Obama administration unveils national strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness

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WASHINGTON - Today, the lead Cabinet secretaries from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) - from the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Veterans Affairs (VA) - joined Executive Director of the USICH Barbara Poppe to unveil and submit to the President and Congress the nation's first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness. Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes accepted the plan on behalf of President Barack Obama. The full report, titled Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, is available at www.usich.gov.

The USICH is chaired by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and the Vice Chair is Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. The 19 member agencies span the nation's housing, health, job, education, and human services to coordinate the Federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership at every level of government and with the private sector to reduce and end homelessness in the nation while maximizing the effectiveness of the Federal government in contributing to the end of homelessness.

"As the most far-reaching and ambitious plan to end homelessness in our history, this plan will both strengthen existing programs and forge new partnerships," said Donovan. "Working together with Congress, state and local officials, faith-based and community organizations, and business and philanthropic leaders across our country, we will harness public and private resources to build on the innovations that have been demonstrated at the local level nationwide. No one should be without a safe, stable place to call home and today we unveil a plan that will put our nation on the path toward ending all types of homelessness."

By combining permanent housing with support services, federal, state, and local efforts have reduced the number of people who are chronically homeless by one-third in the last five years.

"Communities across the country have stressed the need for federal leadership to prevent and end homelessness," said USICH Executive Director Poppe. "For the first time, the nation will have goals, strategies, and measureable outcomes that will guide us toward a fiscally prudent government response. Local, state, and federal governments cannot afford to invest in anything but the most evidence-based, cost-effective strategies."

In recent years, over 300 communities have developed plans to end homelessness. "We know that the Federal government alone cannot ...