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Partners In a Vision
NYC MAYOR BLOOMBERG CALLS FOR INVESTMENTS TO END HOMELESSNESS; DALLAS
CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS LOCAL PLAN 
Calling on the business, non-profit, and public sector communities "to
address the challenging issue of homelessness at its core, rather than
manage it at the margins," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on June
23 unveiled "Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter: The Action Plan for New
York City." "This morning - like every New Yorker in this audience - I
woke up in my own bed . . . I didn't stop to think about it. I took it for
granted. I was simply . . . home . . . We are too strong, and too smart,
and too compassionate a city to surrender to the scourge of homelessness.
We won't do it. We won't allow it . . . Today we will build on the success
of so many dedicated organizations - public and private - and on two and a
half years of our Administration's own dramatic achievements in this area.
We'll combine that with the best thinking of experts on every aspect of
the problem, use the most up to date technology and tactics, and add the
full weight of my Administration behind ending chronic homelessness in
this city. And when we've done that - and any New Yorker who wants a home
has one - it will be a victory for all of us . . . "
The Action Plan has four key goals, starting with a reduction in street
homelessness that built on new engagement strategies and improved
services. Community based homeless prevention efforts will target
neighborhoods that demonstrate high rates of homelessness, and additional
prevention initiatives will expand appropriate residential placements for
person being discharged from city and state systems. Third, the Plan will
focus on rapid housing placement for persons in the shelter system, with
new performance standards related to length of stay. Fourth, a systematic
reallocation of resources will seek to reduce homelessness by reinvesting
in rental assistance and prevention.
Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano, who joined Mayor
Bloomberg for the unveiling, stated, "Mayor Bloomberg is a man who
understands investments, and today he called on New York to re- invest in
a results-oriented plan to reduce and end homelessness. The focus on
partnership, prevention, and places to live responds to the need for
collaboration and a consumer-centric strategy that's good for all New
Yorkers." Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Linda Gibbs said
that the City will release a full implementation strategy for the Action
Plan within the next 60 days.
Also on June 23, the Dallas City Council approved final adoption of
that city's 10-Year Plan, making it the largest southwestern city to
finalize a plan. Results of the 2004 homeless census in Dallas released on
Tuesday showed an increase in homelessness of almost 9% over last year,
with over 5,600 people counted. The Dallas Plan, developed by Mayor Laura
Miller in partnership with Deloitte, the United Way, and the Metro Dallas
Homeless Alliance, recommends more resources to engage people living on
the streets and more supportive housing development. Nearly 50% of those
counted in the local census had been homeless over one year, an increase
of 22% from the previous year
Read
New York City's Action Plan
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VA SECRETARY PRINCIPI MOVES TO IMPROVE ACCESS AND OUTCOMES
FOR HOMELESS VETERANS WITH MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
ISSUES |
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 Stating that "President Abraham
Lincoln's solemn promise 'to care for him who shall have borne the
battle and his widow and orphan' defines the heart of VA's mission,"
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary and U.S. Interagency
Council Chair Anthony Principi (shown here at left), has directed
the VA to take several new steps recommended by the VA Mental Health
Task Force to improve care and increase access for veterans with
mental health and substance abuse issues. Task Force findings
reported in March 2004 to the Secretary pointed to variability and
gaps in care in the VA system and need for increased substance abuse
treatment capacity, as well as need for a national plan for
consistent provision of a full range of care and services. The Task
Force sought new leadership in mental health care, including
consideration of policies to prioritize the use of underutilized
space on VA campuses for residential programs in partnership with
community based organizations (see story in this e- newsletter).
Secretary Principi has directed that a full continuum of mental
health services, including acute inpatient and outpatient services
for mental illness and substance abuse, be readily available at each
VA medical center and outpatient clinic. Further, a system of
outcome measures will be used to ensure that at least 75% of
homeless veterans receive at least one mental health or substance
abuse visit and one primary care visit within six months of
outreach. Every VISN must now include in its leadership a mental
health expert with background in the care of veterans. To restore
the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) ability to deliver quality
care for veterans with substance abuse issues, VA medical Centers
will ensure that action plans are developed by late summer to
address the need for specialized substance abuse capacity in
facilities lacking quality treatment for these issues.
By July 15, VHA's Mental Health Strategic Plan must address
national needs to enhance substance abuse treatment capacity with
consideration of both geographic distribution by VISN,
affordability, and other factors. VA Medical Centers will implement
a special needs grant programs for homeless mentally ill veterans
and a plan for national implementation, based on models that include
housing, treatment access, and reintegration. All homeless veterans
who meet clinical eligibility criteria for the Mental Health
Intensive Clinical Management program will be offered assignment to
a case management team. The new initiatives also address partnership
issues, directing that incentives be provided to ensure that
homeless veterans have access to VA treatment services and that
collaboration between VA medical centers and VA Grant and Per Diem
programs are increased. Outreach and services to underserved
veterans will be enhanced through Compensated Work Therapy and
employment activities in the VA, with $6 million to be provided in
staffing resources for 107 vocational programs that will implement
supported employment programs.
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MOMENTUM FOR SAMARITAN INITIATIVE CONTINUES TO BUILD AS U.S.
CONFERENCE OF MAYORS CONSIDERS RESOLUTION ON H.R. 4057 |
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 The U.S. Conference of Mayors
will consider a resolution in support of the Samaritan Initiative at
its 2004 Annual Meeting in Boston June 25-29. The resolution, to be
introduced by Charlotte, NC, Mayor Patrick McCrory, chair of the
USCM Community Development and Housing Committee, continues the
support the Conference of Mayors has shown for the Administration's
goal of ending chronic homelessness in ten years. At the 2003
Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in Denver, a resolution
cosponsored by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Hempstead, NY, Mayor
and Conference President James A. Garner (shown here), then San
Francisco Mayor Willie L.. Brown, Jr., Chicago Mayor Richard Daley,
Augusta, GA, Mayor Bob Young, Charlotte, NC, Mayor Patrick McCrory,
and Beaumont, TX, Mayor Evelyn Lord was adopted supporting both the
goal of ending chronic homelessness and endorsing 10-Year Plan
processes for cities. The goal the mayors established for themselves
in that 2003 resolution to have 100 cities develop 10 year plans has
been surpassed with over 120 cities and counties having developed or
commenced development of 10-Year Plans.
The Administration's Samaritan Initiative, introduced in Congress
as H.R. 4057 with bipartisan support, would create an opportunity
for cities to reduce the number of chronically homeless persons
living on the streets and in shelters and achieve potential savings
in city budgets. The legislation, for which $70 million in new funds
has been requested by the Administration for FY 05, would authorize
a unique collaboration among federal agencies to provide communities
with coordinated housing, treatment and supportive services funding
targeted toward persons experiencing chronic homelessness.
Read
more about H.R. 4057 »
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ATLANTA 10-YEAR PLAN LEVERAGES NEW PRIVATE INVESTMENTS TO END
CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS |
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 WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter
continues its focus on innovative initiatives to end chronic
homelessness, with a profile of Atlanta's successful partnership to
increase investments to end chronic homelessness. "Most people now
believe we can tackle this," said Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin
(pictured here), referring recently to implementation of Atlanta's
Blueprint to End Homelessness. The Atlanta Blueprint has drawn
almost $10 million in new private and philanthropic investment to
its strategies, with the most recent addition being a $3 million
anonymous gift. Of the new resources being attracted by the
Blueprint, many will support the Gateway, one of the plan's key
strategies: a 24/7 center projected to reduce overflow shelter
demand and assist homeless persons with disabilities to obtain
appropriate service referrals. The Gateway, expected to open in
December 2004, will offer 300 beds, as well as services, including
showers, toilets, storage, telephones, and specialized services for
veterans.
Mayor's Franklin's Commission, directed in November 2002 to
develop a practical action plan, reported back in March 2003 with a
plan co-signed by Commission on Homelessness Chair Horace H. Sibley
and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta President Mark O'Connell, who
stated in a letter to Mayor Franklin, "We have attempted to follow
your suggestion that those who find themselves without a home should
be treated with 'both compassion and a sense of accountability.' "
Other Commissioner members included civic leader and Co-chair Myrtle
Davis, Morehouse School of Medicine President Emeritus and Co-chair
Dr. Louis Sullivan, Atlanta Community Food Bank Executive Director
Bill Bolling, attorney Jack Hardin, Fannie Mae Atlanta Partnership
Office Director Archie Hill, Community Development Bank of America
Director Laura Keenan, Emory University President Emeritus Jim
Laney, CB Richard Ellis Senior Vice President Randy Merrill,
Kennesaw State University/Coles College of Business Dean Tim Mescon,
Rev. James Millner; Georgia State University President Carl Patton,
Grady Health Systems President Ed Renford, Atlanta Municipal Court
Judge William Riley, Ebenezer Baptist Church Senior Pastor Dr.
Joseph Roberts, and Georgia Banking-Wachovia CEO Gary Thompson.
The Atlanta Blueprint has been built on partnership, recognizing
that "state and federal governments must play a key role in any
successful action plan, and the Commission has concluded that the
most effective plan must approach homelessness from a regional
basis. Accordingly, although not specifically requested by the
Mayor, the Commission strongly recommends the creation of a Regional
Authority on Homelessness to develop and execute a long range
planning process for coordinating and funding care to homeless
individuals and families in the metropolitan Atlanta area."
Read
the Atlanta Blueprint »
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FEDERAL PARTNER PROFILE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR |
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 WITH THIS ISSUE, we continue our
focus on the federal partners in the Interagency Council with a
profile of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which administers
employment and training crucial to Administration initiatives to end
chronic homelessness. On June 10, DOL announced $1.5 million in
funding for the Chronic Homelessness Employment Technical Assistance
Initiative (CHETA), which will provide support to the five DOL-HUD
grantees announced at the October 1, 2003, Interagency Council
meeting: Portland, OR, Boston, San Francisco, Indianapolis, and Los
Angeles. In announcing the new funding, DOL Secretary Elaine Chao
(shown here with former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez announcing the
HUD-DOL awards), who is Vice Chair of the Interagency Council,
stated, "In keeping with the promise of President Bush's New Freedom
Initiative and his goal of ending chronic homelessness, this $1.5
million grant from the Department of Labor will strengthen
customized employment and permanent housing services so that
chronically homelessness people with disabilities may lives, work
and fully participate in their communities."
DOL encourages access to employment-focused services and provides
workforce assistance to those who are homeless or at-risk of
homelessness by offering both mainstream and targeted programs that
are employment-focused and help lead to self- sufficiency. The DOL
homeless strategy focuses on providing opportunities to achieve
employment that leads to self-sufficiency. DOL's Homelessness
Working Group develops and recommends Departmental strategies to
support the Administration's goals of ending chronic homelessness by
2012 and significantly reducing homelessness in America. DOL
agencies represented on the Working Group include the Employment and
Training Administration, the Veterans' Employment and Training
Service, the Office of Disability Employment Policy, the Center for
Faith- Based and Community Initiatives, and the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Policy. During FY 03 and 04, DOL joined the
Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Health and Human
Services (HHS), and Veterans Affairs (VA) in sponsoring the Policy
Academies designed to help state and local policy makers develop
action plans to improve access to mainstream health, human and
employment services for persons experiencing chronic homelessness.
The Department's mainstream programs, authorized under the
Workforce Investment Act (WIA), offer employment and training
services to all individuals in need of assistance, including those
who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. DOL is helping
remove barriers so homeless persons may better access the workforce
investment system through the Administration's proposal to
reauthorize WIA which will help improve services to targeted
populations though the comprehensive One-Stop Career Center System,
which maintains a universal access focus. The Department of Labor is
also directly involved in preventing and reducing homelessness
through targeted and specialized employment and training programs
such as the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs, the
Incarcerated Veterans Transition Program, the Ready4Work programs,
the Job Corps- Foster Care Recruitment Initiative (which has linked
over 4,500 aging out foster care youth to residential employment and
training), and through pilot and demonstration initiatives such as
the Veterans' Workforce Investment Programs and the recent
Department of Labor-Department of Housing and Urban Development
collaborative Ending Chronic Homelessness through Employment and
Training grants.The Department is also a major funding and
participating agency in the Department of Justice's Serious and
Violent Reentry Initiative.
Read
more about DOL »
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DID YOU KNOW. . . |
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| ...that the Homeless Outreach Projects and
Evaluation (HOPE) awards totalling $6.6 million and announced by the
Social Security Administration at the Interagency Council's April 1
meeting are reaching out to a wide range of persons experiencing
chronic homelessness. Of the 34 awardees, 23 are using the
"disability model" based on the University of Maryland presumptive
disability approach, and 20 are expected to use representative payee
services for recipients. 20 awardees expect to serve a pre-release
population, and 14 are serving veterans. 22 awardees are targeting
persons with serious mental illness, and 16 expect to serve persons
with HIV/AIDS. In discussing the awards at the April 1 Council
meeting at the White House, SSA Deputy Commissioner Lockhart noted
that six of the grants went to faith-based organizations, and more
than 50% of the grants had an employment services component. SSA
estimates that 5000 homeless persons will be served through the
programs receiving these funds over the next 3 years.
...that, by the end of FY 04, 107,700 homeless veterans will
receive treatment through the VA. About 63,500 of these veterans
will receive specialized care in VA homeless veterans programs. Some
460,000 veterans have a service-connected mental disorder. 117,000
of these veterans have a service-connected disability for psychosis,
and 180,000 have service connected Post Traumatic Streets Disorder
(PTSD).
...that, in any given year, approximately 3,100 veterans
contacted in the health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) program
had spent time in prison or jail during the prior 30 days. According
to the Department of Justice, in 1998 there were 225,700 veterans in
the nation's prisons and jails.
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WORDS OF THE WEEK: PARTNERSHIPS FOR ENDING
HOMELESSNESS |
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 WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter
continues to highlight excerpts of speeches made by U.S. Interagency
Council Executive Director Philip Mangano in visits to cities,
counties, and states to forward federal initiatives to end chronic
homelessness. This week, we focus on remarks delivered by
Interagency Council Executive Director Mangano (shown here with Las
Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Las Vegas Deputy City Manager Betsy
Fretwell) at the Housing First: Solutions to Ending Chronic
Homelessness Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Across our country, there is new planning going on at every
level of government and in every sector - private, non-profit,
business, faith-based, and philanthropic. We are moving beyond being
demoralized by failures of the past, to being remoralized by plans
for the future. We are beginning to change the verb of homelessness
in this country. For 20 years we've been managing homelessness. Now
the commitment is to move beyond managing to ending the disgrace. We
have been doing the same thing for 20 years, and the problem has
only gotten worse. That discontent is leading to change. What we're
looking for on this issue of homelessness all across our country is
visible, measurable, quantifiable change. On our streets. In our
communities. And in the lives of homeless people."
"Some of the elements in these new plans, ideas, and strategic
solutions are these: First, and perhaps most important, is
partnership, at every level of government and in every sector. We've
learned over the past 20 years that no one level of government can
get the job done alone. Nor can any sector. Second, change is
happening by refocusing our national strategy to the prevention of
homelessness. For years we had only an intervention strategy. We had
to wait for people to become homeless. Third, change is happening
through an emphasis on performance outcomes. How will we know if we
are making progress or not in ending chronic homelessness? What are
the metrics? Fourth, is place. Wherever I go in this country I talk
to homeless people, and they always tell me that what they want,
what is most important to their leaving homelessness, is a place, a
place to live, a place to be."
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FEDERAL SURPLUS PROPERTY: NEW VA INITIATIVES TO INCREASE
RESIDENTIAL OPTIONS FOR HOMELESS VETERANS |
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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. Among the steps Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary and U.S. Interagency Council
Chair Anthony Principi (shown here) has directed the VA to take in
response to recommendations of the VA Mental Health Task Force (see
e-newsletter story above), VA will develop new policies to
prioritize the use of underutilized space on VA campuses for
residential programs in partnership with community based
organizations.
Following the recommendations of the Task Force, Secretary
Principi has directed his agency to act on the Task Force's
recommendations that VA enhance partnerships with community based
providers of transitional residential programs. In addition, the
Secretary has ordered the development of a Task Force recommended
Policy Directive to make underutilized space on VA campuses
available on a priority basis for residential programs for homeless
veterans. The Task Force pointed to the value of co- locating such
programs on VA grounds, thus increasing access to VA health services
and other benefits. The Task Force urged that any new policy on use
of underutilized space ensure fair and consistent rental charges for
such space.
Task Force members, appointed in December 2003, included Dr.
Frances M. Murphy, VA Homeless Programs Director Pete Dougherty, Dr.
Paul Errera, Dr. Miklos Losonczy, Dr. Richard McCormick, Dr. Erwin
Tan, and Robert Van Keuren. Non-VA subcommittee members included
consumer advocate Moe Armstrong, Department of Labor Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training Charles
Ciccolella, and Department of Housing and Community Development
Deputy Assistant Secretary Patricia Carlile.
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