The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget Request proposes to cut funding to assist homeless people and people at-risk of homelessness by more than $6 billion compared to the enacted FY2016 funding level and the enacted FY2017 funding level, the latter which was not enacted at the time the budget request was prepared.
Continue reading The FY2018 Budget Request Cuts Assistance to Homeless People and People At-Risk of Homelessness by $6 Billion
As the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Provides $35 Million to $51 Million to Assist Homeless Persons, Congress Should Maintain or Increase CDBG Funding for FY2017
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are currently funded for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 through April 28 through two continuing resolutions, Pub. L. No. 114-223 and Pub. L. No. 114-254, at FY 2016 appropriated levels, including for Homeless Assistance Grants and other Community Planning and Development programs, with exceptions to provide sufficient funding to renew rental assistance for Public and Indian Housing Tenant-Based Rental Assistance and an additional $1.8 billion for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funding.
Continue reading As the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Provides $35 Million to $51 Million to Assist Homeless Persons, Congress Should Maintain or Increase CDBG Funding for FY2017
Homeless Persons Were More Likely to Have Health Insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare, and Receive Critical Preventive Care and Treatment in Medicaid-expansion States
Last week, two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives passed out of the committee two health bills, jointly referred to as the American Health Care Act (AHCA), to modify the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare). Congressional leaders plan that a third committee is going to consider the AHCA this week and that the U.S. House of Representatives is going to consider the bill on the House floor next week.
Continue reading Homeless Persons Were More Likely to Have Health Insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare, and Receive Critical Preventive Care and Treatment in Medicaid-expansion States
One-fifth of Homeless Adults Gained Medicaid Coverage from 2013 to 2015 so Congress Should Not Repeal the Medicaid Expansion
This year Congress is debating repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare). As the ACA allowed states to expand Medicaid to cover all adults with income less than 138% of the federal poverty level and 32 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid pursuant to the Act and 14 million people have gained access to Medicaid coverage due to this expansion, an important part of the debate on repealing and replacing the ACA is Medicaid.
Continue reading One-fifth of Homeless Adults Gained Medicaid Coverage from 2013 to 2015 so Congress Should Not Repeal the Medicaid Expansion
With More Than 100 Homeless People Dying from Hypothermia and Exposure to the Cold in the Past Five Years, More Housing and Shelter is Needed
Federal, state, and local governments are not doing enough to save the lives of homeless Americans. Homeless persons die at least 12 years earlier than other Americans, on average, and have a mortality rate four to nine times higher than those who are not homeless. Over the past five years, thousands of homeless people have died, including an estimated 2,000 in 2013 and 2,700 in 2016.
Continue reading With More Than 100 Homeless People Dying from Hypothermia and Exposure to the Cold in the Past Five Years, More Housing and Shelter is Needed
New “Health Care of Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2015” Shows Many Homeless Persons are Without Diagnosis and/or Treatment
Our new fact sheet “Health Care of Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2015” reports the current state of diagnosis and treatment of homeless patients for twelve chronic and other life-threatening or serious health conditions to assess whether homeless patients are receiving prompt and life-saving diagnosis or treatment and to determine what improvements are needed to ensure that they are able to receive such diagnosis and treatment.
Continue reading New “Health Care of Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2015” Shows Many Homeless Persons are Without Diagnosis and/or Treatment
The Newly-Released HUD Homeless Report Shows Unsheltered Homelessness Increased by 2% or 3,000 Persons in 2016
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released Part 1 of its Annual Homelessness Assessment Report for 2016 this past week reporting the number of homeless people, homeless individuals, homeless families, homeless veterans, chronically homeless people, and homeless youth on a given night. In the report, the number of homeless people on a single night was 549,928, a decrease of 2.6% from the year before. Unfortunately, the report noted that the declines were composed entirely of people staying in sheltered locations and that homelessness increased among people without shelter by 2%. The number of homeless persons without shelter increased by 3,089 persons from 173,268 in 2015 to 176,357 in 2016.
Continue reading The Newly-Released HUD Homeless Report Shows Unsheltered Homelessness Increased by 2% or 3,000 Persons in 2016
PHAs Administering the Family Unification Program, with the HOTMA Revisions, Should Use the Statutory, Not the Regulatory, Definition of “At Risk of Homelessness”
On June 29, President Obama signed into law the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA), which included several reforms of federal rental assistance, including expanding the family unification program (FUP) for youth leaving and aging out of foster care. First, section 110 of HOTMA expanded the length of the term for FUP assistance of youth leaving or aging out of foster care from 18 months to 36 months. HOTMA, Pub. L. No. 114-201, § 110(1)(A), 130 Stat. 782, 803 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(x)(2)). Second, section 110 increased the maximum age of eligibility for FUP assistance of youth leaving or aging out of foster care from 21 years old to 24 years old. Id. § 110(1)(B), 130 Stat. at 803. Third, section 110 increased eligibility for FUP assistance from youth who have left foster care to include youth who will leave foster care within 90 days, in accordance with a transition plan. Id. § 110(1)(C), 130 Stat. at 803. Fourth, section 110 stated eligibility for FUP assistance of youth leaving or aging out of foster care if they were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Id.
Homelessness Has a Disproportionate Effect and the Fair Housing Act May Be Able to Prevent and End Homelessness
Homelessness disproportionately affects African-Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, Latinos, families with children, and persons with disabilities and homelessness also affects large numbers of females and survivors of domestic violence and persons who identify as transgender.
Continue reading Homelessness Has a Disproportionate Effect and the Fair Housing Act May Be Able to Prevent and End Homelessness
According to Census and HUD Data, States with the Highest Numbers of Adults with Disabilities in Poverty and Deep Poverty Have the Highest Numbers of Chronically Homeless Persons in 2015
Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its 1-Year American Community Survey data on income, employment, poverty, and other population characteristics in 2015 for jurisdictions with populations of 65,000 or more. According to this survey, 39.9 million people or 12.6% of the nation had a disability, an increase of 300,000 from 2014. Moreover, persons with disabilities were disproportionately poor and extremely poor: 8.4 million or 21% of people with disabilities were poor while 46.2 million or 14.7% of people overall were poor and 3.1 million or 7.8% of people with disabilities were extremely poor while 20.4 million or 6.5% of people overall were extremely poor. Also, 8.4 million or 18.2% of the 46.2 million people with income below the federal poverty level had a disability and 3.1 million or 15.3% of the 20.4 million with income below half of the poverty level had a disability in 2015.
Continue reading According to Census and HUD Data, States with the Highest Numbers of Adults with Disabilities in Poverty and Deep Poverty Have the Highest Numbers of Chronically Homeless Persons in 2015