This blog post contains a simple but important ask: we need you to weigh in with your members of Congress now to support increased funding for homelessness assistance this year. The FY24 budget will not be adequate to meet the needs of your communities or the people we serve otherwise. Congress needs to hear from you — and they value the voices of people closest to the issue.
As House and Senate lawmakers strive to wrap up negotiations on the funding bill for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) before a March 1 deadline, I urge you to make time for one last push in support of more robust funding and more enlightened policies, particularly if you have not already done so in 2024.
On a bipartisan basis, the Senate is trying to add $275 million to Homeless Assistance Grants. “That’s not enough,” I can almost hear some of you protest. And you’re right. But it’s better than the amount proposed by House Republicans ($96 million) or the Administration ($116 million).
Further, the Senate would spend more money where it’s needed:
- $100 million for permanent supportive housing;
- $30 million for local homelessness systems to coordinate with health care entities to better provide supportive behavioral health care;
- $25 million to address “reasonable cost of living adjustments” for workers in homelessness services because Senators were “concerned (by) multiple reports of service provider challenges in hiring and retaining qualified personnel;” and
- $5 million to fix the rickety e-snaps information technology system on which the entire homelessness grant-making process depends.
Finally, the Senate would establish a temporary Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for 2024 and 2025, which would lay the groundwork for a permanent shift to a CoC NOFO application cycle every two years.
Taking Action
Please take time to educate your contacts in the offices of the Senators and Representatives who represent the areas in which you live and provide services. Now is the time to urge their bosses to support the Senate’s position that the HUD funding bill for FY24 should include $275 million for Homeless Assistance Grants.
If you don’t know the names and contact information for your Congressional contacts, please contact Samantha Wood (swood@naeh.org) or John Threlkeld (jthrelkeld@naeh.org) on the Alliance’s staff.
The good news is that this is probably the last time anyone at the Alliance will be asking you to urge your lawmakers to support robust funding for homeless programs in FY24, so this really is the last push. The bad news is that the FY25 funding process will be starting up in just a few days, so this need is urgent. People living and working in communities are the best messengers to push Congress: they see what the scope of need is and know how this funding will make a difference. Your voice can help sway their decisions. Acting now, and pushing Congress to support homelessness funding increases, can make a difference – and that’s why we do this work.