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October 14
Federal, state and territory officials came together last week for a National
Learning Meeting to discuss the outcomes and lessons learned from federally-sponsored
Policy Academies on increasing access to services for individuals and families
experiencing homelessness. Over the past three years, the federal government has
sponsored a series of Policy Academies designed to assist states develop strategic
plans to improve access to mainstream health and human services, housing and
employment opportunities for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Fifty-two states and
territories participated in the Policy Academies that were funded by several Interagency
Council members including the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health
and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and Labor. In addition to the formal Policy Academy
meetings at which states began work on developing Action Plans, the federal agencies
have continued their support of the state efforts by providing extensive technical
assistance. The U.S. Department of Education recently announced it is becoming the
fifth federal agency to partner in this endeavor.
The two-day
National Learning Meeting included discussions of federal and state level barriers
and challenges that have been encountered in developing and implementing state
action plans, and provided opportunities for peer to peer discussions and exchanges
of information on innovative approaches various states have adopted. Among the topics
discussed were: (1) informing public policy with data (2) utilizing multiple financing
streams to develop supportive housing (3) creating effective collaborations
(4) effective use of such mainstream programs as TANF, SSI and Medicaid (5)
developing and implementing discharge policies (6) prevention opportunities and (7)
strategies for addressing rural homelessness.
The closing plenary
session included a Listening Session attended by senior federal officials to hear a
summary of the key action items identified by the attendees during the course of the
two day meeting. The meeting concluded with remarks by the senior officials of each
of the four federal funding agencies and ICH Executive Director Philip Mangano on
federal initiatives to prevent and end homelessness.
Don Winstead, HHS Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation, spoke of the investment HHS will make this year on
research into the characteristics and dynamics of homeless families with children and noted
that states have become laboratories for innovation and that the bulk of the HHS money
available to provide services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
is distributed directly through state and local governments. Patricia Carlile, HUD
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs Assistance whose office handles over $1
billion a year in grants to support state and local homelessness efforts, described
the work of HUD's intra-agency Task Force which is bringing Department wide resources
to the homelessness effort.
Peter Dougherty, Director
of the VA's Homeless Programs Branch, reported that the VA is on track for creating 1000 points of access for
veterans services which includes increased attention to ensuring that mental
health services are available and spoke of the VA's new initiatives to provide
services to children of women veterans and to developing transitional assistance
plans for incarcerated veterans. Charles Ciccolella, Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Veterans Employment and Training Services noted that the federal government spends
$12 billion annually on workforce development and that "it is up to every one of
us to live out how we are making the system work for the benefit of homeless people."
In his remarks, ICH
Director Mangano spoke of the national movement underway to prevent and end
homelessness- 20 federal agencies partnered through the U.S. Interagency Council
on Homelessness, 50 Governors of states and territories committed to establishing
State Interagency Councils on Homelessness, and 155 cities and counties developing
10-Year Plans.
He noted that in
addition to the work being done by the four sponsoring federal agencies, a number
of other federal agencies have exciting initiatives underway including the Social
Security Administration through its streamlining of the disability determination
process, the Justice Department which is implementing the President's $300 million
multiyear re-entry initiative, the Department of Transportation which is seeking
through an interagency work group to make our federal transportation investments
more responsive to the needs of homeless people, and the Department of Education
which is utilizing homeless liaisons in every school district and other initiatives
to create educational parity for homeless students.
Mr. Mangano
encouraged the state participants "not to reinvent the wheel. Be larcenous.
Steal the best ideas that are achieving results and replicate them. Identify,
disseminate and where applicable adopt innovative technologies that are
results-oriented such as Assertive Community Treatment Teams, supportive
housing and discharge planning protocols with contractual obligations."
He urged the state participants to incorporate prevention strategies into
their action plans, participate in data collection and research, and focus
on being consumer centric.
A full
report on the meeting is being prepared by the federal funding partners
and will be made available on the Policy
Academy website maintained by the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
VA Secretary Principi Convenes
Interagency Council Meeting at White House Conference Center
September
29 The 6th Cabinet-level meeting of the U.S. Interagency Council
since our revitalization in 2002 demonstrated the continuing commitment
of the Bush Administration to meeting the goal of preventing and
ending chronic homelessness. With announcements of over $160
million in new federal resources as well as additional technical
assistance to support and improve outcomes from programs already
in place, agencies as varied as Veterans Affairs, Labor, Health
and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Social Security,
and Education are collaborating at an unprecedented level to focus
resources on preventing and ending chronic homelessness.
The
federal commitment is being joined by an equally important commitment
and effort by states and communities and the private sector. The
Council, chaired by VA Secretary Principi, was pleased to have the
opportunity to hear from Horace Sibley, who at the request of Atlanta
Mayor Shirley Franklin, has been leading that community's 10 year
planning effort to end chronic homelessness, and from Craig Chancellor,
President of Triangle United Way in North Carolina, who discussed
the commitment of the United Way to the goal and to their role in
helping bring resources from the business community to the effort.
 Council
members also heard from providers of services to veterans who have
benefited from the expansion of resources made available through
the VA - Marsha Four, Director of Homeless Services for the Philadelphia
Veterans MultiService and Education Center; Toni Reinis, Executive
Director of New Directors in LA; Kathryn Spearman, Executive Director
of Volunteers of America-Florida; and Charles Williams, Executive
Director of the Maryland Center for Veterans Employment and Training.
Michael German, the Region IV Interagency Council coordinator, led
off the panel discussion by describing the many outreach efforts
to homeless veterans that are underway, including more than 20 Stand
Down events in his region.
ICH
Executive Director Philip Mangano reported that 49 Governors of
states and territories have created state interagency councils on
homelessness and 152 cities and counties have committed to developing
10-Year Plans. Mr. Mangano also reported on the progress of the
Council's first major initiative - the awards last year to 11 community
partnerships through the Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic
Homelessness, an historic funding collaboration by HUD, HHS and
the VA.
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| ICH
Executive Director, Philip Mangano and VA Secretary Principi |
Mr.
Mangano noted that the federal resources invested in these 11 communities
"are demonstrating tangible, visible, and quantifiable results".
To date, the Collaborative Initiative grantees, through community
partnerships that combine asserting outreach teams coordinated with
housing and services including mental health, substance abuse and
primary health care, have successfully ended the homelessness of
over 400 men and women whose periods of homelessness total over
2800 years.
Broward
County, Florida is one of the 11 Collaborative Initiative grantees.
Steve Werthman, Homeless Initiative Partnership Administrator for
Broward County, spoke to the Council about the progress of their
project. Known as HHOPE, Housing and Health Options, they have successfully
housed 24 people to date and those 24 were previously homeless for
a total of 161 years.
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Steve Werthman, Broward County Homeless Initiative Partnership Administrator addresses Council. |
"I
would guess that the challenges of this new way of collaborating
are no less daunting at the federal level than we find them to be
at the local level. However, the prospects for lasting systems change
keeps us enthused about the project as we address each bureaucratic
challenge. We understand that the President's Samaritan Initiative
proposal would go a long way in providing the statutory framework
to reduce and help eliminate many of these bureaucratic barriers.
Our
inter-agency model at the local level, mirroring the federal example,
has improved collaboration between the partners, and particularly
with the VA which had only a minimal presence in our County as recently
as two years ago... Our VA collaboration has improved to the point
where we were asked to present on it during recent national conferences.
All of our partners, including mainstream agencies, are privileged
to be part of this initiative." --Steve
Werthman
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| L
- R: Kathryn Spearman, Marsha Four, Toni Reinis, Charles Williams
and Michael German |
In
another example of the commitment of the Council to forging partnerships
at all levels of government to better coordinate resources and improve
program delivery, members of six Federal Regional Councils joined
the Interagency Council meeting by phone at the opening of their
proceedings.
The
Council's e-newsletter for this week will provide additional information
about the meeting. You may subscribe to the e-newsletter through
the link provided In The News section of this web page.
Samaritan Bill
Introduced in Senate
September 22 U.S. Senators Wayne Allard (CO) and Elizabeth
Dole (NC) today introduced
S 2829, the Samaritan Initiative Act of 2004. The legislation has
been referred to the Senate Banking. Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
Senator Allard chairs the Committee's Housing and Transportation
Subcommittee.
Excerpts
from Senator Allard's remarks:
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| U.S.
Senator Wayne Allard (CO) |
Mr.
President, I rise today to introduce the Samaritan Initiative Act
of 2004, and I am pleased to have Senator Dole join me in this effort.
The Samaritan Initiative would mark the beginning of a new, collaborative
approach in the Federal effort to end chronic homelessness. The
Initiative would create a groundbreaking joint effort between the
Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health
and Human Resources, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
For
many years now I have been a strong advocate for the Government
Performance and Results Act, which requires a focus on outcomes
through clear, measurable goals. I am pleased to say that the Samaritan
Initiative embodies this outcome-based focus and requires visible,
measurable, quantifiable performance outcomes in reducing and ending
homelessness. A focus on outcomes, rather than case management or
process, also allows for new, innovative solutions to chronic homelessness.
This will ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent in a responsible,
effective manner.
I
am proud to say that the Samaritan Initiative is supported by The
U.S. Conference of Mayors, The National Association of Counties,
The National League of Cities, The Enterprise Foundation, The National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the National AIDS Housing Coalition,
The National Alliance to End Homelessness, The Corporation for Supportive
Housing, the Association for Service Disabled Veterans, the National
Coalition for Homeless Veterans, and many other groups. I look forward
to working with them, along with my colleagues in the Senate, to
end chronic homelessness in America.
Denver,
Colorado is one of 11 communities currently benefiting from federal
funds awarded last October under the HUD/HHS/VA Collaborative Initiative
to Help End Chronic Homelessness. The Colorado Coalition for the
Homeless is acting as lead partner for the $3.4 million awarded
to the Denver Housing First Collaborative. Eleven Denver agencies
are partnering as part of this Collaborative to create a
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| U.S.
Senator Elizabeth Dole (NC) |
comprehensive
and integrated strategy to provide 100 units of permanent housing
to enable persons who are chronically homeless to move from the
streets and emergency shelters into “stable, permanent housing
and receive the services and other support they need to achieve
greater self-sufficiency.” Of the 100 units being made available
through this initiative, 60 are directly funded through the Collaborative
grant award with the remaining 40 leveraged through the Colorado
Coalition for the Homeless. The Denver Housing First Collaborative
is using a “housing first” strategy, combined with an
assertive community treatment approach . Partners in the Denver
Housing First Collaborative include the Colorado Coalition for the
Homeless and its Stout Street Clinic which together with Denver
Health is providing primary care services; the Denver Department
of Human Services, the Mental Health Corporation of Denver, Arapahoe
House which is providing substance abuse treatment services, and
the Denver VA Medical Center.
Over
the past year communities throughout North Carolina have begun engaging
in 10-year planning processes to end chronic homelessness including
Asheville, Durham, Henderson/Vance County, Raleigh/Wake County,
and Winston-Salem. Raleigh/Wake County has the distinction of being
the 100th community in the nation to commit to developing such a
plan. Enactment and funding of the Samaritan Initiative would provide
new resources for the creation of permanent supportive housing for
persons experiencing chronic homelessness.
From Sea to
Shining Sea
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A mayors 10-Year Plan summit in Puerto Rico… the 90th annual
St. Vincent de Paul Society meeting in Phoenix, AZ, a Housing
and Homeless Coalition Conference in Riverside, California…
the announcement by Nashua NH Mayor Streeter of a 10-year Plan
to end chronic homelessness in that community… a meeting
of the Arizona State Interagency Council on Homelessness…the
dedication of housing facilities for the chronically homeless
on Skid Row in Los Angeles…an Affordable Housing Conference
in Bellevue, WA…
September 20 At these recent events and
so many others around the country, community leaders, faith based
organizations, the business community and citizens are taking action
to develop and implement plans to end the disgrace of homelessness.
20 federal agencies comprising the United States Interagency Council
on Homelessness. 49 Governors of states and territories who have
established state interagency councils on homelessness. 140 mayors
and county executives who have committed to developing 10 year plans
to end chronic homelessness in their communities. All partnered.
All extending political will on the issue of homelessness made tangible
in research-informed and results-oriented interagency and intergovernmental
collaborations and local plans.
| “I
am sorry this morning that I do not remember more Spanish.
But I do know this: that no matter which language we speak,
homelessness is wrong in all of them.”
ICH
Director Philip Mangano speaking at Sept 7 Mayors Summit in
Puerto Rico
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“Today,
Nashua and New Hampshire are part of an unprecedented partnership
on homelessness that literally extends from the White House to the
streets. In Washington there are now 20 federal departments and
agencies meeting together to make resources more available and accessible
to homeless people. All focused on the President’s initiative
to end the homelessness of the most vulnerable, those on our streets,
long term in our shelters, disabled, most at risk of death."
September
17th press conference with NH Gov Craig Benson and Nashua Mayor
Bernard Streeter
“Let’s begin where we should. Homelessness is wrong.
Morally, spriritually, economically, socially – wrong. What
is the moral common sense of the future on homelessness? Our children
and grandchildren will know- a home for every American.”
ICH
Director Mangano speaking at the Sept 13 Riverside County Conference
of Housing and Homeless Coalition, CA
“In
the prayer of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: “ that those
who have no home may quickly find a place in which they can live
a decent and happy life.”
The
President has called for a new initiative to be created to address
the homelessness of those who are disabled on our streets and long
term in our shelters in support of his call to end chronic homelessness
in the next 10 years. It’s called the Samaritan Initiative
and as the name implies, it is targeted to those who have been left
behind on our streets. Others have passed by. But this Administration
and its partners will stop and ensure that those on the side of
the road are moved forward toward housing and services. It’s
in the Congress now and needs the support of all Americans. It’s
the down payment to end chronic homelessness."
Sept.
10 90th Annual Conference of Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Phoenix,
Arizona
Dallas Mayor
Names Business Leader and Civic Hero as 'Homeless Czar'
September 3 Longtime civic leader Tom Dunning
has been named to lead Dallas’ effort to prevent and end homelessness
in the 8th largest city in the nation. The announcement of Mr. Dunning’s
appointment as “homeless czar” for the city was made
by Mayor Laura Miller
at a press conference last Wednesday attended by ICH Executive Director
Philip Mangano, Dallas City Councilmember Lois Finkleman who chairs
the Council’s Committee on Health, Environment and Human Services,
and representatives
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2003, Dallas received over $10 million in federal HUD targeted
funds for homelessness assistance, a record funding level
for the city and a 113% increase over the 2002 level. The
funds were part of a record $1.27 billion in homeless resources
awarded by the Bush Administration to communities across the
nation.
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of various providers, non profit organizations and the Metro Dallas
Homeless Alliance. Mr. Dunning, who is Chairman and CEO of Lockton
Dunning Benefit Company in Dallas, will form a task force of homeless
providers and others to develop a central assistance facility for
the homeless in Dallas in conjunction with the city’s recently
adopted 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. That plan was adopted
by the City Council in June making Dallas the first city in the state
of Texas to have developed such a plan. Nationally, more than 120
communities have developed or are engaged in the process of developing
10-Year plans to end chronic homelessness.
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| From
left to right: Councilmember Lois Finkelman, Tom Dunning, Mayor
Miller. Behind her: Councilmember Rasansky, Mr. Mangano, Councilmember
Veletta Forsythe Lill |
Mr.
Dunning brings a wealth of experience and civic leadership to this
new endeavor. He is a Board member of the Southwestern Medical Foundation
and Baylor Medical Foundation, and a member or the Dallas Citizens
Council. Said ICH Executive Director Philip Mangano, “Mayor
Miller has joined other mayors across the country in demonstrating
wisdom and leadership in appointing a “local hero” to
implement the city’s 10-year plan…in announcing a local
hero of such community commitment to lead the partnering process,
to insure stakeholder involvement in an inclusive and expansive
process, Dallas has taken a great leap forward. Those cities who
have moved the furthest in their response and implementation have
had strong and capable leadership from the mayor and from a local
hero. The added value of that hero cannot be underestimated…
Last year’s Renaissance Award winner “to restore and
revitalize downtown Dallas” now has a new mission: to restore
and revitalize the lives of our homeless neighbors.”
The
10-Year plan adopted by the Dallas City Council in June was developed
in partnership with Deloitte, the United Way, and the Metro Dallas
Homeless Alliance. Following the press conference, Mr. Mangano addressed
the Dallas City Council on federal initiatives to end chronic homelessness.
Further,
the state of Texas received a total of $52 million plus in last
year’s awards, a 28% increase over the $41 million of 2002
and a record amount for the state.
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