We Can End Homelessness, Really

Shaun Donovan is the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He previously served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. He was sworn in as secretary in January, 2009.

The President and the new Congress face two important deficits – the country’s  budget deficit, and a trust deficit that leads many to be skeptical that the Federal government has the ability to solve big, important problems.

On the issue of homelessness, we can start to tackle both.

Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is awarding $1.4 billion to help more than 7,000 communities fight homelessness on the local level. For years, federal support has helped communities provide safe havens for those with severe health conditions or mental illness, aid in job training and placement, and find the transitional and permanent homes they need to start rebuilding their lives.

But 2011 promises to be different.

Because for the first time, these funds aren’t just helping fight homelessness, but are actually part of a larger strategy to prevent and end homelessness.

Last June, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness delivered to President Obama and Congress Opening Doors – the first comprehensive federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness.  The culmination of a decade of bipartisan progress on the issue, the plan commits our country to ending chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans in five years, while ending homelessness for families, youth, and children within a decade, and setting us on a path to end all homelessness.

It’s an ambitious goal, but communities around the country have shown us we can solve this problem.  Federal support of local efforts have already reduced chronic homelessness - the men and women some thought were beyond help and would always be on our streets - by one-third inside of five years.  We have made significant inroads into reducing veterans’ homelessness as well.  And so this plan builds on what we know works.

It’s already changing the way we do business.  For instance, HUD, the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs (VA) are partnering to house veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan at risk of homelessness; as HUD and its local partners help veterans pay the rent, make security deposits and utility payments, the VA will provide veterans with access to health care, while the Labor Department will provide the job training returning veterans need to support themselves and their families.

But more collaboration alone won’t restore confidence in government – we also need to produce results.  And producing results requires smarter decisions based on good, sound data.

In the next two weeks, thousands of volunteers in nearly 4,000 cities and counties will conduct a national one-night count of homeless persons and families.  This “point in time” count is essential to having the clearest understanding possible of the scope and breadth of homelessness and to measuring our progress toward ending it – and you can find out more about how you can volunteer to help in your local count at www.hud.gov/homelesscount

We are urging every community to participate, because good data is essential to measuring what works, what doesn’t, and what we need to do better.

And in today’s tight budget environment, good data will also help us make the responsible fiscal choices to reduce the budget deficit.  Indeed, over the last decade, we’ve seen that when localities combine housing with supportive services the results are fewer ambulance and police calls, fewer visits to the emergency room, and - just as importantly - real savings for taxpayers.

Our job now is to bring this proven, cost-effective model to every community in the country.

With President Obama’s commitment, local leadership from around the country, and members of both parties working together to end homelessness, I’m confident we can – and will.

Photo: Natalie Maynor