Congress should provide the funding requested in the fiscal year 2016 budget to support the goal to prevent and end homelessness for families, youth, and children in 2020 because it would be able to keep families off of the streets on any given night.

Having shelter is important for families, not only because it can protect adults and children from life-endangering weather conditions, but also because children who experience homelessness have acute and chronic health problems and when shelter is inaccessible or unavailable, women and children escaping domestic violence often are with family or friends where their abuser might find them or return to their abuser.

Despite the significant importance of providing shelter to families, there is not enough shelter capacity or assistance provided for homeless families.  On a given night, 214,514 adults and children in families were homeless and 23,110 were without shelter. In January 2014, of the 23,110 adults and children in families without shelter, 9,863 to 12,130 did not have access to emergency shelters, transitional housing, permanent housing, or
rapid rehousing.

These resources are critical for adults and children experiencing homelessness. Emergency shelters provide a refuge for those in immediate danger, transitional housing provides shelter and supportive services to help homeless families to obtain stable housing, permanent supportive housing provides housing and supportive services to homeless people who have disabilities, and rapid rehousing provides assistance to homeless families to help them quickly secure housing, including move-in assistance, short- or medium-term rental assistance, and assistance to maintain stable housing such as connections to employment.

With about 10,000 to 15,000 homeless families living on the streets without the opportunity to obtain a shelter bed, funding should be provided to be able to provide these families with shelter or housing.  HUD requested in its budget for the upcoming fiscal year funding to provide shelter or rapid rehousing assistance for these families.  According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the fiscal year 2016 budget provided $2.48 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants to renew the Emergency Solutions Grants and CoC program and to assist 15,000 additional families through rapid-rehousing and individuals and families experiencing chronic homelessness with the establishment of 25,500 new permanent supportive housing units.  As we discussed in our previous blog, neither the House nor the Senate bills provide the additional funding to assist 15,000 additional families.  For less than $300 million in additional funding, HUD could ensure that no homeless family is left on the streets on any given night.