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Partners In a Vision
MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO GROW FOR SAMARITAN INITIATIVE: 82 U.S. MAYORS
SEND LETTER TO CONGRESS AND THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES REPRESENTING
CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY CALLS ON CONGRESS TO PASS H.R. 4057 
Over 80 U.S. Mayors this week called on Congress to pass H.R. 4057, the
proposed Samaritan Initiative to create a new $70 million interagency pool
of resources to invest in ending chronic homelessness. A diverse national
group of mayors representing the U.S. Conference of Mayors wrote to House
and Senate leadership urging passage of the pending legislation introduced
in March by Representative Rick Renzi (R- AZ). Pointing out that the
"intent is to fund results oriented initiatives to create visible and
measurable change on our streets and in the lives of homeless people," the
mayors stated, "With your help, we can move from managing chronic
homelessness to finally and decisively ending it." The U.S. Conference of
Mayors, through the efforts of its Executive Director Tom Cochran and
Eugene Lowe, Assistant Executive Director for Housing and Community
Development, was an early supporter of the efforts to end chronic
homelessness and to create 10-year planning processes in jurisdictions
across the country.
The National League of Cities, stating that the proposed Samaritan
Initiative will help those "visionary communities" that have committed to
10-year planning processes "succeed in their difficult task," also called
on Congress to pass H.R. 4057. NLC President Charles Lyons, a Selectman
from Arlington, Massachusetts (pictured here), pointed to the proposed
legislation as providing a key resources "to help communities to
effectively implement, and ultimately succeed in, their 10-Year Plans to
End Chronic Homelessness."
NLC, which represents 18,000 cities and towns across the country,
earlier this year adopted a resolution supporting the Administration's
effort to end chronic homelessness in 10 years and supporting the
development of jurisdictionally endorsed 10-year plans to End Chronic
Homelessness. NLC works in partnership with 49 state municipal
organizations to strengthen local government.
H.R. 4057 was introduced on March 30 with bipartisan support. The
introduction of the bill is the first step in the legislative process to
bring to fruition the Samaritan Initiative proposal outlined in the
Administration's FY 05 budget to provide new federal housing and
supportive services resources specifically targeted to the goal of ending
chronic homelessness in ten years. Now Mayors from every size city and
from across the country represented by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and
the National League of Cities have found common cause in their proactive
support of investment in the streets of our country through the Samaritan
Initiative. Read more about the Samaritan Initiative at
http://www.ich.gov.
Read
the NLC letter
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BROCKTON, MA, MAYOR BECOMES 14th MASSACHUSETTS JURISDICTIONAL
CEO TO ENDORSE A 10-YEAR PLAN TO END CHRONIC
HOMELESSNESS |
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 Mayor John Yunits of Brockton, MA,
became the 14th Massachusetts Mayor to endorse the creation of a 10-
Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness on June 3. U.S. Interagency
Council Executive Director Philip Mangano met with Mayor Yunits
(pictured here), members of the Mayor's staff and leaders of the
community's response to homelessness to encourage the development of
the plan. Joining the Mayor were Chief of Staff Mark O'Reilly,
Communications Director Dave Farrell, Human Services Director Bob
Martin, Brockton Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director
Dennis Carman, Brockton Family and Community Resources Executive
Director Pat Kelleher, and Interagency Council Region I Coordinator
John O'Brien. Brockton is a city of 94,000 citizens.
Mayor Yunits will now appoint 15-18 people to the local planning
partnership, which will be chaired by business leaders. "They've got
a lot at stake," said Mayor Yunits, who also expects to call on
several local colleges to assist with data analysis for the plan
Council Executive Director Mangano recognized the Mayor's
endorsement, stating: "Mayor Yunits is putting together a group of
stakeholders from his Administration and the provider and advocacy
network that will change the way Brockton and the surrounding region
approach homelessness. The plan will focus on compassion and cost
savings - a powerful combination."
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CONNECTICUT STATE INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS
CONVENES FIRST MEETING |
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 The Connecticut Interagency
Council on Supportive Housing and Homelessness held its inaugural
meeting in Hartford at June 4 in the State House. The meeting was
co-chaired by Marc Ryan, Secretary of the Office of Policy
Management and Brian Mattiello, the Governor's Deputy Chief of
Staff, appointed by Governor John Rowland to shepherd the state's
efforts. Governor John Rowland (pictured here) issued Executive
Order 34 on April 7 to create the new Council. In so doing, he
charged the council to "meet the demands of our homeless by doubling
the number of publicly supported units from approximately 1,000 to
2,000."
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director
Philip Mangano, who joined the Governor for the announcement, was in
attendance at the inaugural meeting of the Council and met
individually with State OPM Secretary Marc Ryan, before the meeting
to discuss the ongoing partnership between the federal government
and Connecticut and innovative and economical initiatives around the
country.
Presentations at the meeting included opening statements by
Secretary Ryan and Deputy Chief of Staff Mattiello, as well as a
presentation from the Connecticut Corporation for Supportive
Housing. The Council is made up of a broad range of stakeholders
including the Commissioners of the State Departments of Social
Services, Economic and Community Development, Mental Health and
Addiction Services, Public Health, Correction, Children and
Families, and Veterans Affairs as well as representatives from the
Governor's office, the Secretary of the Office of Policy Management,
Director of the Office for Workforce Competitiveness, and the
Executive Director of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
Read more about
Connecticut's efforts to end homelessness »
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HHS ISSUES GUIDANCE TO STATES ON USING MEDICAID BENEFITS TO
PREVENT HOMELESSNESS |
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 New encouragement to states to
prevent and end chronic homelessness has come from the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In a May 25 letter to
all State Medicaid Directors, Glenn Stanton, Acting Director of the
Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group (DEHPG) identified ways
in which Medicaid and other CMS programs are available to help
prevent homelessness when individuals at risk are being discharged
from institutions, as well as tools that CMS has developed
collaboratively to increase access for persons experiencing chronic
homelessness to mainstream benefits and services for which they may
be eligible.
CMS' letter to states stresses the importance of using the
discharge planning process to establish needed services and supports
that will prevent homelessness or a return to homelessness for an
individual being discharged from a public institution. CMS points
out that states can "suspend" Medicaid benefits for individuals in
public institutions or Institutes for Mental Disease (IMD), thus
potentially helping the individual to re-establish benefits for
which they may be eligible immediately upon release. This approach
could eliminate the need for a potential reapplication or
redetermination process that might occur if the individual's
benefits were terminated during the institutional stay. CMS points
out that states "should not terminate eligibility for individuals
who are inmates of public institutions or residents of IMDs based
solely on their status as inmates or residents," adding that "the
payment exclusion under Medicaid that relates to individuals
residing in a public institution or an IMD does not affect the
eligibility of an individual for the Medicaid program."
Mr. Stanton also states in the letter: "Given the high incidence
of substance abuse, mental illness, and physical illness among those
who have been incarcerated or otherwise held in involuntary custody,
I encourage states to coordinate prison health services and other
health care services provided during involuntary confinement with
Medicaid services. By working with parole officers and other social
services professionals who deal with inmates and residents of IMDs
who are to be released, State Medicaid programs can assure that
eligible persons are enrolled in Medicaid prior to release and can
create an ongoing continuum of care for these individuals,
regardless of the source of funding for such care."
To aid front-line workers in helping persons experiencing
homelessness to access benefits and services, CMS has recently
worked with other federal agencies on the new interactive web-based
tool, FirstStep, which covers programs form the U.S. Departments of
Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and
the Social Security Administration. (See:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/homeless/firststep/index.html) CMS
also released "Improving Medicaid Access for People Experiencing
Chronic Homelessness: State Examples," a report focused on practices
that have increased Medicaid access for people experiencing chronic
homelessness, including assisting people leaving psychiatric
facilities and correctional facilities to obtain Medicaid quickly.
(See: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/homeless/homeless32904.pdf.)
Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano, commenting on
these HHS initiatives, stated, "This is more evidence of HHS'
commitment on the issue of homelessness, starting with the record of
Secretary Tommy Thompson (pictured here at the April 1 Interagency
Council meeting at the White House) who chaired the Interagency
Council during 2003- 2004. His leadership has been important in
forwarding a national strategy to end chronic homelessness in the
United States through interagency, intergovernmental, and
intercommunity partnerships."
Read
the CMS letter to States »
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DID YOU KNOW. . . |
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 . . .President Ronald Reagan
signed the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act on July 22,
1987, establishing the initial federal funding, strategic
involvement and multi-agency planning, partnering with local efforts
across the country. Originally introduced as H.R. 558, Urgent Relief
for the Homeless, the new federal program was introduced in Congress
in January 1987 and quickly passed by bipartisan majorities in both
houses. The purpose of the McKinney Act, as stated in the original
legislation, is "(1) to establish an Interagency Council on the
Homeless; (2) to use public resources and programs in a more
coordinated manner to meet the critically urgent needs of the
homeless of the Nation; and (3) to provide funds for programs to
assist the homeless, with special emphasis on elderly persons,
handicapped persons, families with children, Native Americans, and
veterans."
. . .the current revitalized United States Interagency Council on
Homelessness reconvened, after a 6 year dormancy, at a meeting in
the White House on July 22, 2002, to commemorate the 15th
anniversary of the McKinney-Vento legislation and to recommit the
federal government to the resolution of homelessness.
. . .Representative Stewart B. McKinney represented Connecticut's
4th District for more than 16 years. From 1983 until his death, he
was the ranking Republican member of the Banking Subcommittee of the
House Housing and Community Development Committee. Representative
Bruce Vento was a 12 term Democratic member of the House of
Representatives from St. Paul, Minnesota. He served on the Housing
and Community Opportunity Subcommittee of the House where he led
efforts to establish the Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the
McKinney Act. He died in 2000 and his name was added to the
legislation.
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FEDERAL PARTNER PROFILE: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
(FEMA) |
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 The Department of Homeland
Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
administers the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program,
originally authorized under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Act. DHS Secretary Tom Ridge is pictured here. Funds are
granted to the National Board, which is comprised of representatives
from American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, United Jewish
Communities, United Way of America, National Council of the Churches
of Christ in the USA, and Catholic Charities USA. FEMA serves as the
Chair of the decision-making National Board. FY 03 accomplishments
included providing approximately 40 million meals, 4 million nights
of shelter and payment of more than 301,526 rent, mortgage and
utility bills, which assisted in preventing people from losing their
homes. More than 11,000 non-profit and local government agencies
received supplemental funding in more than 2,500 counties. PL 100-77
requires special emphasis to be placed on veterans; a $250,000 grant
was provided to the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans to
assist with 51 Stand Downs for Homeless Veterans nationally.
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program provides supplemental
funds to non-profit, faith-based, and local government agencies
within counties experiencing high rates of unemployment and poverty.
The National Board annually determines a funding formula based on
unemployment and poverty statistics from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics and the Census Bureau. Local Boards, similar in
composition to the National Board, are established within each
county/city eligible for funding and must include a homeless or
previously homeless person or specific advocate for the homeless as
a member. Funded agencies, known as "Local Recipient Organizations",
use these supplemental funds for a variety of food, shelter,
utility, rent, and mortgage assistance, with eligibility criteria
established by funded agencies or the Local Board. The President's
FY 05 budget requests that the Emergency Food and Shelter Program be
transfered from FEMA to the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) for administration to assist in improved
coordination of all major homeless assistance and prevention
programs within HUD.
Read more
about the Emergency Food and Shelter Program »
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INNOVATIVE INITIATIVES: PORTLAND'S CENTRAL CITY CONCERN
HEALTH SERVICES CREATES PATH TO HOUSING FOR PERSONS EXPERIENCING
CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS |
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| WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its
focus on innovative initiatives to end chronic homelessness, with
this profile of Portland, Oregon's, Central City Concern (CCC)
Health Services. CCC was founded in 1979 to intervene in
homelessness in Portland and surrounding Multnomah County; its
programs now include a broad range of health care, housing, and
workforce initiatives. In 2003, CCC received one of 11 HUD-HHS-VA
Collaborative Initiative awards for its partnership of CCC, Portland
Housing Authority, Multnomah County Health Department, County Aging
and Disability Services, and VA.
CCC Health Services include the Old Town Clinic, Hooper Detox
with sobering center and subacute medical detox beds, and Portland
Alternative Health Center (PAHC), a multidisciplinary, integrated
care system that includes Alcohol and Drug-Free Community (ADFC)
housing. Medically supervised respite care is also provided. Through
the multiple services offered, CCC does more than just medically
manage detox or other health concerns. They provide primary care,
prevention and education as well as a Community Engagement Team that
meets individuals while in detox and connects them with Assertive
Case Management or professional mentoring, depending on the person's
needs.
These services lead to linkages with Central City Concern's
housing and workforce development programs or provide access and
engagement (not just a referral) with other needed services. Ed
Blackburn, Director of Health and Recovery Services, states, "It is
our fundamental belief that if people do not have safe, appropriate
housing to live in, they cannot succeed in the long run." CCC
emphasizes the use of sober supportive housing as a key element in
recovery treatment. CCC provides over 1,200 units of housing
targeted to persons at or below 30% of Area Median Income, with over
600 units of ADFC housing.
Read more
about Central City Concern »
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FEDERAL SURPLUS PROPERTY: TITLE V SURPLUS PROPERTIES
AVAILABLE IN MD & PA |
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| WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its
focus on federal surplus property and opportunities to secure
resources for homeless programs. On June 4, federal buildings in
Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as other properties, were listed
as suitable and available for use by homeless programs under Title V
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Title V provides for
state and local governments, as well as nonprofit organizations, to
apply for "suitable and available" land and buildings for a wide
variety of programs and services for homeless people, including, but
not limited to: emergency shelters, transitional programs (with
occupancy limited to 24 months), food banks, job training, storage
facilities, or administrative space. All programs and activities
must be operated consistent with Federal civil rights and non-
discrimination laws.
The Maryland and Pennsylvania buildings made available with the
June 4 Federal Register notice in are former office buildings
belonging to the Social Security Administration. The Maryland
building is 7232 square feet and is in Temple Hills, MD, outside of
Washington, DC. The Pennsylvania building is in Chester, is 8395
square feet, and requires some roof repair. Although the properties
are available free of charge, the non- profit or unit of government
that leases or purchases the property does become responsible for
any needed repairs and upkeep of the property and must abide by any
historic preservation covenants. An applicant applying for a lease
or permit for a particular property is not required to comply with
local zoning requirements, however applicants applying for a deed
must comply with zoning. A standard lease is 5 years with one 5-year
renewal, although longer terms (up to 20 years) may be approved.
Deeds contain a 30-year restrictive covenant that requires that the
property be used for purposes consistent with Title V for 30 years.
Parties interested in applying for these or other properties
should contact the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
with a written "expression of interest" within 60 days of the
Federal Register publication date. Direct the Expression of Interest
and request for application to: Department of Health and Human
Services, Division of Property Management, Real Property Branch,
Program Support Center Room 5B-17, Parklawn Building 5600 Fishers
Lane Rockville, MD 20857 Phone: 301/443-2265 Fax: 301/443-0084 E-
Mail: rpb@psc.gov. Each Friday, the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) publishes a list of properties in the
Federal Register and briefly describes properties determined to be
suitable and available. To access the weekly listing: 1. Contact
your local HUD office or call 1-800-927-7588 to receive information
on properties in your area. 2. Visit the Federal Register online at
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html, Choose "browse" and then
"back issues," and then select the most recent Friday issue.
Read
the June 4 Federal Register announcement »
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