WASHINGTON, DC. "While the 2009 budget proposal represents increases, level funding, and some decreases, the total amount of resources to be invested targeted to homeless people is once again increased in following data, research, and policy to move beyond managing the crisis to ending the disgrace," indicated United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano. "Not too many years ago, we were hopeful that resources might exceed $2.5 billion. The good news is that, with the President's 2009 request, we have now more than doubled the proposed resources targeted to homeless people within this decade."

With the release of the President's FY 2009 Budget this week, a record $5.04 billion in targeted federal resources to prevent and end homelessness has been proposed, and, if accepted, would mark the eighth consecutive year of record resources for homelessness. The President's FY 2009 Budget proposal represents more than a 12% increase above the President's record request of last year and increases the record funding level of the FY 2008 Omnibus Budget. Following is a review of major agency investments and highlights of the budget proposals for mainstream resources that also prevent and reduce homelessness. The previous issue of the e-news covered the resources targeted to persons who are homeless.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA). The President's Budget continues to provide record levels of funding for medical care at the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA provides nationally recognized care to over five million veterans at more than 800 locations nationwide. The projected investment of VA medical care to treat homeless veterans for FY 2009 is over $2.2 billion, an increase over both the prior President's Budget and the FY 2008 Omnibus spending bill.

The VA Grant and Per Diem Program, the VA's key transitional program, is proposed at $137.8 million, or an increase of 12%. Grant funds may provide up to 65% of the cost to acquire, renovate, or construct facilities that will be used to provide transitional supportive housing (up to 24 months) and/or service centers (offering services such as case management, vocational development, crisis intervention, counseling, etc.) for homeless veterans. The targeted VA Health Care for Homeless Veterans program is proposed at $77.6 million, an increase of $2.8 million. The Domiciliary Care program is proposed at $83.8 million, an increase of $3.1 million. VA's Compensated Work Therapy program, a non- McKinney Act program, is slated to increase to $23.2 million, or over 3%.

The FY 2009 VA Budget proposes to continue to provide record levels of funding for medical care at $41.2 billion (including collections) for medical care - more than double the amount of eight years ago. VA will expand mental health and substance abuse services to $3.9 billion, including for post-traumatic stress disorder. VA will refocus resources on treating veterans with disabilities resulting from military service, lower incomes, and special needs or who are returning combat veterans. The Budget expands treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by performing screenings for all recent combat veterans, increase training for all VA health care professionals, and conduct an outside review of VA's TBI services.

The proposed resources are projected to bring the average length of time to process a veteran's disability claim from a peak of 230 days in 2001 to 145 days in 2009. The resources will support priority processing for returning combat veterans by accelerating processing of disability compensation claims for service members returning from active duty service in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The proposals support benefits delivery upon discharge from military service to provide America's newest veterans with the benefits and services they have earned and bring about a seamless transition from military to civilian status, including allowing separating service members to apply for benefits 180 days prior to their discharge to further speed benefits delivery. New measures will also improve collaboration with the Department of Defense as the agencies implement ways to transfer records between the two agencies; share critical medical information electronically; process disability and other claims understandably and quickly; and in every way possible, support the transition from active duty to civilian life.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD). $1.711 billion - a record level of resources targeted to homelessness - is proposed for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs and HUD-VASH, representing both a record $1.636 billion for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs and a $75 million new proposal for the HUD-VASH supportive housing program for veterans. HUD will continue to emphasize permanent housing through the award of 30% of resources to permanent housing, and to create permanent supportive housing to forward the goal of ending chronic homelessness through a $50 million Samaritan Housing Initiative bonus in the annual competition.

The $1.636 million request for McKinney-Vento will, according to HUD, support all eligible program renewals, including permanent housing, and support new projects in the annual competition. In the most recent announcement of HUD's record $1.3 billion in awards in December 2007, 14% of all Continuum awarded funds went to new projects. The FY 2008 level for the McKinney-Vento programs is $1.586 billion.

Requested at $75 million, the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (VASH) provides permanent housing subsidies and case management services to homeless veterans with mental illness and substance addictions. VA screens homeless veterans for program eligibility and provides case management services to enrollees. HUD allocates rental subsidies from its Housing Choice Voucher program to the VA, which then distributes them to the enrollees. The FY 2009 Budget request for $75 million will add an additional 9,800 vouchers to the program which received $75 million in the FY 2008 Omnibus Budget. The VASH program serves a segment of the homeless subpopulation also targeted by the Administration's initiatives to reduce the number of chronically homeless Americans.

In the Section 8 and Public Housing programs, the Budget proposes $7.0 billion to renew all project- based rental contracts, including an additional $400 million advance appropriation to bridge renewal funding into 2010, providing housing assistance for nearly 1.3 million low-income tenants. This is a nearly $1.2 billion increase from the FY 2008 requested Budget level of $5.813 billion. The Budget funds Housing Choice Vouchers for over two million extremely low- to low-income families and removes the cap on the number of housing units Public Housing Authorities can assist. The FY 2009 Budget provides $16 billion in total resources to support the voucher program. This is an increase of $336 million above the FY 2008 enacted budget for PHAs. The Public Housing Operating Fund is proposed at $4.3 billion - the highest proposed funding level in history - to provide the necessary operating expenses for 1.2 million public housing units.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS). The Department of Health and Human Services Health Centers Expansion is proposed at $2.1 billion, an increase of $27 million over FY 2008. In FY 2008, the Health Center Program surpassed the President's goal of expanding or creating 1,200 new Health Center sites throughout the Nation. In FY 2009, the President's goal of expanding Health Centers in high poverty areas, which builds on the success of the Health Center Initiative, will fund up to 40 new access point grants and 25 planning grants for applicants demonstrating that they will serve areas with high levels of poverty and no access to an existing Health Center site. The Health Centers account also funds the Health Care for the Homeless Program.

Projects in Assistance In Transition From Homelessness (PATH) is proposed at $60 million, a $7 million increase from the FY 2008 level of $53 million. PATH is a formula grant program to the states to support service delivery to individuals with serious mental illnesses, as well as individuals with co- occurring substance use disorders, who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. States and Territories match at least 33% of the Federal investment in this program, enabling more clients to be enrolled in services. See the following e-news story for details of other HHS budget increases that support prevention and mainstream initiatives.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL). The Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) is proposed at $25.6 million, an increase of $2 million. The Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP) was the first nationwide Federal program focused on placing homeless veterans into jobs and was authorized under the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act in 1987. DOL's Veterans Employment and Training Administration (VETS) administers the program through a competitive grant process. HVRP provided employment and training services to 13,890 homeless veterans in FY 2007 at an average cost of $1,560. The program increase of $2.0 million will allow VETS to serve an additional 1,280 homeless veterans, and also enable VETS to support the President's initiative to end chronic homelessness among veterans.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA). The 2009 Department of Agriculture budget includes almost $15 billion in loans, grants, salaries and expenses, and related assistance in ongoing programs for rural residents and communities. Rental assistance payments increase from $479 million available for 2008 to $997 million for 2009. Of the $997 million for rental assistance, $100 million is for a new rural housing voucher program to provide a transition from rental assistance payments.

Rental Assistance payments are one way that USDA sustains the multifamily housing portfolio. In recent years, the renewal period for rental assistance contracts has been reduced from five years to one year. This change initially produced budget savings due to the reduced cost for renewing units over a shorter time frame. However, it also accelerated the rate at which units needed to be renewed. Prior to 2006, about 56,000 units (one-fifth of 280,000 units receiving rental assistance) were renewed annually with five year contracts. From 2006 to 2008, the amount appropriated for the renewal of expiring contracts went from $653 million to $479 million. For 2009, an estimated 230,000 units are up for renewal, at an estimated cost of $997 million.

To meet this need, the budget includes $897 million for rental assistance payments and $100 million for a new rental assistance pilot program for vouchers that would provide a transition from rental assistance. Providing vouchers in a few select properties will allow USDA's Rural Housing Service to target the rental subsidy to the low-income tenants rather than the developers and their projects. The 2009 budget also proposes that recipients of the rental assistance payments and vouchers contribute a minimum of $50 toward their monthly rent.

Community Facilities Program. USDA's Rural Housing Service also administers a community facility program that provides funding for a wide range of essential community facilities. Priority is given to health facilities. The 2009 budget includes $302 million in direct loans and $210 million in loan guarantees under this program.

U.S. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS. The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the National Partnership constellated by the Council were recognized in the President's Budget which notes progress in the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness: "Many communities have made great strides in creating comprehensive approaches to ending chronic homelessness through the development of State Interagency Councils and local plans." The Budget affirms the National Partnership constellated by the Council to achieve results with every level of government and the private sector and provides an increase to $2.66 million in investment in the Council's results-oriented initiatives driven by the President's Management Agenda. The Budget extends the Council's work to assist states, cities, and counties through a proposed reauthorization of the Council through 2012.

"In a difficult budget season, increased resources have once again been targeted to the homelessness of our most vulnerable and disabled neighbors," indicated Council Director Mangano. "This eight-year pattern of increased resources is in direct relation to the visible, measurable, and quantifiable results that are now being achieved on the streets and in the communities of our nation through the National Partnership, the increased investment in targeted housing by HUD and a partnership with other Cabinet agencies and Federal departments in Washington, Governors, County Executives, Mayors, and the private sector. The investment of these new resources calls on us to move beyond identifying inputs to quantifying results."

WASHINGTON, DC. United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Chair Michael Leavitt this week unveiled budget proposals that expand HHS resources for treatment and prevention, as well as to continue the President's Health Center expansion initiative, increase capacity-building for faith-based and community organizations through the Compassion Capital Fund, and expand initiatives for foster care youth. Many of the proposed initiatives have a positive impact in the lives of families, youth, and individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. Highlights are provided here from the FY 2009 Budget.

Treatment and Special Courts. The FY 2009 Budget expands and strengthens access to drug treatment and prevention, with $40 million for drug court services, and $56 million to integrate screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (S-BIRT) of drug abuse in emergency departments and other health care settings. Drug treatment courts (see related story on new resources) use incentives, sanctions, and close supervision to ensure that offenders experiencing mental health or substance abuse disorders continue with their treatment plans and break the cycle of drug use and incarceration. The FY 2009 Budget includes a total of $40 million for behavioral health services associated with treatment courts, an increase of $30 million over FY 2008. Of the total, $2 million will support approximately five awards for the provision of mental health treatment services in association with a mental health court. Mental health courts seek to reduce recidivism by offering the possibility of dismissal of charges or reduced sentencing upon successful completion of mental health treatment.

Access to Recovery. The Budget includes nearly $100 million to support 24 Access to Recovery grantees and an evaluation of the program. These grantees provide their clients with a choice among a broad array of substance abuse treatment and recovery support service providers, including faith-based and community-based providers. A total of 160,000 clients will be served over three years. More than 80 percent of clients receiving services through Access to Recovery abstain from substance use. Within the total, $2 million will support the completion of an evaluation of the role of Access to Recovery in advancing positive client outcomes.

Supporting Prevention and Treatment. The Budget includes $1.8 billion for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, an increase of $20 million, which will support supplemental performance awards for the top 20 percent of grant recipients that demonstrate superior performance in preventing and treating substance abuse. States and Territories have significant flexibility in tailoring services supported through this funding stream to their unique needs, as evidenced by the fact that more than 10,500 community-based organizations indirectly receive Block Grant funding.

HHS's Compassion Capital Fund is proposed to increase to $75 million from $53 million. CCS helps grassroots faith-based and community-based organizations expand their capacity to provide social services for poor and low-income individuals and families.

Mentoring Children of Prisoners. The FY 2009 Budget includes $50 million, an increase of $1 million over FY 2008, to support public and private organizations that create and maintain one-on-one mentoring relationships for children of incarcerated parents and those recently released from prison. Research has shown that children with incarcerated parents are more likely than their peers to commit a crime and become incarcerated themselves. Research also shows that when these children have mentors, they are less likely to use drugs or alcohol, less likely to initiate violence, and more likely to attend and perform well in school.

Adoption Incentives. The FY 2009 Budget includes $20 million for adoption incentives, $15 million over FY 2008, for incentive funds to States that successfully increase the number of children adopted from public foster care systems. The Budget proposes legislation that would double the adoption bonus for children age nine and older and increase the adoption bonus for special needs children under the age of nine.

Disaster Human Services Case Management. Over one million people were affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned identified a need for improved coordination and service delivery to meet the needs of those affected. Within the Administration for Children and Families, the FY 2009 budget request includes $10 million to establish an integrated human services case management system that can provide assistance to disaster victims. These funds will support a national contract that recruits, trains and credentials volunteers who can be dispatched to serve as case managers during a disaster and will provide planning grants to States to establish or improve their capability to respond to disasters.

Money Follows the Person Demonstration. This demonstration program allows States to work towards sustaining their Medicaid programs while helping individuals achieve independence. States are awarded competitive grants along with an increased Medicaid matching rate for transitioning individuals from an institutional setting to a qualified home or community-based setting. The Deficit Reduction Act appropriated $1.75 billion over five years (FY 2007- 2011) for this demonstration. Thirty-one grants were awarded to States totaling $1.4 billion in FY 2007.

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA. "We're working together, this is a regional problem. This is a regional solution. It's really a very special moment," said Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim this week as he gathered with Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf who has advanced a 10-Year Plan with new housing for chronically homeless persons and homeless veterans, Portsmouth Mayor Dr. James Holley whose city is moving toward a Plan, Chesapeake City Council member Cliff Hayes whose city has a new Plan, and Isle of Wight County Chair Stan Clark for the South Hampton Roads Regional Conference. At the conference, the elected officials committed to a regional partnership to end homelessness through the creation of a regional plan coupled to their city 10- Year Plans. More than 200 local partners attended the annual conference.

Mayor Fraim announced in his remarks to the conference his city's significant progress in its 10- Year Plan which has already created new housing and convened Project Homeless Connect events: a new 40% reduction in chronic homelessness and an overall 25% reduction in homeless numbers. Katie Kitchin, Director of Norfolk's Office to End Homelessness, noted that many people use services across the various jurisdictions, identifying a need for regional partnership.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to keynote the conference, commended the officials: "Thank you for the commitment each of you as Mayors are offering in working together regionally. Not only will that regional approach inspire new partnership here locally, but your strategy will inspire our nation. We need new models of partnership, and you are offering that to your country."

The Mayors and elected officials met the press immediately following the conference to confirm their partnership, and Mayors Holley and Council Member Hayes added their signatures to America's Road Home, the 12-point Statement of Principles and Actions now signed by more than 150 elected officials, including Mayors Fraim and Oberndorf.

At the press conference, local real estate CEO Helen Dragas of The Dragas Companies, a Virginia Beach- based real estate firm, announced her commitment of $1.5 million in family-oriented initiatives under the 10- Year Plan elements that will reduce family homelessness in the region. Ms. Dragas whose firm is responsible for residential and commercial property development, property management, and mortgage lending activities, was the 1999 recipient of the Lee Evans Award for Business Management Excellence from the National Association of Homebuilders and Builder Magazine.

SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. In Claire Mendoza's Springfield living room this week, Springfield Mayor Dominec Sarno, Peter Pan Bus Vice President Bob Schwarz, and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Director Philip Mangano gathered for the announcement by Mayor Sarno, who was inaugurated in January, of a 39% decrease in street homelessness and an overall 9% decrease in total homelessness under its most recent count.

Calling the reduction "a strong indication that our strategy is yielding success," Mayor Sarno in his remarks for the press conference pointed to the community-wide benefit of this success, noting, "A 39% reduction in street homelessness also denotes a big cost reduction to our public systems of care. Homelessness is extremely expensive - people who are homeless cycle through expensive systems of care, including emergency rooms, psychiatric units, jails and detox. Baystate Medical Center looked at the cost of just 10 long-term homeless individuals and found that their health costs averaged $100,000 per person - or $1 million for those 10 individuals combined. The experience of other communities is that these costs drop dramatically once those individuals are housed."

Ms. Mendoza, who welcomed the officials to her home by saying "Coffee's on!", is a resident of one of the city's Housing First units created by the Plan, having moved in just a year ago. "This apartment is the perfect example of what Housing First does," said Mr. Schwarz at the press conference. Mr. Schwarz is Executive Vice President of Peter Pan Bus Lines and Chair of the "Homes Within Reach" 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. City Deputy Director for Homeless and Special Needs Housing Geraldine McCafferty who is point person for the plan also took part, as did Council Regional Coordinator John O'Brien.

"Today the news couldn't be better," noted Director Mangano. "Many of your homeless neighbors who have been living on your streets or languishing in your shelters aren't there anymore. Springfield has turned a page on the issue of homelessness. And now what these numbers mean - the 39% drop in street homelessness, the 9% drop in overall homelessness - is that all of the planning, partnership, and resources that have gone into creating and implementing the 10-Year Plan are making a difference. " Pictured here are (left to right): Director Mangano, Mr. Schwarz, and Mayor Sarno.

"It also means that a Plan that was started in Springfield is now being sustained with a deeper commitment by your new Mayor. So I want to commend Mayor Sarno for the commitment he has made to forward an agenda to reduce and end homelessness here in Springfield."

Springfield's Year 1 accomplishments under its Plan include: stabilizing 62 chronically homeless individuals in permanent supportive housing and 20 homeless families in permanent supportive housing and improving coordination among outreach team, volunteer outreach workers, downtown police, and BID, with goal of helping homeless people access services and housing, as well as creating a Rapid Re-House Program, providing security deposit or first-month rent for households that are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness which has assisted 37 individuals and 25 families in six months. The City has also convened its first Project Homeless Connect, created a Homeless Resource Center, and initiated a pilot program to provide intensive supportive housing for 6 mentally ill persons being released from jail. In collaboration with the neighboring communities of Holyoke and Northampton in the Pioneer Valley, Springfield has created a new regional plan to end homelessness that will be unveiled soon.

LINCOLN COUNTY, OREGON. "It's been a little over three months since the official launch of 'At Home in Lincoln County,' a 10-year housing plan for the county with a special focus on chronic homelessness. Although the plan is broad and scope and ambitious in its goals, a number of developments point to positive initial momentum that we hope will continue throughout the life of the plan and beyond." With these words, Lincoln County Commissioner Bill Hall reported on nine key areas of the Newport and Lincoln County 10-Year Plan. Lincoln County has a population of about 46,000.

The 10-Year Plan was unveiled in October 2007 at a public ceremony at Newport's Church of the Nazarene that was immediately followed by the community's first Project Homeless Connect. "By providing tangible services here we are showing that we are about more than talk, we are about action," said Commissioner Hall at the time. Commissioner Hall co-authored the plan along with Tom Hatley, Director of Housing for the Community Services Consortium. The Plan incorporates Housing First and permanent supportive housing strategies with special attention to those experiencing chronic homelessness, young people aging out of foster care, victims of domestic violence, re-entry strategies for those previously incarcerated or on probation, and workforce housing. Pictured here is Council Director Mangano during a previous interview with Commissioner Hall, who hosts a local radio show, on a prior visit to Lincoln County.

"Who wouldn't want to be 'At Home in Lincoln County'," asked Director Mangano in response to the progress report. "This report, as well as the Plan, demonstrate that communities of every size can innovate and lead in ending homelessness for their poorest neighbors. Commissioner Hall and all the partners are to be commended for their sense of commitment and accountability to the community in preparing this report." He commended the community for creating a plan organized around the central antidote to homelessness - housing - and particularly the focus on Housing First and permanent supportive housing strategies. Following are a few highlights.

Permanent Supportive Housing. The Community Services Consortium's Regional Housing Center will submit an application to the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services this month for grant funds to acquire a six-unit apartment building in Newport which will serve as permanent supportive housing. The funds would come from a program approved by the 2007 Legislature to provide 150 new units of permanent supportive housing statewide and include dollars for both buildings and services.

Rent Assistance Fund. Lincoln County will consider creation of a rental assistance fund to help qualifying individuals who are in jeopardy of becoming homeless through circumstances beyond their control. The dollars would be administered through existing programs of the Community Services Consortium. The addition of these funds would allow more people to be served and expand services to individuals and families without children for the first time.

Project Homeless Connect. Lincoln County's first Project Homeless Connect was held in Newport, in conjunction with the launch of the Plan. An estimated 125 individuals received a variety of direct services (haircuts, hot meals, health screenings, vaccinations, foot and wound care, blankets, tents, clothing, bus tickets, thrift store vouchers) and connection to resources. A second Homeless Connect in Newport is in planning for 2008, tentatively set for late summer. Additionally, the Lincoln City Homeless Faith Coalition is exploring the possibility of staging its own Homeless Connect event.

The 2007 launch of the community's 10-Year Plan was the culmination of over a year's effort to gather data, solicit community input through forums, stakeholder meetings, and interviews with people experiencing homelessness, and identify the best evidence- based practices at work across the nation that could be brought to bear in ending homelessness in Lincoln County. In June 2006, Commissioner Hall participated in the Oregon Leadership Summit on Ending Chronic Homelessness sponsored by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness that brought together over 100 city and county leaders with state and federal officials at the historic Reed Opera House in Salem. He also is a member of Governor Ted Kulongoski's Ending Homelessness Advisory Council, which serves as the state's interagency council on homelessness established with the encouragement of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. "Our commitment is to get as much support as possible, as quickly as possible, to the state's homeless individuals," said California Department of Social Services Director John Wagner this week as he announced the new statewide CHOICE program: Cooperative Homeless Office-Initiated Consultative Examination process. The process aims to improve access and reduce the length of time necessary in determining eligibility for federal disability benefits for California's homeless population by streamlining the scheduling of a medical exam when it is determined to be a necessary step in the disability evaluation process for homeless individuals.

"This successful innovation can reduce the disability eligibility determination period by several weeks and has proven an effective way to maintain contact with homeless applicants," Director Wagner added. "It's an excellent example of interagency collaboration that produces improved performance and outcomes at no additional cost." The CHOICE process is used during the initial face-to-face application interview at a local Social Security office and allows homeless applicants to immediately receive a consultative medical examination appointment, free of charge. Under the previous process, homeless applicants waited until CDSS received the disability claim before assessing the need for a medical exam.

"As he did in his innovative years in Massachusetts, where he created model initiatives focused on increasing access to Food Stamps, launching the now successful Home and Healthy for Good Initiative, and creating incentives for housing placement from family shelter, Director Wagner is again finding new ways to partner with federal agencies to streamline mainstream resource access for at-risk and homeless people," indicated United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano. "And - as was the case in his previous innovative efforts - he has once again created an initiative that is replicable in other states. "

CDSS's Disability Determination Service Division (DDSD) adjudicates all Social Security Disability Insurance and SSI disability claims filed in California on behalf of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The division spends nearly $35 million annually for consultative medical examinations and processes more than 330,000 disability cases each year.

CHOICE is administered by DDSD in partnership with the San Francisco Regional Social Security Administration Office and local SSA Offices in Sacramento, Chico, Santa Maria, San Jose, University Village, San Diego, Victorville, San Francisco, Watts, Compton and Santa Ana. Local initiatives were first established at DDSD's Los Angeles and Oakland offices in partnership with the local Social Security offices in Compton, Watts and San Francisco.

"Our employees work in close partnership with the SSA staff to provide quick, accurate service to Californians," said Joe Carlin, Deputy Director of the DDSD. "SSA's implementation of a national electronic business process and our shared goals for service make cooperative projects like this possible." CHOICE is expected to ensure that homeless applicants can receive proper notification of benefits or eligibility determination and enhances the evidence available to make informed determinations, allowing DDSD to secure essential medical evidence to help make a disability determination.

Read the announcement . . .

POST FALLS, IDAHO. Despite more than three feet of snow on the ground and seven new inches of snow, the Kootenai County, Idaho inaugural Project Homeless Connect event offered a warm "welcome" to homeless neighbors last week, bringing partners from Post Falls and Couer d'Alene together at the North Idaho National Guard Armory in partnership with the Idaho National Guard. 125 people were welcomed by some 80 volunteers from the community. Coeur d'Alene Idaho Department of Labor chaired the event.

The event helped launch the local Coeur d'Alene 10- Year Plan to End Homelessness. Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin pledged to join with planning efforts now underway in neighboring Coeur d'Alene, led by Mayor Sandi Bloem and Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Mike Kennedy. Mayor Larkin was joined by Vicki Kunz of the Idaho Department of Labor and PHC co- organizer, Robert Shoeman of the Idaho Department of Labor and PHC co-organizer, and Doug Carlson, HUD Director of Community, Planning and Development for Oregon and Idaho. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson represented the Council.

Guests were welcomed with a spaghetti lunch with French bread, salad and dessert served by children in white chef's hats (shown above). Local police helped in outreach efforts for the event, which included the participation of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as Idaho Housing and Finance, Dirne Community Health Center, St. Vincent De Paul Transitional Housing Shelters, Idaho Department of Labor & Veterans Services, and Panhandle Health District. Coeur d'Alene Kiwanis donated laundry vouchers for local use. Pictured here are (top photo): Vicki Kunz, Paul Carlson, Post Falls Mayor Larkin, Doug Carlson, and Robert Shoeman; and (second): HUD CPD Director Doug Carlson with two community volunteers distributing new blankets.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, OREGON LEADERS WELCOME NEIGHBORS FOR ACCESS AND RESOURCES

WASHINGTON COUNTY, OREGON. Tualatin Parks and Recreation Center in Beaverton, Oregon was the site of last week's "welcome" extended to over 200 homeless neighbors by over 100 community volunteer's at the county's Project Homeless Connect event. The Project Homeless Connect event is the first active strategy of the Washington County 10-Year Plan that is now under development.

The event was preceded by a special meeting for some fifty community leaders that included Beaverton Mayor Rob Drake, Washington County Commissioner Dick Schouten, business leader, Steve Seabold of Seabold Construction, Beaverton City Councilors Betty Bode, Dennis Doyle, and Kathy Stanton, Forest Grove Councilor Pete Truax, Hillsboro City Council Ed Dennis, and Tigard City Councilor Sydney Sherwood, and County Sheriff Rob Gordon. Council Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson also participated.

Commissioner Schouten told the leaders and volunteers: "This event is about making a connection. It's about connecting people in our community who are homeless with community volunteers and resources that can lend them a hand. This is about change on two levels. The first level of change, of course, is the support and caring that those facing homelessness will experience today from their neighbors and fellow community members. Today, they will know their community cares about their welfare. And that's a powerful statement to make. It's a start. The second level of change comes to those who are volunteering. Today is also about putting a face on homelessness. Volunteers at today's event will walk away with a better understanding of the realities of homelessness, and hopefully with a renewed commitment to do something about it. And that's where we come in. We're part of a cadre of community leaders who are committed to addressing the issue of homelessness in our community. We are here to show that commitment, and to lend our support to concrete efforts that improve the lives of those dealing with homelessness."

PHC partners included: Washington County, Tuality Healthcare, Providence Health & Services, Community Housing Fund, Good Neighbor Center, and Vision Action Network. Pictured here are: (left to right): Regional Coordinator Carlson, Steve Seabold, Beaverton Mayor Drake, Washington County Commissioner Schouten, Washington County Sheriff Gordon, Beaverton City Councilors Bode and Doyle, Tigard City Councilor Sherwood, Hillsboro City Councilor Dennis and Beaverton City Councilor Stanton.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA CONTINUES SUCCESSFUL PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA. Anchorage held another successful Project Homeless Connect last week and doubled the number of guests welcomed to over 625. Over 200 guests took advantage of beauty school services, in a setting where the Egan Convention Center staff "set up the dining area as elegantly as they would a Chamber of Commerce luncheon with cloth napkins and decorations on all the tables," according to organizers. Lenscrafters made and dispensed nearly 200 pairs of glasses at the event, and more than 40 persons obtained identification.

USICH Mission	USICH Council Members
National Project Homeless Connect	Good . . .to Better . . . to Great: Innovations in 10-Year Plans
Jurisdictional Partnerships in States and Cities	Innovative Initiatives