The City of Philadelphia, nationally recognized for progress in reducing its street homeless population, committed last week to developing a 10-Year Plan to eliminate homelessness completely. The Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness, co-chaired by Philadelphia Managing Director Philip Goldsmith and Project H.O.M.E. Executive Director Sister Mary Scullion, will deliver a plan by Spring 2005.

City of Philadelphia Deputy Managing Director Rob Hess, testifying before a Philadelphia City Council hearing last week, estimated the city's homeless population at 3,500, with all but 300 of that number in city shelters. Hess noted that the current population is less than half the homeless population in 2000. Stated Director Hess: "We expect to have a plan back to Mayor Street in early spring. Once the Mayor blesses that plan, that will be our blueprint for how we conduct business in the city with respect to ultimately ending homelessness in the city over the next ten years." Director Hess is pictured here with United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary and former Interagency Council Chair Tommy Thompson at the April 1 meeting of the Council.

Majority Leader Councilwoman and Finance Chair Jannie L. Blackwell, who chaired the hearing, stated, "We appreciate the work of the Interagency Council and all of our federal partners. Their support coupled with our local visionary leadership is making a huge difference in the lives of men, women, and children experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia." United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to brief the Council on federal initiatives to end chronic homelessness, told City officials, "Philadelphia is the national model to which cities across our country are looking because of the demonstrated results achieved on its streets and the innovative and cost effective strategies implemented in planning. There have always been many reasons to come to this great city - history, art, music, sports. Now people come to see how you've made a change on your streets and to learn how your strategies have worked. You deserve to be proud of the effort."

In addition to local providers and advocates, nationally recognized researcher Dr. Dennis Culhane of the University of Pennsylvania also addressed the Council. Federal officials were present to demonstrate intergovernmental partnership, including United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Director Milton Pratt, Health and Human Services Secretary's Regional Representative Robert Zimmerman, Veterans Affairs Homeless Coordinator Vincent Kane, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census Assistant Regional Director Michael Hall, Social Security Administration Regional Communications Director, Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service Public Affairs Officer Tim Walsh. Interagency Council Region III Coordinator Debbie Jackson also took part in the hearing.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN. City of Detroit Planning and Development Department Executive Director Walter Watkins spoke on behalf of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in launching Detroit's Community Summit on Ending Homelessness, a one day event this week to kick off the city's 10-Year Planning process. City of Detroit Department of Human Services Director Dwayne Haywood led public and private sector partners at the Cobo Conference Center where 75 invited community leaders, including federal, state, and local government officials, law enforcement, local businesses and corporations, foundations, and community and faith based organizations convened. Attendees were recruited to join working committees that will meet over the next several months as part of the 10-year planning process. Pictured here are (right to left): Director Haywood, Department of Human Services Deputy Director Shenetta Coleman, Department of Housing and Urban Development Field Office Director Toni Schmiegelow, Plan Coordinator Evelyn Murrie, and Interagency Council Coordinators John O'Brien. Coordinator Daryl Hernandez also participated.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. In Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan, this week, Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell and Kent County Commission Chairman David Morren affirmed their commitment, first announced last December, to developing a 10- Year Plan and using resources more effectively. Stated Mayor Heartwell, "I think this is a matter of will, not money. If the will of the community is to solve the problem, then that's where we have got to start."

North Dakota Governor John Hoeven (pictured here at left) last week signed Executive Order 2004-09 creating the Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness. North Dakota is one of 50 states and territories that have taken steps to establish State Interagency Councils on Homelessness.

The Executive Order, recognizing the need for collaboration among state agencies and expanded access to mainstream programs for homeless people, stated: "President Bush has established a United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to work to develop and implement a comprehensive national approach to end chronic homelessness sin the United States." The new Council will have duties ranging from coordination of state policy to identification of effective collaborative strategies and best practices, as well as recommendations to state agencies on effective distribution of resources.

Council membership will include representatives of the Governor's office, Directors of ND Departments of Human Services, Corrections, Job Services, Community Services, and Public Instruction; Mayors of Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks; Indian Affairs Commission; and ND Housing Finance Agency.

Speaking to more than 700 policymakers, builder, lenders, community leaders, housing providers, and advocates at the 2004 Governor's Housing Conference entitled "Opening Doors: Building a Better Future" in Norfolk this week, Virginia Governor Mark Warner announced that he will devote $1 million in United States Department of Housing and Urban Development HOME funds over the next two years to develop a pilot program to address chronic homelessness in the Commonwealth. Stated Governor Warner, "Safe and affordable housing is the bedrock of successful communities. These new initiatives represent funding, innovation, and support that will help us meet some of our greatest housing and community development challenges."

"The commitment of HOME funds to people experiencing chronic homelessness is consistent with this Administration's focus in making mainstream resources more available and accessible to homeless people. The Governor is to be commended for this creative investment," indicated United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano. Virginia's federal HOME funds, distributed through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), will be awarded to programs in Roanoke, Waynesboro, and Martinsville, which will each implement a local Housing First model for persons experiencing chronic homelessness. The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services will contribute $75,000 to the pilot program.

Governor Warner announced the creation of a community development bank for the state to serve as a financing source for projects that are unable to secure financing through other means. The Virginia Housing Registry was announced at the Conference. Virginians in need of accessible housing for persons with disabilities can go to www.accessva.org to find listings of available accessible rental housing in Virginia. The Housing Registry is an initiative of the Virginia Housing Development Authority, the Department of Rehabilitative Services, and the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities.

Partnering to host the Governor's Housing Conference were federal and state agencies including the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Virginia Housing Development Authority, Virginia Housing Commission, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Richmond Field Office, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Rural Development Office.

Effectively addressing barriers to reentry for men and women returning from prison is recognized as a key to homelessness prevention. United States Department of Labor's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI) continues to create new resources to support community partners and highlighting DOL's Ready4Work initiative, which is a partnership of business, faith, community, and criminal justice organizations. CFBCI has recently completed a series of national conference calls on reentry which has highlighted barriers and opportunities for organizations working with this emerging population. The five-call series addressed a wide variety of issues including job readiness, working with employers, mentoring ex-offenders, and substance abuse and mental health issues. Audio transcripts of the Center's calls are now posted for listening.

In addition to the recent conference calls, DOL has also posted new print resources on prisoner reentry and the Ready4Work program. "Ready4Work: Business Perspective on Ex-Offender Reentry" provides proven business strategies for all partners in reaching employment goals for ex-offenders.

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary and U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Vice-Chair Elaine Chao announced Ready4Work awards in August, echoing President Bush's State of the Union declaration that "everyone deserves a second chance." Ready4Work is a three-year, $22.5 million program to assist faith-based and community programs that provide mentoring and other transition services for men and women returning from prison. The initiative represents investments by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Justice (DOJ), and a consortium of private foundations.

Stated Secretary Chao about the Ready4Work program, "Few people go through life without regrets. That's why there is nothing so common as the wish for a new beginning. This grant offers a new beginning to some of the people who need it most."

WITH THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter continues its focus on innovative initiatives achieving results in ending chronic homelessness. "Evidence-Based Practices: Shaping Mental Health Services Toward Recovery" is a new web site created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and its Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) as one of several SAMHSA/CMHS activities critical to its science-to- services strategy. The site introduces six Evidence- Based Practice Implementation Resource Kits to encourage the use of evidence-based practices in mental health. One of SAMHSA's core principles is to assure service effectiveness by identifying and promoting evidence-based approaches to care. The science-to-services strategy is premised on the idea that new knowledge helps inform new community- based services and service needs help inform the next generation of scientific inquiry.

Several of the on-line Toolkits support key areas highlighted by initiatives to end chronic homelessness. Among these are the use of Assertive Community Treatment teams (ACT teams), which are linked to supportive housing in the Housing First model. Assertive Community Treatment offers services that are customized to the individual needs of the consumer, delivered by a team of practitioners, and available 24 hours a day. The resources address needs related to symptom management, housing, finances, employment, medical care, substance abuse, family life, and daily life activities.

The ACT on-line Toolkit provides information resources for practitioners and clinical supervisors, mental health program leaders, public mental health authorities, family members, and consumers. Toolkit materials include a literature review, cultural competence literature, a Fidelity Scale to assure consistency with the ACT model, information on monitoring client outcomes, and workbooks and videos.

Additional evidence-based practice resources on the site include: Co-occurring Disorders: Integrated Dual Diagnosis treatment, Supported Employment, Medication Management, and others.

FOR THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter focuses on remarks made by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano before the Philadelphia City Council last week (see other e-news story).

"Your investment, like our federal one, in the homeless efforts on the streets of Philadelphia, makes sense. Common sense. The resulting quality of life improvement in your city for both homeless and housed people is envied by other communities."

"Your investment, like ours, is in a management process, which has the confidence of political will and provider agencies. Your investment, like ours, anticipates a return on investment that is tangible and gets it done. Not only in changed lives, but also in cost savings in expensive mainstream health systems."

"For too long the issue of homelessness has eluded a performance metric. For too long there has been no management agenda attending to the response. As a result, ad hoc, crisis intervention responses reported on inputs, but had little to say about outcomes and results. We've encouraged an approach that simply indicates that our investments be research and data driven, performance based, and results oriented. And the result we are looking for is the ending of chronic homelessness."

. . . that Philadelphia, the nation's fifth largest city, was able to demonstrate decreases in its street homeless population that parallel increases in development of permanent supportive housing units, according to research from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in "Strategies for Reducing Chronic Street Homelessness."

. . . that Philadelphia was one of three cities, along with Columbus and San Diego, that the HUD report found had made good use of cost data, with Philadelphia using data to show the cost of emergency services that could be avoided through placement in permanent supportive housing.

. . . that the HUD report found that Philadelphia had several practices that would be of interest to other jurisdictions, including: a concerted plan to address street homelessness, major investments by mainstream agencies, an engagement coordination strategy, a single point of responsibility for homeless issues combined with extensive coordination mechanisms, and active use of data collection and analysis to shape public policy.