Compassion Spotlight
	From 2005 to 2007, communities across the country reported a nearly 30% reduction in chronic homelessness, which means that more than 87,200 individuals living on the streets and in emergency shelters in 2005 slept with a roof over their heads in 2007. Estimates in 2002 placed the number of homeless veterans on a given night at nearly 295,000. In 2007, the estimate was approximately 154,000—indicating that the estimated number of homeless veterans has been cut nearly in half within 5 years. Federal agencies have greatly expanded partnerships with FBCOs to reduce homelessness, engaging thousands of partners across the country.

The Need
The Response

The Need

• There are about 670,000 homeless persons in this country on any given night.
• Homeless persons are subject to a variety of challenges, including mental health issues, low educational attainment, poor employment history, substance abuse, poor health, and a lack of connection to relatives.
• Homeless persons often cycle through public systems, bouncing from the streets to jails to hospital ERs to psychiatric hospitals to emergency shelters. This is a very ineffective and costly way to provide housing, which is estimated to cost about $40,000 per year per person living on the streets.
• Even after receiving services, a typical homeless person is soon back on the streets because few public systems are designed to address chronic homelessness.

The Response

President Bush’s FY 2009 budget contains a record level of resources for homelessness, bringing the total Federal investment in homeless programs to $10.5 billion since 2001. This massive investment incorporates FBCOs as essential partners in helping homeless individuals transition to stable housing. These efforts are achieving remarkable results.

• From 2005 to 2007, From 2005 to 2007, communities across the country reported a nearly 30% reduction in chronic homelessness. That means that more than 87,200 individuals that consistently lived on the streets and in emergency shelters in 2006 slept with a roof over their heads in 2007.
• Estimates in 2002 placed the number of homeless veterans on a given night at nearly 295,000. By 2007, VA estimates placed that number at approximately 154,000-indicating the estimated number of homeless veterans has nearly been cut in half in five years.1

The Interagency Council on Homelessness works across the Federal government to coordinate national efforts to reduce homelessness. Through the efforts of the Council and advocacy groups, several hundred jurisdictions nationwide committed to form local plans to end chronic homelessness.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has played a central role in creating a major expansion in the participation of FBCOs in federally funded homeless programs. HUD has trained more than 40,000 nonprofit leaders at more than 290 2-day training seminars held across the country. These trainings addressed a variety of topics, including grant writing and other skills that enable effective collaboration with government. HUD has also required that virtually all HUD-funded Federal, State, and local efforts addressing homelessness include robust partnerships with FBCOs.

• The number of grants made to FBCOs serving the homeless through HUD’s signature homeless program, Continuum of Care, grew from 2003 to 2006 by nearly 500 organizations, a 30% increase.
• Since 2003, HUD has provided funding for more than 42,000 new, permanent, supportive housing beds, most of which have been created through FBCOs.

The Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program (GPD) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) partners with FBCOs to develop and provide supportive housing and services to help homeless veterans transition from the streets to stable housing and employment.

• GPD has worked aggressively to expand partnerships with effective FBCOs to meet the needs of veterans. From FY 2002 to FY 2008, the number of partner FBCOs funded through GPD rose from 176 to 590—a 235% increase.
• GPD has created more than 9,833 transitional housing beds and serves more than 15,000 veterans annually; 2,500 additional beds will be created in the near future; 4,700 additional beds will be created in the near future.
• HUD-VASH, an innovative new partnership between HUD and the VA, provides homeless veterans with vouchers to access medical care through the VA, as well as housing and other supportive services through FBCOs partnered with HUD. The 2008 enacted budget provided $75 million for roughly 10,000 HUD-VASH vouchers for homeless veterans, with an additional 10,000 vouchers proposed in the FY 2009 Budget.
• Over 80% of homeless veterans in residential programs with VA services were appropriately housed one year after their discharge from that program.

The Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP) at the Department of Labor awards grants to FBCOs and other partners to provide employment opportunities to homeless veterans. The program reintegrates homeless veterans into meaningful employment and stimulates effective service delivery systems that address the complex challenges facing homeless veterans.

• Each HVRP grant site provides an array of employment-focused services and refers program participants to additional supportive services for housing, substance abuse treatment, transportation assistance, clothing, and more.
• Since 2002, HVRP grant sites operated by FBCOs have served more than 81,125 homeless veterans and helped 52,660 find jobs.

1 A variety of factors contributed to this success, including significantly expanded Federal partnerships with FBCOs; more effective coordination of Federal, State and local efforts; a substantial reduction in the number of poor veterans (from 3 million in 1990 to 1.8 million in 2000); and enhanced efforts to understand the number and needs of homeless people.