MACON, GEORGIA. Just a day after the tour de Georgia swept through the streets of this central Georgia community, street concerns of a different sort were the focus of attention when Macon Mayor C. Jack Elllis joined by nearly fifty government and civic leaders, police officers, and representatives of area charities met over breakfast at the Mulberry Street United Methodist Church to announce plans to develop a 10-Year Plan To End Chronic Homelessness.

The 10-year planning effort will be led by a Housing First Task Force, co-chaired by Dr. Peter Brown, Associate Vice President and Director of the Mercer University Center for Service Learning and Community Development, Sister Marian Hamwey of Mother and Child Ministries, and Kevin Dubose, Director of Macon's Department of Economic and Community Development.

Speaking to the assembled group, USICH Executive Director Mangano praised Mayor Ellis and Bibb County Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop for "acting in partnership to collaborate on developing a plan that will mean that the quality of life for everyone here in Bibb County and Macon-housed and homeless alike-will improve." With a population of 155,000, " there are a lot more Bibb County/Macon's in our country than New York's , LA's or Chicago's. You'll inspire all those other communities your size with your creativity and can-do attitude". City estimates of the number of chronically homeless in Macon have varied from 200-400 in recent years.

Noting the community can count on receiving ongoing technical assistance from USICH, whose Region 4 Coordinator Michael German was also present, Director Mangano urged the community leaders to use their participation in this national partnership to learn about and " borrow best practices from other communities to add to your own innovative ideas" and to "create a results-oriented plan shaped around the Killer B's -baselines, benchmarks, budget and best practices performance. "

For more information:

Kevin Dubose, Macon Economic and Community Development Director: 478-751-7190

Michael German, USICH Region 4 Coordinator: 404-331-5001 ext. 2147

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued three grant application solicitations under the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). The HVRP program is designed to help homeless veterans prepare for and reenter the workforce. Funding will be made available in three categories-new, urban, and non-urban. The application deadline is May 22. Questions should be addressed to Cassandra Mitchell, DOL Grants Management Specialist, (202) 693-4570.

New Grantee Solicitation: DOL expects to be able to award approximately 6 grants in this category of up to $300,000 each for urban areas and 200,000 from non urban areas.

Urban Areas: DOL anticipates having up to $7.3 million available for grant awards in the urban category. With a maximum of $300,000 for each grant award, approximately twenty-five grants will be awarded in this category.

Non Urban Areas: DOL anticipates having up to $1.4 million available grant award in non-urban areas. With a maximum of $200,000 for each grant award, approximately seven grants will be made.

Altogether DOL expects that over 16,000 homeless veterans will be able to receive job employment services with this funding.

In testimony before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in March, DOL Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training Charles Ciccolella emphasized that HVRP grantees are required " to provide a "holistic" approach to serving the homeless veteran. Proper assessment and case management is essential, as is skills training and job search assistance. DOL places emphasis not only on the veteran getting a job, or "entering employment," but also on the veteran keeping the job, or "retaining employment."

He went on to say that " HVRP grantees working collaboratively with the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Health and Human Services (HHS), and State and community organizations, and nonprofit organizations have a proud history of providing meaningful assistance to our nation's homeless veterans. HVRP is highly successful because 1) it focuses on job training and employment assistance, 2) it helps put homeless veterans on the path to self-sufficiency, and 3) it is well integrated with the VA's continuum of care for homeless veterans."

Applications are due June 14 for the latest round of capital grant funding under the VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program. The capital grant funding will be restricted to developing new and/or expanding existing transitional housing programs. Supportive service centers will not be considered for funding under this announcement. Funding may be requested for the acquisition of a van in connection with a new or existing Grant and Per Diem project for outreach and/or transportation for homeless veterans.

The VA expects to award approximately $10 million under this announcement which will create approximately 670 community-based supported housing beds. Three funding priorities have been established. Interested parties should read the April 20 Federal Register funding notice carefully. Questions should be directed to Dr. Guy Liedke, VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program 1-877-332-0334 (toll free).

In testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs in March, Peter Dougherty, Director of the VA's Office of Homeless Veterans Programs, reported that the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program is the largest VA program involving local communities. Last year, the program passed a milestone - at least one transitional housing program has now been authorized in each state. Altogether VA Grant and Per Diem Program funding has helped to develop close to 10,000 transitional housing beds, of which 78 percent are operational, 23 independent service centers, and to purchase 180 vans to conduct outreach and provide transportation for homeless veterans to health care and employment services.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. Representatives of 41 local partnerships from 21 states gathered with federal and state officials for the Social Security Administration's 2nd annual national HOPE conference April 18-19. The HOPE initiative-Homeless Outreach Projects and Evaluation - was established by the Social Security Administration to identify and remove barriers homeless people face in applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits for which they may be eligible.

Each partnership has designed a package of outreach and application approaches and services to locate homeless persons with disabling impairments and assist them in making application. Approaches may include presumptive disability screening, pre-release procedures for institutionalized individuals with disabilities, representative payee services, and electronic filing for benefits. Each site's efforts and results are being evaluated by SSA.

Speaking at the opening day luncheon, Council Executive Director Mangano discussed how the HOPE initiative is complementing efforts underway across the federal government and through partnerships with state and local government to meet the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness. " We're seeing results and you are part of it", Director Mangano told the assembled group citing data presented at the recent meeting of the Full Council by SSA Deputy Commissioner James Lockhart that the HOPE initiative had enrolled 6,666 homeless individuals through January 2006 and 1,644 had already been approved for monthly benefits. "Access to supportive housing is key to achieving results in ending chronic homelessness. Being able to apply for and receive SSI or SSDI payments for which they are eligible provides a source of income and access to health care which is allowing the most disabled to get " a place to live" and to sustain their tenancies."

Director Mangano also took note of SSA's participation in SOAR, the SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery technical assistance initiative. Through SOAR, states that have participated in the Federal Interagency Policy Academies on Homelessness are invited to participate in an in-state forum to develop a systems change plan to increase SSI and SSDI access for homeless persons with mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorders. Statewide training sessions for direct service staff can then be conducted using SAMHSA's Stepping Stones to Recovery training curriculum. SSA staff participate in the SOAR instate forums and help review state plans.

Conference participants also had a chance to hear from Dr. Dennis Culhane, Professor of Social Welfare, Policy, and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a noted researcher on the Dynamics of Homelessness, who described the important research base being provided by the HOPE enrollment efforts. Also participating in the conference were officials from various federal agencies including Brian Fitzmaurice, Director of the Community Assistance Division, Office of Special Needs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Allen Taylor of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Homeless Veterans Programs; and Gordon Burke, Director of Operations and Programs, Department of Labor Veterans Employment and Training.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator (SAMHSA) Charles Curie has announced that programs in six states will receive a total of $7.2 million in federal funding for efforts to divert individuals with mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into community-based mental health and substance abuse treatment services. Known as "jail diversion grants", these federal funding awards are intended to help local communities develop and implement successful programs to avoid unnecessary criminalization and incarceration of non-violent adult offenders with mental illness.

Administrator Curie made the announcement while visiting the Cook County Mental Health Court in Chicago, which received a SAMHSA jail diversion grant in 2003. These latest awards were made to the Hartford, CT Women's Jail Diversion Program; Hillsborough, Florida TCE for Jail Diversion; City of St. Louis, MO Alternative to Imprisonment program; Southwestern New Mexico Continuum of Care; Dauphin County, PA Jail Diversion Program; and the Nueces County, TX Jail Diversion Program.

A three year SAMHSA-funded research initiative in the late 1990s found that nearly 700,000 persons " with active symptoms of severe mental illness" were being sent to jail annually for non-violent crimes. About 75% of this population were found to have a co-occurring alcohol or drug use disorder. Jail diversion efforts seek to break the continued cycling of non-violent offenders with mental illness through the criminal justice system.

Over the years, SAMHSA has been able to identify some key components of successful jail diversion efforts and the jail diversion grantees are required to incorporate these proven approaches, according to the SAMHSA announcement. Among the SAMHSA requirements are that the grantees provide mental health services based on "best known practices" and include case management; that Assertive Community Treatment which offers services customized to individual needs, delivered by a team of practitioners and available 24 hours a day be provided; and that the programs include medication management, integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment, and psychiatric and gender based trauma services. Grantees will also be responsible for coordinating with social service agencies to " ensure that life skills training, housing placement, vocational training, job placement and health care available to diverted persons.

NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE. The ceremony in Nashua, New Hampshire last week marking the start of construction for a new transitional housing facility for homeless veterans was groundbreaking in more ways than one. Officials from every level of government, including Governor John Lynch, US Senator John Sununu, Congressman Jeb Bradley, Nashua Mayor Bernard Streeter, USICH Director Philip Mangano, Secretary of the Army Civilian Aide Dr. Griffin Dalianis, and HUD Region 1 Director Taylor Caswell joined over 200 Granite State citizens in a groundbreaking ceremony for Buckingham Place, a 20- unit transitional housing facility for homeless veterans in downtown Nashua. When completed, Buckingham Place will be one of the first transitional housing facilities in the country to accommodate homeless veteran families as well as individual homeless veterans.

Buckingham Place is the latest project for the non-profit Harbor Homes, Inc., " a beacon for persons challenged by mental illness and homelessness", celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Harbor Homes established its first transitional housing program for homeless veterans in 2004 with funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program. Homeless veterans are provided housing for up to two years, along with meals, assistance in accessing mental health, medical and substance use disorder treatment, job training, and employment services. The goal of the program is to help homeless veterans transition back to independent living. Buckingham Place, which is being funded with private and corporate donations and funding from the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs, will include 15 one-bedroom apartments and 5 two-bedroom apartments that will be available for homeless veteran families. The facility is named for the late Byron "Bucky" Buckingham, a WW II veteran who served as chairman of the Mayor's Veterans Council in Nashua and was active in many veterans programs.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Governor Lynch remarked that "everyone in New Hampshire deserves a safe place to live. Especially these veterans." He noted that "reaching the goal of ending chronic homelessness in 10 years requires great collaboration at the federal, state and local levels." In December, Governor Lynch accepted a draft of a statewide 10-year plan developed by the New Hampshire Interagency Council on Homelessness. Nashua Mayor Streeter unveiled a 10-year plan for the city in the fall of 2004.

Noting with approval the presence of so many elected officials, USICH Director Mangano said, " Isn't this the way it is supposed to be? Every level of government coming together to help out our veterans. On this issue of homelessness, there is no Democrat or Republican-we're all Americans trying to end this national disgrace."

Congressman Jeb Bradley, who serves on the U.S. House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee, echoed Director Mangano's sentiments in remarking that "we are gathered from all party affiliations for this noble endeavor. We must remember those who are on the front lines, those who fought to defend our liberties. When they come home, when some fall through the cracks, places like Harbor Homes' Buckingham Place are absolutely critical." In his remarks, Senator Sununu observed that " Buckingham Place will serve as a monument for those who have served our country" to which Harbor Homes Executive Director Peter Kelleher added, " Nashua can hold its head high in being proud of how our community has carefully planned for the needs of veterans. From wherever in the world they may return."

For more information:

Peter Kelleher, Harbor Homes Executive Director, 603-882-3616

John O'Brien, USICH Region 1 Coordinator, 617-994-8203

With the signing of a proclamation President George W. Bush designated April 23-29 as 2006 National Volunteer Week. The tradition of celebrating an annual national volunteer week was started by President Richard Nixon in 1974 and has been continued by every president. The theme of this year's celebration is Inspire by Example, acknowledging " the power volunteers have to inspire the people they help, as well as, inspire others to serve".

Every day, in every community in this nation, there are volunteers working with faith-based and community groups to bring comfort and assistance to homeless families and individuals, learning and gaining even as they contribute to others in their communities. It is important that we take the time this week to acknowledge and honor these volunteers for their work on the frontlines of ministering to their homeless neighbors in soup kitchens, food banks, shelters, veteran standdowns, and a myriad of other ways. One of the more newer ways is the participation of hundreds of volunteers in the Project Homeless Connect events, which began in San Francisco and are now being replicated in a growing number of cities across the country. There is truth and wisdom in the old adage that ""We cannot help others without helping ourselves, and we cannot help ourselves without helping others." Being a volunteer leads to personal growth while being of service to others.

When the US Interagency Council on Homelessness was re-invigorated in 2002 after a six year hiatus, one of the Council's first official acts was to invite and welcome to our membership the USA Freedom Corps. Created by executive order of President Bush to "build on the countless acts of service, sacrifice, and generosity that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001", the USA Freedom Corps works to strengthen public service programs including AmeriCorps, and has created a comprehensive network of volunteer opportunities to help more Americans find ways to get involved in serving their communities. Go to usafreedomcorps.gov to learn how your organization can become part of the USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network.

In addition to creating the USA Freedom Corps, President Bush signed an executive order in 2003 establishing the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation to bring together leaders from business, entertainment, sports, education, government, media and the non profit world " to recognize the important contributions Americans of all ages are making within their communities". Charles Turlinski, CEO of the Limited and a trustee of the Columbus Shelter Board in Columbus Ohio, is one of the nearly two dozen members of the Council. Over the past three years, the President's Council on Public Service and Civic Participation has recognized more than 300,000 Americans with the President's Volunteer Service Award. To learn how your organization could earn a President's Volunteer Service Award, please visit www.presidentialserviceawards.com.

Did you know that a number of federal agencies have established special web pages that provide information on how their programs can be used to benefit persons who are homeless and/or at risk of homelessness? The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration each have such a page. These pages are easily accessed directly from the USICH website. Go to www.usich.gov and click on the agency name in the left hand column.

These agency homeless web pages often provide links to recent and past data and research reports which can be read and/or downloaded from the site. For example, check out the Department of Labor site for a Best Practices Profile Report on Homeless Veterans Employment Assistance Programs that "identifies the essential components of a comprehensive program that can be replicated and can successfully compete for federal grants."