Department of Housing and Urban Development

HUD Awards Nearly $1 Billion to Neighborhoods Hardest-Hit by Foreclosures

Last week, HUD allocated funding to the 20 percent of communities in each state that have been hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. As part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), these funds can be used by local governments to buy, demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties, facilitating a new opportunity to develop additional affordable or permanent supportive housing. The funds can also be used to prevent homelessness by extending assistance to people fighting to keep their homes.


HUD Announces $65 Million in Choice Neighborhood Planning and Implementation Grants: Deadline October 26

As part of ongoing efforts to support comprehensive community revitalization and prevent assisted housing from fostering crime and blight, HUD has announced this pilot to expand HOPE VI's redevelopment toolkit to allow for redevelopment of public and other HUD-assisted housing properties.  The program widens the traditional pool of eligible applicants by allowing local governments, nonprofits, and for-profit developers that submit joint applications with a public entity to apply. 

HUD Hope VI Grants: Deadline November 22

HUD is seeking applicants for $124 million in grants to transform severely distressed public housing developments.  There have been 254 HOPE VI Revitalization grants awarded to 132 housing authorities since 1993 - totaling more than $6.1 billion. These grants have transformed severely distressed public housing developments to mixed-income communities. Grant funds may be used for an array of activities, including: demolition of severely distressed public housing; acquisition of sites for off-site construction; capital costs of major rehabilitation, new construction and other physical improvements; and community and supportive service programs for residents, including those relocated as a result of revitalization efforts. 

Department of Labor

New Site to Connect Job Seekers with Training and Careers

On Labor Day, the Department of Labor launched www.mySkillsmyFuture.com, a new career one-stop site offering job seekers an opportunity to match their skills and experience with new careers and find out what training they need to transition to a new field.  The site also provides information about high-quality training programs and education providers, as well as local job postings.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Live Webcast to learn about new VA initiative called the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program

The webcast will consist of an overview of the SSVF Program followed by a question and answer session. The SSVF Program was authorized by Public Law 110-387. Under the SSVF Program, VA will award grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives who will provide a range of supportive services to promote housing stability to very low-income Veteran families residing in or transitioning to permanent housing.

- Learn more about the SSVF Program

USICH and Department of Education Affirm Commitment to Housing and Education for Children

Last week, USICH Executive Director Barbara Poppe and  Deputy Director Jennifer Ho met with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Assistant Deputy Secretary Kevin Jennings, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, and Special Assistant Kathryn Young to discuss our collaborative approach to the growing population of homeless children.

A note from Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools Kevin Jennings:

This week, Secretary Duncan, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, and I met with Barbara Poppe and Jennifer Ho, the Executive and Deputy Directors of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH).  USICH has just issued the first-ever federal plan to end homelessness (http://www.usich.gov) and the plan has a special emphasis on homeless children and youth. These children, who often are living in shelters or "doubling up" or "couch surfing" with friends and family, tend to be "invisible" as the public image of homelessness is with adults who live on the streets.  But these young people are among the biggest victims of the current economic downturn: at the end of the 2008-2009 school year, public schools enrolled a total of over 960,000 homeless children and youth - a 40 percent increase since the 2006-2007 school year.  

Homeless children often are quite young and are in this situation because their entire family has lost its home.  The disruption of their education results in "learning loss" that causes them to lag behind their peers and often perform poorly in school, starting them down the road to eventually dropping out.  Homeless adolescents are called "unaccompanied youth," usually because they become homeless after leaving their family or foster home because conditions there have become intolerable.  Regardless of why homelessness occurs for a young person, this is population that is deeply underserved and USICH is galvanizing efforts to make their needs a top priority - something we at ED very much support.  

The Department's Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program is one of only two federal programs targeted exclusively to homeless children and youth. The EHCY program removes barriers to the enrollment, attendance, and success of homeless children and youth in school.   You can learn more about this program at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/homeless/index.html. You can also find great resources through the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (http://www.naehcy.org/), whose 22nd annual conference (where I will be speaking) will be in Houston on November 6-9.

Mahatma Gandhi once said "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."  Surely there are few who are as vulnerable as homeless children and youth.  As we start a school year when it is very possible the number of such children may break 1 million for the first time in American history, let's do our best to make sure they get both a home and an education.

National Alliance to End Homelessness Releases Third Quarterly Leadership Council Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP) Report

The report documents the progress of 13 cities implementing their HUD-funded HPRP.  Of the 24,352 that have exited from prevention programs in the 13 cities, at least 18,033 (74 percent) have been discharged to permanent housing. Of the 28,164 who have exited from rapid re-housing programs, at least 27,172 (97 percent) have been discharged to permanent housing.

USICH Releases Historical Overview of the Agency

USICH has just released an historical overview of its evolution and accomplishments since its creation in 1987. Visit "About USICH" to learn more about the agency and its senior leadership.