With a new 10-Year Business Plan to End Chronic Homelessness calling for a "Housing First" approach, Utah Governor Olene Walker (pictured here with U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano during his visit) recently convened a 2-day summit at the South Towne Expo Center to unveil the details of the state's new strategy. Refocused last year with new appointments by Governor Walker and responsibility to implement the Business Plan, the Utah Homeless Coordinating Committee (HCC) has responsibilities that include clearly defining needed legislation and responsibilities of all government partners, as well as implementing the Plan's detailed action steps to end chronic homelessness by 2014. Implementation steps will include coordination and establishment of outcome measures to determine the effectiveness of resource utilization, establishment of funding priorities and an effective statewide Homeless Management Information System, and additional investment from all levels of government and the private sector. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Homeless Assistance Programs Director Mark Johnston and National Alliance to End Homelessness President Nan Roman joined the Summit attendees for the launch of the Plan.

According to the Business Plan, which emphasizes numeric targets for success in each of its annual percentage-and unit-based performance goals through 2009, "To end chronic homelessness in Utah by 2014, there must be a dramatic shift in the present approach of addressing homelessness from a shelter-based strategy to a permanent supportive housing-based strategy." The Business Plan proposes emphases that include:

• Prevention: reducing entrance into homelessness by effective discharge planning and prevention efforts for those at imminent risk by at least 40% from the 2005 baseline by the year 2009
• Housing: increasing needed housing for persons experiencing chronic homelessness by at least 25% from the 2005 baseline by the year 2009
• Data: collecting and providing accurate data and measuring results from all agencies receiving public funding by December 31, 2005

Collaboration and partnership are also strong themes in the Business Plan, which has built interagency and inter-jurisdictional partnership with cities and counties into its strategy, designing committees that will link key systems as well as produce action plans and identify best practices in key areas of effort.

"We wanted it to be bold and audacious and doable," stated Anchorage Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness Chair Hilary Morgan, characterizing the city's new draft 10-Year Plan released last week for public comment. In December, the Plan will be presented to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who appointed the Task Force in January, and the Anchorage Assembly.

The Task Force represents a broad community partnership, including members from the Downtown Partnership, United Way, Chamber of Commerce, faith-based organizations, education, philanthropy, law enforcement, health care, state agencies, homeless and formerly homeless people, and service providers.

The Draft Plan proposes that any homeless person will be connected to housing within 90 days of being identified by any homeless services provider, and backs up the housing commitment with a goal of 500 new units of housing and the creation of a city development authority to create housing on city-owned land. Mobile workers will target individuals living in camps and cars for engagement, and additional data collection will identify housing placement barriers and evaluate program performance.

Among the Action Steps in the Plan, all of which include performance measures, are:

• Creation of a multi-sector Oversight Board, appointment of a senior staff person in the Mayor's office to lead a communication campaign and to work with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the new Alaska State Council, conversion of the Task Force's Plan to a White Paper for broader use, and clear leadership roles for key public partners.
• Development of a One-Stop Engagement strategy to reduce the local impact of daytime homelessness, including in camps, and rotate homeless program staff through a single service site to broaden engagement possibilities for the hardest to serve.
• Establishment of a partnership between United Way and the city's developing HMIS system to create a Housing First linkage that supports the rapid housing goal of the Plan.

The Task Force followed a 4-step process to develop the Draft Plan:

• Early in its work, the Task Force heard presentations by social service providers on issues facing single homeless people, including those with special needs and those experiencing chronic homelessness, homeless families with children, domestic violence/sexual assault victims, and youth.
• Next community partners were invited to present insights on how homelessness affects the local community, including costs and quality of life issues associated with Anchorage's homeless population. Representatives of neighborhoods, businesses, health care, the local school District, public safety also participated.
• Third, Task Force members devoted a meeting to hearing testimony from the general public, inviting residents to describe their vision for Anchorage for the year 2015 in regard to homelessness. At that public testimony, Task Force members heard from several homeless and formerly homeless individuals, and residents of neighborhoods.
• Finally, Task Force members were given reading lists between meetings to learn about other communities' homeless plans (including Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis), historical and statistical information about homelessness in Anchorage, newspaper and magazine articles, and existing relevant plans developed in Anchorage. At the start of each meeting, Task Force members discussed the readings and the previous meeting's lessons. The Reading List is posted on the Task Force web site.

The Anchorage Draft Plan emerges as the new Alaska Interagency Council on Homelessness moves its efforts ahead. The Council recently held its second meeting in Anchorage as a public hearing to hear the concerns of the community and to focus on developing solutions.

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI. Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr., of Jackson, Mississippi, last week convened the inaugural meeting of his city's 10-Year Plan Working Group, whose appointment was recently reported here. The broad community partnership appointed by the Mayor includes business leaders, including the real estate industry, downtown association, United Way, and local corporations; faith-based organizations; professional groups, including the Bar Association and Junior League; philanthropy; local education institutions; law enforcement, including the U.S. Attorney's office; city and county agencies, including health care; state agencies; persons experiencing homelessness, and homeless service providers.

Meeting in an all-day session, the new Working Group heard a charge from Mayor Johnson, as well as remarks from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Jackson Field Office Director Pat Hoban- Moore and United States Interagency Council Region IV Coordinator Mike German. Veterans Administration Homeless Project Coordinator Paul Maters gave Working Group members an overview of the Jackson homeless population. Mayor Johnson is pictured here at the inaugural meeting.

CONROE, TEXAS. The Conroe, Texas, City Council, just north of Houston, has passed a resolution to establish a plan to end chronic homelessness within 10 years. Kristen M. Jones, director of the Montgomery County Homeless Coalition, said about 15 chronically homeless people were identified locally in June. Three homeless camps were also located. "These are the people you see pushing buggies and living under bridges on Interstate 45," she said, adding that persons experiencing chronic homelessness use emergency medical services, psychiatric treatment, detoxification facilities, and shelters.

Commitments to develop 10-Year Plans to end chronic homelessness have been mounting up rapidly in the State of Texas, and many are examples of multi-jurisdictional approaches. From the Gulf Coast to East Texas to Central and Border areas, cities and counties have committed 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). The Texas Gulf Coast City of Corpus Christi in August joined Mayors in Plano and Collin County near Dallas in plan commitments. In Southeast Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico and the Louisiana border, the communities of Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange, Rose City, Vidor, Port Neches, Nederland, and Groves each passed resolutions to develop a joint Southeast Texas plan. City Councils in the East Texas community of Tyler and the Central Texas community of Waco have also passed resolutions to develop 10-Year Plans. In far South Texas, Hidalgo County and the communities of Edcouch, Donna, McAllen, Mercedes, Mission, and Weslaco have each adopted their own resolutions.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week announced $36.5 million in competitive technical assistance funding for major HUD programs, including $11.6 million to support existing grantees or potential applicants in the HUD Homeless Assistance Grants program. The homeless awards will go to 19 states and the District of Columbia and include funds for national and local technical assistance providers. The award announcement also included Technical Assistance awards for the Community Development Block Grant Program, HOME, Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS, and Youthbuild.

In announcing the awards, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, pictured here at a meeting of the Interagency Council, stated: "Today, we make another investment in better government. This funding builds on our partnership with local communities and nonprofit organizations to more effectively house and serve lower income persons and families who need our help the most."

According to the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) released for the competition on May 14, 2004, Technical Assistance funds are available to provide McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act-funded grantees, project sponsors, and potential recipients with skills and knowledge needed to develop and operate projects and activities. TA activities are focused on the following priorities:

• Facilitating the exchange of information between community organizations to develop and implement a community-wide discharge plan for individuals exiting publicly-funded institutions (e.g., criminal justice system, foster care system, mental health system) so that these individuals do not become homeless
• Improving the ability of eligible applicants to develop and operate permanent housing projects for chronically homeless persons
• Developing materials on effective grant administration for grantees and sponsors
• Improving the ability of eligible grantees and sponsors in reaching out to chronically homeless personsw Improving the ability of grantees and sponsors in coordinating services available through mainstream resources with housing units available for homeless persons
• Facilitating the formation of metropolitan, regional, and statewide Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) and improve the ability of communities to prepare data for their Annual Homeless Assessment Reports
• Developing materials on effective grant management for Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) recipients

"Describe your community's plans for conducting data collection for completing the 'unsheltered' portion of part I and 2 and at least biannually starting with the 2005 CoC competition based upon a one day, point-in-time study, preferably in the last week of January 2005." The resources to help communities answer this census question in the annual Department of Housing and Urban Development McKinney Homeless Assistance Grants competition just became easier with the publication of "A Guide to Counting Unsheltered Homeless People," a new HUD resource.

According to HUD, many communities have long understood the need to count, describe, and understand the homeless people who do not use shelters and are typically found on the streets, in abandoned buildings, or in other places not meant for human habitation. Unsheltered homeless people are an important subpopulation of homeless persons and their characteristics and needs must be accommodated within any strategy to reduce homelessness and help eliminate chronic homelessness. Collecting good baseline data about this subpopulation is essential to understanding the causes of homelessness and to designing effective responses, and can be used as a basis for comparison in future years.

The new guide describes several methods for identifying, counting, and learning something about homeless people who are unlikely to be found in shelters or in other residential programs within a local homeless assistance network. Information about these approaches was gathered from communities throughout the country, and examples of their methods are provided throughout the Guide. Examples of work sheets, timelines, survey forms and more from Boston, New York City, Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta, Long Beach, Broward County, Florida, Washington, and Kentucky are included.

E-government and one-stop access to on-line information about federal funding resources has taken another step forward, as Grants.gov marked its first successful year of operation and was recognized as one of two federal E-government initiatives to meet White House Office of Management and Budget operational goals this year. Grants.gov is a collaborative effort led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as managing partner, with partners including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor and Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary and former Interagency Council Chair Tommy Thompson is pictured here.

Grants.gov offers users a single secure Web site to find and apply for federal grants. Users can access, find, and apply for grants from more than 900 programs representing more than $360 billion in annual grant funds offered by 26 Federal grant-making agencies. A simple online subscription ensures that new funding announcements, including those selected by interest area, will arrive by email when they are published. 1,400 grant opportunity notices are currently posted on the Web site.

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its series of reports on veterans' Stand Down events around the country. Stand Downs are community- based events targeted to homeless veterans and designed to offer a welcoming atmosphere, a safe gathering place, and easy access to a broad range of services for homeless veterans. Stand Downs are derived from the military practice of 'standing down" from customary activity or the front line.

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA. "I'm a walking miracle. I was a homeless veteran last year and I was lost. This place is a miracle. Those who don't come here don't know what they are missing," stated Jimmy Myers, a formerly homeless 61-year old war veteran who served as a volunteer for this year's Stand Down.

For the 6th straight year, the Kern County Homeless Veterans gathered area veterans for its annual Stand Down, which this year occurred October 21-24. Bakersfield's Stramler Park served almost 200 veterans this year, with about 40 partner agencies providing services and supports, including Kern County social service agencies, California Departments of Employment Development and Motor Vehicles, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. The Stand Down also hosted an onsite Superior Court session that cleared 58 misdemeanor cases on behalf of participating veterans. The Court arranges for veterans to complete community service before the end of the Stand Down, in lieu of incarceration.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA. The Rock and Crossroads Community Mission Ministry shelters in Atlanta were the sites of recent Atlanta Stand Down events. A total of four Stand Downs occurred during the week of October 26- 30 in the area, including one at the Latin American Association and one at the Atlanta Women's Shelter. Partner agencies included the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services and Labor, and the Salvation Army, Metropolitan Atlanta Traveler's Aid, Georgia Department of Family and Children Services, and Georgia Coalition to End 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. Following are properties listed in the most recent Federal Register notice of suitable and available land and buildings.

In the most recent listing of October 29, 2004, the following properties have been declared suitable and available: 1) the 16,500 square foot Federal Building in Choktaw, Oklahoma, which is currently occupied by the U.S. Postal Service; 2) the 5,280 square foot Social Security Administration Building in Carter, Oklahoma; and 3) the 5,620 square foot Social Security Administration Building in Grayson, Texas.

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 Administration's commitment to end chronic homelessness in 10 years and expand policy coordination and collaboration to benefit people experiencing homelessness.

If you missed other recent listings, there is till time to consider a possible use of available land or buildings. 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. Properties listed as suitable/available will be available exclusively for homeless use for a period of 60 days from the date of the Notice. 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.