A Republican task force from the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Paul Ryan, last week issued a report on policy approaches to poverty in the U.S. In some ways it was disappointing, since it provided little in the way of new ideas or specific proposals. The messaging around the report made it clear that it was an articulation of what Republicans agree on, to build support leading up to the November election, rather than a path toward consensus with the Democratic Party. Here’s what nearly everyone can agree on in the Ryan poverty plan.
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Defining what it means to end chronic homelessness – we now have a clear goal
The goal to end chronic homelessness set by the federal government in 2005 was considered very ambitious. Today, we are excited to share that the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and its 19 federal member agencies released criteria and a benchmark that define what ending chronic homelessness should look like. Being at a point where we are able to define what it means to end chronic homelessness is exciting — it means we have made significant strides and now need to plan an end game.
New toolkit for converting transitional housing
Many communities around the country are repurposing or reallocating their transitional housing projects to create new rapid re-housing subsidies and permanent housing units.
Our new Transitional Housing Conversion: A Building Owner’s Toolkit offers transitional housing building owners a step-by-step guide to addressing funding and use restrictions.
Latest CoC awards are a big win for homeless youth
Overall, HUD estimates that funding for youth homelessness increased by 50% in this award cycle. Indeed, across all housing models, approximately twice as many unaccompanied youth will be served in HUD-funded projects as last year. And as I looked through the list of awards, I was able to calculate around $15 million in funding for youth RRH, and at leat $11 million of that is for new projects.
Who is helping rapidly re-house families?
In early May the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Tier 2 awards to local Continuums of Care (CoCs). Our analysis of the results suggests a lot more individuals, families, youth and survivors of domestic violence will receive rapid re-housing in the upcoming year, but more services are needed to support families than homeless programs can provide on their own.