Alliance Announces Newsletter Focused on Rapid Re-Housing

December 16, 2014
		ISSUES  |  POLICY  |  SOLUTIONS  |  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Emanuel Cavallaro
		Spotlight On... Alliance Announces Newsletter Focused on Rapid Re-Housing Starting in January 2015, the Alliance will begin distributing a new newsletter, "Rapid Re-Housing Update," which will focus exclusively on the housing intervention of rapid re-housing. This newsletter will provide readers with the most up-to-date information on rapid re-housing, including new reports, briefs, and studies as well as updates on Alliance events and activities. The newsletter is part of the Alliance's initiative to raise awareness of policy and best practices on rapid re-housing, which has become an essential part of the nationwide effort to end homelessness. In addition, the Alliance has expanded the rapid re-housing page of the Alliance website and begun a series of webinars on the "Core Components of Rapid Re-Housing. A recording of the first such webinar, "Rapid Re-Housing Core Component: Housing Identification," is available for viewing on the Alliance website. Subscribe to the Rapid Re-Housing Update Hill Update Congress Passes "Cromnibus" Bill, $271 Million Less than Obama's Proposal for Homeless Assistance Funding On Dec, 11 and 13 respectively, the House and Senate passed the "cromnibus" spending bill, a combination of a continuing resolution and an omnibus funding bill for fiscal year (FY) 2015 funding. The bill, which President Obama is expected to sign, provides $2.135 billion for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program, a $30 million increase over FY 2014 funding, but $271 million less than the Obama administration's requested amount. Of the $2.135 billion, at least $250 million is set aside for Emergency Solutions Grants with the remainder set aside for Continuum of Care grants.

The bill funds the Department of Homeland Security through the end of February 2015 and funds all other federal operations, including homeless assistance and affordable housing programs, through the remainder of the federal fiscal year to Sept. 30, 2015.
Homeless Advocates Testify Before Congress on Veteran Homelessness
On Thursday, Dec. 11, the Alliance's Vice President for Programs and Policy Steve Berg and numerous other panelists representing national and local nonprofits and federal entities testified at the House Committee on Veteran's Affairs hearing on "Evaluating Federal and Community Efforts to Eliminate Veteran Homelessness." The witnesses largely attributed the decreasing rate of veteran homelessness to array of programs for homeless veterans supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress and implemented by leadership at the local level.

Watch a recording of the hearing

House Departs for Recess
The House departed for the holiday recess last Friday, Dec. 12, while the Senate is expected to depart this Friday, Dec. 19. The 114th Congress will convene Tuesday, Jan. 6.

Alliance Publishes Report on Promising Homeless Assistance Practices in UK and US

The Alliance has published a report compiled from the work of 10 participants of the Transatlantic Practice Exchange, a project that sent five homeless assistance professionals from the U.K. and five from the U.S. overseas to learn about innovative housing interventions. The project, which allowed participants to spend up to two weeks in the spring of 2014 in England and America, was funded by the Oak Foundation and jointly coordinated by the Alliance and Homeless Link. For the report, U.S. participants wrote on topics that included hospital discharge strategies, serving chronically-excluded adults, the No Second Night Out program, and psychologically informed environments.

Read the report

Kaiser: Medicaid Expansion an Opportunity to Help Homeless Population

According to a brief released by the Kaiser Family Foundation last month, the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act could present new opportunities to improve access to health care for people experiencing homelessness. Kaiser's analysis, which notes that homeless people have high uninsured rates and that many live with significant disabilities and mental health needs, looks at the impact of the expansion for homeless providers and the patients they serve. It finds that the expansion has already led to significant increases in coverage for homeless individuals, though providers still face challenges accessing a full array of care under Medicaid.

Read the report

Last Week on Ending Homelessness Today

Preparing for the 2015 Point-in-Time Count-Time's Almost Up!
By Liza Doran

With the 2015 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count right around the corner, the Alliance is trying to get the word out to communities about effective strategies for the count. In this post, we review information from our last two PIT Count webinars.
The Year in Review: Family Homelessness
By Sharon McDonald
It's almost 2015, and here at the Alliance we are reflecting back on what we as a nation have accomplished in 2014. In this post, we review the year in family homelessness.
The Alliance Kicks Rapid Re-Housing up a Notch
By Stuart Campbell
The Alliance is currently working to raise the visibility and understanding of the intervention of rapid re-housing and its effectiveness in addressing homelessness among different populations. In this post, we announce our new rapid re-housing newsletter, our expanded rapid re-housing webpage, and our upcoming webinar on rent and move-in assistance.