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Thank
you, Secretary Thompson.
And thank all of you for your continuing commitment to the efforts
of the Administration and this Council to reframe the issue of homelessness
in a performance based and results oriented strategy. The funding
announcements and interagency collaborations as well as our intergovernmental
initiatives that will be announced at this meeting are encouraging
signs of our commitment to the field of providers, advocates, and
consumers.
As
I've traveled across our country, I have seen the importance of
our work here in Washington. The enthusiasm created by our initiatives.
But most importantly, our on-going commitment and presence has converted
a demoralized, cynical response into a remoralized, strategic focus.
Across the country, governors and mayors are creating state interagency
councils and ten-year plans to end chronic homelessness.
But,
I wanted to give you just a small sense of the impact of our efforts.
Last week, I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I went there to join
that city's first term mayor in a press conference announcing a
ten-year planning process to be commenced there in his city. In
a meeting I had with Mayor Bob Corker before the press event, he
make it clear that without the partnership he felt from Washington,
he would never have moved so far on this issue.
It is that sense of partnership that we are fostering that is inexorably
remoralizing our country on this issue. A partnership that begins
in the White House extends through federal agencies, statehouses,
city halls, homeless initiatives to the streets of our country to
homeless people themselves. They are the chief beneficiaries of
the results oriented strategy we are creating. And our efforts are
to institutionalize that new standard of expectation.
Today
we are announcing the 11 cities that will receive funding from the
$35 million HUD/HHS/VA collaborative initiative on chronic homelessness.
Each of them will begin immediately to invest in the streets of
their community, moving long term homeless people to housing and
services. Our achievement today in being able to announce the Collaborative
Initiative grant awards would not have been possible without the
efforts of many people at HHS,
HUD and the VA who worked diligently to reconcile the various
legislative, regulatory and cultural differences between the agencies
so that these funds could be awarded through a single funding application.
Their ability to work together provides a model for future interagency
collaborations. They deserve recognition for their efforts and accomplishment.
The
Samaritan Initiative which was proposed in the President's budget
and is a follow on to the Collaborative Initiative, has been received
with great enthusiasm in communities across the country. In reminding
cities and providers that no one should be left behind on our streets,
and in offering businesses and chambers and downtown associations
hope in creating a better climate on their streets, the Samaritan
Initiative is part of that remoralizing influence we are having.
Expectations in Mayors, business owners, civic organizations, and
homeless service agencies have been given an encouragement by our
attention to the most visible expression of homelessness on and
in shelters.
In
keeping with our tradition here in the Council to present the most
innovative approaches being developed in the country - recognizing
that homelessness is a national problem with local solutions -,
we are pleased to have as our guest presenters Barbara Poppe, Executive
Director of the Community Shelter Board, and Holly Schottenstein
Kastan of their Advisory Council. The work that the Community Shelter
Board is doing in Columbus, Ohio is having an impact all over our
country. Founded by the City of Columbus and by the Commissioners
of Franklin County, the Community Shelter Board shares with us a
commitment to a new strategy combining innovation, accountability,
and results in working to end homelessness. Their focus on ending
chronic homelessness has been inspirational for other cities in
our nation.
Thank
you, Barbara and Holly, for being with us here today.
Community
Shelter Board from Columbus, OH Presentation
in Powerpoint | Fact Sheet
Intergovernmental
Partnerships
We are fashioning a partnership literally from the White House to
the streets. State houses have a resource role to play. As we know
resources and decision-making have been devolving to the states
for 30 years. But, many states were not at the table of homelessness.
We had been encouraging states through the Policy Academies to make
their resources more available and accessible. We have also asked
that they create state interagency councils on homelessness. When
we last met in March , 27 states had such councils. Since Secretary
Thompson's letter (insert link) was sent, another 14 have committed
to creating councils, a 50% increase. And we are working with the
final nine states and territories to complete their participations
by the next Council meeting.
Part
of the partnership is cities and counties and their commitment to
10-year plans. Again, at our last meeting, Secretary Martinez challenged
the Council to increase that number as well. Since then, the 10
Regional Coordinators of this Council, in addition to encouraging
state councils, have been working to enlist cities and counties
in the 10-year process. With HUD's active participation, we secured
resolutions at the US Conference of Mayors (insert link) and the
National Association of Counties (insert link) endorsing both the
Administration's chronic homelessness initiative, and encouraging
cities and counties to create 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness.
Both sets of resolutions were adopted unanimously. We agreed that
on this issue of homelessness, that partnership trumped partisanship.
Since then, we have enrolled another 30 cities in planning processes
with another 20 on the threshold. Together with cities and counties
with existing plans, we'll soon have 65 cities and counties across
the country involved in the 10-year planning process. We're still
aimed at having 100 by January, 2004.
In
each federal region, we are sponsoring city focus groups targeted
to 10-year plans and state councils. We've had three regional focus
groups thus far with over 60 cities participating. Another seven
will be held between now and the end of November. We anticipate
that in all over 200 cities will be reached.
We
have created simple step-by-step guides for both cities and states
as tools to create 10-year plans and state councils. They have been
well received, as has the technical assistance of our regional coordinators.
Our intent is to bring back to the table of homelessness those who
have wandered off. We intend to leave no state or city behind.
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