Administration Releases National Plan to End Homelessness

The U.S. Interagency
Council on Homelessness (USICH)
has released a plan that would put the United States on the path to
ending
homelessness among veterans and chronically homeless individuals by 2015
and
among children, youth, and families by 2020.

Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End
Homelessness
was released at a White House press event on Tuesday, June 22. USICH
said the plan calls for "a fundamental shift in the way that the federal
government and communities across the country respond to homelessness"
and will create "collaborative partnerships both between agencies and
levels of government to enable the Administration to approach the key
goal of
preventing Americans from experiencing homelessness."

"We commend the USICH for the plan's emphasis on measurable
goals. The plan's declaration that the country will end homelessness
among certain populations is extremely important," said NLIHC President
Sheila Crowley. "We appreciate the plan's acknowledgment of the
need to fund the National Housing Trust Fund, which, once funded, will
play an
important role in providing stable housing options for people with the
lowest
incomes who are most at risk of homelessness."

"Now that the plan is in place, we must work together to implement
it," Ms. Crowley added. "NLIHC would like to see more specific
information about the additional federal funding that will be required
to
implement the plan's goals. We look forward to working with the
Administration over the coming year to identify funding sources that
will help
communities provide homes and needed services to homeless families and
individuals."

The creation of the plan by USICH was mandated by the HEARTH Act,
which was
signed into law by President Obama in May 2009. The USICH is comprised
of
cabinet secretaries and department heads of federal agencies that deal
with
issues relating to homelessness, including HUD Secretary and USICH Chair
Shaun
Donovan, and Labor Secretary and USICH Vice Chair Hilda Solis.

The
release of the plan follows the publication of The 2009 Annual
Homeless
Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR), released by HUD on June 18.
The
report finds an increase in homelessness among families from 2007 to
2009, and
points to an increase in job loss and foreclosures accompanying the
downturn in
the economy as a cause. There were almost 62,000 more family members who
were
in a shelter at some point in 2009 than there were in 2007, an increase
of
30%.

The AHAR is available at: https://www.hudhre.info/documents/5thHomelessAssessmentReport.pdf

Opening Doors:
The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness is available at www.usich.gov and www.hud.gov