Homelessness is a national crisis that impacts both urban and rural communities. Many national partners, including federal agencies, have been striving to better address homelessness in rural areas. This listserv highlights new resources and opportunities to help rural communities end homelessness.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recently launched the Rural Resource Guide to Help Communities Address Substance Use Disorder and Opioid Misuse. This guide identifies a listing of Federal programs that can be used to build resilient communities and address opioid misuse in rural communities.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released Challenges and Strategies for Serving Unstably Housed Veterans in Rural Areas: Evidence from the SSVF Program. Based on interviews with Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grantees, this brief describes three broad categories of challenges to serving veterans in rural areas: identifying unstably housed veterans; providing services given the resources available in the rural context; and leveraging effective collaboration to serve veterans in those areas. The authors subsequently propose strategies and resources needed to overcome these challenges.
- U.S. Department of Education (ED) published the Section 5005 Final Report on Rural Education last week. This report outlines the actions ED will take to meaningfully increase the involvement of rural schools and school districts in helping develop and execute ED processes, procedures, policies, and regulations. In addition to the actions noted above, the report contains the results of a self-assessment, a description of ED’s efforts to solicit and incorporate input from and address the unique needs of rural schools, and other information relevant to rural education.
- Chapin Hall released a report on Youth Homelessness in Rural America. This report uses data to show that youth homelessness is just as common in rural areas as it is in urban areas. The report outlines challenges that rural communities face as they serve youth experiencing homelessness and gives some recommendations on how to move forward.
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