United States Interagency 
 Council on Homelessness          
August 31, 2016
Reducing Criminal Justice System Involvement among People Experiencing Homelessness 
Scales of Justice 
Far too many people wind up on the streets, in emergency shelters, or in other homelessness services after being discharged from jail or prison. And some communities are considering, or already have, ordinances that criminalize behaviors associated with homelessness that make it harder to connect people to stable housing. 
  
Use our latest fact sheet to spur action to break the cycle of homelessness and criminal justice system involvement in your community. 
  
Guide to Assessing and Connecting TANF Recipients to Homelessness Services
 
Family of 6 standing on their front porch.
State and local Temporary Assistance for Needy Families agencies play an important role in identifying families experiencing homelessness or housing instability. 
 
The Office of Family Assistance within HHS recently provided guidance to TANF agencies on how to add housing status questions as part of their typical intake process. It also provides examples of how TANF agencies can partner with Continuums of Care to ensure they're connecting people to the services they need.
 
Use These New Tools to Help End Youth Homelessness!
  
A young woman standing outside. We know it will take a coordinated community response to prevent and end youth homelessness. To support your efforts to build that robust response, HUD recently released a series of guidebooks for CoCs on ending youth homelessness.
  
The three new resources discuss system planning, mainstream system collaboration, and promising programs, all with a focus on engaging key partners locally in your efforts. 
  
HUD also partnered with HHS to release new guidance to support coordinated entry processes for youth. Learn more by reading the new FAQs.
  
American Flag
Celebrate Labor Day, Strengthen Your Employment Services!
 
Labor Day is a great reminder of the work we need to do to connect those exiting homelessness with employment, job training, and workforce skills.
  
To invigorate your efforts, watch HUD's four-part webinar series, Housing + Employment Works, on connecting housing services with employment services. And visit our Jobs page for additional employment-related resources.