Homelessness

The Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention program (VHHP) is making $75 million in funding available, beginning November 8, 2019, to assist in developing housing opportunities for California’s veterans, especially those at risk of homelessness or experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness. Awards will be made to qualifying developers and nonprofit entities to construct, acquire, rehabilitate or preserve affordable multifamily housing for our veterans and their families. Applications are due on February 13, 2020.

A new audit from the Los Angeles Office of the Controller examines the city’s progress on Proposition HHH and found that while 19 projects are under construction and two are scheduled to open in the coming months, it is clear that the City’s HHH program is not keeping pace with the growing demand for supportive housing and shelter.

The Council of Economic Advisers released The State of Homelessness in America report. The report raises serious methodological concerns, cherry-picks data that supports the reports positions and relies on outdated studies. The report’s primary argument posits that the deregulation of 11 housing markets would lead to a reduction of 71,709 people experiencing homelessness. The report takes aim at municipalities that have implemented right-to-shelter policies and policies that affect the tolerability of living on the streets for decreasing the demand for housing and increasing homelessness.

The Alabama Housing Finance Authority (AHFA) is committed to encouraging the development and preservation of affordable rental housing for Alabamians with special needs. Thus far, developers have committed to set aside more than 210 newly constructed or rehabilitated units to house disabled and homeless households throughout the state.

Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (T-HUD) favorably reported its FY 2020 funding bill to the full committee. The full Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the bill at 10:30 am EDT on September 19 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 106 and via webcast.

As of publication, the T-HUD bill has yet to be released. Overall the subcommittee received a 302(b) allocation of $74.3 billion, $3.2 billion above the FY 2019 enacted levels. HUD received $56.0 billion in total budgetary resources, which is offset by $7.4 billion in receipts from the Federal Housing Agency/Ginnie Mae for a net funding level of $48.6 billion, an increase of $2.3 billion above the FY 2019 enacted level.

Last week the House Financial Service Committee (HFSC) held a field hearing titled “Examining the Homelessness Crisis in Los Angeles.” In her opening remarks, Chairwoman Maxine Waters called for a  bold and comprehensive response at the federal, state and local levels to address the homelessness crisis.

The subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing titled “An Examination of the Housing Crisis in Michigan, 11 Years after the Recession” at noon EDT on August 8 at the Wayne County Community College north west campus (8200 Outer Drive West, Detroit, MI 48219). The full […]

Following the House passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House Appropriations Committee requesting $5 billion in FY 2020 funding for HUD’s McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Grant program. Chairwoman Maxine Waters introduced […]

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to President Donald Trump on recommendations to end homelessness after the president said the following on homelessness in an interview with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, “It’s disgraceful. I’m going to maybe and I’m looking at it very seriously.”

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention (VHHP) program Draft Guidelines for Round 5. Comments on the draft guidelines should be sent to hcdvets@hcd.ca.gov  by 5 pm PDT on June 29, 2019. HCD will host two workshops and a webinar to review the VHHP Round 5 Draft Guidelines.

UnitedHealthcare has partnered with the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) and the Louisiana Department of Health to support important initiatives aimed at reducing homelessness throughout the state.

Southwest Minnesota celebrated the effective end of chronic homelessness and Lexington, KY celebrated the effective end of veteran homelessness! In 2017, the Southwest Minnesota Continuum of Care celebrated the end of veteran homelessness and is now one of only four communities to end both veteran and chronic homelessness.