U.S. Plans Homeless Initiative
$350 Million Program Aims to Tackle Chronic Problem
By Amy Goldstein Washington Post Staff Writer July 19, 2002
The Bush administration yesterday announced a $350 million joint venture by
three federal agencies to weave together housing and social services for
homeless people with addictions, mental illnesses, prison histories and other
root causes of persistent homelessness.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel R. Martinez said the grants program,
to be run by HUD and the departments of Health and Human Services and Veterans
Affairs, will target people who chronically have nowhere to live. It will
provide rent subsidies and "supportive services," such as counseling, health
care and other props to help stabilize their lives.
The undertaking, Martinez said, reflects a commitment by the administration to
link the money and expertise of diverse parts of the government in an effort to
reverse -- and ultimately eliminate -- the homeless population's growing ranks.
As a symbol of that collaboration, he made the announcement after presiding
yesterday morning over a meeting of a homelessness council, composed of 18
federal agencies, which has been dormant because Congress eliminated its funding
from 1994 until last year.
Martinez said in an interview that the grants program is a "new and
unparalleled" effort to respond to research, which shows that people who are
chronically homeless make up 10 percent of the United States' homeless
population -- yet consume half the resources the country spends on the problem.
The $350 million in grants are the latest of several ways the administration has
sought recently to portray President Bush, who was traveling in the Midwest
during the council's meeting at the White House, as committed to helping the
homeless.
Bush has cited the needs of the homeless as a prong of his "compassionate
conservatism" agenda. He has spoken of the homeless most often in conjunction
with the administration's Faith-Based and Community Initiative. "We ought to say
to churches and synagogues and mosques, love," Bush said in a recent welfare
speech -- one of many times he has cited the theme. "If you want to love your
neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself, start a program to help the
homeless, to feed people."
Administration aides say Bush has put money behind his resolve. In the budget he
gave Congress this year, Bush embraced a highly ambitious goal Martinez set
forth a year ago of erasing chronic homelessness in the coming decade. The
budget contains $2.2 billion for homeless programs in various agencies, a 3
percent increase. Administration officials acknowledge that the increase is
modest but say it would be especially useful at a time when many states and
cities are decreasing their spending on the homeless.
Philip Mangano, hired four months ago as the homeless council's executive
director, said the administration also is emphasizing the idea of serving people
who are homeless -- or at risk of becoming so -- in "mainstream" programs for
which the White House is seeking more money this year. These include housing,
drug treatment, food stamps, foster care and help for people adjusting to life
after prison. "We need to focus on preventing people from falling into
homelessness," Mangano said.
At yesterday's council meeting, the first in six years, participants from
various agencies recounted their efforts, Martinez said afterward. An education
official talked of a requirement in the education law Congress adopted last year
to put in each school system a liaison worker to help find local homeless
children.
Martinez plans to elaborate on the administration's approach in a speech today
before the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which is meeting in Washington
this week. In prepared remarks, he said of the multi-agency council: "I can
think of no clearer message that we are serious about taking on the homeless
challenge."
Yesterday, Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition on the
Homeless, the oldest and largest advocacy group on the issue, called the
council's resumption "a huge big deal." He praised the $350 million for the
long-term homeless. But he said the administration should spend more on women
and children, who represent a growing share of the homeless population. He also
criticized the administration's opposition to a proposal, recently defeated by
the House, that would have significantly expanded housing for the poor.
Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28861-2002Jul18?language=printer
July 20, 2002
Administration Promotes Effort on Homeless
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
WASHINGTON, July 19 — The Bush administration outlined a $35 million plan today
to help end chronic homelessness in the next decade, pledging services to people
with addictions and disabilities who have lived on the street for more than a
year.
But even as they said they would put a renewed focus on the problem of the
homeless, administration officials did not offer any new or expanded programs to
provide shelter for them. Instead, officials described efforts to help state and
municipalities learn about federal programs available to help homeless
individuals and families and other programs to help ex-convicts avoid
homelessness.
Officials also said they were reviving a long-dormant White House Interagency
Council on Homelessness to coordinate the efforts of federal agencies.
"This joint collaboration on homelessness has never been tried before. Yet it
makes perfect sense," said Mel Martinez, the secretary of housing and urban
development, speaking here to policy makers and service providers at the annual
conference of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
The reallocated money will be drawn from three federal departments — Housing and
Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs — to support
programs for individuals, families and veterans needing permanent housing and
social services, officials said. Currently, 14 federal programs totaling $2.2
billion support the homeless in America, with more than half coming from HUD.
Experts estimate that of the 2.5 million people homeless in the United States,
the 10 percent who are considered chronically homeless — those who have lived on
the streets for more than a year — consume more than half of all homeless
service.
The announcement drew mixed reviews today from advocates for the homeless, some
praising the administration's efforts and others saying they would do little to
end homelessness.
"It's not the whole thing, but it's a start," said Nan Roman, president of the
National Alliance to End Homelessness. "We can use it to move forward, but we
will be pushing them to do more — much more."
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/20/politics/20HOME.html
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