With this week's Puerto Rico Mayors' Summit to End Homelessness, there is now a worthy successor to last April's first-ever Puerto Rico Summit on Homelessness in the Commonwealth's rapidly developing history of non-partisan partnership to end chronic homelessness. Convened by the Chana and Samuel Levis Foundation at the Doral Financial Corporation in San Juan, the Mayors' Summit brought together CEOs from the Blue, Red, and Green political parties and from across the island. In attendance were mayors of Aguas Buenas, Caguas, Cataño, Coamo, Quebradillas, and San Juan, and representatives of 17 other mayors.

Federal partnership with the mayors was represented by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, who keynoted the Summit, and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Field Office Director Michael Colón, who made opening remarks. Also representing HUD at the Summit were HUD San Juan Office Community Planning and Development Director Carmen Cabrera, HUD Field Office Director's Liaison Efrain Maldonado, and Interagency Council Region IV Coordinator MiKe German.

San Juan Mayor Santini and Caguas Mayor Miranda Marin, two of the three Puerto Rico mayors who have made commitments to develop 10-Year Plans also hosted the event (see e-news story). Pictured here are (left to right): Aguas Buena Mayor Buenaventura Dávila, who committed to the creation of a 10-Year Plan while at the Summit, Council Executive Director Mangano, San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini, Doral Financial Corporation President Zoila Levis, Caguas Mayor William Miranda Marin, Quebradilla Mayor Luis Pérez, Cataño Mayor Wilson Soto, and Doral Financial Corporation CEO Salomon Levis.

Local initiatives to end homelessness were highlighted in a panel by Mayors Santini and Marin, and María F. Levis-Peralta of the Levis Foundation. A presentation was also made by Jose Franqui, representing the Secretary of Family and Commission for the Implementation of Public Policy on Homelessness. The Commission coordinates Commonwealth mainstream services for persons experiencing homelessness and manages over $2 billion in programs for families and children.

Public sector expertise and success in creating permanent housing solutions for persons experiencing chronic homelessness was described by San Francisco Department of Public Health Director of Housing and Urban Health Marc Trotz, whose Direct Access to Housing program is also a Federal Collaborative Initiative site (see e-news story). Dr. David Rosenbloom, Executive Director of Jointogether.org also took part in the panel to discuss issues and innovations in providing treatment access to persons experiencing homelessness.

Just one day after Dallas Mayor Laura Miller appointed local business leader Tom Dunning to lead the city's 10-Year Plan implementation, and within weeks of Texas cities from the Gulf Coast to East Texas to Central and Border areas committing to 10-Year Plans (see prior e-news stories), the City Council of Texas' Capital City of Austin approved a 10-Year Plan to end chronic homelessness on September 2. The City Council meeting was presided over by Mayor Will Winn, pictured here.

Austin's plan points to the need for increased residential resources for persons exiting public systems of care, including corrections and foster care, the public costs of frequent emergency room and hospital use by persons who are experiencing homelessness, and the need to increase access to mainstream programs. Ongoing planning and implementation of strategies to improve infrastructure and support self-sufficiency will be overseen by a subcommittee of the existing Homeless Task Force Working Group and will include the Community Action Network (CAN). CAN is funded by the City of Austin and the Chamber of Commerce and includes representatives of faith-based organizations, health care providers, law enforcement, education and workforce organizations, and United Way.

In his presentation of the plan to the City Council, David Lurie of the City's Health and Human Services Department pointed out that over 50 individuals are identified in the introduction to the plan, reflecting the community partnership that was at work in plan development. "We are calling upon the Community Action Network partners and other stakeholders to use this plan as a guide for planning, priority setting, development of services, and interventions to end chronic homelessness in Austin and Travis County," he stated. The plan calls for performance outcomes based on percentages of the homeless population who will be placed by partners in the plan in transitional and permanent residential settings with increased self-sufficiency and appropriate supportive services.

Nearly 4,000 persons are estimated by CAN to be homeless in Travis County on any given day. Texas cities and counties are newly committing to partnership and planning in this state of over 20,800,000 people, which is home to three of the nation's ten largest cities (Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio) and the largest number of counties of any state (254).

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter begins a series on emerging partnerships to end chronic homelessness. Expansive intergovernmental, multi-jurisdictional, and multi-sector partnerships, including those involving Chambers of Commerce, Downtown Business Associations, law enforcement, hospitals, United Way, philanthropy, providers, advocates, academia, substance abuse and mental health treatment agencies, real estate and developer interests, and consumers are emerging in many forms in communities developing jurisdictionally endorsed 10-Year Plans to end chronic homelessness. Partnerships are also increasing results-oriented investments in plan implementation. This inaugural story focuses on the recent Puerto Rico Mayors' Summit, in which government, philanthropy, and business partnered to address homelessness in the Commonwealth. Shown here is United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano and Caguas Mayor William Miranda Marin, signing his commitment for Caguas to create a 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.

San Juan, Puerto Rico was the site of this week's Mayors' Summit to End Homelessness, building on the success of last April's first-ever Puerto Rico Summit on Homelessness. The April event followed Puerto Rico's participation in federal Policy Academy sessions on chronic homelessness and family homelessness and demonstrated the growing and broad partnership to end homelessness at work in the Commonwealth.

The Chana and Samuel Levis Foundation, which focuses on homelessness as a foundation priority, convened the recent Mayors' Summit, and Foundation President and Summit Host María Levis- Peralta recognized the wide range of collaborators at the event. Present at the event were leaders from Federal, Commonwealth, and local government, faith- based organizations, business, philanthropy, consumers, and service providers, as well as the regional coalitions. Summit Sponsor Doral Financial Corporation, which oversees Doral Bank in Puerto Rico and Doral Bank New York, hosted the event at its headquarters.

Coalición de Coaliciones Pro Personas sin Hogar, Inc. ("Coalition of Coalitions for the Homeless") hosted the April event, representing the nine regional partnerships in Puerto Rico: Coalition for the Rights of Homeless Persons of the Northwest in Aguadilla; Native Coalition Continuum of Care for Homeless People in Caguas; Coalition of Integrated Services in Cayey; Coalition for the Homeless in Guaynabo; Western Coalition for Welfare of the Homeless in Mayagüez; Coalition for the Homeless of the South in Ponce; Coalition of Continuous Support for Homeless People in San Juan; Coalition for the Homeless of the East in Yabucoa; and the Alliance of Integrated Services for Homeless People in Bayamón.

With documented outcomes that demonstrate that two-thirds of chronically homeless people placed just in its units are still successfully housed two years later with reduced use of expensive acute public systems, the City and County of San Francisco's Department of Public Health (DPH) Direct Access to Housing (DAH) program is a model of outcome- oriented public sector investment in housing resources for the most costly homeless people in communities. The high utilizers of public systems who are housed in DAH units are persons who have experienced chronic homelessness, generally have complex medical and behavioral health disorders, a history of institutional care, and have never or not successfully been housed. Retention rates are even higher when moves to other housing are included.

Established in 1998 and with over 400 persons housed, DAH has shown that its residents, most of whom have one or more disabilities, have a 58% reduction in emergency room use, a 57% reduction in hospital inpatient bed use, and a reduction in the length of psychiatric hospitalization. San Francisco first decided to invest in housing resources to reduce over-utilization of high-end health care resources and increase the effectiveness of DPH services by providing a safe and healthy environment for clients, by providing housing tailored to the needs of clients, and providing community based exits from DPH and other systems. DAH has established access points to its units for street outreach teams, emergency shelters, case managers for high utilizers, and primary care clinics, as well as other public systems.

DAH uses primarily City General Fund resources to provide permanent supportive housing by Master- Leasing entire SRO buildings and providing a low threshold housing environment. Other resources are state funds and reimbursement as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Master leasing allows DPH to bring units on line quickly, rely on private investment for renovation costs, and negotiate improvements to common areas. Costs per unit are $400 monthly each for support services, leasing costs, and property management, or $1,200 per unit per month. Residents pay fifty percent of their income towards rent, with the average rent about $300. About 80% of residents receive public income supports, such as SSI.

On-site support services are coupled with an approach of "screening-in" persons in need and providing voluntary services through active engagement by the social services staff on site. Services include case management, medical and behavioral health care, and third party rent payments All residents have tenant rights in their housing. Pictured here is DAH's Pacific Bay Inn.

. . . that research on service use by Direct Access to Housing (DAH) residents in San Francisco demonstrates that before being successfully housed, they were 3 times more likely to use emergency rooms for health care than the general population, and 10% of the population used 40% of all hospital days. Pictured here is DAH's Windsor Hotel site.

. . . that Direct Access to Housing is one of the 11 sites across the country funded under 2003's Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness, funded with $35 million from the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs.

. . . that, at the first national gathering of Collaborative Initiative sites in July in Washington, local partners reported that more than 300 persons who had experienced chronic homelessness had moved to permanent supportive housing, with more lease-ups occuring every week. News about the 11 Collaborative Initiative sites is available on the Interagency Council on Homelessness web site. Visit http://www.ich.gov/ to learn more.

FOR THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter focuses on remarks made at the historic Puerto Rico Mayors' Summit in San Juan this week. Pictured here are (left to right): Caguas Mayor William Miranda Marin, Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano, San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini, and Chana and Samuel Levis Foundation President María Levis- Peralta.

CAGUAS MAYOR WILLIAM MIRANDA MARIN. "The problem of homelessness in our cities is one of the unfortunate things in our society. It is not easy to understand it, and it is not easy to solve it. This complex issue of chronic homelessness, in most cases, involves addiction, abuse, and mental illness. The great announcement of the objective of President George Bush to attack and solve the problem of chronic homelessness in 10 years was most appreciated. This effort requires organization and the partnering of all our resources and capacities. We have done it, creating alliances with different entities, and bringing together a collaborative model of government and citizens. Our goal is to provide permanent housing and support self-sufficiency."

SAN JUAN MAYOR JORGE SANTINI. "Today, we unite our efforts to face one of the most pressing issues faced by modern society, and one that our administration has dedicated a lot of effort to address: homelessness. When we came into office, we 'rolled up our sleeves' and began the task to serve this population and at the same time do a census that could help us measure the effectiveness of our impact and achievements of the rescued individuals."

"We have the strongest commitment to procure a better quality of life for all the inhabitants of the Capital. We have established a network of integrated multidisciplinary services to motivate and engage homeless people into treatment and recovery."

"As a result of the most recent 'Round Table' to develop our 10-Year Plan, we managed to begin the work of identifying, by area and agency, the new initiatives that will be incorporated as part of President Bush's 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in the Nation, an effort that I encourage all Mayors of Puerto Rico to participate in."

U.S. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PHILIP MANGANO. "No matter which language we speak, homelessness is wrong in all of them. The fact that so many of our citizens do not have a place to live, men, women, and children, is a wrong. And our work together is to remedy that situation. This gathering today is the single, largest meeting of mayors from one state ever assembled on homelessness. Congratulations to the Mayors for supporting this unprecedented, historic summit, and special gratitude to Mayors Marin and Santini for their presence and leadership in 10-year planning initiatives. As you know, Secretary Anthony Principi is the Chair of the U.S. Interagency Council this year. That means there is a special emphasis and commitment this year focused on the lives of veterans. Knowing that you have a disproportionately large number of veterans here in Puerto Rico, his chairmanship is of even more importance. And during this past year, Secretary Prinicipi has deepened the commitment of Veterans Affairs to homeless veterans. Our work in partnership is to create the change that will give results, accountability, and outcomes of ending chronic homelessness. That's why we're here today. To work together in partnership to make the changes needed to end chronic homelessness."

Faith-based and community organizations across the country will have new opportunities this fall to learn about the Federal funding process, available funding opportunities, requirements for recipients of Federal funds, and cutting-edge practices from other organizations. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), with support from the Departments of Justice, Agriculture, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Veterans, and the Agency for International Development is convening new regional conferences in St. Louis (September 14) and Miami (October 19).

The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) was the most recent Federal partner to join the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Faith-based and community groups have long been active in assisting persons experiencing homelessness, and one of President Bush's first official acts as President was to create the OFBCI. The OFCBI focuses its efforts on at-risk youth, persons experiencing homelessness or hunger, ex-offenders, persons with addictions or HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. OFBCI Director Jim Towey is pictured here.

Registration for the Miami conference is free, required in advance, and now available on line. Deadline for registering for the event, which will be held at the James Knight International Center in Miami, is October 11. Since 2002, OFBCI has hosted 14 regional conferences to educate service providers about the Initiative and the Federal grants process. The conferences provide participants with information about available government funding opportunities, the legal requirements that come with a government grant, and best practice tips from model social service agencies. More than 17,000 faith-based and community leaders have attended the conferences to date, with 2500 choosing the workshops on homelessness.

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its focus on elements of the Title V federal surplus property 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.

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 properties determined to be suitable and available. 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.