U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

Housing is vital for a person’s health, and health systems and hospitals have a critical role in both housing and homelessness.

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and Kaiser Permanente are co-hosting a webinar to discuss recent federal guidance and effective strategies for collaborative and compassionate care for people experiencing homelessness.

This event is relevant for all health professionals, including public health departments and researchers. Register today!

How Health Systems and Hospitals Can Help Solve Homelessness In partnership with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), Kaiser Permanente is co-hosting a webinar for leaders in health care, public health, and research. During this session, USICH—which sets federal homelessness strategy—will discuss its recent guidance, “How Health System...

NEWS: Veteran homelessness has dropped to its lowest level on record—from 35,574 to 32,882—which represents a 7.5% drop since last year, 11.7% drop since 2020, and 55.6% drop since 2010.

“This year’s PIT Count shows that VA and the entire Biden-Harris administration are making real progress in the fight to end veteran homelessness," said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. "We still have a long way to go, but we will not stop until every veteran has a safe, stable place to call home.”

Under Biden-Harris Administration, Veteran Homelessness Drops to Lowest on Record Today, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that veteran homelessness has dropped to its lowest level on record since the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) started counting this d...

Have you read the latest USICH newsletter? https://conta.cc/3YChSpp Click to read about:

➡️ USICH's new National Youth Homelessness Partnership
➡️ Local and federal efforts to prevent families from losing their homes
➡️ How people without a permanent address can vote

"There’s been a lot of work around helping end homelessness once people are already there ... it’s just as important to focus on prevention," said USICH Director Olivet on the federal government's first-ever homelessness prevention framework released last month.

Read (or listen) to the full interview:

A fresh federal effort at reducing homelessness "We basically work as a coordinating body to make sure that the administration's homelessness strategy coordinated is effective," said Jeff Olivet.

"Our policies and decision-making are stronger when those who have experienced challenges firsthand can lead." - U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona

With the launch of the National Youth Homelessness Partnership, USICH elevates the voice of youth with lived expertise of homelessness in federal and national efforts to prevent and end it.

USICH Announces Creation of National Youth Homelessness Partnership Today, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) is announcing the creation of the National Youth Homelessness Partnership to elevate the voice of youth with lived and learned expertise of homelessness in federal and national efforts to prevent and end homelessness and enhance collaborati...

Almost 3 of every 10 people experiencing homelessness on a night in 2023 were children with a parent. This new blog in our homelessness prevention series explores how the federal government and communities are strengthening safety nets to prevent families from ever experiencing the lifelong trauma of homelessness.

For instance, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently awarded $10 million in housing vouchers to prevent children from being placed in foster care primarily because of insufficient housing. And the state of Massachusetts embeds social workers in courts, preventing 80% of eligible households from experiencing homelessness in the last year.

HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION SERIES: Spotlight on Family Homelessness This is part of a new series on local and federal efforts to prevent homelessness.

Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) can be used to:

➡️ Provide emergency shelter, rapid rehousing (including up to 24 months of rental assistance), financial assistance for move-in costs, and supportive services for people experiencing homelessness before Hurricane Helene
➡️ Invest in homelessness prevention (including up to 24 months of rental assistance), utility assistance, supportive services, and outreach assistance to meet urgent needs of people at risk of homelessness before the disaster

HUD Deploys Disaster Recovery Funding to Prevent or Address Homelessness in North Carolina In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $3 million in Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) funds for the state of North Carolina.

Have you read the latest USICH newsletter? https://conta.cc/3XZN9B5

Click 👇 to read about:

➡️ Interrupting the jail-to-homelessness pipeline
➡️ Online training for Californians implementing the state's "Housing First" law
➡️ Available federal $$ to address youth homelessness

Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $15.4M to help young adults transitioning out of foster care and experiencing or at risk of homelessness—and more funding is still available.

HUD Awards $15M to Prevent Youth Homelessness After Foster Care Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded $15.4 million to support young Americans transitioning out of foster care and experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Between October and August, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs helped house 43,116 veterans experiencing homelessness, and 96% of them remain housed.

"We won’t rest until every veteran has a safe, stable, accessible and affordable home to call their own,” said Secretary Denis McDonough.

VA Surpasses Goal to Help 41,000 Veterans Overcome Homelessness The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced that between October 2023 and August 2024, it housed 43,116 veterans experiencing homelessness, and 96.3% of those veterans have not returned to homelessness.

Nearly one-third of Americans have a criminal record, and more than 50,000 of the people released from jail or prison every year have nowhere to go but the streets or shelters. To end homelessness, we must close the justice system's revolving door to and from it.

This new blog focuses on local and federal efforts to do just that. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, for instance, 97% of the people helped by the Center for Housing Solutions, Inc. have maintained housing in the first year after exiting jail, and 90% have not had any new criminal charges. Learn how.

HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION SERIES: Spotlight on the Jail-to-Homelessness Pipeline This is part of a new series on local and federal efforts to prevent homelessness.

USICH just launched a new blog series on local and federal efforts to prevent homelessness long before it starts. The first focuses on youth and on the foster-care system, which nearly 1/3 of youth experiencing homelessness have been in.

For instance, President Biden asked Congress to guarantee a housing voucher for every youth aging out of foster care. And at the local level, Ventura County, California, prioritized this population for transitional housing with integrated support services, resulting in more than 90% of those helped remaining housed one year later.

HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION SERIES: Spotlight on Youth Homelessness This is the first in a new series on local and federal efforts to prevent homelessness.