Homelessness Update: New legislation would provide $13.27 billion in funding

Alliance Online News View in browser www.endhomelessness.org Wednesday, March 23, 2016 hill update new legislation would provide $13.27 billion to end homelessness Today House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced The Ending Homelessness Act of 2016. This legislation would provide $13.27 billion in new funding over five years to several programs and initiatives that would provide significant resources to end homelessness in America. The legislation would provide: $5 billion in McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants funding, which would fund 85,000 new permanent supportive housing units. This amount is estimated as enough to end chronic homelessness. $2.5 billion for special purpose Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), which is expected to provide affordable housing for homeless families, youth, and individuals. $1.05 billion annually in mandatory spending dedicated to the National Housing Trust Fund. These funds are in addition to the annual funding amounts for existing U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs. Read the press release >> Upcoming webinars March 24: Rapid Re-Housing Performance Benchmarks and Program Standards Join the more than 550 people already registered for tomorrow's webinar. We will walk through our new rapid re-housing guidelines, the three core components of rapid re-housing and the most promising practices for building an effective program. A Q&A session will follow. >> Register: Thursday, March 24, 1 p.m. EST April 6: Housing Choice Voucher Utilization and Funding The Center on Budget Policy Priorities will provide an overview of voucher utilization and funding, discuss steps that housing agencies can take to improve utilization, and briefly assess the funding outlook for 2017. >> Register: Wednesday, April 6, 2:30 p.m. EST April 12: Addressing Family Homelessness in Cleveland Register for an informative webinar on how the City of Cleveland is working to address family homelessness. Speakers will provide an overview the homeless system, including its diversion program, how coordinated entry works with rapid re-housing, progressive engagement and the process of housing families. >> Register: Tuesday, April 12, 1 p.m. EST CAP Agencies: Complete survey about family homelessness The Alliance and the Community Action Partnership are asking Community Action Programs (CAP) to participate in a survey about how they are working to address family homelessness. We will use the results of the survey to inform the development of a series of webinars on promising strategies to end family homelessness. Take the survey >> Registration for the 2016 National Conference opens early april Check our website frequently for updates on our 2016 National Conference on Ending Homelessness, July 26 - 28. Location: Renaissance Hotel Downtown Washington DC 999 Ninth Street, Washington, DC 20001 2016 Fees:  Early registration = $550.00. Regular registration =  $585.00 Late registration (opens June 24) = $700.00 Onsite registration = $775.00, and subject to availability. Bookmark www.endhomelessness.org for updates >> from the blog Ending Homelessness Today the official blog of the national alliance to end homelessness How to make shelter safe for transgender individuals by Anna Blasco The shelter system as a whole is “utterly failing to provide safety or relief for transgender and gender non-conforming people facing a housing crisis,” according to a 2011 report by the National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Use these HUD tools to make shelter safer to transgender individuals. Read more » comments » | Going Above and Beyond CARA: An Opportunity to Address Opioid and Heroin Abuse by Noëlle Porter Prescription opioid and heroin abuse is a national crisis, and the Administration and Congress are taking steps – both on the national and state level – to fight this battle. But it’s not enough. Fatal overdoses from prescription drugs and heroin continue to escalate, particularly among those most vulnerable: those experiencing homelessness. We know that substance use disorders are known risk factors for homelessness , and that substance abuse and overdose disproportionately impact homeless people.  Read more » comments » | Homeless States of Emergency: Advocacy Strategies to Advance Permanent Solutions by Guest Blogger, Matt Warfield, National Health Care for the Homeless Council The National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) examines the declarations of homelessness as a state of emergency (SOE)  from nine jurisdictions to  determine whether an SOE declaration could be used as an advocacy tool to advance permanent solutions.  Read more » comments » | About Us The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the problem of homelessness and preventing its continued growth. Join Us The Alliance is online: on Facebook, on Twitter, on our blog, and on our website! Join the Alliance's online community, and stay up-to-date with homelessness and housing information. www.endhomelessness.org Forward to a Friend Need Technical Assistance? Visit the Center for Capacity Building to learn more about the ways the Center can help your community end homelessness. Sign The Statement Sign the Never Another Homeless Veteran Statement! » National Alliance to End Homelessness 1518 K Street NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20005 (Tel) 202.638.1526 (Fax) 202.638.4664 © Copyright 2015 All rights reserved.