USICH Blog
Accessing Mainstream Benefits Archive
10/17/2012 - A Safe Place: Established Safe Haven provider begins collaboration with Tampa VAMC
Safe Havens have long been a refuge for people with severe and persistent mental illness and other disabilities who also experience episodes homelessness, often for long periods of time. Since 1992, Safe Havens have been part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Supportive Housing Program and will continue to be funded through the new Emergency Solutions Grant program. Designed to offer low-barrier services and supports to the most hard-to-reach people, Safe Havens can provide a sense of stability and security for people who would otherwise be exposed to the life-threatening environment on the streets. Here, people who were formerly disconnected from the community and supports are able to move inside and begin to focus on how they can transition from the streets to permanent, supportive housing. For fifteen years, Safe Place in Tampa, Florida has been offering safe haven to some of that community’s most vulnerable residents. The program is operated by Mental Health, Inc., an agency that works to advocate for and give hope to all people touched by behavioral health and developmental challenges. Recently they’ve begun a new phase in their work as a Safe Haven that partners with the local Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) to help connect Veterans to this valuable resource.
09/28/2012 - What We’re Talking About: The Week at USICH - September 24-27
Unaccompanied Youth and the 2013 Point in Time Count
Communities are now beginning to think about their January 2013 Point in Time Count, especially as it relates to unaccompanied youth. For the first time as part of the new Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act guidelines, unaccompanied youth will be counted in the Point-in- Time count in every community across the country. To kick off this process, The National Alliance to End Homelessness will host a webinar on including Youth in the “Point-In-Time” (P.I.T.) Count on Thursday, October 4 from 1:30-3:00PM (EST).
Also discussing both the full Point in Time count as well as the upcoming Housing Inventory Count, HUD is putting on a webinar on Tuesday, October 2 from 3:30-4:30 EDT. This will cover all the new requirements for communities conducting these counts, which includes information on ensuring more youth are counted in January 2013.
09/14/2012 - What We’re Talking About: The Week at USICH - September 10-14
The biggest event of this week was our quarterly Council meeting, which was held on Wednesday at the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
(HUD). The focus of this meeting was on the ways states and communities can best use mainstream resources, like school programs, public housing resources, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), woven with targeted homelessness resources to make progress. USICH Chair and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was joined by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Director of the Corporation for National and Community Service Wendy Spencer, Luke Tate from the Domestic Policy Council, and key representatives from 18 member agencies.
Learn more about what we heard at the meeting
09/10/2012 - Medicaid: Ensuring Full Expansion & Assertive Outreach in all States
Starting in 2014, the Affordable Care Act allows states to expand Medicaid to most people earning at or below 133% of the federal poverty
level (FPL), which is about $14,856 a year for an individual and $25,390 for a family of three in 2012. (To their credit, some states have gone ahead and expanded early.) This provision helps unify the current “categories” of Medicaid, where very low income children, pregnant women, adults who can prove a permanent disability, and parents in some states are eligible for Medicaid, but those without a proven disability or dependent children are not—creating a significant disparity in access to care among those at the lowest income levels. A recent Urban Institute analysis found 15 million uninsured adults will now be eligible for Medicaid, which would allow them access to the health care services needed in order to treat and manage chronic illnesses, prevent new health conditions from developing, and protect against financial ruin due to inability to pay medical bills.
08/31/2012 - What We’re Talking About: The Week at USICH - August 27-31
What We're Talking About is a weekly column from USICH Communications on the topics and issues in the news and on our minds. Topics range from international and national conferences, news from 
around the country, innovative work to highlight, and more. We look forward to catching you up news you may have missed and connect you to articles and resources.
USICH released a general newsletter this week which compiled news from federal agencies, national partners, and cities revamping their approach to homelessness. If you missed it, you can check it out here.
A Reminder of the Needs of Veterans Two Years After End of Combat Operations in Iraq
Today marks the two year anniversary of combat missions in Iraq, a milestone to be sure, but one that must remind the country of the needs of Veterans of that conflict as well as Veterans of previous wars. In Yuma, Arizona, the allocation of the city’s first HUD-VASH vouchers will enable Veterans in that community to have stable housing and access to coordinated supportive services for their recovery. The HUD-VASH program continues to expand to both more communities and to more Veterans because of its ability to stabilize vulnerable Veterans in the long-term.
08/13/2012 - A Unique Permanent Supportive Housing Plan and Using Medicaid to Make it Happen: My time in Louisiana
I spent August 8, 9, and 10 in Louisiana with Don Moulds, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. Don is also Secretary Sebelius’ point 
person for USICH. We went to talk with people operating and overseeing the Louisiana Permanent Supportive Housing project. For those who aren’t familiar with this incredible project, you can find more information from the Corporation for Supportive Housing, which highlighted this state-wide project as part of their Focus on Health Care Series in February 2012. If you don’t have time to listen to the webinar now, here’s the short version: after the hurricanes in 2005 and 2006, the state, advocates, and community providers worked together to figure out how to help people with one-time federal recovery investments. What has emerged is a unique model to use these new resources for housing and supportive services to provide permanent supportive housing across the region. Federal investments included Community Development Block Grant funds, Shelter Plus Care and Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.
07/26/2012 - The Affordable Care Act and Homelessness
When USICH released Opening Doors in June 2010, the Affordable Care Act had passed in March, just three months earlier. The second anniversary of Opening Doors occurred the same time that the Supreme Court delivered its ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since the law was largely upheld, many of the provisions that will help us prevent and end homelessness are still in place. The provision giving states greater choice around Medicaid expansion, however, means that some of the original promise of the ACA in the fight against homelessness will be, in some parts of the country, up in the air, at least for a while.
Remaining provisions of the law that will prove helpful for populations experiencing homelessness are the expansion of affordable insurance coverage through state health insurance exchanges and the expansion of community health centers. Better access to affordable insurance that covers people with pre-existing conditions and does not limit coverage when you get sick can act as homelessness prevention for many.
