Stating that the FY 06 Budget "continues to support domestic programs and policies that fight drug addiction and homelessness and promote strong families and lives of independence," President Bush this week proposed record $4.01 billion targeted homeless spending by the federal government, making FY 06 the fifth year in a row of proposed increased funding for homeless programs. The proposed figure represents an 8.5% increase over last year and more than a 25% increase since 2002, when $2.94 billion in spending was enacted.

An unprecedented $1.44 billion is proposed for the homeless programs in the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, including up to $200 million for a new Samaritan Housing Initiative targeted to permanant supportive housing for persons experiencing chronic homelessness. This figure is nearly 3 times last year's proposed Samaritan spending.

In the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the budget proposes an increase of $26.3 million for Health Care for the Homeless programs, a 17.9% expansion. The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care for Homeless Veterans program is proposed for a 12.5% increase, with an increase also proposed for the U. S. Department of Labor Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program for employment programs targeted to homeless veterans. Other U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs homeless programs for transitional housing, work therapy, and other medical issues are also proposed for increases.

Prevention of homelessness will be enhanced by investments in U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Programs: $150 million - a 50% increase - is proposed for Access to Recovery vouchers for substance abuse treatment, with a $304 million increase in Community Health Care Centers in medically underserved areas, bringing that commitment to $2 billion. $60 million is proposed for Foster Care Independent Living Programs to achieve better outcomes for transitioning youth. Prevention of homelessness will also be enhanced by $75 million for the second year of the multi-agency Prisoner Reentry Initiative. The Budget also proposes to enhance coordination of federal, state and local partnership initiatives to end chronic homelessness through increased funding for the work of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

The Social Security Administration is adding seven additional awardees to the 34 announced last year under the $6.6 million Homeless Outreach Projects & Evaluation (HOPE) program to focus on outreach and supportive services to help chronically homeless people secure Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The SSA initiative supports communities in meeting the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness by increasing access to a key mainstream benefit for persons experiencing chronic homelessness with severe and persistent mental illness, HIV, cognitive impairments, and co-occurring disorders. SSA estimates that the awardees will assist thousands of homeless people over the next three years, providing supports to ensure that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications are completed faster and with higher success rates, allowing persons experiencing chronic homelessness to leave the streets, have a source of income, obtain health care coverage, and obtain employment.

New awardees are: South East Texas Regional Planning Commission in Beaumont, Texas; Haven House Services, Inc. in Jeffersonville, Indiana; Legal Action of Wisconsin in Milwaukee; American GI Forum National Veterans Outreach Program, Inc., in San Antonio, Texas; Florence and Mary E. Duffy Health Center in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Urban Ministries of Durham, Inc., in Durham, North Carolina, and Dorothy Kret & Associates in Tucson.

Core objectives for the HOPE initiative include identifying homeless individuals who are potentially eligible for benefits and providing assistance that results in faster claim decisions and higher benefit approval rates for those who are eligible for disability benefits. Other SSA objectives includes conducting outreach activities to locate homeless individuals with disabling impairments, providing direct assistance to homeless individuals in the application process, assisting with finding necessary documentation, including proof of identity, financial records, and medical records, and assisting with needed examinations. Awardees are expected to maintain contact with claimants throughout the determination process and help individuals respond to requests for further information. SSA expects awardees to collaborate with and make referrals to other organizations to ensure favorable outcomes for persons being assisted, including working with agencies that provide supportive housing; mental health, substance abuse, and community-based health care; employment rehabilitation and job placement services; veteran's health benefits; and services to parolees and those in work-release programs.

SSA is collaborating with other Federal partners such as the Department of Justice on the "Going Home" prisoner reentry project and on the "First Step" CD project with the Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development to provide support to case managers who work with people who are homeless and potentially eligible for SSI and SSDI benefits. First Step resources, including SSA information, can be found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/homeless/firststep/index.html

Henderson, North Carolina, with a population of 17,000 people last week became the smallest city in the nation to commit to a 10-Year Planning process. Stating that "I hope this plan will be a springboard to solve other problems in Henderson," Mayor Donald Seifert, Jr., made the announcement at a press conference where the results of a recent one night count in Henderson were also announced. The one night count found 91 persons homeless, an increase from last year's census of 69.

Mayor Seifert was joined for the announcement by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, who also witnessed the Mayor's signing of the mayoral Covenant of Partnership to End Chronic Homelessness, signed by a total of 45 mayors across the country who have committed together to share best practices, data, and innovations in the effort to end chronic homelessness. Also present for the announcement were Councilor Mary Emma Evans, North Carolina General Assembly Representatives James W. Crawford and Michael H. Wray, and North Carolina Interagency Coordinating Council on Homelessness Homeless Policy Specialist Martha Are. Interagency Council Region IV Coordinator Michael German also participated. Mayor Seifert and Henderson's partners are pictured here.

Named to the planning committee for Henderson by Mayor Seifert were including Councilor Evans, City of Henderson representative Mrs. Sandra Wilkerson, Vance County Schools representative Mrs. Jane Fleming, United Way of Vance County, VGFW Area Authority, Henderson Police Department, and Head Start. Mayor Seifert's commitment brings to eight the number of North Carolina cities engaged in 10- Year Planning processes.

With an estimated homeless population of just over 230, Gastonia, North Carolina last week joined the national partnership of local officials committed to end chronic homelessness in their communities. Gastonia Mayor Jennifer Stultz became a signer to the mayoral Covenant of Partnership to End Chronic Homelessness, signed by 45 mayors nationally who have agreed to partner in sharing data and best practices as they seek to end chronic homelessness in their communities. Following the example of other larger communities, Gastonia also performed cost analysis of services being used locally and found that, when Gastonia police broke down the law enforcement costs of three local homeless people over 7 years, the total expense to the community was about $55,000, according to Gastonia Police Chief Terry Sult.

Joining Mayor Stultz for the signing was United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, who noted that Mayor Stultz was one of the first mayors in the country two years ago to accept the challenge of developing such a plan. Stated Mayor Stultz, "I look forward to sharing our successes in helping homeless persons, and reviewing an outline of our plan to end chronic homelessness." Mayor Stultz is pictured here with Director Mangano and Shelby, North Carolina Mayor Ted Alexander, who also became a Covenant of Partnership signatory last week.

Federal, state, county, and city officials were on hand in Asheville, North Carolina, last week to recognize the first jurisdictionally endorsed 10-Year Plan in North Carolina. "Looking Homeward: The 10- Year Plan to End Homelessness in Asheville and Buncombe County'' was officially unveiled after six months of work by a 33-member joint advisory task force of business, non-profit, and government leaders appointed by City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the award of more than $12 million in McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance funds to the region. Shown here joining in the regional event are (left to right): Asheville-Buncombe Steering Committee Chair Jerome Jones, Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair Nathan Ramsey, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, Asheville Mayor Charles Worley, North Carolina Interagency Coordinating Council on Homelessness Homeless Policy Specialist Martha Are, and HUD Field Office Director Edward Ellis. Interagency Council Region IV Coordinator Michael German also participated.

The Plan places the City-County effort within the context of intergovernmental partnership to end chronic homelessness, stating: "Under the leadership of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, a national consensus has emerged that all levels of government must focus on improving efforts to house chronically homeless individuals and families. Looking Homeward is consistent with, and complementary to, the federal government's efforts in this area. Likewise, the state of North Carolina, through its Interagency Council on Coordinating Homeless Programs, is creating a plan that will coordinate state efforts with federal and local plans. Federal, state, and local plans must complement each other, because each level of government will play an integral part in implementation."

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its focus on elements of the Title V federal surplus property and opportunities to secure resources for homeless programs under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Following are properties listed in the most recent Federal Register notice of suitable and available land and buildings.

The February 4 listing of suitable and available property includes properties in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Land is available in Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas.

Title V provides that state and local governments, as well as nonprofit organizations, are eligible to apply for land and buildings that have been determined by the federal government to be "suitable and available" for eligible uses to benefit homeless people. More than two dozen agencies of the federal government are included as "landholding" agencies that may have property.

The Title V program is historically an interagency initiative involving the federal landholding agencies, and with specific roles for the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services, the General Services Administration, and the U.S Interagency Council on Homelessness. The Council and its federal partners in the Title V process have convened a policy work group on the Title V program to support the Administration's commitment to end chronic homelessness in 10 years and expand policy coordination and collaboration to benefit people experiencing homelessness.

THIS WEEK'S e-news focuses on the editorial remarks of the Henderson, North Carolina, Daily Dispatch, in recognizing the action of Henderson Mayor Donald Seifert who committed to a 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness for his city of 17,000 people last week, at the same time joining the national initiative of the Mayoral Covenant of Partnership to End Chronic Homelessness. Excerpts of the editorial, entitled "The homeless, and why you care - even if you think you don't", are below.

"Henderson took a bold step Friday, becoming the smallest city in America to accept a federal challenge to develop plans intended to end "chronic" homelessness within the next 10 years . . . The problem of homelessness is frequently misunderstood. Too often, the homeless are considered simple slackers - people who could take care of themselves if they'd just get off their duffs and do so. But some people simply can't help themselves. And those are the homeless individuals - the mentally or physically handicapped, perhaps alcoholic or drug-addicted - that Henderson's 10-year initiative hopes to reach. So why do you care to help? Well, for selfish reasons, if nothing else."

"The plan Henderson will develop should provide ongoing care and support for the homeless. It will aim to get them off the streets and into housing where a supportive staff and community can treat their illnesses and addictions in a less-costly, non- emergency fashion. Some - perhaps many - of these individuals, given a chance to kick their bad habits and get back on their feet, can go on to lead normal and productive lives. You might think we already do enough to help the homeless. But it's time to start helping them - and our community - smarter and better."

"We look forward to seeing the city's 10-year plan, which should emerge in a few months. And we hope the community will be supportive of it. After all, we have a choice: Change the way we help the homeless now, or look back in 10 years and realize we've missed our chance."