section 202 program. The program was cut dramatically in FY 2011 and again slightly in FY 2012.

Section 811 Housing for People with Disabilities
The budget proposes $150 million for the Section 811 program, down from $165 million in FY 2012. The $150 million would be in addition to the $111 million for renewal of mainstream vouchers (see Tenant-Based Rental Assistance above), for a total of $261 million.

National Housing Trust Fund
HUD again proposes $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund, which would primarily create rental housing for extremely low income households. The $1 billion would be mandatory spending, which means that Congress would have to pass legislation separate from the regular appropriations process for the money to become available. The Administration has proposed the same for three years, but it has never been enacted.

Project Rebuild
Repeating its proposal under the American Jobs Act, the Administration is proposing a new program, Project Rebuild, to build upon the success of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Under the President’s Budget Proposal, the program would receive $15 billion. The funding would be mandatory, which means that Congress would have to pass legislation separate from the regular appropriations process for the money to become available.

HHS Programs

Community Health Centers and Health Care for the Homeless (HCH)
Community Health Center programs would receive nearly $3 billion for FY 2013, including $1.5 billion in scheduled new funding from the Affordable Care Act of 2010 - $300 million above the ACA-funded level of $1.2 billion in FY 2012. The budget requests an additional $1.47 billion in ―discretionary‖ funding for Community Health Centers – the same as in FY 2012.

As a result, Health Care for the Homeless program funding would rise from a total of $232 in FY 2012 to $258 million in FY 2013.

Disconnected Youth
The Administration has proposed $5 million in new funding to improve services for disconnected youth, age 14-24, who are neither working nor in school. HHS will be expected to coordinate the use of funds with $15 million in dedicated resources from the Department of Education and the Department of Labor to improve the education and employment outcomes of vulnerable youth.

Combatting the Sexual Trafficking of Youth
The President’s budget proposes $5 million in new funding to combat the sexual trafficking of youth within the United States. The funds would be used to improve coordination among those systems most likely to come into contact with sexually exploited youth (including runaway and homeless youth providers) and to train staff in these systems to better identify and serve this vulnerable population.

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)
CSBG would receive a nearly 50 percent cut to $350 million. The Administration proposed a similar cut in FY 2012.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
The budget includes a 13 percent cut to $3.02 billion for LIHEAP. The Administration has also proposed cuts to LIHEAP in the past.

Ryan White HIV/AIDs Programs
Funding for these programs would receive a 3 percent increase to $2.47 billion.

Family Violence Prevention and Services
The budget proposes providing a $5 million increase to $135 million in FY 2013.

Promoting Safe and Stable Families
Under the President’s Budget Proposal, discretionary funding for PSSF would remain flat at $63 million in FY 2013.

Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)
Under the Administration’s budget, PATH would receive the same level as FY 2012—$65 million.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Block Grants
The budget maintains flat funding for both Mental Health Block Grants ($439 million) and Substance Abuse Block Grants ($1.38 billion).

SAMHSA Homelessness Grants
The budget proposes providing approximately $75 million for targeted homelessness grants within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the same amount as the program received in FY 2012.

Child Care and Development Block Grant
The Administration is proposing a 14 percent increase to $2.603 billion for CCDBG.

Head Start
Funding for Head Start would see a modest increase to $8.054 billion in FY 2013.

Other Agencies

The Administration is proposing $80 million for the Department of Justice's Second Chance Act programs, a 27 percent increase over the FY 2012 level.

The Office of Violence Against Women Office would receive $22 million for Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for survivors of domestic violence. This is $3 million dollar less than in FY 2012.

The budget includes $38 million for the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, the same amount the program received in FY 2012.

The Emergency Food and Shelter Program would receive $100 million, which is $20 million below its FY 2012 level. The Administration also proposed a cut in FY 2012.

The Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program would receive $65 million, the same as FY 2012.

The Administration is also proposing a new Pathways Back to Work Fund, to be funded at $12.5 billion, that would build upon the success of the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF). The program would be operated by the Department of Labor and would fund summer and year-round jobs for low-income youth ($2.5 billion) and would help connect low-income adults and the long-term unemployed to subsidized employment and work-based training opportunities ($10 billion). The funding would be mandatory, which means that Congress would have to pass legislation separate from the regular appropriations process for the money to become available.