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Homelessness: Targeted Federal Programs and
Recent Legislation
Libby Perl, Coordinator
Specialist in Housing Policy
Adrienne L. Fernandes
Specialist in Social Policy
Garrine P. Laney
Analyst in Social Policy
Gail McCallion
Specialist in Social Policy
Francis X. McCarthy
Analyst in Emergency Management Policy
Barbara English
Information Research Specialist
May 14, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RL30442
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
c11173008
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Homelessness: Targeted Federal Programs and Recent Legislation
Summary
The causes of homelessness and determining how best to assist those who find themselves homeless
became particularly prominent, visible issues in the 1980s. The concept of homelessness may seem like a
straightforward one, with individuals and families who have no place to live falling within the definition.
However, the extent of homelessness in this country and how best to address it depend upon how one
defines the condition of being homeless.
There is no single federal definition of homelessness, although a number of programs, including those
overseen by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and
the Department of Labor (DOL) use the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
definition. Currently, the HUD definition of a homeless individual is one who lacks a fixed nighttime
residence and whose primary nighttime residence is a supervised public or private shelter designed to
provide temporary living accommodations, a facility accommodating persons intended to be
institutionalized, or a place not intended to be used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human
beings. However, the definition was recently broadened as part of the Helping Families Save Their
Homes Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-22), which was signed by the President on May 20, 2009. The new
definition will take effect approximately 18 months from the date the law was enacted.
A number of federal programs in seven different agencies, many authorized by the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (P.L. 100-77), serve homeless persons. These include the Education for
Homeless Children and Youths program administered by the Department of Education (ED) and the
Emergency Food and Shelter program, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program run
by the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
administers multiple programs that serve homeless individuals, including Health Care for the Homeless,
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, and the Runaway and Homeless Youth program.
HUD administers the Homeless Assistance Grants, made up of four separate programs that provide
housing and services for homeless individuals—the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter Plus Care
program, the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation of Single-Room Occupancy Dwellings program, and the
Emergency Shelter Grants program. The VA operates numerous programs that serve homeless veterans.
These include Health Care for Homeless Veterans and the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem
program, as well as a collaborative program with HUD called HUD-VASH, through which homeless
veterans receive Section 8 vouchers from HUD and supportive services through the VA. The Department
of Labor also operates a program for homeless veterans, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.
Attention has turned to homelessness in recent months due, at least in part, to the downturn in the
economy. Some homeless service providers report that the numbers of individuals seeking assistance are
increasing, the number of contacts that outreach workers made with homeless youth increased in 2008,
and school districts in some communities report that they are serving more homeless students than they
did the previous year. In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5), Congress
appropriated funds to serve homeless individuals through various programs, including the Emergency
Food and Shelter program, the Education for Homeless Children and Youths program, and a new
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program. Congress also recently reauthorized the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants for the first time since FY1994. Additionally, active
legislation in the 111th Congress includes the Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care
Authorities Act (S. 1237), and the Homes for Heroes Act (H.R. 403, which has been passed by the House,
and S. 1160, which has been introduced in the Senate).
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1
Defining Homelessness ........................................................................................................................... 1
The Federal Response to Homelessness ................................................................................................... 3
Department of Education (ED) .......................................................................................................... 5
Education for Homeless Children and Youths .............................................................................. 5
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).......................................................................................... 6
Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program............................................................................... 6
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ............................................................................ 6
Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Program ............................................................................ 6
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)................................................. 7
Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals............................................................................ 7
Runaway and Homeless Youth Program ...................................................................................... 8
Department of Justice (DOJ) ........................................................................................................... 10
Transitional Housing Assistance for Victims of Domestic Violence, Stalking, or Sexual
Assault ................................................................................................................................... 10
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ................................................................. 11
Homeless Assistance Grants ...................................................................................................... 11
Department of Labor (DOL)............................................................................................................ 13
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program ................................................................................ 13
Referral and Counseling Services: Veterans at Risk of Homelessness Who Are
Transitioning from Certain Institutions ................................................................................... 14
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ............................................................................................... 14
Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) ............................................................................. 14
Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program ..................................................................... 15
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV) ..................................................................... 15
Compensated Work Therapy Program........................................................................................ 16
HUD VA Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) .............................................................................. 16
Supportive Services for Very Low-Income Veterans and Their Families..................................... 17
Other Activities for Homeless Veterans...................................................................................... 17
Social Security Administration (SSA).............................................................................................. 18
Current Issues ....................................................................................................................................... 20
The Recent Economic Downturn and Homelessness ........................................................................ 20
Funds for Homeless Programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ....................... 21
Efforts to End Homelessness ........................................................................................................... 21
The Chronic Homelessness Initiative......................................................................................... 22
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End
Homelessness......................................................................................................................... 25
The Department of Veterans Affairs Plan to End Homelessness ................................................. 25
Legislation Enacted in the 111th Congress .............................................................................................. 26
Reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants.............................................. 26
Consolidation of the Competitive Homeless Assistance Grants .................................................. 26
Definitions of “Homeless Individual” and “Chronically Homeless Person”................................ 28
Homelessness Prevention .......................................................................................................... 29
Rural Homelessness .................................................................................................................. 30
Other Enacted Legislation ............................................................................................................... 30
Active Legislation in the 111th Congress ................................................................................................ 31
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Funding................................................................................................................................................. 33
Tables
Table 1. Homelessness: Appropriations for Targeted Federal Programs, FY2005-FY2010...................... 34
Table 2. Homelessness: Targeted VA Program Obligations, FY2004-FY2010......................................... 36
Contacts
Author Contact Information................................................................................................................... 36
Key Policy Staff .................................................................................................................................... 37
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Introduction
Federal assistance targeted to homeless individuals and families was largely non-existent prior to
the mid-1980s. Although the Runaway and Homeless Youth program was enacted in 1974 as part
of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (P.L. 93-415), the first federal program
focused on assisting all homeless people, no matter their age, was the Emergency Food and
Shelter (EFS) program, established in March 1983 through an emergency jobs appropriation bill
(P.L. 98-8). The EFS program was and continues to be administered by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide
emergency food and shelter to needy individuals.
In 1987, Congress enacted the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (P.L. 100-77),
which created a number of new programs to comprehensively address the needs of homeless
people, including food, shelter, health care, and education. The act was later renamed the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (P.L. 106-400) after its two prominent proponents—
Representatives Stewart B. McKinney and Bruce F. Vento. The programs authorized in
McKinney-Vento include the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Homeless
Assistance Grants, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care for Homeless Veterans
and Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans programs, the Department of Labor (DOL)
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals and Health Care for the Homeless, and the
Department of Education (ED) Education for Homeless Children and Youths program.
This report describes existing federal programs that provide targeted assistance to homeless
individuals and families (other federal programs may provide assistance to homeless individuals
but are not specifically designed to assist homeless persons). These include those programs listed
above, as well as others that Congress has created since the enactment of McKinney-Vento. In
addition, this report summarizes active and enacted homelessness legislation in the 111th
Congress and discusses current issues related to homelessness, including the recent economic
downturn and federal efforts to end homelessness. Finally, Table 1 at the end of this report shows
funding levels for each of the ED, DHS, HHS, HUD, DOL, and Department of Justice (DOJ)
programs that assist homeless individuals. Table 2 shows funding levels for VA programs.
Defining Homelessness
There is no single federal definition of what it means to be homeless, and definitions among
federal programs that serve homeless individuals may vary to some degree. As a result, the
populations served through the federal programs described in this report may differ depending on
the program.
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (P.L. 100-77), enacted in 1987, authorized
numerous programs to assist homeless individuals (McKinney-Vento is discussed more fully in
the next section of this report). The act included programs to address various needs of homeless
persons such as housing, education, health care, and food assistance, among others, all
administered by various federal agencies. McKinney-Vento also contained a definition of the term
homeless individual for purposes of those programs that were authorized through the law (see
Section 103 of McKinney-Vento). The definition of homeless individual in McKinney-Vento is
used today to determine eligibility for the HUD Homeless Assistance Grants, FEMA’s Emergency
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Food and Shelter program, the VA homeless veterans programs, and the DOL’s Homeless
Veterans Reintegration Program.1 Section 103 of McKinney-Vento defines a homeless individual
as
[a]n individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and a person
who has a nighttime residence that is (a) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate
shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); (b) an institution that provides a
temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or (c) a public or private
place not designed for, nor ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human
beings.2
The definition is sometimes described as requiring one to be literally homeless in order to meet its
requirements3—either living in emergency accommodations or having no place to stay. This
contrasts with definitions used in some other federal programs, where a person may currently
have a place to live but is still considered to be homeless because the accommodation is
precarious or temporary.
The McKinney-Vento definition of homeless individual was recently changed, on May 20, 2009,
when the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act was
enacted as part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-22). The change
will be effective at the earlier of 18 months from the date of the law’s enactment—on or about
November 20, 2010—or three months from the date on which HUD publishes final regulations.
On April 20, 2010, HUD published a proposed rule to clarify the changed definition in the
HEARTH Act; the comment period ends on June 21, 2010.4
The HEARTH Act makes several changes to the definition of homeless individual. One of the
primary changes is to incorporate into the definition those individuals and families who are
defined as homeless under other federal laws as long as they (1) have experienced a long-term
period without living independently in permanent housing; (2) have experienced instability as
evidenced by frequent moves; and (3) can be expected to continue in unstable housing due to
factors such as chronic disabilities, chronic physical health or mental health conditions, substance
addiction, histories of domestic violence or childhood abuse, the presence of a child or youth with
a disability, or multiple barriers to employment. (For a full discussion of the changes to the
McKinney-Vento definition in the new law, see the section of this report entitled “Definitions of
“Homeless Individual” and “Chronically Homeless Person””)
Among the federal programs that have adopted a definition of homelessness that differs from the
definition in Section 103 of McKinney-Vento is the Department of Education (ED) Education for
Homeless Children and Youths program. The ED program defines homeless children and youth in
part by reference to the Section 103 definition of homeless individuals: those living in places not
1 The definition of homeless veteran is a veteran who is homeless as defined by McKinney-Vento. 38 U.S.C. § 2002(1).
This definition applies to VA programs for homeless veterans as well as the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.
2 42 U.S.C. § 11302(a).
3 See, for example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, The Third Annual Homeless Assessment
Report to Congress, July 2008, p. 2, footnote 5, http://www.hudhre.info/documents/
3rdHomelessAssessmentReport.pdf.
4 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to
Housing: Defining “Homeless”,” 75 Federal Register 20541-20546, April 20, 2010.
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meant for human habitation.5 In addition, however, the Education for Homeless Children and
Youths program defines children and youth who are eligible for services to include those who are
(1) sharing housing with other persons due to loss of housing or economic hardship, (2) those
living in hotels or motels, trailer parks or campgrounds due to lack of alternative arrangements,
(3) those awaiting foster care placement, and (4) children of migrant workers.6
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Runaway and Homeless Youth program
also has its own definition of homelessness. However, unlike the Education for Homeless
Children and Youth program, the Runaway and Homeless Youth program definition does not refer
to the McKinney-Vento Act Section 103 definition. Instead, the statute defines a homeless youth
as either age 16 to 21 (for transitional housing) or age 18 and younger (for short-term shelter) and
for whom it is not possible to live in a safe environment with a relative or for whom there is no
other safe alternative living arrangement.7
Different definitions are also used by the Health Care for the Homeless program and Projects for
Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH), both administered by HHS. Under the
Health Care for the Homeless program, a homeless individual is one who “lacks housing” and
includes those living in a private or publicly operated temporary living facility or in transitional
housing.8 In the PATH program, an “eligible homeless individual” is described as one suffering
from serious mental illness, which may also be accompanied by a substance abuse disorder, and
who is “homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless.” The statute does not further define
what constitutes being homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, however.
The Federal Response to Homelessness
Homelessness in the United States has always existed, but it did not come to the public’s attention
as a national issue until the 1970s and 1980s, when the characteristics of the homeless population
and their living arrangements began to change. Throughout the early and middle part of the 20th
century, homelessness was typified by “skid rows”: areas with hotels and single-room occupancy
dwellings where transient single men lived.9 Skid rows were usually removed from the more
populated areas of cities, and it was uncommon for individuals to actually live on the streets.10
Beginning in the 1970s, however, the homeless population began to grow and become more
visible to the general public. According to studies from the time, homeless persons were no
longer almost exclusively single men, but included women with children; their median age was
younger; they were more racially diverse (in previous decades, the observed homeless population
was largely white); they were less likely to be employed (and therefore had lower incomes); they
were mentally ill in higher proportions than previously; and individuals who were abusing or had
abused drugs began to become more prevalent in the population.11
5 42 U.S.C. § 11434a.
6 Migratory children are defined at 20 U.S.C. § 6399.
7 42 U.S.C. § 5732a(3).
8 42 U.S.C. § 254b(h)(5)(A).
9 Peter H. Rossi, Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1989), pp. 20-21, 27-28.
10 Ibid., p. 34.
11 Ibid., pp. 39-44.
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A number of reasons have been offered for the growth in the number of homeless persons and
their increasing visibility. Many cities demolished skid rows to make way for urban development,
leaving some residents without affordable housing options.12 Other possible factors contributing
to homelessness include the decreased availability of affordable housing generally, the reduced
need for seasonal unskilled labor, the reduced likelihood that relatives will accommodate
homeless family members, the decreased value of public benefits, and changed admissions
standards at mental hospitals.13 The increased visibility of homeless people was due, in part, to
the decriminalization of actions such as public drunkenness, loitering, and vagrancy.14
In the 1980s, Congress first responded to the growing prevalence of homelessness with several
separate grant programs designed to address the food and shelter needs of homeless individuals.
These programs included the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (P.L. 98-8), the Emergency
Shelter Grants Program (P.L. 99-591), and the Transitional Housing Demonstration Program (P.L.
99-591).15 In 1983, the first federal task force was created to provide information to local
governments and other parties on how to obtain surplus federal property that could be used for
providing shelter and other services for homeless persons.
Congress began to consider comprehensive legislation to address homelessness in 1986. On June
26, 1986, H.R. 5140 and S. 2608 were introduced as the Homeless Persons’ Survival Act to
provide an aid package for homeless persons. No further action was taken on either measure,
however. Later that same year, legislation containing Title I of the Homeless Persons’ Survival
Act—emergency relief provisions for shelter, food, mobile health care, and transitional housing—
was introduced as the Urgent Relief for the Homeless Act (H.R. 5710). The legislation passed
both houses of Congress in 1987 with large bipartisan majorities. The act was renamed the
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act after the death of its chief sponsor, Stewart B.
McKinney of Connecticut; it was renamed again on October 30, 2000, as the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act after the death of another prominent sponsor, Bruce F. Vento of
Minnesota. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed the act into law (P.L. 100-77).
The original version of the McKinney-Vento Act consisted of 15 programs providing an array of
services for homeless persons. The act also established the Interagency Council on Homelessness,
which is designed to provide guidance on the federal response to homelessness through the
coordination of the efforts of multiple federal agencies covered under the McKinney-Vento Act.
Since the enactment of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, there have been several
legislative changes to programs and services provided under the act. Specific programs covered
under the McKinney-Vento Act, as well as other federal programs responding to homelessness,
are discussed below.
12 Ibid., p. 33.
13 Ibid., pp. 181-194, 41. See also Martha Burt, Over the Edge: The Growth of Homelessness in the 1980s (New York:
Russell Sage Foundation, 1992), pp. 31-126.
14 Down and Out in America, p. 34; Over the Edge, p. 123.
15 All three programs were incorporated into the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in 1987. (The Transitional
Housing Demonstration Program was renamed the Supportive Housing Demonstration Program.)
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Department of Education (ED)
Education for Homeless Children and Youths
(42 U.S.C. §§ 11431-11435) This program, also known as the Education for Homeless Children
and Youth program, was initially authorized under Title VII, Part B, of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act; it provides assistance to state education agencies (SEAs) to ensure that
all homeless children and youth have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education,
including public preschool education, that is provided to other children and youth. Grants made
by SEAs to local education agencies (LEAs) under this program must be used to facilitate the
enrollment, attendance, and success in school of homeless children and youth. The LEAs may use
the funds for activities such as tutoring, supplemental instruction, and referral services for
homeless children and youth, as well as providing them with medical, dental, mental, and other
health services. In order to receive funds, each state must submit a plan indicating how homeless
children and youth will be identified, how assurances will be put in place that homeless children
will participate in federal, state, and local food programs if eligible, and how the state will
address such problems as transportation, immunization, residency requirements, and the lack of
birth certificates or school records.
Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program grants are allotted to SEAs in proportion to
grants made under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, except
that no state can receive less than the greater of $150,000, 0.25% of the total annual
appropriation, or the amount received in FY2001 under this program. The Department of
Education must reserve 0.1% of the total appropriation in order to provide grants to outlying areas
(Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands). The Department must also transfer 1.0% of the total appropriation to the Department of
the Interior for services to homeless children and youth provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110), amended the program explicitly to prohibit
states that receive McKinney-Vento funds from segregating homeless students from non-
homeless students, except for short periods of time for health and safety emergencies or to
provide temporary, special, supplementary services. An exception was made for four counties that
operated separate schools for homeless students in FY2000 (San Joaquin, Orange, and San Diego
counties in California, and Maricopa County in Arizona), as long as (1) those separate schools
offer services that are comparable to local schools; and (2) homeless children are not required to
attend them. The Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program was authorized under the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 through FY2007 (FY2008 with the automatic one-year
extension provided by the General Education Provisions Act).16
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, signed into law on July 30, 2008 (P.L. 110-
289), included a provision increasing the authorization for the McKinney-Vento Education for
Homeless Children and Youth Program from $70 million to $100 million for FY2009, and such
sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal year. If appropriated funds for the program
are greater than $70 million, this provision authorizes the Secretary to award emergency grants
(not to exceed $30 million) to SEAs based on need, to assist children and youth who have become
homeless due to foreclosure. SEAs would then award these grants to LEAs based on their need
16 See Section 422 of the General Education Provisions Act, as amended by P.L. 103-382. 42 U.S.C. § 1226a.
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for such awards. Determination of need is to be based on the number of children, youth, and their
families who have become homeless due to foreclosure of their home or rental property.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program
(42 U.S.C. §§ 11331-11352) The Emergency Food and Shelter program, the oldest federal
program serving all homeless populations,17 was established in March 1983 and is administered
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in the Department of Homeland
Security. The program allocates funds to local communities to fund homeless programs and
homelessness prevention services. The EFS program is governed by a National Board chaired by
FEMA and made up of representatives from the United Way of America, the Salvation Army, the
National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., Catholic Charities U.S.A., United Jewish
Communities, and the American Red Cross. The National Board uses a formula comprised of
unemployment rates and poverty rates to determine which local jurisdictions (typically counties)
qualify for funds. Eligible local jurisdictions then convene a local board to determine which
organizations—nonprofits and government agencies—within their communities should receive
grants, and distribute their available funds accordingly.18
Eligible expenses for which local organizations may use funds include items for food pantries
such as groceries, food vouchers, and transportation expenses related to the delivery of food;
items for mass shelters such as hot meals, transportation of clients to shelters or food service
providers, and toiletries; payments to prevent homelessness such as utility assistance, hotel or
motel lodging, rental or mortgage assistance and first month’s rent; and local recipient
organization program expenses such as building maintenance or repair, and equipment purchases
up to $300.
The EFS program was established by the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983
(P.L. 98-8); in 1987 it was authorized under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The
authorization for the EFS program expired at the end of FY1994 (42 U.S.C. § 11352), however it
continues to be funded through annual appropriations.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Program
(42 U.S.C. § 254b(h)) The Health Care for the Homeless program is authorized as a Consolidated
Health Centers Program and currently allocates funds to 202 grantees to provide health services
to a special medically underserved population comprised of homeless individuals. This is the only
federal program with responsibility for addressing the primary health care needs of homeless
people; it furnishes a range of services that include emergency shelter, transitional housing, job
training, primary health care, education, and some permanent housing. Grants are also available
17 Another program, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program, was enacted earlier than the Emergency Food and
Shelter Program (in 1974), but serves a specific population rather than all homeless persons generally.
18 For more information about recipient jurisdictions, see the National Board website, http://efsp.unitedway.org/.
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for innovative programs that provide outreach and comprehensive primary health services to
homeless children and children at risk of homelessness. Centers that receive grants to care for
homeless persons are required to provide substance abuse treatment as a condition of the grant. In
CY2008, approximately 747,717 homeless individuals were provided services by this program.19
Authorization for the Health Centers Program expired at the end of FY2006 (42 U.S.C. §
254b(r)). (For more information, see CRS Report RL32046, Federal Health Centers Program, by
Barbara English.)
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)
(42 U.S.C. § 290cc-21 through § 290cc-35) Created in 1987, the PATH program is authorized
under Title V of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, Sections 521-535, and administered by the
Center for Mental Health Services within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA). The PATH formula grant program supports a wide network of state
and local agencies that provide community-based outreach, mental health, substance abuse, case
management, and other support services in a variety of settings for people with serious mental
illness (including those with co-occurring substance abuse disorders) who are homeless or at risk
of becoming homeless. The PATH program provides these services through grants of at least
$300,000 to each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The U.S. territories each
receive $50,000. States must provide matching funds of at least $1 for every $3 of federal funds.
In FY2008, the most recent year for which data are available, states exceeded the minimum level
of matching funds, providing nearly $38 million in funds to match the $51 million federal
allocation.20 Up to 20% of the federal payments may be used for housing subsidies and other
services to help individuals access housing resources. Authorization for the PATH program
expired at the end of FY2003; however, it continues to be funded through annual appropriations.
Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals
(42 U.S.C. § 290aa-5) Another program administered through SAMHSA, the Grants for the
Benefit of Homeless Individuals program was one of the programs originally authorized under
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.21 The program is also sometimes referred to as
Section 506 grants after the section of the Public Health Service Act where it was transferred as
part of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act of 1991
(P.L. 102-321). Through the Section 506 grants, SAMHSA supports community services for
homeless individuals with substance abuse disorders or with co-occurring substance abuse and
mental disorders. The goal is to link substance abuse and mental health treatment services with
housing programs and other services for homeless persons. The programs are evaluated based on
outcomes such as employment, permanent housing, reduced criminal involvement, reduced
substance abuse, and improved mental health. In FY2010, SAMHSA budgeted $42.8 million for
Section 506 grants.22
19 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, 2008 National
Homeless Summary Data, http://www.hrsa.gov/data-statistics/health-center-data/NationalData/2008/
2008nathosumdata.html.
20 PATH federal and matching program funds, available on the PATH website, http://pathprogram.samhsa.gov/Path/
ProgramInformation.aspx.
21 See Section 613 of McKinney-Vento.
22 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
(continued...)
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Runaway and Homeless Youth Program
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Program is administered by the Family and Youth Services
Bureau (FYSB) within HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The program was
established in 1974 and was most recently authorized by the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act
of 2008 (P.L. 110-378). The law authorizes federal funding for three programs through FY2013:
the Basic Center Program (BCP), Transitional Living Program (TLP), and Street Outreach
Program (SOP). These programs are designed to provide services to runaway and homeless youth
outside of the law enforcement, juvenile justice, child welfare, and mental health systems. The
funding streams for the Basic Center Program and Transitional Living Program were separate
until Congress consolidated them in 1999 (P.L. 106-71). Together, the two programs, along with
other program activities, are known as the Consolidated Runaway and Homeless Youth
Program.23 Although the Street Outreach Program is a separately funded component, SOP
services are coordinated with those provided under the BCP and TLP. Grantees must provide at
least 10% of the funds to cover the total cost of the services provided under the three programs.
(For more information about the program, see CRS Report RL33785, Runaway and Homeless
Youth: Demographics and Programs, by Adrienne L. Fernandes.)
Basic Center Program
(42 U.S.C. §§ 5701-5751) The Basic Center Program is intended to provide short-term shelter
and services for youth under age 18 and their families through public and private community-
based centers. Youth eligible to receive BCP services include those youth who are at risk of
running away or becoming homeless (and who may live at home with their parents), or have
already left home, either voluntarily or involuntarily. These centers, which generally shelter as
many as 20 youth for approximately two weeks, are located in areas that are frequented or easily
reached by runaway and homeless youth. The centers seek to reunite youth with their families,
whenever possible, or to locate appropriate alternative placements. The centers also provide food,
clothing, individual and family counseling, and health care referrals. Some centers serve
homeless youth ages 18 to 21 through street-based services, home-based services, and drug abuse
education and prevention services.
BCP grants are allocated by formula to each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and
are then distributed by HHS on a competitive basis to community-based organizations. The
amount of BCP funding available to a jurisdiction is based on its proportion of the nation’s youth
under age 18, and under the law, each jurisdiction receives a minimum of $200,000. Separately,
each of the territories (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, America Samoa, and the Northern Mariana
Islands) receives a minimum of $70,000 of the total appropriations.24 Grantees are required to
(...continued)
FY2011 Congressional Budget Justifications, p. SAMHSA/CSAT-29, http://samhsa.gov/Budget/FY2011/
SAMHSA_FY11CJ.pdf.
23 Other program activities include a national communications system for runaway youth and their families, logistical
support for grantee organizations, HHS’s National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, demonstrations, and the
administration of the management information system that tracks data on runaway and homeless youth, known as
NEO-RHYMIS.
24 Prior the enactment of P.L. 110-378, states could receive a minimum of $100,000 and territories could receive a
minimum of $45,000.
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establish relationships with law enforcement, health and mental health care, social service,
welfare, and school district systems to coordinate services.
Transitional Living Program
(42 U.S.C. § 5714-1 through § 5714-2) The Transitional Living Program provides longer-term
shelter and assistance for youth ages 16 to 22 (including pregnant and/or parenting youth) who
may leave their biological homes due to family conflict, or have left and are not expected to
return home. TLP grants are distributed competitively by HHS to community-based public and
private organizations. Each TLP grantee may shelter up to 20 youth at host family homes,
supervised apartments owned by a social service agency, or scattered-site apartments and single-
occupancy apartments rented directly with the assistance of the agency. The new law to
reauthorize the program, P.L. 110-378, continues to allow youth to remain at TLP projects for up
to 540 days (18 months) or longer for youth under age 18 and adds that a youth may remain in the
program for a continuous period of 635 days (approximately 21 months) under “exceptional
circumstances.”25 The new law further authorizes that a youth in a TLP who has not reached age
18 on the last day of the 635-day period may, in exceptional circumstances and if otherwise
qualified for the program, remain in the program until his or her 18th birthday. Youth receive
several types of TLP services:
• basic life-skills training, including consumer education, and instruction in
budgeting and housekeeping;
• interpersonal skill-building;
• educational preparation, such as GED courses and post-secondary training;
• assistance in job preparation and attainment;
• education and counseling on substance abuse; and
• mental and physical health care services.
The 2003 amendments to the Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act (P.L.
108-96) provided statutory authority for TLP funds to be used for maternity group homes. For
FY2003 through FY2006, the President requested $10 million to fund the group homes. However,
Congress has not appropriated any specific funding for the initiative. Grantees may and do use
TLP funds to directly serve unwed pregnant and parenting teens, without a specific set-aside.
These organizations provide youth with parenting skills, including child development education,
family budgeting, health and nutrition, and other skills to promote their well-being and the well-
being of their children.
Street Outreach Program26
(42 U.S.C. § 5712d) Runaway and homeless youth living on the streets or in areas that increase
their risk of using drugs or being subjected to sexual abuse, prostitution, or sexual exploitation are
25 This term means circumstances in which a youth would benefit to an unusual extent from additional time in the
program.
26 This program is also known as the Education and Prevention Services to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway,
Homeless, and Street Youth Program.
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eligible to receive services through the Street Outreach Program. The program’s goal is to assist
youth in transitioning to safe and appropriate living arrangements. SOP services include outreach
and education, treatment, counseling, provision of information, and referrals to other social
service agencies. The Street Outreach Program is funded separately from the BCP and TLP, and is
authorized to receive such sums as may be necessary. Since FY1996, when funding for the Street
Outreach Program was established, community-based public and private organizations have been
eligible to apply for SOP grants. Grants are generally awarded for a three-year period. Applicants
may apply for a $100,000 grant each year for a maximum of $200,000 over that period. Most
youth contacted through the Street Outreach Program receive written materials about referral
services, health and hygiene products, and food and drink items.
Collaboration on the Prevention of Adolescent Dating Violence
The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), Title III of the Child Abuse
Amendments of 1984 (P.L. 98-457), authorized funds for Family Violence Prevention and Service
grants that work to prevent family violence, improve service delivery to address family violence,
and increase knowledge and understanding of family violence. Some of these projects focus on
runaway and homeless youth in dating violence situations through HHS’s Domestic
Violence/Runaway and Homeless Youth Collaboration on the Prevention of Adolescent Dating
Violence initiative. The initiative was created because many runaway and homeless youth come
from homes where domestic violence occurs and may be at risk of abusing their partners or
becoming victims of abuse.27 The initiative funds projects carried out by faith-based and
charitable organizations that advocate or provide direct services to runaway and homeless youth
or victims of domestic violence. The grants fund training for staff at these organizations to enable
them to assist youth in preventing dating violence. Eight projects are funded at $75,000 annually,
for FY2008 through FY2010, the most recent funding cycle.
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Transitional Housing Assistance for Victims of Domestic Violence, Stalking,
or Sexual Assault
(42 U.S.C. § 13975) The 108th Congress passed the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to
End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (the PROTECT Act, P.L. 108-21), which
contains the Transitional Housing Assistance for Child Victims of Domestic Violence, Stalking, or
Sexual Assault program. The PROTECT Act authorizes the Attorney General to provide grants to
states, units of local governments, Indian tribes, and nonprofit organizations to assist an eligible
adult, minor, and their dependents who are fleeing domestic violence, or for whom emergency
shelter services are lacking. Under the act, eligible adults, minors, and their dependents may be
assisted with transitional housing, short-term housing assistance such as help with rent and utility
payments, and supportive services, including help in finding and maintaining permanent housing.
Grants may be used to help eligible persons with temporary housing for a maximum of 24
months.
27 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Domestic Violence/Runaway and Homeless Youth Collaboration
on the Prevention of Adolescent Dating Violence Grant Announcement, April 24, 2007, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/
open/HHS-2007-ACF-ACYF-EV-0103.html.
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The transitional housing assistance program had been authorized at $30 million for each of
FY2004 through FY2008; however, during the 109th Congress, the Violence Against Women and
Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-162) increased the authorized
funding level and extended the authorization period for the transitional housing program,
providing $40 million for FY2007 through FY2011. At least 7% of the total appropriation in any
fiscal year for this program must be allocated to tribal organizations serving victims of domestic
and dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault. For FY2005 through FY2010, Congress
appropriated funding for the program through a set-aside from the Special Training Officers and
Prosecutors (STOP) grant. Enacted FY2010 funding for the transitional housing assistance grant
program is $18 million. (For additional information, see CRS Report RL30871, Violence Against
Women Act: History and Federal Funding, by Garrine P. Laney.)
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Homeless Assistance Grants
The Homeless Assistance Grants were established in 1987 as part of the Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act (P.L. 100-77). The grants, administered by HUD, fund housing and
services for homeless persons. Initially, four programs, including the Emergency Shelter Grants
(ESG) program, Supportive Housing Program (SHP), and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation
Assistance for Single-Room Occupancy Dwellings (SRO) program, were funded through HUD’s
Homeless Assistance Grants. Since 1987, Congress has added and removed grant programs, but
these three remain, together with the Shelter Plus Care (S+C) program, which was introduced as
part of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (P.L. 101-625) in 1990. Two
additional programs—Rural Homeless Grants and Safe Havens for Homeless Individuals—still
exist statutorily, although they have not been funded since FY1994 when Congress gave HUD the
authority to use SHP funds for these programs.
Funding for the ESG program is allocated to states and localities on a formula basis. Funding for
the other three programs—SHP, S+C, and SRO—is disseminated through HUD’s Continuum of
Care (CoC) system. Under the CoC strategy, localities and states are encouraged to develop and
maintain assistance systems that integrate programs and services for persons experiencing
homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless. Local communities establish CoC
coordinating boards made up of local government officials and service providers. The CoC
boards establish local priorities and strategies to address homelessness in their communities.
Local programs that wish to receive HUD funding submit their applications to the CoC boards,
which then review them, prioritize them, and submit them to HUD for review. Out of concern that
not enough CoC dollars were being spent on housing (versus services), since FY2002 Congress
has required that not less than 30% of funds appropriated to the Homeless Assistance Grants
programs be used for permanent housing.
In 2010, the way in which the Homeless Assistance Grants are administered will change. The
HEARTH Act, enacted on May 20, 2009, as part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act
(P.L. 111-22), provides that the three competitive Homeless Assistance Grants (SHP, S+C, and
SRO) will be consolidated into one grant called the Continuum of Care program, and the ESG
program will be renamed the Emergency Solutions Grants. The changes will be effective at the
earlier of 18 months from the date of the law’s enactment—on or about November 20, 2010—or
three months from the date on which HUD publishes final regulations. For more information
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about these changes, see the section of this report entitled “Reauthorization of the McKinney-
Vento Homeless Assistance Grants.”
Following is a description of the four programs that are presently funded under the Homeless
Assistance Grants. (For more information about the distribution of the funds for the four grants,
see CRS Report RL33764, The HUD Homeless Assistance Grants: Distribution of Funds, by
Libby Perl.)
Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) Program
(42 U.S.C. §§ 11371-11378) The ESG program distributes formula grants to state and local
governments; recipient governments may then distribute all or a portion of the funds to private
nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to homeless individuals. ESG funds are distributed
so that state and local governments receive the same proportion of total ESG funds as they
receive of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Factors used to determine how
CDBG funds are distributed include poverty rates, population, the number of persons in poverty,
housing overcrowding (homes in which there are more than 1.01 persons per room), the age of
housing (the number of housing structures built prior to 1940), and the extent of population
growth lag in a given community.
Emergency Shelter Grants may be used for the renovation, major rehabilitation or conversion of
buildings into emergency shelters. The funds may also be used for essential services, including
employment, health, drug abuse or education services, although not more than 30% of funds may
be used for services. Another allowable use of funds is the maintenance, operation, insurance,
utilities, and furnishing costs for these emergency shelters, although not more than 10% of the
funds may be used for staffing costs. Funds may also be used to prevent homelessness. Financial
assistance may be given to families that have received eviction or termination of utility service
notices if (1) the inability to make such payments is due to a sudden reduction in income, (2)
there is a reasonable prospect that the family will be able to resume payments within a reasonable
period of time, and (3) the assistance will not supplant funding for preexisting homelessness
prevention activities from other sources. Up to 30% of funds may be used for prevention
activities. There is a one-for-one match requirement for local governments; there is no match
requirement for the first $100,000 for states, but a one-for-one match is required for the remainder
of the funds. The authorization for this program (42 U.S.C. § 11377) expired at the end of
FY1994; however, the program has continued to be funded through annual appropriations.
Supportive Housing Program (SHP)
(42 U.S.C. §§ 11381-11389) Housing funded under the SHP may be transitional housing for
individuals and families for up to 24 months, permanent housing for disabled individuals, or
single room occupancy dwellings. In order to receive funds, permanent housing must provide
supportive services for its residents such as case management, child care, employment assistance,
outpatient health services, and food and cash assistance. States, local governmental entities,
private nonprofit organizations, or community mental health associations that are public nonprofit
organizations may apply for funds through their local CoC boards. SHP requires that not less than
25% of funds be used to serve homeless families with children, not less than 25% be used to
serve homeless persons with disabilities, and not less than 10% be used for providing supportive
services. There is also a dollar-for-dollar match requirement for acquisition, rehabilitation, and
construction activities, a 20% match for services, and a 25% match requirement for operational
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expenses. No provider may use more than 5% of SHP funds for administrative purposes. The
authorization for this program (42 U.S.C. § 11389) expired at the end of FY1994; however, it has
continued to be funded through annual appropriations.
Shelter Plus Care Program (S+C)
(42 U.S.C. §§ 11403-11406b) The S+C program provides tenant- and project-based rental
subsidies to homeless adults with disabilities. Like the Section 8 program, tenants pay 30% of
their income toward housing and the administering body pays the rest. The assistance is initially
funded for five years, but can be renewed at the end of those five years on an annual basis. S+C
grants must be matched by local communities dollar for dollar. While S+C grant dollars cannot be
used to fund supportive services, grantees are expected to partner with other agencies to provide
services and the dollar for dollar match requirement can be met through spending on services. Not
less than 50% of S+C rental units must be reserved for homeless individuals who are seriously
mentally ill, have chronic substance abuse problems, or both. A state, unit of general local
government (city, county, town, township, parish, or village) or public housing authority may
apply for funds through their local CoC boards. Grantees may provide rental assistance to private
nonprofit entities (including community mental health centers established as nonprofit
organizations) that own or lease dwelling units. The authorization for this program (42 U.S.C. §
11403h) expired at the end of FY1994; however, the program has continued to be funded through
annual appropriations.
Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Assistance for Single-Room Occupancy
Dwellings (SRO)
(42 U.S.C. §§ 11401, 11407-11407b) Under the SRO program, HUD provides rental subsidies,
through public housing authorities, to support housing units that are similar to dormitories, having
single bedrooms, community bathrooms, and kitchen facilities. The SRO units are funded as part
of HUD’s Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation program; the program requires grant recipients to
spend at least $3,000 per unit to rehabilitate property to be used for SRO housing. Grant
recipients are then reimbursed for the costs of rehabilitating the SRO units through Section 8
rental assistance payments that they receive over a 10-year contract period. The costs of
rehabilitation are amortized and added to a base rental amount. The authorization for this program
(42 U.S.C. § 11403h) expired at the end of FY1994; however, it has continued to be funded
through annual appropriations.
Department of Labor (DOL)
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
(38 U.S.C. § 2021) The Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) provides grants to
states or other public entities and nonprofit organizations to operate employment programs that
reach out to homeless veterans. The main goal of the HVRP is to reintegrate homeless veterans
into the economic mainstream and labor force. HVRP grantee organizations provide services that
include outreach, assistance in drafting a resume and preparing for interviews, job search
assistance, subsidized trial employment, job training, and follow-up assistance after placement.
Recipients of HVRP grants also provide supportive services not directly related to employment
such as transportation, provision of or assistance in finding housing, and referral for mental health
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treatment or substance abuse counseling. HVRP grantees often employ formerly homeless
veterans to provide outreach to homeless veterans and to counsel them as they search for
employment and stability. Initially, HVRP was authorized by the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act of 1987, but in 2001 it was reauthorized under the Homeless Veterans
Comprehensive Assistance Act (P.L. 107-95). HVRP was last authorized through FY2009 at $50
million per year as part of the Veterans’ Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of
2006 (P.L. 109-233). (For more information about HVRP and other programs for homeless
veterans, see CRS Report RL34024, Veterans and Homelessness, by Libby Perl.)
Referral and Counseling Services: Veterans at Risk of Homelessness Who Are
Transitioning from Certain Institutions
(38 U.S.C. §2023) The Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-95)
instituted a demonstration program to provide job training and placement services to veterans
leaving prison, long-term care, or mental institutions who are at risk of homelessness. The
enacting law gave both the VA and the Department of Labor authority over the program. By 2005,
the program awarded $1.45 million in initial grants to seven recipients. These grants were
extended through March 2006 with funding of $1.6 million and then again for an additional 15
months, though June 30, 2007, with $2 million in funding.28 The statute enacting the program
provided that it would cease on January 24, 2006, four years after its enactment. However, on
October 10, 2008, Congress extended the program through FY2012 as part of the Veterans’
Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-387). The new law removed
the program’s demonstration status and expanded the number of sites able to provide services to
twelve. On May 5, 2010, DOL published a solicitation for grant applications that is expected to
fund at least 12 grants.29
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)30
Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV)31
(38 U.S.C. §§ 2031-2034) The Health Care for Homeless Veterans program operates at VA sites
around the country where staff provide outreach services, physical and psychiatric health exams,
treatment, and referrals to homeless veterans with mental health and substance abuse issues. As
appropriate, the HCHV program places homeless veterans needing long-term treatment into one
of its contract community-based facilities. Housing is provided either through residential
treatment facilities that contract with the VA or through organizations that receive Grant and Per
Diem funding for transitional housing (the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program is
described below). In FY2008, VA’s 132 HCHV sites provided outreach, treatment, and referral
services to just over 71,526 homeless veterans.32 Of those receiving assistance, 1,855 veterans
28 U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Assistance Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training, FY2006 and
FY2007 Annual Report to Congress, May 21, 2008, p. 12, http://www.dol.gov/vets/media/FY2006-
2007_Annual_Report_To_Congress.pdf.
29 The solicitation is available at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/ivtp/main.htm.
30 For more information about VA programs for homeless veterans, see CRS Report RL34024, Veterans and
Homelessness, by Libby Perl.
31 Also known as the Homeless Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans (HCMI) program.
32 Wesley J. Kasprow, Robert A. Rosenheck, Diane DiLello, Leslie Cavallaro, and Nicole Harelik, Healthcare for
(continued...)
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stayed in residential treatment facilities in FY2008, with an average stay of about 58 days.33 The
HCHV program is authorized through December 31, 2011 (P.L. 109-461).
Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program34
(38 U.S.C. §§ 2011-2013) The Grant and Per Diem program has two aspects: the grants portion of
the program funds capital grants that organizations may use to build or rehabilitate facilities to be
used for transitional housing and service centers for homeless veterans, while the per diem
portion funds services to homeless veterans. Specifically, capital grants may be used to purchase
buildings, to expand or remodel existing buildings, and to procure vans for use in outreach to and
transportation for, homeless veterans. Service centers for veterans must provide health care,
mental health services, hygiene facilities, benefits and employment counseling, meals,
transportation assistance, job training and placement services, and case management. The capital
grants will fund up to 65% of the costs of acquisition, expansion or remodeling of facilities, and
grantees must provide the remaining 35%. Under the per diem portion of the program, both
capital grant recipients and those organizations that would be eligible for capital grants (but have
not applied for them) are eligible to apply for funds, although grant recipients have priority in
receiving per diem funds. The Grant and Per Diem program is permanently authorized at $150
million (P.L. 110-387).
Homeless Veterans with Special Needs
(38 U.S.C. § 2061) Within the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program there is also a
special purpose program that provides grants to health care facilities and to grant and per diem
providers to encourage the development of programs for homeless veterans who are women
(including women who care for minor dependents), frail elderly, terminally ill, or chronically
mentally ill. The program was initially authorized at $5 million per year for FY2003 through
FY2005. The program was reauthorized from FY2007 through FY2011 at $7 million per year
(P.L. 109-461).
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV)
(38 U.S.C. § 1710(b)) The Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans program is a residential
rehabilitation program specifically intended to meet the clinical needs of homeless veterans while
preventing the therapeutically inappropriate use of hospital and nursing home care services.
Veterans served through the Domiciliary Care program typically suffer from mental illness,
substance abuse disorders, or both.35 The VA operates the DCHV program at 42 locations with
2,146 total beds across the country.36 A multi-dimensional, individually tailored treatment
(...continued)
Homeless Veterans Programs: Twenty-Second Annual Report, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Northeast Program
Evaluation Center, March 9, 2009, p. 25.
33 Ibid., pp. 121-122.
34 Formerly called the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Services Programs.
35 Catherine Leda Seibyl, Sharon Medak, Linda Baldino, and Robert Rosenheck, Twentieth Progress Report on the
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans Program, FY2008, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Northeast Program
Evaluation Center, March 12, 2009, p. 10.
36 Ibid., p. 2.
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approach is used to stabilize the clinical status of veterans while the underlying causes of
homelessness are addressed. The basic components of the DCHV program include community
outreach and referral, admission screening and assessment, medical and psychiatric evaluation,
treatment and rehabilitation, and post-discharge community support. DCHV staff help veterans
apply for housing assistance, or arrangements are made for placement of homeless veterans in
long-term care facilities such as State Soldiers Homes, group homes, adult foster care or halfway
houses. Homeless veterans are provided employment training through involvement in the VA’s
Incentive Therapy Program, a medically prescribed rehabilitation program involving therapeutic
work assignments at VA medical centers for which veterans receive nominal payments. In
FY2008, 5,913 veterans completed treatment in DCHV programs with an average stay of 109
days at the VA facilities.37
Compensated Work Therapy Program38
(38 U.S.C. § 2063) The Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) program is a comprehensive
rehabilitation program that prepares veterans for competitive employment and independent living.
The program was created by the Veterans Omnibus Health Care Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-581). The
major goals of the program are (1) to use remunerative work to maximize a veteran’s level of
functioning; (2) to prepare veterans for successful re-entry into the community as productive
citizens; and (3) to provide structured daily activity to those veterans with severe and chronic
disabling physical and/or mental conditions. As part of their work therapy, veterans produce items
for sale or undertake subcontracts to provide certain products and/or services such as temporary
staffing to a company. Funds collected from the sale of these products and/or services are used to
fund the program. Funding for this program comes from the VA’s Special Therapeutic and
Rehabilitation Activities Fund, and the program is permanently authorized at 38 U.S.C. § 1718(c).
HUD VA Supported Housing (HUD-VASH)
(42 U.S.C. § 1437f(o)(19)) HUD-VASH is a joint HUD and VA initiative that provides specially
designated Section 8 vouchers to homeless veterans while the VA provides supportive services.
The HUD-VASH statute requires that the program serve homeless veterans who have chronic
mental illnesses or chronic substance abuse disorders; however, this requirement has been waived
in recent years. Every homeless veteran who receives a housing voucher must be assigned to a VA
case manager and receive supportive services. Today’s HUD-VASH program originally began as
a Memorandum of Agreement between HUD and the VA, and through that relationship 1,780
vouchers were created. The Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-
95) codified the program and authorized the creation of an additional 500 vouchers each year for
FY2003-FY2006. In the 109th Congress, the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information
Technology Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-461) similarly authorized additional HUD-VASH vouchers for
FY2007 through FY2011.
Funds were not provided for additional vouchers until the 110th Congress, when the FY2008
Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161) allocated $75 million for additional HUD-VASH
vouchers. On April 16, 2008, HUD announced the award of 10,105 vouchers to housing
37 Ibid., p. 10.
38 The CWT program was formerly called the Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund.
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authorities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.39 Congress appropriated
another $75 million for HUD-VASH vouchers in FY2009 as part of the Omnibus Appropriations
Act (P.L. 111-8). HUD announced the allocation of these vouchers on July 15, 2009, with 10,290
vouchers awarded to housing authorities.40 In FY2010, Congress provided an additional $75
million for vouchers as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-117).
Supportive Services for Very Low-Income Veterans and Their Families
In the 110th Congress, the Veterans’ Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-387) authorized a program of supportive services to assist very low-income veterans
and their families who either are making the transition from homelessness to housing or who are
moving from one location to another. The law specified that funds be made available for the new
program from the amount appropriated for VA medical services—$15 million for FY2009, $20
million for FY2010, and $25 million for FY2011. Funds are to be distributed to private nonprofit
organizations and consumer cooperatives—the entities that will provide supportive services—
through a competitive process. Those organizations that assist families transitioning from
homelessness will be given priority for funding. Among the eligible services that recipient
organizations may provide are case management, health care services, daily living services,
assistance with financial planning, transportation, legal assistance, child care, and housing
counseling. On May 5, 2010, the VA published proposed program regulations in the Federal
Register.41 According to VA budget documents, the VA will develop regulations for the program
in FY2009 and award grants in FY2010.42
Other Activities for Homeless Veterans
In addition to the targeted programs for which specific funding is available (see Table 2 at the
end of this report), the VA engages in several activities to assist homeless veterans that are not
reflected in this report as separate programs. An Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans was
established within VA to consult with and seek advice concerning VA benefits and services to
homeless veterans (38 U.S.C. § 2066). The Advisory Committee consists of 15 members
appointed from Veterans Service Organizations, community-based homeless service providers,
previously homeless veterans, experts in mental illness, substance use disorders and others. The
Advisory Committee is authorized through December 30, 2011 (P.L. 109-461).
Another VA initiative is Comprehensive Homeless Centers (CHCs). These CHCs are located in
eight cities, and consolidate all of the VA’s homeless programs in that area into a single
organizational framework to promote integration within the VA and coordination with non-VA
homeless programs.43 CHCs offer a comprehensive continuum of care to help homeless veterans
39 For a list of housing authorities and the number of vouchers allocated to each, see http://www.hud.gov/news/
releasedocs/hud-vash_chart.doc.
40 The award announcement is available at http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-122.cfm&CFID=
18034549&CFTOKEN=84505570.
41 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Supportive Services for Veterans Families Program,” 75 Federal Register
24514-24534, May 5, 2010.
42 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, FY2010 Congressional Budget Justification, Volume II, Medical Programs and
Information Technology, p. 1I-12, http://www.va.gov/budget/summary/2010/Volume_2-
Medical_Programs_and_Information_Technology.pdf.
43 Comprehensive Homeless Centers are located in Anchorage, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Dallas, Little Rock, Pittsburgh,
(continued...)
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escape from homelessness. The VA also sponsors Drop-in Centers, which provide a daytime
sanctuary where homeless veterans can clean up, wash their clothes, get a daytime meal, and
participate in a variety of low intensity therapeutic and rehabilitative activities. Linkages with
longer-term assistance are also available. The VA Excess Property for Homeless Veterans
Initiative provides for the distribution of federal excess personal property (hats, parkas, footwear,
sleeping bags) to homeless veterans and homeless veterans programs.
The Department of Labor makes funds available through its Homeless Veterans Reintegration
Program for local communities that organize Stand Downs for Homeless Veterans. Stand Downs
are local events, staged annually in many cities across the country, in which local Veterans
Service Organizations, businesses, government entities, and other social service organizations
come together for up to three days to provide services for homeless veterans. Some of these
services include food, shelter, clothing, and a range of other types of assistance, including VA
provided health care, benefits certification, and linkages with other programs. Another program,
called Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)’s Acquired Property Sales for Homeless
Providers, allows the VA to sell, at a discount, foreclosed properties to nonprofit organizations
and government agencies that will use them to shelter or house homeless veterans. Finally,
Project CHALENG for Veterans is a nationwide VA initiative to work with other agencies and
better coordinate the response to the needs of homeless veterans. VA regional offices designate
“points of contact” from among local service providers, and they in turn work with other federal
agencies, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations to assess the needs of
homeless veterans and develop action plans to meet identified needs.
Social Security Administration (SSA)
The SOAR Initiative (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery), while not a Social Security
Administration (SSA) program, assists homeless individuals in obtaining Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. SOAR was
created through a collaborative effort among HHS, HUD, and SSA. SOAR makes technical
assistance available to train state and local human services workers to better serve homeless
individuals with mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders who may qualify for Social
Security benefits. The program came about through the Homeless Policy Academy Initiative, a
series of collaborations among HUD, HHS, VA, DOL, ED, the Interagency Council on
Homelessness, and the states that took place from 2001 through 2007. SOAR was undertaken
after multiple states requested training regarding the SSDI and SSI application processes.44 As
part of the initiative, representatives from 34 states received SOAR training between 2005 and
2007. 45 Currently, PATH program funds (described earlier in this report) can be used to provide
SOAR training to PATH providers.46 In addition, in the explanatory statement accompanying the
FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8) Congress encouraged SAMHSA to use funds
(...continued)
San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
44 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Homeless Policy Academy Initiative: Final Contractors Report,
April 2007, p. vi, http://www.hrsa.gov/homeless/pdf/finalreport.pdf.
45 Initially, 24 states participated in SOAR training. In August 2007, an additional 10 states were selected to participate.
See USICH Newsletter, August 9, 2007, http://www.ich.gov/newsletter/archive/08-09-07_e-newsletter.htm.
46 See U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, FY2010 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration Congressional Budget Justification, p. CMHS-49, http://www.samhsa.gov/Budget/FY2010/
SAMHSA_FY10CJ.pdf.
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through the Center for Mental Health Services’ Programs of Regional and National Significance
to support SOAR.47 As a result, funding from SAMHSA to the SOAR Technical Assistance
Center is expected to bring SOAR to the remaining 16 states.48
An evaluation of programs in 32 states that received SOAR assistance found higher than average
approval rates among homeless applicants on initial applications for SSI and SSDI—approvals
averaged 71%.49 Although data are limited on how homeless applicants for benefits otherwise
fare on initial application, among those localities that collect data, approval rates range between
10% and 15%.50 The approval rate for all disability applicants on initial application was
approximately 35% in 2007.51 An earlier evaluation of SOAR programs in 19 states also found
improved access to housing for some individuals who gained benefits, and cost savings for state
public benefits programs.52
In addition to SOAR, the Social Security Administration funded an initiative to increase the
access of homeless individuals to federal benefits through employee training, outreach to
homeless persons, and assistance with applications—the Homeless Outreach Projects and
Evaluation (HOPE) initiative. Congress provided $8 million per year for the HOPE initiative
from FY2003 through FY2005, and SSA funded 41 HOPE projects throughout the country over
three years, with awardees expected to gradually reduce their dependence on HOPE funding.53
Through the HOPE initiative, recipient organizations conducted outreach to homeless individuals
with disabling conditions and assisted them with filling out applications for benefits such as SSI
and SSDI. The program also helped individuals find assistance for their other needs, such as
health care, counseling, and housing. An evaluation of the program found that, despite the fact
that SSI and SSDI applications from HOPE program participants were processed more quickly
than comparison groups, there was no significant difference in allowance rates between
applications from HOPE programs and the comparison groups.54 However, the evaluation found
improved housing conditions for HOPE program participants,55 and that smaller percentages of
participants were living on the streets, in shelters, or in places not meant for human habitation 12
months after participating in HOPE.
47 See Division F, p. 1412 of the Explanatory Statement, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/house/appropriations/
09conappro2.html.
48 Email communication with Deborah Dennis, National SOAR Project Director, December 9, 2009.
49 Policy Research Associates, National SOAR Outcomes—Spring/Summer 2009, November 12, 2009,
http://www.prainc.com/SOAR/soar101/pdfs/SOAROutcomes2009.pdf.
50 Yvonne M. Perret, Deborah Dennis, and Margaret Lassiter, Improving Social Security Disability Programs for
Adults Experiencing Long-Term Homelessness, National Academy of Social Insurance, November 14, 2008, p. 3,
http://www.nasi.org/usr_doc/Perret_and_Dennis_January_2009_Rockefeller.pdf.
51 House Committee on Ways and Means, 2008 Green Book, p. 1-80, http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/
ssgb.pdf.
52 Preliminary Outcomes from the SOAR Technical Assistance Initiative, Policy Research Associates, May 2008,
http://www.prainc.com/SOAR/soar101/SOAROutcomes.pdf.
53 For the funding announcement, see Social Security Administration, “Cooperative Agreements for Homeless
Outreach Projects and Evaluation (HOPE),” 68 Federal Register 55698-55709, September 26, 2003.
54 Marion L. McCoy, Cynthia S. Robins, James Bethel, Carina Tornow, and William D. Frey, Evaluation of Homeless
Outreach Projects and Evaluation (HOPE), Social Security Administration, October 2007, pp. 3-11 and 3-13,
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/homelessness/docs/hopefinalreport.doc.
55 Ibid., p. 3-15.
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Current Issues
The Recent Economic Downturn and Homelessness
In December 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the economy had
been in a recession since December 2007.56 Effects of an economic downturn have been seen in
the employment sector, where the unemployment rate has increased from 4.9% in December 2007
to 9.9% in April 2010.57 The housing sector has also faced difficulty, with the foreclosure rate for
all loans rising from 1.28% in the first quarter of 2007 to 4.58% in the fourth quarter of 2009.58
Foreclosure rates may continue to rise due to additional interest rate resets that are scheduled to
occur.59
Increased foreclosures and rising unemployment may result in higher rates of homelessness
among all groups, but particularly among families facing increased financial strain. Due to the
time lag in community counts of homeless individuals—the last count required by HUD occurred
in January of 2009, but results have not been released60—it is not yet known whether the number
of people experiencing homelessness has grown since the beginning of the economic downturn or
whether any increased levels of homelessness would be related to the economic situation.
However, anecdotal evidence from shelters, soup kitchens, and other service providers indicates
an increased demand for services, and potentially an increase in the number of individuals who
are homeless, some for the first time.61 School districts reported an increase in the number of
students who qualify for services under the Department of Education’s definition of homelessness
from the 2006-2007 school year to the 2007-2008 school year.62 In addition, 60% of the 25 cities
surveyed as part of the 2009 U.S. Conference of Mayors Hunger and Homelessness Survey
reported an increase in homelessness.63
56 National Bureau of Economic Research, Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity, December
11, 2008, http://www.nber.org/cycles/dec2008.pdf.
57 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation, April 2010, May 7, 2010,
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf.
58 Mortgage Bankers Association, National Delinquency Survey, First Quarter 2007, data as of March 31, 2007, p. 3,
and National Delinquency Survey, Fourth Quarter 2009, data as of December 31, 2010, p. 3.
59 For more information, see CRS Report RL33775, Alternative Mortgages: Causes and Policy Implications of
Troubled Mortgage Resets in the Subprime and Alt-A Markets, by Edward V. Murphy.
60 For more information about attempts to estimate the number of homeless individuals, see CRS Report RL33956,
Estimating the Number of People Who Are Homeless: Homeless Management Information Systems, by Libby Perl.
61 See, for example, Trymaine Lee, “Families With Children in City Shelters Soar to Record Level,” New York Times,
December 23, 2008, p. A-27; C.W. Nevius, “More on Streets Newly Homeless,” San Francisco Chronicle, December
16, 2008, p. B1; and Michael Drost, “Changing Face of Homelessness,” Washington Times, December 14, 2008.
62 National Center for Homeless Education, Education for Homeless Children and Youths Program: Analysis of Data,
April 2009, p. 2, http://www.ed.gov/programs/homeless/data-comp-04-07.pdf.
63 U.S. Conference of Mayors, Hunger and Homelessness Survey, December 2009, p. 81, http://usmayors.org/
pressreleases/uploads/USCMHungercompleteWEB2009.pdf.
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Funds for Homeless Programs in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act
Congress appropriated funds to a number of programs targeted to assist homeless individuals as
part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5), which was signed into law on
February 17, 2009 (see Table 1). The law appropriated $1.5 billion to be used for a new
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP). These funds were distributed
to communities and states using the Emergency Shelter Grants formula. Specifically, funds may
be used for short- or medium-term rental assistance, and for activities to help families find and
maintain housing such as help with housing searches, outreach to landlords, credit repair, security
or utility deposits, utility payments, first month’s rent, and help with moving expenses. Grantees
must expend at least 60% of funds within two years of the date that the funds are made available
by HUD, and 100% of funds within three years. On March 19, 2009, HUD released a notice in
which it detailed requirements for grantees and subgrantees.64 In order to qualify for funds,
communities were required to amend their consolidated plan to describe how they would use the
funds and submit the amended plan to HUD by May 18, 2009. By September 23, 2009, HUD had
awarded all HPRP funds to eligible grantees.65
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) also appropriated $70 million for the
Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, with funds distributed to state education
agencies (SEAs) within 60 days of the law’s enactment. SEAs, in turn, were required to distribute
funds to local education agencies (LEAs) within 120 days of receiving funds. Funds were
distributed to the states based on the number of students who were homeless during the 2007-
2008 school year relative to the number of homeless students nationally during the same time
period. States could distribute the funds to LEAs either competitively or based on the number of
homeless students per LEA.
The ARRA appropriated $100 million to FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter program and $50
million to the Department of Justice to be used to provide transitional housing for victims of
domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault. The ARRA also appropriated $500 million for
health centers (including health centers for homeless individuals) to fund services to patients, as
well as $1.5 billion in infrastructure funding for facility construction and renovation, the purchase
of equipment, and acquisition of health information technology.
Efforts to End Homelessness
A decade ago, the concept of ending homelessness was introduced in a report from the National
Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), which outlined a strategy to end homelessness in 10
years.66 The plan included four recommendations: developing local, data-driven plans to address
homelessness; using mainstream programs (such as TANF, Section 8, and SSI) to prevent
64 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Notice of Allocations, Application Procedures, and
Requirements for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program Grantees under the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009, revised June 8, 2009, http://www.hudhre.info/documents/
HPRP_NoticeRedline_6_08_09.pdf.
65 See HUD press release at http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2009/
HUDNo.09-181.
66 National Alliance to End Homelessness, A Plan: Not a Dream. How to End Homelessness in Ten Years, June 1,
2000, http://www.endhomelessness.org/files/585_file_TYP_pdf.pdf.
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homelessness; employing a housing first strategy to assist most people who find themselves
homeless; and developing a national infrastructure of housing, income, and service supports for
low-income families and individuals. While the idea of ending homelessness for all people was
embraced by many groups, the Bush Administration and federal government focused on ending
homelessness among chronically homeless individuals specifically. (For most of the decade, the
term chronically homeless has been defined as “an unaccompanied homeless individual with a
disabling condition who has been continually homeless for a year or more, or has had at least four
episodes of homelessness in the past three years.”67)
In the year following the release of the NAEH report, then-HUD Secretary Martinez announced
HUD’s commitment to ending chronic homelessness at the NAEH annual conference. In 2002, as
a part of his FY2003 budget, President Bush made “ending chronic homelessness in the next
decade a top objective.” The bipartisan, congressionally mandated Millennial Housing
Commission, in its Report to Congress in 2002, included ending chronic homelessness in 10
years among its principal recommendations.68 And by 2003, the Interagency Council on
Homelessness had been re-engaged after six years of inactivity and was charged with pursuing
the President’s 10-year plan.69 For the balance of the decade, multiple federal initiatives focused
funding and efforts on this goal.
Recently, however, the initiative to end chronic homelessness has raised some concerns among
advocates for homeless people that allocating resources to chronically homeless individuals is
done at the expense of families with children who are homeless, homeless youth, and other
vulnerable populations.70 The new Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to
Housing (HEARTH) Act (enacted as part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, P.L.
111-22) mandated that the Interagency Council draft a Federal Strategic Plan to End
Homelessness among all groups within a year of the law’s enactment, and to update the plan
annually. In addition, in November 2010, the VA announced a plan to end homelessness among
veterans within five years. These plans—to end chronic homelessness, to end homelessness
generally, and to end veterans’ homelessness—are described below.
The Chronic Homelessness Initiative
In 2002, the Bush Administration established a national goal of ending chronic homelessness
within 10 years, by 2012. An impetus behind the initiative to end chronic homelessness is that
chronically homeless individuals are estimated to account for about 10% of all users of the
homeless shelter system, but are estimated to use nearly 50% of the total days of shelter
provided.71
67 24 C.F.R. § 91.5. The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act (P.L. 111-
22) changed the definition to include families with an adult member who has a disabling condition.
68 The report is available at http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/mhc/MHCReport.pdf. See pp. 54-56.
69 The Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) was created in 1987 in the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Act, P.L. 100-77. Its mission is to coordinate the national response to homelessness. The ICH is composed
of the directors of 19 federal departments and agencies whose policies and programs have some responsibility for
homeless services, including HUD, HHS, DOL, and the VA.
70 See, for example, the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity,
Hearing on Reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Part II, 110th Cong., 2nd sess., October
16, 2007, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_house_hearings&docid=f:39908.pdf.
71 Randall Kuhn and Dennis Culhane, “Applying Cluster Analysis to Test a Typology of Homelessness by Pattern of
(continued...)
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Permanent supportive housing is generally seen as a solution to ending chronic homelessness.72
Permanent supportive housing consists of low-cost housing, paired with social services, available
to low-income and/or homeless households. Services can include case management, substance
abuse counseling, mental health services, income management and support, and life skills
services. Providing permanent supportive housing to homeless adults with mental illnesses or
substance abuse disorders is sometimes referred to as the “housing first” approach—housing is
found for homeless individuals prior to treatment of their illnesses and addictions. In the late
1990s, research began to show that finding housing for homeless individuals with severe mental
illnesses meant that they were less likely to be housed temporarily by more expensive public
services, such as hospitals, jails, or prisons.73
More recently, two studies have examined outcomes of housing first initiatives. A study published
in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2009 examined outcomes among residents
in a development for chronically homeless individuals with severe alcohol problems living in
Seattle.74 Many residents had been high-cost users of emergency room services, sobriety centers,
and jails. Researchers found that the total costs of serving residents in the 12 months prior to their
moving into the housing development (including shelter nights, time in jail, emergency medical
services, and Medicaid and other healthcare costs) was $42,964 per person per year. 75 Twelve
months after moving into the development, the cost had been reduced to $13,440 per resident per
year. Cost reductions grew over time, indicating that length of time housed could contribute to
savings.76 In addition, the median number of drinks consumed by residents per day and days
drinking to intoxication also declined.77 A HUD study published in 2007 looked at housing
stability and health outcomes of residents in three housing first programs. During a one-year
period, 43% of clients in the three programs remained in housing during the entire twelve-month
period while another 41% stayed intermittently, ultimately returning to the housing first programs
before the end of the year.78 Regarding health outcomes, the study found little change in
psychiatric impairment among those who stayed in housing permanently or intermittently and
some decrease in participants’ levels of impairment related to substance use.79
(...continued)
Shelter Utilization: Results from the Analysis of Administrative Data,” American Journal of Community Psychology,
vol. 26, no. 2 (April 1998), p. 219.
72 Report from the Secretary’s Work Group on Ending Chronic Homelessness, Ending Chronic Homelessness:
Strategies for Action, Department of Health and Human Services, March 2003, pp. 12-13, http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/
homelessness/strategies03/.
73 See Dennis Culhane, Stephen Metraux, and Trevor Hadley, “Public Service Reductions Associated with Placement
of Homeless Persons with Severe Mental Illness in Supportive Housing,” Housing Policy Debate, vol. 13, no. 1 (2002):
107-163.
74 Mary E. Larimer, Daniel K. Malone, and Michelle D. Garner, et al., “Health Care and Public Service Use and Costs
Before and After Provision of Housing for Chronically Homeless Persons with Severe Alcohol Problems,” Journal of
the American Medical Association, vol. 301, no. 13 (April 1, 2009), pp. 1349-1357.
75 Ibid., p. 1355.
76 Ibid., p. 1356.
77 Ibid., pp. 1354-1355.
78 Carol L. Pearson, Gretchen Locke, Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, and Larry Buron, The Applicability of Housing First
Models to Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, July
2007, p. 62, http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/hsgfirst.pdf. The sample size in the study was 80 individuals.
79 Ibid., pp. 83-84 and 88-89.
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The Administration undertook several projects to reach its goal of ending chronic homelessness in
10 years. In August 2005, HUD announced a pilot program called Housing for People Who Are
Homeless and Addicted to Alcohol to provide supportive housing for chronically homeless
persons (those who have been homeless for at least 365 days during a five-year period) and who
have a long-term addiction to alcohol. The initiative awarded two-year grants totaling just under
$10 million to 12 grantees for FY2005.80 According to the Interagency Council on Homelessness,
the program has provided supportive housing to over 500 homeless clients.81
Two collaborative efforts to end chronic homelessness, undertaken by several federal agencies,
began in 2003. The Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness, announced on
October 1, 2003, was a grant initiative initially funded at $35 million through the joint efforts of
HUD, HHS, and VA. Specifically, $20 million in HUD funds was made available to provide
permanent supportive housing under the SHP, S+C, or SRO programs; $7 million was made
available through HHS’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency to fund substance
abuse treatment and mental health and related social services for chronically homeless
individuals; $3 million was available through HHS’s Health Resources and Services
Administration to provide primary care for chronically homeless individuals; and $5 million in
additional resources was made available at local VA hospitals for serving homeless veterans. By
2005 HHS had dedicated an additional $20 million to the initiative. The Collaborative Initiative
enrolled 1,242 individuals in the program, of whom an estimated 89% remained housed 12
months after entering the program.82 Ending Chronic Homelessness through Employment and
Housing, another initiative from 2003, was a collaborative grant offered jointly by HUD and the
Department of Labor (DOL). The initiative offered $10 million from HUD and $3.5 million from
DOL to help chronically homeless individuals in five communities gain access to employment
and permanent housing.83
In addition, HUD has encouraged the development of housing for chronically homeless
individuals in the way that it distributes the Homeless Assistance Grants to applicants through its
annual grant competition. HUD awards points to applicants if their Continuums of Care (the
geographic entities that collectively apply to HUD for funds) have developed 10-year plans to end
chronic homelessness. Under HUD’s Samaritan Housing Initiative, Continuums of Care can
receive additional funds for permanent supportive housing projects for chronically homeless
individuals. In FY2007, nearly 25% of the three competitive Homeless Assistance Grants went to
fund housing projects targeted to chronically homeless individuals; 84 in FY2008, the percentage
had dropped to approximately 19% of funds.85
80 For a list of grantees see Federal Register, vol. 71, no. 167, August 29, 2006, p. 51207.
81 U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness e-newsletter, March 6, 2007, http://www.ich.gov/newsletter/archive/03-
06-07_e-newsletter.htm.
82 Alvin S. Mares and Robert A. Rosenheck, Evaluation of the Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic
Homelessness, Northeast Program Evaluation Center, February 26, 2007, pp. 32-33, http://www.hudhre.info/
documents/CICH_ClientOutcomesReport.pdf.
83 These cities are Portland, OR, Boston, San Francisco, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles. See the Department of Labor
website, http://www.dol.gov/odep/programs/homeless.htm.
84 HUD SuperNOFA Broadcast slides, February 21, 2008, p. 15, http://www.hudhre.info/documents/
2007_debrief_broadcast.ppt.
85 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Obama Administration Awards Nearly $1.6 Billion in
Homeless Grants to Thousands of Local Housing and Service Programs Nationwide,” press release, February 19, 2009,
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-010.cfm.
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The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Federal Strategic Plan to
Prevent and End Homelessness
The HEARTH Act, enacted on May 20, 2009, as part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes
Act (P.L. 111-22), charged the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) with
developing a National Strategic Plan to End Homelessness. The HEARTH Act specified that the
plan should be made available for public comment and submitted to Congress and the President
within one year of the law’s enactment.
The USICH convened working groups made up of members of federal agencies to discuss ending
homelessness among specific populations: families, youth, chronically homelessness individuals,
and veterans.86 The council then held regional meetings to get feedback from various
stakeholders, and accepted public comments on its website during the month of March 2010.87
The USICH expects to release its plan by May 20, 2010.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Plan to End Homelessness
On November 3, 2009, the VA announced a plan to end homelessness among veterans within five
years.88 VA budget documents outline six areas of focus for the new plan: (1) outreach and
education, (2) treatment, (3) prevention, (4) housing and supportive services, (5) employment and
benefits, and (6) community partnerships.89 Following are some of the activities the VA plans to
undertake as part of the plan to end homelessness:
• In FY2010, the VA plans to expand some of the existing homeless programs
discussed in this report. Specifically, the Health Care for Homeless Veterans
program would provide residential treatment beds to 4,800 veterans (in FY2008,
there were 1,855 beds provided); the Grant and Per Diem Program would serve
20,000 veterans (in FY2008, the program discharged 15,511 veterans); and the
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans program would add five new facilities.
• The VA-HUD pilot to prevent veteran homelessness and the VA program of
supportive services for very low-income veteran families are to get underway in
FY2010.
• The VA plans to establish a National Homeless Registry to keep records of
veterans served in homeless-specific programs and measure outcomes achieved.
86 U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness Overview,
http://www.usich.gov/PDF/FSPOverviewSummary.pdf.
87 For public comments, see http://fsp.uservoice.com/forums/41991-how-can-the-local-community-contribute-to-the-
visi.
88 See U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Secretary Shinseki Details Plan to End Homelessness for Veterans,” press
release, November 3, 2009, http://www1.va.gov/OPA/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1807.
89 FY2011 VA Budget Justifications, p. 1K-11.
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Legislation Enacted in the 111th Congress
Reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Grants
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, administered by HUD, are the primary
federal source of funds to develop and support housing for homeless individuals, including
emergency, transitional, and permanent housing. The grants consist of the Emergency Shelter
Grants (ESG), the Supportive Housing Program (SHP), Shelter Plus Care (S+C), and the Section
8, Moderate Rehabilitation Assistance for Single-Room Occupancy Dwellings (SRO) program.
These programs are discussed earlier in this report in the section entitled “Homeless Assistance
Grants.” The Homeless Assistance Grants had not been authorized since FY1994, though they
continued to be funded through annual appropriations. 90
On April 2, 2009, identical bills to reauthorize the Homeless Assistance Grants entitled the
Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act were
introduced in the House and the Senate (H.R. 1877 and S. 808). On May 6, 2009, Senator Reed,
the sponsor of S. 808, proposed to add the bill as an amendment to S. 896, the Helping Families
Save Their Homes Act, which was being considered by the full Senate.91 Senator Reed’s
amendment was approved, and later that same day the Senate approved S. 896. The House
approved S. 896 on May 19, 2009, and, due to small differences between the House- and Senate-
passed versions, the Senate approved the House-passed measure that same day. On May 20, 2009,
the President signed the bill into law as P.L. 111-22. The changes in the HEARTH Act will take
effect at the earlier of 18 months from the date of its enactment—on or about November 20,
2010—or three months from the date on which HUD publishes final regulations.
This section describes the major changes that the HEARTH Act makes to the Homeless
Assistance Grants.
Consolidation of the Competitive Homeless Assistance Grants
The HEARTH Act removes the distinctions among the three competitive Homeless Assistance
Grants and replaces them with one consolidated grant program called the “Continuum of Care
Program.” Applicants will no longer apply for one of the three existing grants—S+C, SHP, or
SRO—based on the type of housing and services they intend to provide. Instead, the new
consolidated grant will provide funds for all permanent housing, transitional housing, supportive
services, and re-housing activities.
In consolidating the competitive grants, the HEARTH Act will maintain some aspects of the
current Continuum of Care application system and will codify the system in law (currently much
of the application system has been established through the grant funding process). Under P.L.
111-22, HUD will review applications from Collaborative Applicants—local entities that
90 The programs were last authorized as part of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-550).
In FY1994, $1,563,000 was authorized for the Interagency Council on Homelessness, $143,796,000 for the ESG
program, $212,568,000 for SHP, and $277,745,100 for S+C and SRO programs.
91 See S.Amdt. 1040.
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determine funding priorities and jointly submit a single application to HUD on behalf of all local
applicant organizations (much like the existing Continuum of Care).92 Currently, although CoCs
submit one application to HUD, the Department must still review the individual project
applications from organizations seeking funding. This change from separate project applications
to a single CoC application will mean the difference between HUD reviewing hundreds rather
than thousands of applications. Collaborative Applicants could also choose to apply to HUD to be
“Unified Funding Agencies;” the Unified Funding Agencies will have authority to receive grant
awards directly from HUD and distribute them to individual awardee organizations. Otherwise,
HUD will continue using its current practice of distributing funds directly to individual project
applicants.
The new law also changes matching requirements for grant recipients. Currently, the three
competitive homeless assistance grants each have their own rules regarding the amount of HUD
funds that must be matched with cash or in-kind support. For example, under SHP, grantees must
match dollar for dollar any funds they receive for acquisition, rehabilitation or construction of
property, they must provide a 20% match for supportive services funding, and a 25% match for
operating expenses. S+C grantees must match each dollar received with an equal amount for
supportive services. Under the HEARTH Act, grantees will be required to provide a 25% cash or
in-kind match for any dollar of HUD assistance they receive, no matter the activity.
P.L. 111-22 also requires certain set-asides within the Continuum of Care Program to provide
housing for homeless populations. At least 30% of funds (not including those for permanent
housing renewals) will be used to provide permanent supportive housing to individuals with
disabilities or families with an adult head of household (or youth in the absence of an adult) who
has a disability. This requirement will be reduced proportionately as communities increase
permanent housing units for those individuals and families, and will end when HUD determines
that a total of 150,000 permanent housing units have been provided for homeless persons with
disabilities since 2001. The HEARTH Act also requires that at least 10% of funds be used to
provide permanent housing for families with children. This had not previously been a requirement
of the Homeless Assistance Grants. Collaborative Applicants that are successful in reducing or
eliminating homelessness through permanent housing will receive bonuses that they could use for
any eligible activity under the Continuum of Care Program as well as homelessness prevention
activities.
The HEARTH Act will also institute a new program to allow certain high-performing
communities to have greater flexibility in the way that they use their funds. To be designated
high-performing, a Collaborative Applicant will have to meet requirements regarding the average
length of homelessness in their communities, repeat instances of homelessness, community
involvement and outreach activities, effectiveness in reducing homelessness, and success in
achieving independent living among homeless families with children and youth. Collaborative
Applicants designated “high performing” will be able to use their grant awards for any eligible
activity under the Continuum of Care Program, as well as for homelessness prevention activities.
Regarding the pro rata need process currently used to determine how funds are distributed to
communities (which uses the Community Development Block Grant program formula, in part, to
92 The HEARTH Act would also allow individual organizations to apply directly to HUD for funds if they were not
reasonably permitted to participate as part of the collaborative application process.
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determine need93), the HEARTH Act requires HUD to create a new formula for determining need
within two years of the bill’s enactment using “factors that are appropriate to allocate funds to
meet the goals and objectives of” the Continuum of Care program. The new law gives the HUD
Secretary the authority to adjust the formula to ensure that Collaborative Applicants have
sufficient funds to renew existing contracts for one year.
P.L. 111-22 authorizes the Continuum of Care Program, together with the Emergency Solutions
Grants Program (described below) at $2.2 billion in FY2010 and such sums as necessary for
FY2011. The new law provides that permanent housing contracts may be renewed with funds
from either the Homeless Assistance Grants account or the project-based Section 8 program
account.
Definitions of “Homeless Individual” and “Chronically Homeless Person”
P.L. 111-22 expands the definition of “homeless individual” that is codified in the McKinney-
Vento Homeless Assistance Act.94 Under current law, a homeless individual is defined as an
individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and who resides in a
temporary shelter (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for
those with mental illnesses), resides in an institution as a temporary residence, or in a place not
designed for human habitation.
The HEARTH Act amends the current definition of homeless individual to include all those
persons living in transitional housing, not just those residing in transitional housing for the
mentally ill as in current law. The new law also includes in the definition persons living in hotels
or motels paid for by a government entity. P.L. 111-22 also adds to the current definition those
individuals and families who meet all of the following criteria.
• They will “imminently lose their housing,” whether it be their own housing,
housing they are sharing with others, or a hotel or motel not paid for by a
government entity. Imminent loss of housing would be evidenced by
• an eviction requiring an individual or family to leave their housing within 14
days;
• a lack of resources that would allow an individual or family to remain in a
hotel or motel for more than 14 days; or
• credible evidence that an individual or family would not be able to stay with
another homeowner or renter for more than 14 days.
• They have no subsequent residence identified.
• They lack the resources needed to obtain other permanent housing.
HUD practice prior to passage of the HEARTH Act was to consider those individuals and
families who would imminently lose housing within seven days to be homeless.
93 For more information on this issue, see CRS Report RL33764, The HUD Homeless Assistance Grants: Distribution
of Funds, by Libby Perl.
94 42 U.S.C. § 11302.
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Another change to the definition of homeless individual is that the HEARTH Act considers
homeless anyone who is fleeing a situation of domestic violence or other life-threatening
condition. In addition, P.L. 111-22 adds to the definition of homeless individual unaccompanied
youth and homeless families with children who are defined as homeless under other federal
statutes95 and who (1) have experienced a long-term period without living independently in
permanent housing; (2) have experienced instability as evidenced by frequent moves; and (3) can
be expected to continue in unstable housing due to factors such as chronic disabilities, chronic
physical health or mental health conditions, substance addiction, histories of domestic violence or
childhood abuse, the presence of a child or youth with a disability, or multiple barriers to
employment. In general, however, Collaborative Applicants will not be able to use more than
10% of grant funds to serve those individuals and families defined as homeless under other
federal statutes.
P.L. 111-22 also expands the current definition of “chronically homeless person,” which has been
defined in regulation.96 Under the regulation, the term is defined as an unaccompanied individual
who has been homeless continuously for one year or on four or more occasions in the last three
years, and who has a disability. The HEARTH Act adds to the definition homeless families with
an adult head of household (or youth where no adult is present) who has a disability. The
definition of disability specifically includes post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain
injury. Note, however, that to be considered chronically homeless, an individual or family must
be living in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or an emergency shelter; the
HEARTH Act’s changes to the definition of “homeless individual” do not apply to chronic
homelessness. In addition, a person released from an institution will be considered chronically
homeless as long as, prior to entering the institution, they otherwise met the definition of
chronically homeless person, and had been institutionalized for fewer than 90 days.
Homelessness Prevention
The HEARTH Act expands the opportunities for grantees to engage in homelessness prevention
activities. Currently, only ESG funds may be used for homelessness prevention activities such as
payment of rent or utility bills, limited to 30% of a state’s or a community’s allocation. P.L. 111-
22 expands the eligible activities and funding level of the Emergency Shelter Grants Program and
renames it the “Emergency Solutions Grants Program.” The new bill allocates 20% of funds made
available by Congress for the Homeless Assistance Grants to the newly named program (currently
somewhere between 11% and 15% of funds are reserved for the ESG program). P.L. 111-22
expands the list of supportive services that can be provided with ESG program funds from those
concerned with “employment, health, drug abuse, or education,” to include family support
services for homeless youth, victim services, and mental health services.
The new ESG program also allows funds to be used for short- or medium-term rental assistance
and housing relocation and stabilization services for individuals and families at risk of
homelessness. The bill defines the term “at risk of homelessness” to include an individual or
family with income at or below 30% of area median income, who has insufficient income to
attain housing stability, who has moved frequently for economic reasons, and who lives in
unstable housing (examples of unstable housing are enumerated in the law). The term also
95 For more information about the definition of homelessness under other federal programs, see the section of this
report entitled “Defining Homelessness.”
96 24 C.F.R. § 91.5.
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includes all individuals and families defined as homeless under other federal statutes as “at risk.”
Under the updated ESG program in the HEARTH Act, the amount of funds that grant recipients
can use for emergency shelter and supportive services related to emergency shelter and street
outreach will be limited. Recipients cannot use more than the greater of 60% of their ESG
allocation, or the amount they had used prior to enactment of the HEARTH Act, for these
purposes, reserving the remainder of funds for rental assistance and services for those at risk of
homelessness.
Rural Homelessness
In the area of rural homelessness, the HEARTH Act retains portions of McKinney-Vento’s rural
homelessness grant program (Title IV, Subtitle G of McKinney-Vento), a program that has not
been funded, as the Rural Housing Stability Assistance Program. The program reserves not less
than 5% of Continuum of Care Program funds for rural communities to apply separately for funds
that would otherwise be awarded as part of the Continuum of Care Program. Unlike under the
Continuum of Care program, rural communities will be able to serve persons who do not
necessarily meet HUD’s definition of “homeless individual.” P.L. 111-22 provides that HUD may
award grants to rural communities to be used for (1) re-housing or improving the housing
situation of those who are homeless or are in the worst housing situations in their geographic
area, (2) stabilizing the housing situation of those in imminent danger of losing housing, and (3)
improving the ability of the lowest-income residents in the community to afford stable housing.
The HEARTH Act adds to the list of eligible activities under the rural grants the construction or
rehabilitation of transitional or permanent housing as well as the leasing of property or payment
of rental assistance for these purposes.
Other Enacted Legislation
On May 21, 2009, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved the Veterans Health Care
Authorization Act of 2009 (S. 252). On October 28, 2009, the bill was added to S. 1963, the
Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009, which was passed by the
Senate on November 19, 2009. As passed by the Senate, the bill would have created several pilot
programs to assist low-income and formerly homeless veterans. However, in the House, the pilot
programs were removed from the bill and provisions regarding the per diem portion of the
Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program were added. 97 The new provisions were drawn
from H.R. 3796, a bill to amend Title 38 of the U.S. Code, and “improve per diem grant
payments for organizations assisting homeless veterans.” On April 21, 2010, the House passed S.
1963, and the next day the amended version was approved by the Senate. On May 5, 2010, the
President signed the bill into law as P.L. 111-163.
The language in P.L. 111-163 gives the VA authority to make per diem awards to organizations
that may not fulfill current Grant and Per Diem program requirements. Currently, according to
statute, per diem recipients must give assurances that not more than 25% of individuals served in
97 Two of the pilot programs in the Senate-passed version of S. 1963 would have made grants available to public and
private nonprofit organizations to provide supportive services to very low-income, formerly homeless veterans living in
permanent housing. Another pilot program would have made funds available to public and nonprofit organizations that
provide outreach to low-income and elderly veterans in rural areas to inform them about pension benefits. A fourth
pilot program would have made grants to public and nonprofit organizations to provide supportive services to veterans
participating in vocational rehabilitation activities.
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Grant and Per Diem programs are nonveterans at any one time.98 Under the provisions in P.L.
111-163, it would be possible for organizations to qualify for awards if more than 25% of those
served are nonveterans. Further, the Grant and Per Diem statute lays out four categories of
services to be provided by grant and per diem recipients—outreach, rehabilitative services,
vocational counseling and training, and transitional housing. P.L. 111-163 authorizes the VA to
create a hierarchy of per diem recipients depending on the combination of veterans served and
services provided. Specifically, P.L. 111-163 authorizes the VA to determine per diem payments
in the following order of priority: (1) organizations that fulfill each of the service criteria
prescribed by the VA Secretary and where less than 75% of clients served are veterans; (2)
organizations that fulfill at least one of the service criteria listed in statute and where at least 75%
of homeless clients served are veterans; and (3) organizations that fulfill at least one of the service
criteria and where less than 75% of clients served are veterans.
Active Legislation in the 111th Congress
This section discusses active legislation in the 111th Congress that would make changes or
additions to existing programs that serve homeless individuals or that would create new
programs. Legislation is considered active if it has at least been considered at the subcommittee
level.
On March 30, 2009, the House approved the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
(HVRP) Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1171). As introduced on February 25, 2009, the bill simply
would have extended the authorization of HVRP from FY2010 through FY2014 at $50 million
per year. However, during markup by the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the bill was
amended so that it would also create an HVRP grant program specifically targeted to serve
women veterans and veterans with children. The amendment was drawn from H.R. 293, the
Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans with Children Reintegration Act. The
new program, like HVRP, would provide job training, counseling, and job placement services, but
would also provide child care for participants. H.R. 1171 would authorize the new program for
women veterans and veterans with children at $10 million per year from FY2010 through
FY2014.
In the Senate, a similar bill, S. 1237, the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans
with Children Act, as introduced, included provisions to create a Homeless Veterans
Reintegration grant for women veterans and veterans with children. As in H.R. 1171, the HVRP
services would include child care and the program would be authorized at $10 million per year
from FY2010 through FY2014. In addition, S. 1237 contained provisions to expand the Grant and
Per Diem program for homeless veterans with special needs to include male veterans who have
care of minor dependent children. On January 28, 2010, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
incorporated provisions from additional legislation and reported S. 1237 as the Homeless
Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act. Many of the new provisions that
were added to S. 1237 were drawn from S. 1547, the Zero Tolerance for Veterans
Homelessness Act. These provisions would
• make a number of changes to the Grant and Per Diem program, including (1)
allowing grants to be used to construct facilities to serve homeless veterans
98 38 U.S.C. § 2111(e).
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(currently funds may only be used to acquire and rehabilitate existing facilities);
(2) changing the Grant and Per Diem definition of private nonprofit organization
to allow for use of Low Income Housing Tax Credits in financing projects;99 (3)
requiring the VA Secretary to evaluate the per diem reimbursement method; (4)
increasing the authorized Grant and Per Diem authorization level from $150
million to $200 million; and (5) setting aside at least 5% of grant awards for
providers in rural areas;
• create a program to prevent veteran homelessness modeled on the Homelessness
Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (described earlier in the section
“Funds for Homeless Programs in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act”);
• require the VA, together with HUD and the U.S. Interagency Council on
Homelessness, to create a system to estimate the number of veterans participating
in VA and HUD programs;
• increase the number of authorized HUD-VASH vouchers to 60,000 (Current
authorization levels are 2,000 vouchers in FY2010 and 2,500 in FY2011.
However, through appropriations, Congress has funded more than 30,000
vouchers over the last three fiscal years.);
• establish the position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within HUD; and
• require the VA to develop a plan for ending veteran homelessness, something the
VA has already undertaken (see “The Department of Veterans Affairs Plan to End
Homelessness”). However, according to the Committee Report accompanying S.
1237 (S.Rept. 111-175), “the Committee believes that better articulation of issues
surrounding the plan to end veteran homelessness in five years is called for.”
The Homes for Heroes Act (H.R. 403), which was passed by the House on June 16, 2009, would
provide various forms of housing assistance for veterans through both HUD and the VA. A nearly
identical bill, also entitled Homes for Heroes, has been introduced in the Senate (S. 1160). H.R.
403 would create a new housing program within HUD to provide grants and rental assistance to
private nonprofit organizations or consumer cooperatives, enabling them to acquire, rehabilitate,
and construct permanent supportive housing for very low-income veterans and their families.
Services for veteran families, including health care, employment and training, educational
assistance, transportation, child care, and housing counseling would be provided through the VA.
The bill would authorize $200 million for this new housing grant program in FY2009 and such
sums as necessary in each year thereafter. In addition, H.R. 403 would authorize sufficient funds
to provide 20,000 Section 8 vouchers for homeless veterans. The bill would also exclude from the
definition of income service-connected disability and death benefit payments to veterans or
family members in determining the amount of rent that veterans would pay in federally assisted
housing.
99 In order to take advantage of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, nonprofit organizations must partner with for-profit
entities. This is due to the way in which the value of tax credits is calculated. The amount of federal grants are not
included in calculating the value of the tax credits. If for-profit entities can partner with private nonprofit organizations
to form limited partnerships, then the nonprofit grantee can loan the Grant and Per Diem funds to the limited
partnership. Under this arrangement, the funds are no longer a “federal grant” to be subtracted in calculating the value
of LIHTCs.
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On October 22, 2009, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Health
approved a series of bills regarding homeless veterans. H.R. 2504 would increase the
authorization level for the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program to $200 million per
year (up from $150 million per year). Another bill, H.R. 2735, would change the way in which
grantees under the Grant and Per Diem program are reimbursed for transitional housing and
supportive services provided to homeless veterans. Grantees would be reimbursed on a quarterly
basis for the “annual cost of furnishing services” to veterans as estimated by the grantee and
adjusted by the VA Secretary. The Secretary would be required to annually increase the rate of
payment based on changing costs of providing services and to take account of the cost of
providing services in a given geographic area. The reimbursement rate could be capped by the
Secretary. In determining the cost of furnishing services, the Secretary could take account of
payments received by grantees from other sources. In addition, grantees could use the per diem
payments that they receive for the cost of furnishing services as matching funds for other
programs.
Also passed by the Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee on October 22, 2009 was the Help
Our Homeless Veterans Act (H.R. 2559), which would amend the statute that gives the VA
Secretary the authority to purchase advertising regarding assistance to veterans, including
homeless veterans. The bill would give “special emphasis” to promoting awareness of assistance
programs for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children. In addition, the
Subcommittee approved a draft bill that was then introduced—H.R. 3906—which would
authorize the program for supportive services for very low-income veterans and their families in
permanent housing at $50 million for FY2012, $75 million for FY2013, and $100 million for
each subsequent fiscal year. Currently, the program is authorized at $20 million for FY2010 and
$25 million for FY2011.
The four bills passed by the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee on October 22, 2009,
were merged into a new bill, the End Veteran Homelessness Act (H.R. 4810), which was
approved by the full House on March 22, 2010. The bill would increase the authorization for the
Grant and Per Diem program to $200 million per year (H.R. 2504), change the way the Grant and
Per Diem providers are reimbursed (H.R. 2735), authorize funds for the program of supportive
services for very low-income veterans and their families (H.R. 3906), and promote awareness of
programs for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children (H.R. 2559). In
addition, H.R. 4810 would require that VA medical centers participating in HUD-VASH employ
specialists who would conduct outreach to landlords, mediate disputes between landlords and
tenants, and maintain a list of available housing units. The bill also provides that the VA and HUD
Secretaries shall work together to help veterans apply for funds allocated through the
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program.
Funding
Table 1 shows final appropriation levels for FY2005-FY2010 for the targeted homelessness
programs included in this report with the exception of programs administered by the VA. The
table also contains a column showing appropriations that were made as part of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5). The appropriations figures come from the budget
justifications submitted by the various agencies or from congressional appropriations documents.
Table 2 shows actual and estimated obligations for the Department of Veterans Affairs targeted
homeless programs for FY2004-FY2010. The figures in Table 2 were obtained from VA budget
documents and conversations with VA employees.
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Table 1. Homelessness: Appropriations for Targeted Federal Programs, FY2005-FY2010
(dollars in thousands)
FY2009
Stimulus
Act,
Program
Agency FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 P.L. 111-5
FY2009
FY2010
Education for Homeless Children & Youth
ED
62,496
61,871a 61,871 64,067b 70,000 65,427 65,427
Emergency Food & Shelter
DHS/
FEMA
153,000 151,470 151,470 153,000 100,000 200,000c 200,000d
Health Care for the Homelesse
HHS
149,000 151,400 167,900 174,700b 174,000f 185,500 185,500
Projects for Assistance in Transition from
Homelessness
HHS
54,809 54,223 54,261 53,313b —
59,687
65,047
Consolidated Runaway and Homeless Youth
Program
HHS
88,725 87,777 87,837 96,128b —
97,234
97,734
—Runaway and Homeless Youth - Basic Center
HHS
48,786
48,265
48,298
52,860
—
53,469
53,744
—Runaway and Homeless Youth - Transitional
Living
HHS
39,939 39,511 39,539 43,268
— 43,765 43,990
Runaway and Homeless Youth - Street
Outreach Program
HHS
15,178 15,017 15,027 17,221b —
17,721
17,971
Homeless Assistance Grants
HUD
1,240,511
1,326,600
1,441,600
1,585,990
—g 1,677,000 1,865,000
—Homelessness Prevention and Rapid
Re-housing
1,500,000
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
DOL
20,832
21,780
21,809
23,620b —
26,330
36,330
Transitional Housing Assistance for Victims
of Domestic Violence, Stalking, or Sexual
DOJ
14,840 14,808 14,847 17,390 50,000 18,000 18,000
Assaulth
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Unless otherwise stated, sources of data are agency budget justifications and congressional
appropriations documents. The amounts are enacted values and do not necessarily include all rescissions for each program in each fiscal year.
Notes: Italics indicate amount is subsumed under earlier line item.
a. P.L. 109-148 provided supplemental FY2006 appropriations of $5 million for assistance to local educational agencies serving homeless children and youth who were
displaced by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita.
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b. In the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, P.L. 110-161, Division G, Section 528, an across-the-board rescission of 1.747% was applied to nearly al Departments
of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education programs. The values in the table reflect the rescission.
c. Funds for the Emergency Food and Shelter program were appropriated as part of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act
(P.L. 110-329), while appropriations for the remaining programs were part of the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8).
d. In FY2010, funds for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program were appropriated as part of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-83);
al other programs received appropriations as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-117).
e. The Health Care for the Homeless program is funded under the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Community Health Centers program. The law
requires that health centers serving special populations, including homeless individuals, receive the same proportion of funds that they received in FY2001 (42 U.S.C. §
254b(r)(2)(B)). For the Health Care for the Homeless program, this is approximately 8.6% of the funds appropriated for the Community Health Centers program. The
appropriation estimates through FY2005 in the table are based on this figure. For FY2006 forward, CRS relied on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Moyer Materials.
f.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L. 111-5) appropriated $500 million for health centers to fund services to patients, as well as $1.5 billion in
infrastructure funding for facility construction and renovation, the purchase of equipment, and acquisition of health information technology. According to HHS, $174
million went to serve homeless individuals. See U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology,
FY2010 Moyer Material, July 2009, p. 25.
g. Although funds appropriated through ARRA for homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing were distributed using the Emergency Shelter Grants formula, the funds
are administered according to different rules than those under the four existing Homeless Assistance Grants.
h. This funding is a set-aside under the VAWA STOP grant program.
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Homelessness: Targeted Federal Programs and Recent Legislation
Table 2. Homelessness: Targeted VA Program Obligations, FY2004-FY2010
(dollars in thousands)
FY2004
FY2005
FY2006
FY2007
FY2008
FY2009
FY2010
Program
(actual)
(actual)
(actual)
(actual)
(actual)
(actual)
(estimate)
Health Care for
Homeless Veterans
(HCHV)a
42,905 40,357 56,998 71,925 77,656 80,219 83,026
Homeless Providers
Grants and Per Diem
Programb
62,965 62,180 63,621 81,187 114,696 128,073 150,000
Domiciliary Care for
Homeless Veterans
(DCHV)
51,829 57,555 63,592 77,633 96,098 115,373 119,000
Compensated Work
Therapy/Therapeutic
Residence Program
(CWT/TR)
10,240 10,004 19,529 21,514 21,497 22,206 22,984
Services for HUD VA
Supported Housing
(HUD-VASH)
3,375 3,243 3,626 7,487 4,854 26,601 75,332
Supportive Services
for Very Low-Income
Veterans and Their
Familiesc
— — — — — 218
20,000
Source: Department of Veterans Affairs budget documents.
a. Includes funding for the Homeless Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans (HCMI) and the Homeless Comprehensive
Service Centers, including mobile centers. A specific breakdown of obligations among activities is not available.
b. Does not include funding for Grant and Per Diem Liaisons.
c. The Supportive Services for Very Low-Income Veterans and Their Families program was created as part of the
Veterans’ Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-387). According to VA budget
documents, the department will develop regulations in FY2009 and award grants in FY2010.
Author Contact Information
Libby Perl, Coordinator
Gail McCallion
Specialist in Housing Policy
Specialist in Social Policy
eperl@crs.loc.gov, 7-7806
gmccallion@crs.loc.gov, 7-7758
Adrienne L. Fernandes
Francis X. McCarthy
Specialist in Social Policy
Analyst in Emergency Management Policy
afernandes@crs.loc.gov, 7-9005
fmccarthy@crs.loc.gov, 7-9533
Garrine P. Laney
Barbara English
Analyst in Social Policy
Information Research Specialist
glaney@crs.loc.gov, 7-2518
benglish@crs.loc.gov, 7-1927
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Homelessness: Targeted Federal Programs and Recent Legislation
Key Policy Staff
Program Name
Telephone
and
E-Mail
Education for Homeless Children and Youths
Gail McCallion
7-7758
gmccallion@crs.loc.gov
Emergency Food and Shelter program
Francis X. McCarthy
7-9533
fmccarthy@crs.loc.gov
Health Centers for the Homeless
Barbara English
7-1927
benglish@crs.loc.gov
HUD programs and Homeless Veterans
Libby Perl
7-7806
eperl@crs.loc.gov
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness
Libby Perl
7-7806
eperl@crs.loc.gov
Runaway and Homeless Youth programs
Adrienne L. Fernandes
7-9005
afernandes@crs.loc.gov
Violence Against Women Act programs
Garrine P. Laney
7-2518
glaney@crs.loc.gov
Congressional Research Service
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