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Federal Policy Update

Federal Policy Update . NAEHCY 19th Annual Conference November 13, 2007 Portland, OR. Overview of Session. HUD Homeless Assistance Programs Reauthorization in House and Senate A Place to Call Home Act Omnibus youth legislation in the House.

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Federal Policy Update

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  1. Federal Policy Update NAEHCY 19th Annual Conference November 13, 2007 Portland, OR

  2. Overview of Session • HUD Homeless Assistance Programs • Reauthorization in House and Senate • A Place to Call Home Act • Omnibus youth legislation in the House

  3. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • Why is this important? • Hasn’t been done since 1994. • In the interim HUD has implemented a lot of policies administratively, without input from Congress and the public, that have damaged the ability of educators and other people who work with homeless children, youth, and families to ensure that those people can access HUD’s homeless assistance programs.

  4. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • Key issues in reauthorization • Aligning HUD’s definition of homelessness with the definition used by the US Department of Education. • Giving local communities the flexibility to address homelessness as it exists in the community. • Ensuring broad community participation as local communities determine how to spend HUD homeless assistance funding.

  5. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • How are these priorities being addressed by Congress? • House bill – Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act (H.R. 840), endorsed by NAEHCY and a broad coalition of national, state, and local groups, addresses all 3 issues well. • Senate bill – Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act (CPEHA) (S. 1518), has serious shortcomings in all 3 areas.

  6. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • HEARTH Act • Would align HUD’s definition of homelessness with the Ed definition, with limited exceptions. • Eliminates existing restrictive set-asides and bonuses that inhibit the ability of local communities to serve homeless children, youth, and families. • Ensures that education liaisons and other key stakeholders have a seat at the table as local decisions on how to spend limited federal homeless assistance funds are made.

  7. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • CPEHA • Individuals and families living doubled up and in hotel/motels would only be considered homeless, if: • They have moved 2 times in 21 days or 3 times in a year, AND • They are not able to contribute to rent, AND • They have been told they can only stay for a short time.

  8. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • CPEHA (continued) • Diminishes local control by requiring 40% of funds to be set aside for permanent housing; includes significant incentives for focus on “chronic” homelessness – defined as a disabled individual or a family with a disabled head of household, living on the street or in an emergency shelter for more than a year or four times in three years.

  9. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • CPEHA (continued) • Fails to ensure that key stakeholders (education liaisons, people experiencing homelessness, DV, and youth providers) are at the table when local communities set priorities for use of HUD funding.

  10. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • How to influence this legislation? • To find out if your local Representative or Senator is a House co-sponsor of HEARTH (H.R. 840) or a Senate co-sponsor of CPEHA (S. 1518), go to http://thomas.loc.gov. • Contact your Representative (contact info available at www.house.gov) and either thank them for co-sponsoring HEARTH or urge them to become a co-sponsor of HEARTH. • Point out the 3 key provisions of HEARTH, and be clear that any final homelessness legislation must contain them.

  11. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • How to influence this legislation (cont.)? • CPEHA has passed through the Senate Banking Committee, but has yet to be brought to the Senate floor. • When you contact Senate offices, urge them to push for amendments to CPEHA that would align it with the 3 key provisions in the HEARTH bill. • There is still time – if the bill’s lead sponsors continue to face pressure to make changes, they may amend the bill before bringing it to the Senate floor.

  12. Reauthorization of HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs • Contact: • Barbara Duffield at NAEHCY, at bduffield@naehcy.org or (202) 364-7392 • Bob Reeg at NN4Youth, at bob.reeg@verizon.net or (202) 265-7271 • Jeremy Rosen at NPACH, at jrosen@npach.org or (202) 714-5378.

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