WASHINGTON, DC. Communities across the nation are working to stay up to date on the current flu outbreak (swine influenza A/ H1N1) through local health authorities and federal action and guidance. Emphasis is on basic measures to reduce transmission through handwashing, avoiding close contact with those who are ill, and practicing other good health habits, such as getting proper rest, exercise and nutrition. All of these recommendations pose serious and unique challenges for persons who are experiencing homelessness, whether they are sleeping on the streets or outdoors, in shelters, or are in other homeless programs.

Seattle/King County's Influenza Pandemic Planning Guide for Homeless Service Agencies issued in 2006 notes that homeless people live in more crowded conditions, suffer from a variety of chronic and acute conditions which may affect their immune system response, suffer from addiction and mental illness in rates disparate from the general population, and may have problems following advice, and may not seek care (and isolation) until they are very sick.

The United States Government has declared a public health emergency in the United States. The World Health Organization's Phase 5 alert is a "strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short." Key online information resources for staying current during this developing outbreak include the federal Centers for Disease Control site, and other specialized sites providing resources for those assisting people who are homeless. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, for example, with its national network of health care facilities, is closely monitoring its vulnerable veteran populations for new flu cases.

The National Health Care for the Homeless Council web site also includes valuable homeless-specific information in addition to the Seattle report cited above. Among the Council's resources are Disaster Planning for People Experiencing Homelessness, Promising Practices: Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Tools, and the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Policy Information Notice 2007-15: Health Center Emergency Management Program Expectations for Community Health Centers and Health Care for the Homeless Programs.

AUGUSTA, MAINE. New steps to prevent and end homelessness for rural families in Maine are the focus of a report issued by MaineHousing, the state's housing finance agency. The report is based on focus groups of shelter and service providers held in seven of Maine's rural counties in early January 2009. In Rumford, Farmington, Dover-Foxcroft, Machias, Presque Isle, Ellsworth, and Alfred Counties, participants discussed a range of topics including homelessness prevention, resources available to assist families who are homeless, obstacles to helping families transition to housing stability, assessment, and recommendations for improvement.

Among the ideas proposed by the report are a new statewide "Don't Wait Too Late" ad campaign to reach out to families living on the edge to encourage them to seek assistance, since last minute requests for assistance often limit the available strategies and resources to stabilize families. Creating a single point of contact in rural counties - especially those without shelters - to support prevention efforts is another key recommendation.

Finding that modest amounts of funds can help families locate new housing, maintain housing, and stabilize, the report recommends establishing a new flexible fund in each rural county to bridge prevention and intervention gaps.

Both providers and families themselves are often unclear about resources that exist to help them prevent or resolve homelessness. The report recommends creation of a single point of contact within rural counties, especially those without general shelters, to prevent homelessness, and to support families who become homeless as they transition to housing stability.

The report also recommends additional data collection to shape policy and proposes the use of "smart card" technology to help families track what programs or resources they have applied for, when they applied, and the current status of these applications.

Additionally, finding that the definition of homelessness used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has limitations in rural areas, the report proposes that the creation of the flexible funds and the single point of contact will help integrate available resources and increase family access for those who do not meet the HUD definition.

DENVER, COLORADO. More than 800 community volunteers were on hand to welcome over 500 homeless neighbors in Denver last week as the University of Denver hosted a third Project Homeless Connect event and the city's seventh one-day, one- stop engagement event. Denver's Project Homeless Connect initiative is closely tied to the goals of Denver's Road Home, the city's Ten Year Plan under the leadership of Mayor John Hickenlooper and Plan Manager Jamie van Leeuwen. Denver's Connect event was recognized last year by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness with the "Home for Every American" award.

Over 515 homeless guests accessed resources, including from the Denver Department of Human Services (which processed 150 food stamp applications), and Metro CareRing and the Department of Motor Vehicles (which assisted 98 individuals with in-state birth certificates, 71 people with Colorado ID cards, and 17 clients needing a Colorado driver's license).

The Department of Workforce Development helped produce 123 resumes and partnered with ten companies who participated in the job fair. Of those individuals that employers considered job ready, 69 were scheduled for interviews. 18 "temp to hire" candidates will be contacted this week to start work; ten are to be hired immediately; 12 general laborers will be hired; and four CDL drivers will be hired.

The District Attorney's Office, Arnold & Porter LLP, and a variety of other Denver law firms, working with the Honorable James B. Breese and a team of lawyers, addressed a total of 80 cases for 54 defendants. About 20 clients rode away on bikes that had been donated by a bike collective.

Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop engagement event sponsored by Mayors and other community leaders and designed to provide housing, services, and hospitality in a convenient one-stop model directly to people experiencing homelessness. More than 220 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia have adopted Project Connect, evidence of the rapid implementation of this innovation. Cities of every size from coast to coast have engaged in Project Homeless Connect events.

From its origins in San Francisco, Project Homeless Connect has been identified by the Interagency Council as an innovation that mobilizes civic will to end homelessness. Communities replicate this model to move people more quickly toward housing and stability and to help further the goals of their 10 Year Plans to end homelessness.

Upcoming Connect events across the nation include: May 11 -Minneapolis, MN; May 14 - Chattanooga, TN and San Jose, CA; May 15 - Torrington, CT; May 19 - Shasta County, CA; May 22 - Albany / Linn County, OR; May 30 - Sacramento, CA; June 5 - Jackson County, OR and San Francisco, CA; June 29 - St. Paul, MN; June 30 - Snohomish County, WA; and July 31 - Anchorage, AK.

WASHINGTON, DC. Innovative housing and economic development activities in rural areas are being sought for funding under the Rural Housing and Economic Development program of the U. S Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD will award up to approximately $26,000,000 on a competitive basis for projects in three categories: innovative housing and economic development, economic development and entrepreneurship for federally recognized Indian Tribes, and technical assistance to increase capacity through training and outreach activities for federally recognized Indian Tribes.

To support innovative housing and economic development activities, HUD will award up to approximately $17 million to federally recognized Indian tribes, state housing finance agencies (HFAs), state community and/or economic development agencies, local rural nonprofit organizations, and community development corporations, with a maximum award amount of $300,000. Applications are due May 29, and interested applicants should read the full announcement for complete details.

HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION AND RAPID REHOUSING TRAINING EVENTS ANNOUNCED. As jurisdictional leaders prepare to submit their plans to invest $1.5 billion in new resources for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing program created in the President's recovery package at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD has announced its complete schedule of nine training events to support communities in using the funds.

The first regional training event took place this week in Dallas, and events are now scheduled in Seattle (May 7-8), Los Angeles (May 13-14), Miami (May 21-22), and Chicago (June 4-5). Dates are still tentative for the following sessions: Boston (June 9-10), Atlanta (June 16-17), New York (June), and Washington DC (July).

HUD is sponsoring the trainings for HPRP grantees and potential subgrantees and HUD staff. Each one and a half day meeting will give HPRP stakeholders an opportunity to learn more about HUD's HPRP Program, particularly program requirements and how the program is to be administered. The training will focus on purpose of HPRP, eligible activities and participants, ineligible uses of HPRP, targeting assistance, fiscal requirements, data collection and reporting, and community presentations.

On-line registration information is available at the Homelessness Resource Exchange site, along with numerous technical assistance resources and the archive of HUD's webcast on HPRP.

WASHINGTON, DC. Mentoring resources for foster care youth who are involved with the juvenile justice system have been announced by the U.S. Department of Justice. Eligible applicants for awards of up to $500,000 are state, county, and city governments, non-profits, and for-profits other than small businesses. Applications are due June 8, and interested applicants should read the entire announcement for full details.

DOJ's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention established the Mentoring Initiative for Foster Care Youth to support the development and enhancement of mentoring programs and support services for at-risk youth in the foster care system to prevent their involvement in the juvenile justice system and for youth in foster care who are currently involved in the juvenile justice system. The program's goals are to reduce and prevent juvenile delinquency by enhancing the capacity of local community efforts to provide mentoring and support services to youth in foster care and strengthening the capacity of local efforts to develop and expand community mentoring collaboratives and partnerships, integrate best practices into mentoring service models for foster care youth, and develop strategies to recruit and maintain mentors serving this population.

WASHINGTON, DC. The Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) became law last October. The new mental health measure - expected to provide up over 113 million people with expanded insurance coverage for mental health treatment - is moving forward in its implementation with this week's publication of a request for information on certain provisions of the new law.

MHPAEA modifies the existing legal definition of mental health benefits created in 1996 and adds a definition of substance use disorder benefits. Mental health benefits are defined as benefits with respect to services for mental health conditions, defined under the terms of the plan and in accordance with applicable federal and state law. Substance use disorder benefits are defined as benefits with respect to services for substance use disorders, as defined under the terms of the plan and in accordance with applicable federal and state law.

The request for information from the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury focuses in three areas regarding administrative and financial impact. Historically most employers and health plans have provided less coverage for mental health care and addiction treatment than for the treatment of physical conditions, with higher co- payments and deductibles and limits on treatment for addiction and mental illness, so the new law will extend equitable coverage for these needs. The new law will require insurers to adjust their benefits to provide parity in coverage. Insurers will also be encouraged to integrate mental health care coverage with medical coverage.

Research has provided insight into biological causes for many mental illnesses and also direction in effective treatment. Federal, state, and local initiatives from all sectors have spurred public education and community integration that lessens stigma for individuals. National organizations of families and consumers - including especially the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) have worked to educate policymakers on new developments and the costs to communities of lack of access to care. The passage of the parity bill into law was an important legislative achievement for NAMI, which has been a strong partner to the initiatives of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness regarding persons who are chronically homeless, recognizing the disproportionate representation of mental illness among the population and its resulting individual and community cost.

WASHINGTON, DC. This week, as the collaborative federal site GovBenefits.gov marked its seventh anniversary of providing information to consumers on government benefits and assistance programs for which they might be eligible, Twitter became the site's newest feature.

GovBenefits.gov is a collaboration of 17 federal agencies with content on more than 1,000 benefits and assistance programs. Its new Twitter account will provide continuous updates about the Web site's resources, new site content, developments in government benefit programs, and tips on how to identify programs tailored to individual needs and other information.

The U.S. Department of Labor is the managing partner for GovBenefits.gov, which includes a questionnaire for visitors to identify benefit and assistance programs that could meet their needs. Other federal agencies providing content for the site: the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs; the Office of Personnel Management; the Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration.

More than 31 million visitors have used GovBenefits.gov, viewing more than 25 million pages of benefit information and receiving more than 8.4 million referrals to government benefit programs.

With the announcement this week of the departure of Philip Mangano as the Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, Peter Dougherty of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been named Acting Executive Director. Mr. Dougherty is Director of VA's Homeless Programs.

"I appreciate the leadership and commitment to ending homelessness that Philip Mangano brought to the Interagency Council," stated Mr. Dougherty, "and I look forward to conducting a smooth transition for the work ahead of us on this important issue." VA Secretary Eric Shinseki is the current Chair of the Council.

email: usich@usich.gov

web: http://www.usich.gov