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The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness e-newsletter |
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Partners In a Vision
With Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman presiding, the Las Vegas City Council voted unanimously on August 4 to move forward with a 10-Year Plan, becoming the latest city to initiate a jurisdictionally endorsed planning process. In addition to Mayor Goodman, Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese and five City Councilors were present in the Council Chambers. Testifying for the City of Las Vegas was Trina Robinson, Management Analyst in the Las Vegas Department of Neighborhood Services, who made remarks on the "Plan to Plan." Testifying on behalf of Clark County, in which Las Vegas is located and which has a planning process underway, was Paula Haynes- Green, the Regional Coordinator on Homelessness. Las Vegas expects to complete a plan by next spring. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano (pictured here) who addressed the City Council prior to its vote, stated, "We look forward to Las Vegas joining 128 other cities across our country who have decided that an expansive partnership between the federal, state, and local government along with the private, non-profit, and faith-based sectors, will produce the result we are looking for . . . the end of chronic homelessness." Las Vegas's new planning effort will invest in regional partnership as well. According to the "Plan to Plan," the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition's Committee on Homelessness will shortly complete a proposal on a regional planning process to reduce homelessness throughout the Las Vegas valley, including Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and Clark County. Each jurisdiction will evaluate the nature and extent of homelessness within its boundaries and the distinctive steps that must be undertaken to coordinate services to end homelessness. Las Vegas's Plan to Plan noted that "there is a substantial need to provide housing and services to assist homeless people throughout the Las Vegas valley move from the street and back into mainstream communities. It is for this reason that the City of Las Vegas must participate in the regional 10-year plan process and work to develop and implement a regional-wide plan that will better balance services and resources within and between the region's jurisdictions." The plan will address individuals and families who experience varied lengths of homelessness, including those who are chronically, episodically, or transitionally homeless.
Regional strategies and the need for supportive housing for the Greater Atlanta area, including Fulton County, Georgia, were a focus last week at the Fulton County Government Center as Fulton County Commission Chair Karen Handel met with United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano and Metro Atlanta United Way President Mark O'Connell, representing the Atlanta Commission on Homelessness. Pictured here (left to right) are: Mr. O'Connell, Commission Chair Handle, and Director Mangano. Interagency Council Region IV Coordinator Michael German also participated. Atlanta's Blueprint called for United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, which lead the effort to develop the Blueprint, to work with local communities to help them meet needs of homeless people in neighboring Fulton, Gwinnett, Clayton, Douglas, and DeKalb Counties. United Way President O'Connell, at the Fulton County meeting, stressed the importance of a regional housing agenda. Atlanta's Blueprint called for several housing initiatives to achieve its goals, including establishing Hope Houses for men who are participating in programs that lead to self- sufficiency, endorsing the Shelter-a-Family Program matching families with local congregations to house and mentor them, creating more SROs for persons with addictions and mental illness, and creating a Supportive Housing Production Task Force. Atlanta's Blueprint to End Homelessness, released in March 2003, set a goal of bringing neighboring jurisdictions together to establish support for Atlanta's new Gateway Center (see previous e-news story). Partnership is already at work in the region, as the Tri-jurisdiction Continuum of Care Committee, Homeward, Inc., Pathways Community Network, and numerous community based service organizations have partnered with the City of Atlanta to conduct a first-ever homeless census in Fulton and DeKalb Counties. The Blueprint called for the creation of a public authority to develop and execute a comprehensive plan and a Regional Summit on Homelessness to provide County CEOs, the Mayor of Atlanta, Congressional delegates, regional state legislators, neighboring counties, and state department heads a forum to discuss issues presented in the Blueprint.
The State of Georgia continues to affirm its commitment to end chronic homelessness in the state. Members of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's executive staff, meeting last week in Atlanta with United States Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano who was accompanied by Metro Atlanta United Way President and Atlanta Blueprint leader Mark O'Connell, included State Council Co-chairs Georgia Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Michael Beatty and Director of Community Services Terry Ball, as well as Department of Human Resources Commissioner B. J. Walker, Governor's Policy Director Trey Childress, and Director of External Affairs Kimberly King. The meeting focused on continuing planning initiated through the state's participation in the federal Policy Academy process funded by the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and Labor, as well as the role that faith based communities and agencies can play in initiating solutions to chronic homelessness. While at the State Capital, Director Mangano also met with Georgia's Chief Operating Officer Jim Lientz. The focus of last week's conversation was on intervening in the lives of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness with cost effective initiatives that build on the state team's Action Plan recommendation which recognized that existing funds must be invested in effective ways before additional resources are sought. The Plan called for a thorough review of the costs and benefits of the limited number of current supportive housing sites in Georgia, research now underway through the state's Office of Planning and Budget (OPB). The State's 10- Year Plan is expected to be presented to the Governor in September. The Policy Academy team recommended that the Georgia Interagency Homeless Coordination Council continue to be co-chaired by the Departments of Human Resources and Community Affairs and be composed of representatives from state departments and other homeless coordination service agencies. By Executive Order in February 2004, Governor Sonny Perdue reaffirmed the functions of the Council first created under the state's prior administration. Governor Perdue directed that, by the end of August 2004, the Council should pursue federal funding to support the implementation of the Georgia Action Plan. He also directed that the Office of Planning and Budget should prepare a projection of the overall costs and benefits of implementing the Plan. Further, Governor Perdue directed that the Council review and recommend measures to improve state administered Mainstream Service Programs (Medicaid, TANF, SSI, CHIP, Workforce Investment Act, Food Stamps and Veteran's Health Care and Benefits) for homeless individuals and families and review and recommend measures to establish policies that assure appropriate housing and community treatment for individuals with disabilities discharged from institutional settings. Governor Perdue's support and direction manifests the translation of state policy direction on homelessness across two administrations. Strong state support for the multi-disciplinary, public and private sector policy team's ability to develop an action plans to address homelessness was evidenced when the Georgia application was first submitted. At the signing of the Council's new Executive Order, Governor Perdue stated, "Ending chronic homelessness is a noble and worthy goal for Georgia. I am confident that the Georgia Interagency Homeless Council will produce a sound plan for reaching this goal."
Bringing together a broad partnership of workforce and veterans organizations with a focus on successful outcomes for homeless veterans, the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) this week convened its grantees from the 31 states who were recent awardees under the $17 million announced by DOL Secretary and U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Vice Chair Elaine Chao (pictured here) on July 1 for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). Gathering in Washington, DC, the awardees heard an update from DOL Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) Charles Ciccolella and then moved to an agenda that included innovations and best practices, leveraging state, community, and private resources, building partnerships with veterans service organizations, and more. Federal partners presenting at the DOL conference included the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Office of Faith-based Initiatives. Veterans' service organizations included the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Vietnam Veterans of America. Among the best practices highlighted were cooperation between non-profit and for-profit organizations, creation of business opportunities, drug and alcohol rehabilitation approaches, and vocational training. $6.7 million in new DOL funds were awarded to 16 states under the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program awards in July, to provide occupational training, placement assistance, education, and other services to veterans. An additional $10.3 million in second year funding was awarded to expedite reintegration of veterans into the work force. HVRP is a McKinney-Vento Act program and is the only federal program exclusively focused on employment of homeless veterans. HVRP funds are competitively awarded to state and local workforce investment boards (WIBs), local public agencies, and non-profit organizations, including faith-based and community organizations.
FOR THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter focuses on remarks made last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, when Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and the Las Vegas City Council voted unanimously to develop a 10-Year Plan for the City through its 'Homes for Homeless Nevadans' planning process. The City's Department of Neighorhood Services received approval from the Council (see story in this e-news) to move forward with the plan and identify the ten steps that are needed to develop and implement a Las Vegas plan. Mayor Goodman is pictured here speaking at the City Council meeting on August 4. "This is the first step toward a comprehensive approach to helping end homelessness in Las Vegas, which emphasizes the need for affordable housing and preventing homelessness," Mayor Goodman said. "This process will require a long-term commitment from the initial planning stages to full implementation, a commitment that our Council is ready to undertake." "I really believe in my heart of hearts we can implement this," said Las Vegas Department of Neighborhood Services Management Analyst Trina Robinson, who addressed the City Council on the "Plan to Plan." "The city is changing the way of doing business" on the issue of homelessness. According to the "Homes for Homeless Nevadans" Blueprint prepared by the Las Vegas Department of Neighborhood Services, "Responding to the needs of these [homeless] subgroups pose significant challenges because their conditions encompass a broad range of issues from substance abuse addiction to physical and mental health disabilities, which require multi-level and case specific core and supportive services. The City of Las Vegas has identified the core and supportive services necessary to assist all subgroups in reaching self-sufficiency and continued sustainability, however none of these services can function successfully without safe, affordable housing." "We need to do our homework on the economic arguments to end homelessness," stated United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, who addressed the City Council before its vote. "Right now in difficult fiscal times at every level of government, no argument - not moral, not spiritual, not even quality of life - is as compelling as the economics of homelessness. Ad hoc, siloed, crisis interventions have been expensive and, ultimately, ineffectual in remedying the situation or improving the condition. Economic arguments can help ensure change. Part of our job is to make the case that solving homelessness is far more cost efficient, a wiser investment of tax-payer's money, and economically more intelligent than managing homelessness."
Providing comprehensive medical care and saving public expenditures on expensive acute care, while engaging the consumer in a partnership for improved health - all are components of the award-winning, Augusta/Richmond County, Georgia, Project Access, a volunteer, physician driven health care program delivering medical care to uninsured people at no cost to the patient. Project Access's target population is local residents between the ages of 18- 64 with family income below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines. Project Access does not replace any health care program but provides an additional resource leveraged from the community itself by relying on a volunteer system of physicians and specialists. Augusta/Richmond County's program is derived from the Project Access model first established in Asheville/Buncombe County, NC, in 1995 by physicians in the Buncombe County Medical Society (of whom 85% volunteered in the program) and now replicated in more than 20 communities across the country from Maine to Texas to Washington State. Partners in Project Access communities include: hospitals, city and/or county elected officials, health clinics and community-based care facilities, United Way, faith-based communities, philanthropy, pharmacies/pharmaceutical manufacturers, Chambers of Commerce, insurance claim form processors, health education centers, social service and health providers. In 1998 Buncombe County Medical Society's Project Access won the Ford Foundation/Harvard Innovations in Government Award, recognized for a combination of "positive incentives, subtle sanctions, keen political savvy and meticulous management, " with evidence of medical management aimed at improving care and controlling costs for chronic conditions. Outcome studies documented that almost three- fourths of those in need used the program. Both patients and care givers were satisfied with the program. Data showed decreased inpatient hospitalization and emergency visits. Participating physicians and hospitals are not reimbursed for their time or services, but agree to provide laboratory, X-ray, diagnostic outpatient tests, and inpatient services at no charge. In Richmond County, participants include Doctors Hospital, Medical College of Georgia, St. Joseph Hospital, University Hospital, and Walton Rehabilitation Hospital. Project Access provides prescription drugs to enrollees for a $4.00 co-pay. Although still a new initiative, physician volunteers of the Richmond County Medical Society have already donated more than $250,000 in medical services under the program. To demonstrate the model's cost effectiveness, the value of services provided is tracked using federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services claim forms submitted by physicians and hospitals. This information is reported to community partners to quantify the services that their support has leveraged. In Asheville/Buncombe County, the commitment of physicians to treat uninsured residents leveraged inpatient and outpatient services, lab work and x-rays from local hospitals; consultations and low-cost medications from pharmacies; and funding for overhead and medications from local government.
. . . that Las Vegas is the seat of Clark County and the largest city in the state. It is also one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States, having increased its population by 83% between 1990 and 2000. . . . that cities and counties of all sizes have undertaken 10-Year Plans. Examples are posted on the Interagency Council web site and include New York City (population 8,008,278), Chicago (population 2,896,016), San Francisco (population 776,733), Atlanta (population 416,474), Scranton/Lackawanna County (population 213,295), and Chattanooga (population 155,554). . . . that examples of Executive Orders issued by Governors to create State Interagency Councils on Homelessness are available on our web site. Executive Orders signed by Governors in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, and Vermont are available to read.
WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its focus on elements of the Title V federal surplus property program and opportunities to secure resources for homeless programs under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. 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 President's commitment to end chronic homelessness in 10 years and expand policy coordination and collaboration to benefit people experiencing homelessness. Properties that have been designated as "suitable and available" for eligible uses to assist homeless persons are listed each Friday in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which briefly describes these properties, as well as those in other categories. To access the weekly listing, contact your local HUD office or call 1-800-927-7588 to receive information on properties in your area. Or 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.
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Washington · DC · 20410 |