USICH Blog
Department of Health and Human Services Archive
11/20/2012 - Keeping the Momentum for Ending Youth Homelessness: Reflections from Indianapolis and Beyond
Last week, the Family Youth Services Bureau of HHS’s Administration on Children, Youth, and Families hosted two days of training and workshops on addressing youth homelessness at the National Runaway and Homeless Youth Grantee Conference. More than 550 participants from around the country met in Indianapolis to share knowledge and learn from others as we work together to end youth homelessness by 2020.
The Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) provider community has thoroughly embraced the Opening Doors goal to end youth homelessness by 2020. The goal was mentioned throughout conference workshops, it was written in conference materials, and in the hallways of the hotel I heard this goal in discussions among providers, administrators, and policy professionals. It is inspiring to see the resounding commitment and enthusiasm for this ambitious goal has spread outside of Washington, DC and into communities throughout the country.
Given the momentum we have gained from Opening Doors and the USICH Framework to End Youth Homelessness, the RHY conference was ripe with opportunity to build more commitment and enthusiasm for the work ahead. The USICH Framework to End Youth Homelessness held a prominent spot on the conference agenda at a luncheon keynote session. Jennifer Ho provided an energetic keynote address about ending youth homelessness. She discussed two complementary strategies—getting better data on youth and building service capacity—included in the Youth Framework and explained why these strategies are important to our goal of ending youth homelessness.
07/27/2012 - What We’re Talking About: The Week at USICH - July 23-27, 2012
What We're Talking About is a new 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.
This week the International AIDS Conference was in Washington, DC for the first time in 22 years, shining a spotlight on HIV/AIDS both in America and around the world. For us at USICH, this conference also pointed to the topic of housing instability and homelessness among those with HIV/AIDS in America. There are more than 1 million people in the United States currently living with HIV/AIDS, and for those with low incomes or experiencing homelessness, managing the disease is complicated and expensive...
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.
