Last week the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness held its second formal meeting of the Obama Administration. An overview of the October 19 meeting chaired by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan can be found in the October 20 Special Edition of the e-news. Below are links to handouts that were distributed during presentations by Department of Commerce Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank on the 2010 Census, Department of Education Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs Director Zollie Stevenson, Jr. on trends in homeless student data, and an H1N1 Flu Guide for Community and Faith-based Organizations discussed by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Department of Education: Trends in Homeless Student Data. The most recent nationally aggregated data is from the 2007-2008 school year. The Department of Education will be receiving preliminary data from the states by mid December for the 2008-2009 school year.

U.S. Census Bureau: Counting People Experiencing Homelessness and Release of Data Collected in the 2010 Census.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: H1N1 Flu: A Guide for Community and Faith-based Organizations. HHS Secretary Sebelius and Director of the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Joshua DuBois officially unveiled the new guide in a conference call last month with community and faith leaders from all 50 states.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

This week HUD issued a Technical Corrections Notice to its 2009 Continuum of Care NOFA and extended the application deadline to November 25 by 2 pm Eastern Time. Please take special note of the 2 pm time. The Technical Corrrections Notice includes a clarification that persons coming from institutions must be homeless immediately prior to entering a publicly funded institution (including prisons, mental health and hospital facilities) AND that the person must have been a resident of the facility for 90 days or less.

Last month, President Obama asked HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to cochair a Long-Term Disaster Recovery Working Group, comprised of more than 20 federal departments, agencies and offices, to ensure that individuals, communities and the nation's economy can withstand and rapidly recover from disasters. Through the Working Group, the Secretaries will provide the President with recommendations to improve long-term catastrophic disaster recovery and will help develop a National Disaster Recovery Framework that provides more detailed operational guidance to recovery organizations under existing authorities. In a joint announcement on Wednesday, Secretaries Donovan and Napolitano unveiled a new federal website, DisasterRecoveryWorkingGroup.gov to facilitate stateholder input. "This new website will give everyone involved in disaster recovery a voice in shaping how we respond, and then rebuild and revitalize communities in the wake of disaster," noted Secretary Donovan. Already posted on the website are a series of questions for stakeholder input.

In order to develop a better national strategy for an effective approach to long-term disaster recovery, the Working Group on Long-Term Disaster Recovery will:

• Provide operational guidance for Federal, State, Tribal and local authorities to provide for effective and unified disaster recovery. This includes defining roles and responsibilities, detailing recovery management and operational coordination, articulating communications strategies and establishing measurements for success
• Review disaster recovery programs and the framework of disaster recovery, and identify gaps as well as overlapping and/or conflicting sources of authority for disaster recovery efforts
• Examine areas for improved interagency planning and collaboration among federal agencies
• Examine methods to build capacity within State, local and tribal governments as well as within the nonprofit, faith-based, and private sectors; both in recovery operations and in pre-disaster recovery planning
• Examine successful practices and lessons learned during previous disaster recovery efforts

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides assistance to low-income households in meeting the costs of heating and cooling their homes. Unpaid utility bills are a frequently cited factor by households at risk of homelessness. This week HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the release of more than $2.6 billion in LIHEAP funding to states to help low income citizens with their heating bills during October, November and December of this year. HHS is releasing such a large allocation of LIHEAP funds now in order to ensure that states have resources available to support their energy assistance programs as the weather turns colder.

View the list of state allocations from the funds released this week. To learn more about LIHEAP and how to apply for assistance, visit the HHS Administration for Children and Families LIHEAP web page.

In addition to the LIHEAP program, resources made available through the Recovery Act enacted earlier this year are also worth noting. Low income households whose unpaid utility bills put them at immediate risk of homelessness may be able to receive assistance through the $1.5 billion distributed to states and communities under HUD's Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP). The Recovery Act also included $5 billion to expand the Department of Energy's state administered Weatherization program. The Department of Energy distributes funding and provides technical guidance to the states, but the states run their own programs and set rules for issues such as eligibility within the federal guidelines. They also select service providers to run the program locally, which are usually nonprofit agencies that serve families in their communities. The Recovery Act increased the Weatherization program income eligibility ceiling to 200% of poverty level and the average funding assistance per dwelling unit to $6500. Read more about applying for weatherization assistance.

Community partners working with an influx of newly homeless and at risk families may be interested in the announcement this week by HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the latest research "on the challenges of family relationships in the context of homelessness." SAMHSA's Homelessness Resource Center has guest edited a special section of the American Psychological Association's American Journal of Orthopsychiatry providing "policy, practice, and research recommendations to support parents as they stabilize their lives, care for their children, and move out of homelessness." SAMHSA is sponsoring free open access to the full text of this Special Section.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

As recently reported in the e-news the Department of Veterans Affairs is hosting a Homeless Veteran Summit: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans in Five Years next week in Washington DC. Coverage of that event along with the National Mental Health Summit on the mental health care needs of America's military personnel, families and Veterans cohosted this week by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be provided in a coming edition of the e-news.

Community efforts to develop strategic Ten Year Plans to address homelessness came to fruition this month in Waterbury, Connecticut and Benton County, Oregon. Waterbury, also known as the "Brass City," is a classic example of a once flourishing New England milltown in a densely populated state. Benton County is much more rural in character though its county seat, Corvallis, is the home of Oregon State University. Both planning efforts had strong jurisdictional leadership and access to a network of other Ten Year Plans in their state, and both plans recognize the need for regional collaboration.

IN WATERBURY, A "BROAD, AMBITIOUS, PRINCIPLED, AND POSSIBLE" PLAN

After an intensive six month effort involving non-profits, the faith community, government and business, Waterbury leaders unveiled the City of Waterbury Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness at the Chase Municipal Building on October 20, becoming the 12th city in the state to create a Ten Year Plan. Pictured here at the unveiling are, l-r, State Senator Joan Hartley, Council Region 1 Coordinator John O'Brien, UW of Greater Waterbury President Kristen Bulkovitch, CT Coalition to End Homelessness Executive Director Carol Walter, Dean Andrews of Bank of America, and City of Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura.

In an introduction to the Plan, co-chairs Waterbury City Mayor Mayor Jarjura and United Way of Greater Waterbury President Bulkovitch write, "The Plan proposes moving people from shelter to permanent housing through an ambitious strategy to add affordable housing units and appropriate services, provide links to income through employment and training opportunities, and create a collaborative strategy to prevent homelessness before it happens. The Plan is multidimensional, like the causes of homelessness itself . . . The steps are clear and, if the community acts together, it is possible to reach our goals. We commit to review the plan on a regular basis and report back to the community on its progress toward reaching the possible goal of ending homelessness in Waterbury and throughout the region."

The plan is built around 5 Strategic Priorities. Each priority area is further defined with a start date, convener(s), community champion, activities, and benchmarks:

Create 250 units of permanent supportive housing in ten years within the Waterbury region, of which 60 units of permanent supportive housing are to be created within the first 3 years including 20 units of housing for Veterans

Create a sustainable flexible assistance fund to provide short-term financial assistance for individuals and families who are in danger of becoming homeless

Develop a respite model to provide transitional medical/behavioral health services to homeless individuals being discharged from institutional care

Reduce fragmentation of employment and income services and increase linkage among employment, training, service, and education resources

Communicate the goals, action steps, and benefits of the implementation of the Ten Year Plan to stakeholders and target audiences within the region "to ensure the plan is broadly understood and supported not just by housing advocates but by the entire community."

A Steering Committee that includes leadership from the Continuum of Care will lead the implementation process.

IN BENTON COUNTY, "THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME"

In Benton County, Oregon, A 10-Year Plan to Address Issues Surrounding Housing and Homelessness in Benton County, Oregon, is the result of a two year effort by a 33 member Steering Committee chaired by Benton County Commissioner Jay Dixon. The Plan was unveiled last Friday at a press conference held at the Corvallis-Benton County Library and immediately followed by the community's 1st Project Homeless Connect held at the First Christian Church. Benton County is the 11th Oregon community to develop a plan which will be implemented along with plans developed in the neighboring counties of Linn and Lincoln providing a regional approach. Pictured at the plan unveiling are Council Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson, Joann Zimmer of Community Services Consortium, Corvallis OR and 10 Year Plan operational organizer, Benton County Commissioner and Steering Committee Chair Jay Dixon, and Oregon Housing and Community Services Communication Director Lisa Joyce.

Council Coordinator Carlson reports that similar to Linn County, Benton County is establishing a program through which community volunteers will be paired up with homeless persons to help them navigate the systems for applying for housing and benefits and looking for work.

Although he crisscrosses the country nearly every week as the Council's National Team Leader, Atlanta-based Michael German was able to stay close to home this past week attending both the Atlanta United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness Meeting with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and outgoing Commission Chair Horace Sibley and Atlanta's first Project Homeless Connect at Georgia State University, and convening a federal Region 4 Interagency Council on Homelessness meeting.

Last week's meeting of the United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness was bittersweet as the Commission members continued to report progress in implementing their plan but also said goodbye to Commission Chair Horace Sibley who is stepping down after seven years of service. When Mayor Shirley Franklin asked the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta in 2002 to lead the development of a 10-Year Plan, it was Horace Sibley who answered the call to chair the effort that would create the 2003 Blueprint to End Homelessness in Ten Years and become the Regional Commission on Homelessness encompassing eight jurisdictions willingly working together to end homelessness-- City of Atlanta, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale counties.

Under the guidance of this retired King and Spaulding partner, the Regional Commission and its community partners have created more than 2,000 supportive housing units for the chronically homeless and another 600 specifically for homeless women and children. More than 1,500 homeless people have found employment, and more than 10,000 people have been reunited with loved ones and other support networks.

Horace Sibley has devoted himself not only to the implementation of the Atlanta Regional Ten Year Plan but also to sharing his knowledge and experience with elected and civic leaders of other communities around the nation engaging in the 10-year planning process. In 2006 the Council recognized Mr Sibley with A Home for Every American Award.

Mayor Shirley Franklin will become one of three co-chairs to carry the Commission's work forward. Together with Jack Hardin, senior partner of Rogers & Hardin, LLP, and Ray Buday, executive director of the Marietta Housing Authority, the three co-chairs reflect the collaborative vision on which the Commission was founded -- of government, business and non profits all working together. More information on the work of the Regional Commission on Homelessness can be found at www.unitedwayatlanta.org. Pictured above are Marietta Housing Authority Director Buday, Mayor Franklin, Mr. Sibley, and Council Team Leader German.

ATLANTA HOLDS ITS FIRST PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT

United Way, the non profit Living Room, Mayor Shirley Franklin's Office, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University and numerous non-profit agencies came together to create the first Altanta Homeless Connect this past weekend. The event was held at Georgia State University Sports Arena where over the course of the day more than 500 volunteers assisted over 1000 homeless guests. Organizers of Atlanta's Homeless Connect wanted to not only bring resources to Atlanta's homeless population, but "also to erase the stigma associated with homelessness through public knowledge and awareness, unite the community through services and activities, and engage civic responsibility through volunteer opportunities." More information about the unique partnerships that created Atlanta's first Connect event as well as results data which are still being tabulated will be reported in a coming edition of the e-news.

REGION 4 INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS MEETING INCLUDES INTER- AGENCY AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL DISCUSSIONS

This week's Region 4 federal interagency council meeting brought together senior regional officials from the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services including the Administration on Children and Families, VA, Justice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, General Services Administration, FEMA, and Social Security Administration who were joined by Regional Commission on Homelessness Executive Director Protip Biswas and Lindsey Stillman of the Georgia Housing Trust Fund who staffs the Georgia state interagency council on homelessness for a discussion of homelessness programs and resources.

Last week Nebraska's capital city of Lincoln joined the list of more than 200 communities around the nation that have adopted the Project Homeless Connect innovation. More than 225 homeless men and women found help at Lincoln's first Project Homeless Connect organized by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Homeless Coalition in space made available by the Center for People In Need. Pictured here are some of the event organizers.

In 2008 Omaha became the first Nebraska community to adopt the PHC innovation, and held a second event in March of this year attended by Nebraska First Lady Nancy Ganem. Lincoln organizers were welcomed at the Omaha event for a first hand look at the organizational effort. Ed Shada, Director of Business Development at Bellevue University and organizer of the Omaha Homeless Connect events held at Creighton University recently provided the Council with interesting data from those events. 318 homeless people attended the first Omaha PHC in 2008 and among the results data he reported, 42 were assisted to secure in housing within 2 months of the event, and of the 187 who received medical and dental care, 84% received follow up care. The second PHC in March of this year was attended by more than 500 homeless individuals, of which only 49 had attended the previous year . However, of those at this year's event, PHC organizers reported a greater number had been homeless at least one time before and for periods of longer than one year. Over 300 received health care services and again the follow up rate was over 80%. 23.9% had a high school diploma and 17.3% had some college experience although only 2.1% reporting having received a college degree. Of the 49 "repeat" guests, 42 were men, 18 of whom were between 50-59 years of age. Of the 7 repeat women guests, 6 were between the ages of 30 and 39.

Mr. Shada also reported that part of the Omaha PHC effort is to award a scholarship to Metro Community College to an event participant. Last year's scholarship recipient, who had been living at Omaha's Open Door Mission when he attended the 2008 PHC, is 35 years old, housed, sober for two years, and pursuing his paramedic's degree. He returned as a volunteer for this year's event.

This year's Council facilitated National Project Homeless Connect Week is December 7-13. Visit our National Project Homeless Connect web page to learn more about Project Homeless Connect. If your community is planning a Connect event during National Week and the event is not already listed on our calendar, please email us at nphc@usich.gov with the date and contact information. If you are interested in more information or need technical assistance, please email us at the same nphc@usich.gov. We're here to help.

Flu.gov is a federal web site providing one stop access to H1N1 and seasonal flu information. Among other resources, the site includes Flu Essentials: What You Need to Know information sheets in multiple languages. Also available is a page of social media links.

A new National League of Cities report, The State of City Leadership for Children and Families, prepared by NLC's Institute for Youth, Education and Families, was unveiled this month at the NLC 2009 National Summit on Your City's Families held in Boston. The report, says the NLC , "identifies the nation's 32 most cutting-edge city innovations to help children and families thrive, and documents emerging and established trends in municipal leadership to promote child and family well-being. Among the topics is Youth in Transition where highlighted innovations include:

Philadelphia - Achieving Independence Center: Coordinating services for youth aging out of foster care

Boston - Youth Options Unlimited: Providing transitional jobs to court involved youth

San Francisco- Transitional Age Youth Initiative: Creating a collaborative interagency structure to support youth in transition

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) is a Washington DC-based non profit corporation that supports the development of rural low income housing nationally through a revolving loan fund, research and demonstration projects, training, and technical assistance services. With funding from the Department of Health and Human Services Compassion Capital Fund and in partnership with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, HAC has created the Rural Homelessness Capacity Building initiative to provide rural homeless organizations with the technical assistance, training, information, and financial resources they need to improve their ability to serve homeless. Slides from an October 2nd HAC sponsored audio web training on Rural Supportive Housing: Challenges and Opportunities presented by the Corporation for Supportive Housing -Minnesota are available online.

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