NPACH: The National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness

Do the Math: More Homeless Students = More Homeless Families

A national report released last week summarizes the findings of a voluntary survey of school districts conducted by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth and First Focus. The survey found that many school districts across the country are reporting increases in the number of homeless students in the classroom, largely due to the economic downturn and foreclosure crisis. Many districts have identified the same number or more homeless students in the first few months of this school year than they identified the entire previous year, or significant increases in referrals.

These school districts report many challenges. These include:

• Rising transportation costs and logistical challenges
• Inadequate staff to identify and support children and youth experiencing homelessness
• Lack of available shelter space and low-income housing
• Reduction in other community services and supplies
• Greater severity of needs

The report calls for federal action, including an infusion of funding for the McKinney-Vento Act¹s Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, so that homeless children and youth can stay in their schools and receive the support they need to attend and succeed, additional money in the Emergency Shelter Grant program for homelessness prevention, and increases in rental housing resources through new Section 8 Housing Vouchers.

Read the report.

NPACH Supports Obama Nominee For HUD Secretary

President-elect Obama has nominated Shaun Donovan to be the next HUD Secretary. Mr. Donovan currently serves as New York City’s housing commissioner, a position in which he is responsible for the City’s generally successful affordable housing development and preservation efforts. He is not responsible for the City’s homelessness policy, which has not been managed well – with a record number of homeless families now living in shelters, after the City cut back on available permanent housing opportunities for them under the misguided belief that fewer people would become homeless if fewer housing units were available for them.

We welcome this appointment, and look forward to working with Secretary Donovan. It is our hope and belief that the new Administration will commit to a broad anti-poverty agenda, one that will help reduce and eventually end homelessness.

Community Voicemail Works!

Recently, Senator Tom Coburn published a report highlighting wasteful programs funded by the federal government. Unfortunately, one of the listed programs was a $15,000 grant for community voicemail for homeless individuals and families. The report asks why voicemail for homeless persons was funded before housing.

While every homeless person does deserve affordable permanent housing, we know all too well that housing is not available for everyone who wants and needs it. In the interim, we must provide people who are homeless with all the assistance we can, to help them get their lives back on track. Community voicemail is an important part of this process. By allowing homeless persons to interact with employers, giving people a phone number helps them get jobs - which in turn can help individuals and families afford their own housing. And voicemail also lets homeless people interact with caseworkers from government agencies and nonprofits trying to provide them with assistance.

To make these points, NPACH was pleased to join Community Voice Mail in issuing a press release.

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a time to thank every man and woman who has served this country in the military. As we honor our veterans, let us pay particular attention to the nearly 200,000 veterans who are homeless on any given night. America's homeless veterans are not a monolithic group - while too many single men sleep on the streets, we are seeing an increase in homelessness among female veterans, many of whom have children living with them. We also see homeless veterans of all different ages - from Vietnam era veterans who are aging to young veterans who have recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.

We must set a national goal of ensuring that no new veterans become homeless, while working to provide housing for all veterans who are already homeless. The new Administration should take two early steps to move towards these goals.

First - the President should direct the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration to ensure that nobody is discharged from military service without a place to live, and that every discharged soldier is immediately connected with VA services to meet their needs, including mental health counseling and case management. Second, Congress should swiftly pass the Homes for Heroes Act. This legislation, drafted by President-elect Obama as he served in the Senate, would provide new permanent housing vouchers for disabled homeless veterans, while also establishing a new HUD program to build housing for a broader range of low income veteran families.

Homes for Heroes is non-controversial - it passed the House this year by a vote of 412-9. We urge the House to re-approve the bill early in 2009, and ask that the Senate quickly follow.

We look forward to working with the new Administration to swiftly implement these ideas. Our veterans have protected us - it is time for us to protect them.

Yes We Can

We extend our congratulations to President elect Barack Obama and Vice-President elect Joe Biden. We also congratulate all the new Members of Congress who will come to Washington in January. We have been pleased to work with the office of Senator Obama on issues relating to homeless veterans, and to support successful efforts by Senator Biden to improve the Violence Against Women Act.

We look forward to working with the new Administration on a sensible national policy to end homelessness - one which maintains federal oversight while allowing local communities the flexibility they need to make the most effective use of federal homeless assistance funding. We also hope that the new Administration will continue efforts to end long term street homelessness, including homelessness among veterans, while adding a new focus on children and families without homes. If we do not help these families now, countless children will grow up to become the next generation of homeless adults.

As this article shows, the current economic and foreclosure crisis is leading to dramatic increases in family homelessness. Responding to this challenge is the most pressing activity in the field of homelessness.

We look forward to helping the new Administration provide support to these families - by protecting innocent tenants, providing new resources to help families move into new permanent housing, and offering additional housing resources through the Section 8 program. All of these activities should be coordinated with local school districts and other agencies serving children and youth who are homeless. Along with homeless shelters, schools are the "canaries in the coal mine" - the first government entities to identify increases in child, youth, and family homelessness.