Prince Frederick, Maryland, was the site this week of the kickoff of a Social Security Administration Homeless Outreach Projects and Evaluation (HOPE) award to support persons experiencing chronic homelessness in accessing Social Security benefits. Maryland's Project HOPE, directed by Ravita Maharaj of the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute, is one of the 34 awardees nationwide under SSA's $6.6 million investment in enrollment supports announced in April 2004.

United States Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to keynote the kickoff, commended the Kennedy Institute, which partnered with Catholic Charities of Washington and local homeless services provider Three Oaks Center as well as over 25 other partners: "Your commitment is revealed in your mission statement which promises 'to lead through innovation so people with disabilities live with freedom, dignity and distinction.' The commitment is there at SSA too. All the way from Commissioner Barnhart to Deputy Commissioner Jim Lockhart to those who administer and evaluate the programs, like Ed Beane to the local offices." Using the presumptive disability model of eligibility developed at the University of Maryland and employing electronic applications for its homeless clients, Project HOPE will serve at least 50 persons experiencing chronic homelessness annually in the largely rural Southern Maryland Counties of Charles, St. Mary's, and Calvert.

Director Mangano quoted Social Security Administration Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart who stated at the April award announcements: "Many homeless individuals suffer from a range of disabling conditions which may prevent them from availing themselves of services that may assist them. Social Security is committed, through outreach and assistance, to identifying and removing unique barriers to the disability application process sometimes encountered by homeless individuals. We share President Bush's commitment by doing our part to help end chronic homelessness in the United States . . . Disability benefits can help homeless individuals to obtain housing, and also provide a critical link to medical coverage."

HOPE Grantees gathered in Baltimore, Maryland, in August for a kickoff event to focus on outreach and supportive services to help chronically homeless people secure Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The new initiatives support communities in meeting the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness by increasing access to a key mainstream benefit for persons experiencing chronic homelessness with severe and persistent mental illness, HIV, cognitive impairments, and co-occurring disorders. SSA estimates that the awardees will assist thousands of homeless people over the next three years, providing supports to ensure that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications are completed faster and with higher success rates, allowing persons experiencing chronic homelessness to leave the streets, have a source of income, obtain health care coverage, and secure employment.

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. Six of the grants went to faith-based organizations, and more than 50% of the grants had an employment services component.

Pictured here are (from left to right) Maryland Disability Determination Services Medical Relations Director Diane Kistler, Social Security Administration District Manager Beverly Anderson, Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute Project HOPE Director Ravita Maharaj, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, and Social Security Administration Public Affairs Specialist Lester Austin.

"Homelessness is a complicated problem that needs coordinated, big-picture solutions. Realtors are committed to working within our local communities to do what we can to tackle the pervasive problem of homelessness," stated National Association of REALTORS President Walt McDonald in Orlando, Florida, last week at the annual conference of real estate professionals from across the nation. Charleston, South Carolina, Realtor Nell Postel chairs the NAR Housing Needs Committee and was joined by Vice Chair Pat Jablonski of Virginia, and Bonnie Bond of Ohio.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to address members of the NAR's Housing Needs Committee, agreed, telling those present: "In partnerships across the country the NAR is a natural stakeholder in improving the quality of life in communities and helping to match households to homes." Director Mangano described to the Committee the work of the over 165 cities and counties that are currently underway with developing or implementing 10-Year Plans to end chronic homelessness.

Director Mangano affirmed the participants' mission of identifying replicable initiatives that advance housing opportunity and supporting collaborative efforts to increase housing access (See Words of the Week in this e-news.) Participants also heard a report on the Colorado Association of Realtors Housing Opportunity Fund (CARHOF), also profiled in this e-news. More than 25,000 realtors attended the event convened by the nation's largest trade association of 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Pictured here are Council Executive Director Philip Mangano and Housing Needs Committee Chair Nell Postell.

Calling for "a fundamental shift in how our systems support, treat, and house this vulnerable population, " Pierce County, Washington, last week unveiled its 10-Year Plan to end chronic homelessness. Leading the 10-Year Plan event were Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma (pictured here at left), Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg (right), and U.S. Interagency Council Region X Coordinator Paul Carlson (center). The cities of Tacoma and Lakewood are partners to the new Plan.

Stated Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg: "This plan represents the commitment of Pierce County, the cities and towns in our country, and the private sector to work together and get the job done. We have a great history in Pierce County of cooperation, and this is one more effort along those lines."

A culmination of collaborative efforts of a network of more than seventy public and private organizations as well as individuals who are homeless, the Plan revealed that the City of Tacoma and Pierce County governments spend approximately $2.8 million annually on emergency shelters, case management, outreach, and drop-in centers for the chronically homeless population. In 2003, Pierce identified more than two hundred people as chronically homeless. Of those individuals, 57 percent were unsheltered.

The Plan proposes to seek active involvement from law enforcement in developing a comprehensive street census of the population, along with developing incentives for state and local correctional systems in addressing appropriate discharge outcomes. Business partners will also be sought through a two-pronged strategy that will recruit partners for the Plan's Advisory Committee and the identification of "loaned executives" for the planning and development process. Further, the Plan will undertake cost-benefit analysis to analyze the relationship of housing and services to incarceration and emergency medical intervention.

FOR THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter focuses on remarks made by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director in his keynote address to the National Association of REALTOR Housing Needs Committee meeting in Orlando, Florida.

"Thanks to all of you on the Housing Needs Committee for your efforts and intent to provide access to safe and decent housing 'and to encourage housing opportunities affordable to all people.' Your commitment to identify model programs for replication is a source of great encouragement in our efforts in this Administration to reduce homelessness and end it for the most vulnerable and those with disabilities."

"We take for granted the impact of housing in the lives of all of us. The therapeutic impact that having a home has on all of us who require privacy, security, stability, nurturing, safety. Knowing that we are going behind a door that we choose to open and close to the world - we take it for granted, the therapeutic impact is real. That's why the goal set by this Administration to end chronic homelessness is so central to the discussion here today. That's why the President and Secretary Jackson have set ambitious goals for homeownership and are meeting the benchmarks to increase minority homeownership in this counrty and to place it at priority."

"The most crucial antidote to ending homelessness is housing, and we are creating and investing in increased housing opportunities for those who are experiencing chronic homelessness. All of you in the work that you do match households to homes, providing access to that setting where our neighbors are more stable and secure and rested and nurtured because of your work."

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.

Thirty veterans reached permanent housing last week, and 20 more enrolled in treatment and transition programs as a result of community partnership efforts during the Arizona Stand Down in Phoenix. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon was in attendance, along with federal partners from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Phoenix Medical Center and Regional Office, and the Departments of Labor/USVETS and Housing and Urban Development. City and State partners included City of Phoenix Human Services Department, and Arizona Departments of Economic Security and Veteran Services.

Judge Walter Jackson, through the use of an onsite Phoenix Municipal Court service, also granted over 100 homeless veterans the opportunity to perform community service in exchange for waiving thousands of dollars in fines for misdemeanors like trespassing and unpaid tickets. By doing so, many veterans had given the opportunity to clear their records, thus enabling them to acquire driver's licenses while continuing on their road to recovery.

Homeless veterans were transported to the Stand Down from eight different pick-up locations, and over 400 homeless veterans received assistance during the three-day event at the Watkins Winter Overflow Shelter in Phoenix. Over 50 agencies participated along with more than 100 volunteers, providing a wide range of services that included meals, hygiene and grooming, legal aid, medical and dental assistance, and employment and housing assistance.

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-news continues its focus on innovative initiatives that are ending chronic homelessness. This story provides an insight into the Housing Opportunity Program of the National Association of REALTOR. (See related e-news stories this week.)

According to the National Association of REALTOR, "The nation's housing opportunity crisis is one that is well established and fed by an area's economic, demographic and regulatory characteristics. Most disheartening is the fact that this is an issue that will not go away on its own. Without reasonable housing opportunities families are stressed to the breaking point, neighborhoods decline, jobs go unfilled and the quality of life suffers for all of us."

Based on this finding, NAR's Housing Opportunity Program takes as its mission the identification, development, and promotion of expanded housing availability and housing opportunities for those in both the rental and homeownership market. Research by NAR previously found shortages of housing that address affordability issues impact " all segments of the real estate market including first-time purchasers, low-income, minorities, seniors, disabled, renters and single-family buyers, as well as rental property owners and developers." The NAR moved to create its Housing Opportunity Web site to ensure access to tested strategies that can be searched by topic, type of program, and location.

Among those programs profiled on the web site is the Colorado Association of Realtors Housing Opportunity Fund (CARHOF), which is an established charitable foundation utilizing interest on escrow accounts to benefit non-profit and public agencies assisting families in need, including homeless families, victims of domestic violence, and families facing eviction. The NAR web site is just one of six components of NAR's Housing Opportunity Program, which also includes research and data, training, coalition building, legislative and regulatory involvement, and communications.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, along with Kentucky, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and West Virginia, recently were awarded performance bonuses totaling $6 million for their results in speeding the processing of Food Stamp applications. Kentucky received the largest bonus ($1.9 million) for its over 98% delivery rate in meeting the USDA standard for application processing in 30 days. Even as it cut administrative costs in the Food Stamp program, Massachusetts received a $1.25 million award for getting Food Stamps to needy families more quickly than any other state in the nation, according to Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, who chairs the Massachusetts Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness. United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Roberto Salazar is pictured here at right presenting the federal performance bonus award to Lieutenant Governor Healey (center) and Department of Transitional Assistance Commissioner John Wagner (left).

Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced the award of a total of $18 million to States that demonstrated timely provision of services and ensured access to nutrition assistance in the Food Stamp Program. The 2002 Farm Bill authorized USDA to provide awards to States that demonstrate high or improved performance in the administration of the Food Stamp Program. These awards recognize the importance of customer service in administering the nutrition program. Awards were given to States with the best or most improved participant access rate as well as the timeliness of processing participant applications in FY2003. Some $12 million was divided among the four States with the highest and the four States with the most improved participant access rate. $6 million was divided among the six States with the highest percentage of timely processed applications.

Commissioner Wagner, who led the Massachusetts efforts to increase Food Stamp enrollment, stated, "Because of the exemplary work of Food Stamp workers at the Department of Transitional Assistance, not only have we increased access to the federal Food Stamp program, but we've done so in an efficient and timely way. As a result, the Commonwealth will have additional federal funding to better serve our families and link them to important employment and training programs." Commissioner Wagner said the federal bonus funds will be used to enhance DTA's Employment and Services Program (ESP), providing education and training for those individuals receiving public assistance.

Helping persons who are chronically homeless access mainstream resources is a key objective of the federal strategy advanced through work with more than 50 states and territories in the Policy Academy collaboration undertaken by the United States Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Affairs. Along with the Social Security Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture, the federal agencies also collaborated to create FirstStep, an on- line tool to make information and resources about the mainstream programs more broadly accessible to case workers and others assisting eligible homeless people. "Mainstream resources" is a term used to describe a variety of Federal and state benefit and assistance programs homeless clients may be eligible to receive.

According to FirstStep, mainstream (non-targeted) service resources or benefit programs account for billions of dollars in Federal and state funds available nationally to provide low-income persons, including individuals and families who are homeless, with cash payments and supportive services for needs such as housing, health care, job training, and food and nutrition services. For a variety of reasons, many people who are homeless are not accessing the mainstream services to which they are entitled. Only a fraction of homeless individuals and families access mainstream benefit programs such as: Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Social Security Disability Income (SSDI); Veteran's Benefits; Medicaid; and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

. . . that the Council's web site includes full-length versions of may helpful resources for states, counties, and cities. 10-Year Plans from selected cities and states that are announced in the e-news are available on the Council's web site. Plans recently posted include state plans from Utah and Hawaii that join the Minnesota Business Plan, as well as a new draft Plan from Anchorage, Alaska. Plans from the nation's largest cities are available along with plans from small and medium size communities, such as Scranton and Chattanooga.

. . . that key links to federal funding and resource information are available on the Council web site. On the lower left of the Council's homepage, view links to the new federal one-stop resource called grants.gov (covered in last week's e-news) as well as the daily Federal Register, which publishes funding announcements, agency notice, and rules and regulations.

. . . that the Council's web site includes a link to the latest weekly Federal Register notice regarding federal surplus property available under Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Under "Funding" look for the link to the Title V notice.

. . . that the "Innovations" library on ich.gov contains the Innovative Initiative profiles published in the e-news, along with links to additional information on these outcome-oriented initiatives to prevent and end chronic homelessness.