PORTLAND, MAINE. Maine's largest city, Portland, has announced its third consecutive annual decrease in chronic homelessness. With a general population of just under 65,000, Portland has reported a 49% decrease in chronic homelessness since 2004.

Also released this week was new cost benefit data identifying savings achieved by the Greater Portland area by moving individuals from chronic homelessness to stability in housing. Service costs in ambulance and emergency room use, jail nights, and police contacts were cut in half after housing placement, dropping from an average of over $28,000 per person annually to $14,000, as shown in research supported by MaineHousing, Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing.

In the area of health costs, data show a reduction of 59% for a savings of $497,042, while emergency room costs decreased by 62% for a savings of $128,373, and general inpatient hospitalizations decreased by 77% for a savings of $255,421. Suggesting that participants switched to using less expensive outpatient treatment, prescription drug costs increased by 31% for a cost of $46,049.

Phase One of the cost study collected data from formerly homeless people living in the greater Portland area, Phase Two will obtain data from formerly homeless people living in York County and Phase Three will review the other parts of the State of Maine.

Individuals from both Preble Street and Logan Place, two key supportive housing initiatives for persons who are chronically homelessness, took part. MaineHousing provided the impetus for the study, applied for the funding to pay for it, and convened an advisory committee to oversee the process, which was also encouraged by the State Interagency Council. Cumberland County Jail, Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Medical Center, MaineCare (Medicaid), Mercy Hospital, Milestone Foundation, Portland Fire Department, Portland Homeless Health Clinic, Portland Oxford Street Shelter, Portland Police Department, Riverview State Psychiatric Center, Shalom House, and Spring Harbor Hospital were participants.

QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS. Mayor William Phelan, Quincy Plan Leadership Council Chair and Chamber of Commerce President Peter Forman, Plan Co-chair and Father Bill's Place President John Yazwinski, Father Bill McCarthy, and local leaders gathered this week in the City of Presidents to celebrate the closing of an emergency shelter deemed obsolete by the results of the City's 10-Year Plan which has achieved success through an aggressive Housing First strategy. The women's shelter, located in a school basement, had been in use for 17 years.

Pictured here at the announcement event are (left to right): Peter Forman, President and CEO of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce/Executive Chairperson of the Quincy Leadership Council on Chronic Homelessness; United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Director Philip Mangano; Mayor Phelan, Dennis E. Harrington, City of Quincy Planning Director; John Yazwinski, President and CEO of Father Bill's & MainSpring, Inc.; and Norm Grenier, Executive Director of Neighborhood Housing Services.

The City of Quincy has reported a 56% decrease in chronic homelessness since 2004. The Housing First model is also saving Quincy Medical Center an estimated $60,000 in ER service costs, according to the Mayor.

Council Executive Director Mangano, who joined the Mayor and local leaders for the event, noted: "Today we are witnessing an event that confirms that 10-Year Plans are making a difference in communities. Mayor Phelan is announcing the closing of a shelter, not because of NIMBY complaining, but because of numbers declining. Through the implementation of Quincy's Plan, the shelter closes."

Father Bill's has reduced its number of emergency beds from 140 to 105 since 2004, according to John Yazwinski. The city helped open a home on Claremont Street for 12 low-income women in 2004 and, last year, worked with Father Bill's Place to open a group home for 20 homeless veterans. Pictured here (left to right): Norm Grenier of Neighborhood Housing Services; Director Mangano; Rev. William "Fr. Bill" McCarthy; Mayor Phelan; John Yazwinski of Father Bill's; and Dennis E. Harrington, City of Quincy Planning Director.

The City of Quincy has directed $483,000 in federal resources, including HOME funds, to support 32 chronically homeless people, and is launching a new three-year $453,000 initiative to house another 49 people.

Father Bill's and Brockton's MainSpring Coalition for the Homeless also this week announced that the two 20-year-old entities, first organized as emergency responses in their South Shore communities, will merge to coordinate their strategies and increase housing focus for individuals and families.

UTICA, NEW YORK. Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, accompanied by Utica Mayor Timothy Julian and City of Rome Common Council President John Maazzaferro, announced a joint commitment to the creation of a 10-Year Plan in upstate New York last week. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano was invited for the intergovernmental event, which was hosted by Mohawk Valley Community College and its new President, Randal Van Wagoner. Pictured here are (left to right): Honorable John Maazzaferro, Mayor Julian, Director Mangano, County Executive Picente, and Mr. Van Wagoner. Council Regional Coordinators Samuel Miller and John Zegarelli participated.

"I commend the County Executive and the Mayors for working together in this planning effort," said Director Mangano. "Every level of government partnered - cities, county, and national - all with one goal, one objective, one mission, to bring an end to the moral and spiritual wrong of homelessess in their communities."

Oneida County Executive Picente, noting that increased federal and state investment and effective collaborative work over the last five years between government and local service agencies had resulted in a decrease of 200 people found in the annual Point-in-Time count to the most recent number of 316, stressed that there was more to do. "We are heartened by our progress, but there is still much to do," he said, noting that 20% of those counted in 2007 were chronically homeless. "Many in this group cycle in and out of Oneida County jail and are a burden on local law enforcement agencies and courts. Some have children in foster care. Many over-utilize emergency rooms for basic health care services and cycle in and out of our psychiatric and substance abuse treatment in-patient facilities - paid for with Medicaid funds that come from local, state, and federal tax dollars"

"We need to find ways to address chronic homelessness that reduce the burden on our local citizens while effectively addressing the problem," said County Executive Picente. "This is easier for three reasons. Programs around the country consistently demonstrate that providing permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless reduces the burden on local and state government. We have an active, well- coordinated, and effective homeless assistance coalition our region involving local government private agencies, and others committed to addressing homelessness. We have the support of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and other federal and state partners in this effort. We pledge to take this initiative seriously."

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK. Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll and Onondaga County Executive Nicholas Pirro welcomed Director Mangano last week to discuss federal homeless initiatives. Meeting at Syracuse City Hall, Mayor Driscoll recognized the importance of moving forward with strategies to address homelessness in a more effective and solution-oriented approach.

Pictured here are (left to right): Council Regional Coordinator John Zegarelli, Department of Community Development Commissioner Fernando Ortiz, Mayor Driscoll, and Director Mangano.

Meeting at the Onondaga County Building, County Executive Nicholas Pirro affirmed the need to create cost studies to inform needed collaboration on a 10-Year Plan partnering the City and County. The County Executive and Director Mangano are pictured here.

IN PORTLAND, OREGON, "A day to reach out, a day to learn," was the City's second Project Homeless Family Connect event implemented at the Oregon Convention Center. By the numbers, City of Portland organizer Mary Carroll from the Office of Commissioner Erik Sten reported that over 575 volunteers and several community leaders gathered to welcome over 1,000 homeless people who were connected with dental, medical, vision, chiropractic, veterinarian, employment, benefits, legal and several other services. More than half of those participating were families. It was the City's fourth PHC event. Mary Carroll is pictured here orienting volunteers before the start of the PHC event.

Welcoming volunteers and homeless neighbors were: Portland Mayor Tom Potter, City Commissioner Erik Sten, City Commissioner Randy Leonard, County Chair Ted Wheeler, County Commissioner Jeff Cogan, State Representative Chip Shields, Howard Klink, United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, and Chris Erickson, General Manager, The Heathman Hotel. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson also took part.

Alan Hotchkiss, National Director of Church Relations for the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association attended with 30 ministers and religious leaders from churches around the region. Mayor Potter, Commissioner Sten, Regional Coordinator Carlson and leaders from four homeless programs met with the ministers to launch a volunteer mentoring program between the churches and programs serving the homeless.

"The partnership between the faith community, government and homeless agencies is the next step in our Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness," said Commissioner Sten, who organized the meeting. "We know our plan is showing results, and now we need the community and volunteers to help formerly homeless people create positive social connections."

A total 1,700 people were served meals courtesy of the NW Natural, Portland French Bakery and several other private company donations. The most requested assistance from the clients was dental and vision services and housing and shelter. 1,000 Tri Met bus passes were provided for clients scheduled for follow-up appointments.

Over 90 people received vision services, with over 60 receiving Lens Crafter prescription eye-glasses. Over 120 people received reading glasses. More than 30 veterans were counseled on benefits. Many attendees inquired about Oregon Health Plan, ID, driver's licenses, Social Security Insurance, disability benefits, and various other programs. Over 30 individuals completed a mini application for Worksource Portland Metro, and more than a dozen individuals were connected to the Disability Navigator.

Mary Carroll earlier this month served as faculty for the Interagency Council's national technical assistance session on designing family Connect events.

IN ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA, the Cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater and Pinellas County launched their first Project Homeless Connect this weekend, welcoming over 800 homeless neighbors through the hospitality of over 400 volunteers. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Team Leader Michael German participated and represented the Council. Pictured here welcoming volunteers before the doors to the event opened is St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker.

Truly a county-wide event, funding, participation, and partnership came from the three largest jurisdictions (Cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, and Pinellas County), the Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless, the private sector, and 50 human service organizations. More than 40 medical doctors participated from throughout the state of Florida, along with other medical volunteers, members of the Sathya Sai Baba service group. As has been true for PHC events coast to coast, personal care services such as haircuts were very popular: the hairdressers stayed two hours after the event ended to ensure that everyone who was in line for a haircut was served.

Pictured at left are the many City and County officials participating in the welcome ceremonies: City of St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor for Neighborhood Services David Metz; City of St. Petersburg Manager of Social Services Planning, Chair of the Event Rhonda Abbott; City of Clearwater Council Member Carlen Petersen; City of St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker; Council Team Leader German; Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch; St. Petersburg City Council Member Jeff Danner; St. Petersburg City Council Member Leslie Curran; City of Clearwater Vice-Mayor John Doran; and City of St. Petersburg City Council Chair James Bennett.

IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, Smith Park in downtown was the site of the city's inaugural Project Homeless Connect event last weekend (pictured here). Over 190 homeless neighbors were welcomed by 60 volunteers, and homeless neighbors assisted in setting up and operating the services. The event included a choir (pictured here). Twelve people left the streets during the event. Welcome was extended by Mayor Frank E. Melton, City Council Member Charles Tillman, Deputy Director Housing and Economic Assistance Louis Armstrong, City Administrator Robert Walker County Supervisor, Law Enforcement Officer Jerry Brister, 10-Year Plan Chair Sheryl Mitchell, and HUD's Don Connelley. Adopting Project Homeless Connect was a priority in the city's 10-Year Plan, and PHC was adopted by the City Council along with the Plan.

IN CONNECTICUT, Governor Jodi Rell called on the residents and community leaders of the state to join in last week's Stand Down at the State Veterans Home campus in Rocky Hill. Local officials, state and local social service agencies, non-profit organizations, veterans' service organizations and homeless advocates - all were encouraged to respond to the Governor's call to increase their efforts to inform needy veterans about Stand Down and to assist in them in getting to the Stand Down.

On site, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator John O'Brien, who also serves as the Council's ex officio representative to the VA Secretary's Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans, reported on partnership and results. The Connecticut Department of Transportation established more than 25 transportation pick-up locations across the state to transport needy veterans to the Stand Down. The event was coordinated and sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Veterans' Affairs, with over 40 service and benefit providers participating: the Connecticut Departments of Public Health, Banking, Higher Education, Labor, Motor Vehicles, Revenue Services, and Social Services; the Connecticut Judicial Branch, Office of the Chief Public Defender, and the Board of Pardons and Parole. Federal agencies included the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare Division and Regional Office, the Vet Centers, and the U.S. Department of Labor; and many private and non-profit organizations.

Mobile vans expanded the reach of the event site, proving driver's licenses, employment services, veterans benefits access, and Medicare assistance. With many practical and quality of life services available, some offerings were of special note, including a special satellite superior courtroom to help clear misdemeanor cases for veterans. On hand to offer a wide variety of health services including blood pressure, diabetes, glaucoma, TB and HIV screenings, dental care, podiatry care and substance abuse screening and counseling, were medical professionals from the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Yale School of Nursing and Community Health Center, Inc., of Middletown.

WASHINGTON, DC. United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Chair Michael Leavitt has announced $98 million in awards to states from the Access to Recovery program and over $17 million in nine grants for intensive individualized services to improve residential stability over five years for persons who are chronically homeless.

"Access to Recovery provides needed resources for people trying to conquer addiction. It gives them broader treatment options, the ability to choose the treatment they believe will help them succeed, and greater access to recovery support services,'' said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. "It's a successful embodiment of the President's goal to enable faith-based and community groups to serve more Americans across the country. This new round of grants will expand its reach." ATR vouchers provide people seeking drug and alcohol treatment a greater range of choice in selecting the services most appropriate for their needs.

President Bush proposed the new substance abuse treatment initiative in his 2003 State of the Union Address, and the program was launched in August 2004 when the President announced the first three-year Access to Recovery grants to 14 states and one tribal organization to provide people seeking drug and alcohol treatment services with vouchers to pay for a range of appropriate community-based clinical treatment and recovery support services. Since then, approximately $300 million in funds have been awarded and more than 170,000 people with substance abuse problems have received treatment and/or recovery support services, exceeding the three- year target of 125,000 people.

"Access to Recovery programs provide vital help to those trying to get a new start in life," said Jay Hein, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. "One of the unique ways that we offer this help is through a voucher that enables those seeking treatment to select their own treatment option. This approach unleashes hundreds of new faith-based and community options otherwise not available when government alone determines who can provide the services."

ATR is expanding treatment capacity and consumer choice in 18 states, five tribal organizations, and the District of Columbia. These 24 ATR grants just announced are an increase of more than 50 percent from the first cohort of 15 ATR grants. Three-year grants are being awarded to the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Of the $98 million, approximately $2 million will be used to fund an independent evaluation of the program. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) administers the grant program within HHS.

Under the $17 million award, persons who are chronically homeless will be assisted by intensive services intended to increase residential stability. Services will be provided directly or by collaborative arrangement with other providers, including: outreach and engagement; Assertive Community Treatment or intensive case management; services to support housing retention; independent living skills; motivational interventions; crisis care; assistance in obtaining income support and entitlements; mental health treatment; substance abuse treatment; integrated/coordinated treatment for co- occurring disorders; medications management; and self-help programs.

WASHINGTON, DC. The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee last week marked up S. 1518, the Community Partnership to End Homelessness proposal sponsored by Senators Jack Reed (RI) (pictured at left) and Wayne Allard (CO) (pictured at right) and 21 others Senators. S. 1518 would reauthorize and restructure the Department of Housing and Urban Development McKinney-Vento programs, as well as reauthorize the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Markup is a step in the legislative process when committee members study the bill in detail, offer amendments, and vote to accept or reject these changes before the bill goes to the full Senate.

Senator Reed, who with other Senators noted the important work of staff in bringing the bill to markup, observed, "It has been 20 years since the enactment of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, and we have learned a lot about the problem of homelessness since then. This legislation is going to put some of those best practices and proposals into action and help communities break the cycle of repeated and prolonged homelessness." Senator Reed noted that S. 1518 includes new focus on prevention, rural homelessness, and rapid re-housing of families.

S. 1518 was reported out unanimously by the Committee chaired by Senator Christopher Dodd (CT), with Ranking Member Senator Richard Shelby (AL). Senators who made remarks after the vote, including Senator Mel Martinez (FL) who noted that 10-Year Plans had "caught fire" in the nation, commented on the bipartisan agreement that has been the history of the McKinney-Vento program and the importance of responsibility of maintain and expanding the capacity of the programs to provide solutions and to evolve from their starting point of 20 years ago.

Program consolidation, housing emphasis, flexibility, and performance are among the Administration's key goals for reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. S 1518 would consolidate and amend HUD's programs and reauthorize the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness through 2012. Among other provisions, HUD would be required to provide incentives for communities to use proven research-based strategies to end homelessness including permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs. The legislation outlines a set of performance measurements - emphasizing reductions in incidence, length, and repeat occurrences of homelessness - for designating "high performing communities" who would be rewarded with additional flexibility.

WASHINGTON, DC. United States Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Administrator Russell Davis, speaking at last week's Western New York Homeless and Hunger Symposium (see prior e-news story), counseled attendees to make greater use of the range of housing and related resources available from USDA for communities of under 20,000 people across the country.

Describing his agency as a "mini-HUD," Mr. Davis noted that USDA's Rural Development division distributes $16 billion annually in 43 programs for housing, community facilities, utilities, business development, and other rural development activities. The Rural Rental Subsidies program, for example, closely resembles HUD's Section 8 program, and has $1.3 billion in resources to pays any rent over 30% of tenant's income, even for individuals with no income. The program serves 270,000 individuals and families.

Community Facilities Loan Guarantees, Loans, and Grants ("CF" programs) offers up to $1 billion annually for community- oriented building or equipment initiatives, such as group homes, assisted living, clinics, homeless shelters, SROs, nursing homes, and rehab. Loan guarantees are non- competitive, with 4% direct loans accessible for most applicants.

Multifamily Loan Guarantees (Section 538) offer near- government interest rates and is generally available to all qualified applicants. Multifamily Subsidized 1% Loans for Construction and Rehabilitation (Section 515) currently has an inventory of 16,000 apartment properties in 9,000 zip codes, with 470,000 housing units. This program currently emphasizes transfers of property and rehabilitation. Single Family Loan Guarantees (Section 502 - Guaranteed) provides financing to 102% Loan to Value and will finance closing costs with very flexible underwriting terms. This program also is generally available to all qualified applicants.

Single Family Subsidized 1% Loans (Section 502 - Direct) offers income-based buy-down of mortgage payments at 100% loan to value. There are approximately 10,000 units nationwide per year, with a waiting period of 1 -12 months.

Mr. Davis encouraged local partners to develop familiarity with federal funding cycles and potential development partners, recognizing that an upcoming change of fiscal year may mean that underspent programs have targeted priorities in order to distribute resources, providing an opportunity for potential project sponsors with well-developed plans to access resources. Programs often have geographic, demographic and programmatic targets. Developing active working relationships with Federal regional partners - even before deciding on an placation strategy - can result in a larger network of potential opportunities. USDA Service Centers are designed to be a single location where customers can access the services provided by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Rural Development agencies.

Local partners should also examine loan opportunities that might offer a non-competitive pathway to needed community projects, providing examples such as Critical Access Healthcare program, project-based rental subsidy-backed loans, and service-fee driven community facilities. He noted that tying subsidies to debt services or acquiring revenue-producing assets that match income to debt service can be successful strategies to achieve local goals.

Mr. Davis encouraged partners to think along business lines in pursuing resources, devoting part of their existing time and resources to marketing, development of equity, and reinvestment strategies, as well as innovation. This results- oriented strategy also highlights "graduating" consumers from dependency to greater self-sufficiency, opening up additional service opportunities for more consumers. For example, USDA has moved 250,000 home borrowers from subsidized mortgages to low-cost private mortgages in the past six years, establishing them with good credit and greatly increasing the agency's capacity to make new subsidized loans.

Home defines who we are and prepared us for all we can be. Home should be a source of joy. But for too many people, poor living conditions or the loss of a home engender sorrow . . . Home at the very least should be shelter from cold and protection from predation. But for the least among us, home is a heating grate or a tarp in the park. It should not be this way.

With these words, former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretaries Henry Cisneros and Jack Kemp, former HUD Assistant Secretary Nick Retsinas, and former National Association of Home Builders CEO Kent Colton introduce a new bipartisan report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University for state and local jurisdictional leaders on housing strategies and financing, including strategies for ending chronic homelessness. "Our Communities, Our Homes" follows the authors' 2004 "Opportunity and Progress" report on affordability strategies.

Affirming the strategy that the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has championed, the report notes that "local officials must lead efforts to end chronic homelessness in their communities using a research-driven approach incorporating the 'housing first' model." The report observes that the targeting of the chronic population can "rally the troops around clear, achievable outcomes that can lead to system changes," and benefit all populations. The report affirms the continuing work of the Interagency Council and its encouragement of State Interagency Councils on Homelessness and jurisdictional 10-Year Plans, noting, "the plans are showing success."

Among the report's recommendations for local leaders are strategies that the authors propose should be cornerstones of local plans, including streamlining the financing system for permanent supportive housing, creating new funding streams for supportive housing and other homeless programs, seeking out new supportive housing production partners, using vacant rental properties to house homeless people, offering "No Strings Attached" housing for the hardest to serve, establishing and strengthening outreach efforts, preventing health care, public safety, and other systems from discharging people into homelessness, and addressing the needs of both long-term and temporarily homeless families.

Recommendations for state leaders include targeting existing funds to supportive housing development, tapping new funding streams to reduce homelessness, using tax credits for supportive housing development, and enhancing state discharge systems.

Author Nicholas Retsinas is Director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies which is a collaborative venture of the Graduate School of Design and the Kennedy School of Government. Prior to his Harvard appointment, he served as Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. He currently chairs Habitat for Humanity International.

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