Today, the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness was proud to join our colleagues within the federal government and from across the country for the release of "Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness" at the White House. This plan, spearheaded by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and with the active participation of nineteen federal agencies, outlines an interagency collaboration that aligns mainstream housing, health, education, and human services to prevent Americans from experiencing homelessness. The federal plan focuses on four key goals and includes ten objectives and fifty-two strategies. Most importantly, it concludes with a framework for action.

 

This morning's announcement and event featured U.S. Interagency Council

USICH Executive Director Barbara Poppe

on Homelessness Executive Director Barbara Poppe along with four Cabinet Secretaries and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes. Each Secretary highlighted how they will direct their agency to partner with collaborating agencies and support evidence-based, cost effective solutions to homelessness.

 

VCEH applauds the federal government and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness for delivering a comprehensive and actionable blueprint for ending homelessness in America. The Commonwealth of Virginia has embarked on the development of a housing policy framework with a focus on reducing homelessness. The federal strategic plan provides an excellent framework to guide Virginia's efforts to align strategies and resources to bring us closer to the day when no Virginian will experience homelessness. The critical component to preventing and ending homelessness is included as one of the federal plan's objectives -- to transform homeless services to crisis response systems that will prevent homelessness and to rapidly return people who experience homelessness to stable housing. People will continue to experience hard times but we can and must put in place a system to prevent homelessness before it occurs and end homelessness as quickly as possible for the 8,900 individuals, including veterans and families with young children, who experience it on any given night in Virginia.

 

Sarah Paige Fuller, VCEH Board Member and Director of the City of Norfolk Office to End Homelessness stated: "I was impressed and delighted to see such a well-conceived and clear plan that recognizes both the need to focus on critical interventions that are effective and the understanding that there must be flexibility at the client-level to do what it takes to end or prevent homelessness. This plan will provide us at the state and local levels a tool to be clear in our direction and firm in our commitments to results. Together, we can and will end homelessness."

 

 

Click here for the federal strategic plan.

Highlights of this morning's remarks:

 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan noted the thirty percent increase in family homelessness in urban and rural areas. The federal plan aims to not only continue the initiative to end chronic homelessness but prioritizes an end to homelessness among families and youth in ten years. Secretary Donovan also connected the dots between an end to homelessness and the need to rebalance national housing policy and programs towards rental housing.

 

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Hilda Solis shared her commitment to ensuring work supports especially for youth and for those at risk of homelessness. The Department of Labor announced ninety-seven new grants to thirty-one states to provide veterans with job training to prepare them for civilian life through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted the influence of health issues on contributing factors to homelessness and the fact that the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States is unpaid medical bills. Secretary Sebelius committed to working with HUD and aligning services resources with housing through a new initiative combining housing vouchers with funding from mainstream programs to serve homeless or at-risk families with children and to serve people experiencing chronic homelessness. She also referenced the health care reform bill which makes all Americans with income below 133% of the federal poverty line eligible for Medicaid. We in Virginia must make sure that we are positioned to take advantage of this critical resource for people experiencing and at risk of homelessness.

 

Finally, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki began his remarks with the statement "It's not about them. It's about us." He was referring to the fact that people who leave the military often fall into homelessness through no fault of their own. He mentioned the fact that while veteran homelessness has declined in numbers nationally; those veterans who do experience homelessness tend to have the most severe needs. The federal government recently announced new HUD-VASH vouchers; Secretary Shinseki announced another 1,500 vouchers to be awarded this summer.

 

VCEH was excited to host U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes

Deputy Director Anthony Love at our Northern Virginia Regional Forum on Homelessness last week, co-sponsored by the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance. Mr. Love's remarks echo the closing remarks of White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes, "The federal government cannot do this alone." She also noted that those working on the issue must coordinate and leverage public and private sector resources to create a streamlined system to prevent and end homelessness.