HUD targets homeless via $1.4 billion in grants

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said the funding announced represents the largest level of support for an unprecedented number of local projects on the front lines of caring for people who might otherwise be living on the streets.

Jackson announced the funding at a homeless center in Los Angeles with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“This unprecedented level of funds will go directly to those on the front lines, who work tirelessly everyday to bring an end to chronic homelessness, and who provide services to the many individuals and families without a home of their own,” Jackson said in a news release.

This is the fourth consecutive year HUD is providing record funding for homeless assistance and is part of a larger federal strategy being embraced by a growing number of state and local communities to end long-term or chronic homelessness.

HUD’s funding is provided two ways:

• Continuum of care grants provide permanent and transitional housing to

homeless persons, as well as funding services including job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care.

• Emergency shelter grants convert buildings into homeless shelters, assist in the operation of local shelters and fund related social service and homelessness prevention programs.

Combined, HUD’s continuum of care and emergency shelter grant programs will provide funding to more than 4,400 local programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

As a result, more than a quarter-million persons are expected to receive the housing and services they need to become self-sufficient.

More than $1.2 billion in continuum of care grants are awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients. Continuum grants fund a wide variety of programs – from street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless persons and families.

Emergency shelter grants are allocated based on a formula to state and local governments to create, improve and operate emergency shelters for homeless persons. These funds may also support essential services including job training, health care, drug/alcohol treatment, child care and homelessness prevention.

By helping to support emergency shelter, transitional housing and needed support services, emergency shelter grants are designed to move homeless persons toward permanent housing.

Approximately $322 million of the Continuum grants awarded will fund new and existing programs through HUD’s Shelter Plus Care program that helps to pay rent and provide permanent housing for disabled homeless individuals and their families.

The Shelter Plus Care program requires that HUD-funded projects help their clients live independently and provide needed supportive services from funding sources other than HUD.

Chronic homelessness

For nearly four years, HUD has increasingly emphasized the Bush Administration’s goal of ending chronic homelessness in its assistance programs. Research indicates that approximately 10 percent of all homeless persons, or 150,000 people, experience long-term or chronic homelessness.

These studies also find that this hardest-to-serve population utilizes more than half of all emergency shelter resources designed to assist homeless individuals and families.

More than $1.4 billion is set aside for HUD homeless assistance – the largest total award of federal funds for homeless assistance in history. Here’s how it breaks down:

• Of the project awards announced, 1,089 target individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. Total funding to these projects will exceed $370 million, a commitment that directly supports the national goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2012.

• Approximately $628 million of the federal funds is being awarded to more than 1,100 projects that provide permanent housing solutions for homeless persons.

• More than 900 local projects that primarily serve mothers and their children will receive $220 million.

• Approximately 400 shelters that primarily serve victims of domestic violence will receive $92.6 million.

• Nearly $33.8 million is being awarded to 133 projects that primarily target homeless veterans.

• Nearly 1,200 of the projects funded are dedicated to providing housing and support services to severely mentally ill clients. These persons are at high risk of experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness.

• Nearly $372 million will support 1,193 local programs that primarily help homeless individuals with substance abuse problems.

• More than $9 million goes to provide job training and other employment services for homeless individuals.