NEW DATA SHOW JURISDICTIONAL EFFORTS TO END CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS THROUGH 10 YEAR PLAN STRATEGIES ARE PROVIDING HOUSING SOLUTIONS AND DEMONSTRATING COST SAVINGS
RESOURCES AND TOOLS
View our Recovery Act page for information on funding announcements and implementation guidance for these new resources which can help prevent and end homelessness. Recent announcements include:
April 29. Justice Department awards $424 million in Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funds to 20 states
April 13. $69.2 million allocated to state educational agencies to improve services to homeless students
April 10. $1 billion for the Community Services Block Grant Program
April 9. $100 million for FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter program
March 19. HUD issues guidance notice for $1.5 billion Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Fund.
Are you at risk of foreclosure? Learn about the Administration's Making Home Affordable plan
In remarks delivered by video to a Primary Care Association Conference in Trenton, NJ, US Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano discussed how cost studies are generating political will to end homelessness in the US.
Through its Sunday Forum, the Washington National Cathedral hosts conversations on major issues of our time. USICH Director Mangano was the Cathedral's invited guest on October 26, 2008 to speak on "Can We End Homelessness?" In a conversation with the National Cathedral's Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III and responding to questions from the audience, Director Mangano explained that while many roads lead to homelessness, there is only one road out: a place to live. Director Mangano described the work of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to constellate a national partnership at every level of government and with the private sector and faith community to end, rather than manage, homelessness. Click here to access the Sunday Forum audio and video archives.
Massachusetts statewide pilot Housing First program for chronically homeless individuals data show a 67% decrease in annual health care costs per person after housing placement.
Data from Seattle/ King County's WA 1811 Eastlake Housing First initiative demonstrates $4 million in savings.
Sioux Falls/Minnehaha County, SD permanent supportive housing pilot for 20 individuals documents 50% decrease in per person costs for health care, detox, law enforcement, and other county services.
New data from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Seattle/King County, WA, and Sioux Falls/Minnehaha County, SD demonstrate clearly that the random ricocheting of vulnerable and disabled persons experiencing chronic homelessness through health care, treatment, and law enforcement systems comes at great expense to the taxpayer and with no improvement in the lives of these individuals. The new data affirm the importance of jurisdictional commitment to strategies that invest in housing solutions with supportive services that end the homelessness of those who are not only the most vulnerable and disabled but also the most costly to the community, and in doing so, improving the quality of life for everyone - housed and homeless alike.
The study, funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by University of Washington professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and adjunct professor of psychology Dr. Mary E. Latimer, documented cost savings of over $4 million for the 95 individuals who were the subject of the study and who had previously cost local taxpayers $8.2 million in hospitalizations, emergency services, jail time, detox, and sobering center visits. After being housed, the per person costs per month declined to $1,492 after six months and $958 after one year. The total cost for all 95 participants for one year was $4,094,291, a reduction of more than $4 million. The researchers also found that residents drank less the longer they remained housed, and their cost to public systems continued to decline.
Outgoing King County Executive Ron Sims, who has been nominated by President Obama to be Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, attended the news conference along with Dr. Latimer and Downtown Emergency Service Center Executive Director Bill Hobson, whose agency operates 1811 Eastlake. Mr. Sims, acknowledging that he’d originally been skeptical about a Housing First strategy for chronically homeless alcoholics, said “This is an extraordinarily successful program” and noted, “Our return on investment has exceeded any expectation.” Read More.
Massachusetts State Data on Home and Healthy for Good (Housing First) Initiative Shows Dramatic Medicaid Savings
When the Massachusetts Legislature passed an FY 2007 line time to invest state resources in a new statewide pilot Housing First program for chronically homeless individuals, the expectation was that the Home & Healthy for Good (HHG) initiative would replicate the national success rate of Housing First and end the costly random ricocheting of chronically homeless individuals through state systems. New state data released last week from an unprecedented state research initiative relying on Medicaid claims data show a 67% decrease in annual health care costs per person after housing placement. The Home & Healthy for Good Initiative is operated by the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) with twelve partner agencies around the state.
The Massachusetts Medicaid system tracked chronically homeless individuals successfully stabilized through the statewide initiative and used individual state Medicaid health care payment data to identify annual health care costs per person that decreased from an average of $26,124 before housing placement to $8,500 after housing placement, a savings of $17,625 per person. Read More.
Sioux Falls/Minnehaha County 10 Year Plan Permanent Supportive Housing Pilot
Project Safe Home, a permanent supportive housing pilot for 20 individuals undertaken as one implementation strategy of the Sioux Falls/Minnehaha 10 Year Plan, has documented a 50% decrease in per person costs for health care, detox, law enforcement, and other county services. Costs dropped from $32,000 per person to $16,529. The most dramatic decline was in health care costs, which fell from a total of $109,109 in the first quarter of the initiative to $12,730 in the last quarter of the pilot program, according to data presented to Minnehaha County commissioners by Human Services Director Hugh Grogan. Read More.
NEW RESOURCES REINVIGORATE PARTNERSHIP AMONG ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. March 20, 2009. Nearly 2,500 mayors and other local jurisdictional leaders gathered in Washington, DC this week for the National League of Cities annual legislative conference. Much of the focus of this year’s conference was on the unprecedented level of federal resources becoming available to states and local governments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and from the recent finalization of the FY 2009 federal budget.
Senior Administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, were on hand to provide insight into when and how these new federal resources will be distributed and to listen to the local leaders' suggestions and concerns. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to address the local officials on "Neighborhood Triage: Overcoming Economic Setbacks," was hosted for the session by Michael Wallace, NLC Senior Legislative Counsel and was joined by Dennis E. Greenhouse, Director of the Community Capacity Development Office, U.S. Department of Justice. Read full story.
ACTIVITY AT EVERY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS
Washington, DC. March 13, 2009. This week Congress completed action on the FY 2009 Federal Budget. The legislation, signed by President Obama on Wednesday, funds federal agencies and programs through the remainder of this fiscal year which ends September 30, 2009. The final FY 09 funding levels for many of the programs that provide resources to prevent and end homelessness are increased over FY 08. More information can be found in our March 11 Special Edition e-newsletter.
This action to complete the FY 09 budget is the latest in a series of notable actions taken by Congress and the Administration over the past month that has included enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, release of the President's Mortgage Foreclosure Plan and an outline of his FY 2010 budget "A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise," and the award by HUD of nearly $1.6 billion in homeless assistance grants.
While Washington has been at work on these items to provide additional assistance and resources, state and local government jurisdictional leaders are moving to refine implementation of their 10 Year Plans in light of the increase in family homelessness due to the "double trouble" of mortgage foreclosures and job loss and to strategically plan for the effective utilization of the new resources coming from Washington. Read full story.
RECOVERY ACT INCLUDES RESOURCES TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS
On February 17, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This wide-ranging legislation includes a number of provisions that provide additional assistance and resources to prevent and end homelessness. Key provisions are listed below with more detailed information about each one available on a Read More page accessed at the end of the list.
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Emergency Shelter Grants, $1.5 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, $2 billion Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), $1 billion HOME, $2.250 billion to coordinate with Low Income Housing Tax Credits Public Housing Capital Fund, $4 billion Promoting HUD Assisted Housing Stability and Increased Energy Efficiency, $2.250 billion
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Community Health Centers, $2 billion Community Services Block Grant, $1 billion Child Care and Development Block Grant, $2 billion
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: Education for Homeless Children and Youth, $70 million
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: Weatherization Assistance Program, $5 billion
FEMA: Emergency Food and Shelter Program, $100 million
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Violence Against Women Transitional Housing, $50 million
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR: Employment and Training. $2.95 billion for WIA formula grants; $50 million for YouthBuild Jobs Corps, $250 million
USDA (Department of Agriculture): Rural Housing, $200 million will support over $11 billion in single family loans Rural Community Facilities, $130 million to support over $1.2 billion in loans and grants Emergency Food Assistance (Commodity), $150 million SNAP (Food Stamps), 13.6% increase in benefits
TAX PROVISIONS INCLUDE: "Making work Pay" Tax Credit Economic Recovery Paymentof $250 for social security, SSI, railroad retirement and disabled veteran compensation recipients Unemployment Compensation Benefits Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Tax Incentive for hiring unemployed veterans and disconnected youth
Are you eager to learn how communities are achieving results in preventing and ending homelessness? The Council’s Innovation Series has answers for you! In 2008, our three-part Innovation Series put the spotlight on 33 far-ranging replicable efforts focused on our common mission to end homelessness. Beginning with our “20 innovations in 20 days” series in May, followed by the July “5 in 5” series, and concluding with our holiday “08 in 08” series, each innovation was profiled in a special edition of our e-newsletter
that identified the innovation and the innovator, how it works, who benefits, the results being achieved, and who to contact for more information.
Interested in learning how communities have created successful dedicated revenue streams?
You’ll want to read the five innovations we profiled in our July “5 in 5” series.
Interested in learning about successful veterans housing and reintegration strategies?
You’ll want to read Innovations 11, 13, and 20 in our May “20 in 20” series.
Are your homeless consumers challenged in their efforts to access programs and benefits by lack of identification?
You’ll want to read Innovation 7 from our “08 in 08” series and Innovation 3 in our “20 in 20” series.
Want to enhance the effectiveness of your downtown engagement and housing strategies?
Innovations 14 and 17 from our “20 in 20” series and Innovations 2, 4, and 6 in our latest “08 in 08” series will help you.
These are just a few of the subject areas covered in our 2008 Innovation Series, which together with other innovative ideas, can be found on our Innovations web page
NATION'S JURISDICTIONAL LEADERS AFFIRM PARTNERSHIP OF 'ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESULTS' TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS AT ANNUAL MEETINGS IN 2008
U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Association of Counties, and National League of Cities adopt resolutions supporting 10 Year Plans and affirming partnership with Council
ORLANDO, FL. November 17, 2008. 4,000 municipal leaders including mayors, city council members, city managers, and invited guests gathered in Orlando, Florida November 11-15 for the National League of Cities 2008 Annual Congress of Cities and Exposition. Progress in reducing chronic homelessness through jurisdictionally- led, community- based 10 Year Plans, and new challenges posed by rising numbers of mortgage foreclosures were on the agenda as US Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano was invited to speak at a plenary session on ideas and solutions to stabilize neighborhoods during this foreclosure crisis and to address meetings of the Human Development and the Community and Economic Development Policy and Advocacy Committees. Director Mangano is shown here with NLC Executive Director Don Borut.
JACKSON COUNTY/KANSAS CITY, MO. July 15. Meeting in the American heartland for the 2008 NACo Annual Conference and Exposition, the nation’s county officials endorsed and affirmed through a Resolution innovations that are reducing and ending chronic homelessness in communities throughout the nation.
Five years ago to the day that NACo first adopted a Policy Resolution supporting 10 Year Planning and encouraging counties to engage with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to create 10 Year Plans, county officials affirmed with a new resolution the progress being made and the innovations responsible for the decreased numbers. Reaffirming support for 10 Year Plans and with special focus on homeless veterans, cost benefit analysis, Project Homeless Connect, and America’s Road Home, the NACo Resolution adopted today endorses innovative initiatives in 10 Year Plans, including Rapid Rehousing and Housing First strategies, and calls on communities to adopt these and other innovations that are making a difference on the streets and in the neighborhoods of our country.
MIAMI, FL. June 24. Hosted by incoming United States Conference of Mayors President and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz who on Monday accepted the gavel from Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, the nation's Mayors convened in Miami on Friday for their 76th Annual Meeting. Throughout the Conference events, Mayors affirmed the goal of ending homelessness and expanded their bipartisan partnership with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness ("Council") to end homelessness in the nation through partnership, innovation, jurisdictional accountability, and results. Mayor Diaz (shown here with Council Director Mangano) was recognized with the Council's 2008 Mayoral Leadership "Home for Every American" Award earlier this year at the Council's Third Annual National Summit for Jurisdictional Leaders.
The
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
409 Third Street SW | Suite 310 | Washington, D.C. 20024
Phone (202) 708-4663 | Fax (202) 708-1216
Findings from the first controlled study of the Seattle/King County 1811 Eastlake project for chronic inebriates were presented at a news conference in Seattle this week and are also presented in a new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, 
WASHINGTON, D.C. March 20, 2009. Nearly 2,500 mayors and other local jurisdictional leaders gathered in Washington, DC this week for the National League of Cities annual legislative conference. Much of the focus of this year’s conference was on the unprecedented level of federal resources becoming available to states and local governments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and from the recent finalization of the FY 2009 federal budget.
ORLANDO, FL. November 17, 2008. 4,000 municipal leaders including mayors, city council members, city managers, and invited guests gathered in Orlando, Florida November 11-15 for the National League of Cities 2008 Annual Congress of Cities and Exposition. Progress in reducing chronic homelessness through jurisdictionally- led, community- based 10 Year Plans, and new challenges posed by rising numbers of mortgage foreclosures were on the agenda as US Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano was invited to speak at a plenary session on ideas and solutions to stabilize neighborhoods during this foreclosure crisis and to address meetings of the Human Development and the Community and Economic Development Policy and Advocacy Committees. Director Mangano is shown here with NLC Executive Director Don Borut.
JACKSON COUNTY/KANSAS CITY, MO. July 15. Meeting in the American heartland for the 2008 NACo Annual Conference and Exposition, the nation’s county officials endorsed and affirmed through a Resolution innovations that are reducing and ending chronic homelessness in communities throughout the nation. 
Five years ago to the day that NACo first adopted a Policy Resolution supporting 10 Year Planning and encouraging counties to engage with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to create 10 Year Plans, county officials affirmed with a new resolution the progress being made and the innovations responsible for the decreased numbers. Reaffirming support for 10 Year Plans and with special focus on homeless veterans, cost benefit analysis, Project Homeless Connect, and America’s Road Home, the NACo Resolution adopted today endorses innovative initiatives in 10 Year Plans, including Rapid Rehousing and Housing First strategies, and calls on communities to adopt these and other innovations that are making a difference on the streets and in the neighborhoods of our country.
