Policy Priorities

2009 Federal Policy Priorities to Prevent and End Homelessness
February 2009

Communities have significantly increased their ability to confront homelessness using efficient, solution-focused interventions, but in the midst of the current recession, new federal resources are needed now more than ever before. Below is set of issues focused on preventing and ending homelessness on which the Alliance, along with our national, state, and local partners, urge Congress to act in 2009.

FY 2010 APPROPRIATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS:

Significantly increase funding for homeless and housing assistance programs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):

• Increase funding to $2.2 billion for HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants Program and continue the rapid re-housing for families program.
• Provide funding for all existing Section Eight Housing Choice Vouchers and 200,000 new vouchers, which should include an increase in funding for 10,000 new vouchers for HUD’s Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH).
• Significantly increase funding for other HUD programs critical to preventing and ending homelessness, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME, public housing, Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA), Housing for People with Disabilities (Section 811), and Housing for the Elderly (Section 202).

For more information visit: http://endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/federalbudget.

Increase funding to $120 million for SAMHSA homeless programs for services linked to housing:
The Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI) and Treatment Systems for Homeless programs administered by SAMHSA provide essential mental health and substance use treatment services needed to help homeless people maintain their housing and make progress toward recovery and self-sufficiency. For more information visit: http://endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/samhsa.

Increase funding for Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) Programs to $165 million:
The RHYA programs help to prevent victimization, encourage family reunification, and ensure basic safety of and housing opportunities for unaccompanied children and youth. An increase in RHYA funds will decrease the number of homeless youth turned away from shelter and housing programs. For more information visit: http://endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/rhya.

Provide $1 billion in dedicated funding for the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund:
Congress recently passed legislation to establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and the Administration proposed $1 billion in mandatory spending in its FY 2010 budget. Ongoing, permanent, dedicated, and sufficient sources of revenue are needed to achieve the Trust Fund’s goal of building, rehabilitating, and preserving 1.5 million units of housing for the lowest income families over the next 10 years. For additional information visit: http://endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/trustfund.

Provide $75 million for the Second Chance Act Programs:
The Second Chance Act, which was signed into law by the President in April 2008, responds to the increasing number of people being released from incarceration each year, one in five of whom will become homeless. The bill attempts to reduce rates of recidivism and homelessness among ex-offenders by providing money to states for programs that help people leaving prisons and jails successfully reintegrate into the community. For more information visit: http://endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/second_chance_act.

AUTHORIZATIONS

Pass legislation to reauthorize HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants Program focused on prevention activities and permanent housing for families, people with disabilities, youth, and single adults:
Legislation should:

• Consolidate the programs,
• Provide permanent housing renewals out of the same account that funds Section 8,
• Increase priority on homeless families with children by providing funding for rapid re-housing programs, designating funding to permanent house families, and ensuring that families are included in incentives that serve people who experience long-term homelessness,
• Continue assisting people with disabilities by targeting thirty percent of funding for permanent housing for homeless people with disabilities and their children,
• Dedicate resources to prevent homelessness for families and individuals living doubled up, in hotels, or in other unstable housing situations,
• Expand the definition of homelessness to include those who “couch surf” (move from place to place), but retain a targeted definition to ensure that homeless assistance continues to focus on its mission of meeting the emergency needs of people with no place to live, and
• Increase competitiveness of rural areas.

For more information visit: http://endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/mckinney_vento.

Pass Section Eight Voucher Reform legislation to make the Housing Choice Voucher program more effective and efficient:
The Section Eight Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA) gained strong bipartisan support last year in both the House and Senate. SEVRA will increase the number of vouchers available to prevent and end homelessness by streamlining the program and making it more effective and efficient by: permanently fixing the funding formula; cutting down on administrative burdens caused by rules regarding rent and income calculations, “portability” moves, and inspections; and providing incentives for housing agencies to utilize more vouchers. For more information visit: http://endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/section_8.

Contact:
Sarah Kahn, Director of Field Mobilization, National Alliance to End Homelessness
Phone: 202-942-8259; email: skahn@naeh.org