Conference Reminder: Alliance Seeks 2015 Point-in-Time Count Data








January 27, 2015    
ISSUES  |  POLICY  |  SOLUTIONS  |  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Emanuel Cavallaro


Spotlight On...
Alliance Seeks 2015 Point-in-Time Count Data


This month, volunteers and homeless service providers around the country are conducting the 2015 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, the only national measure that captures the scope of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. In the weeks and months that follow the count, the Alliance's Homelessness Research Institute (HRI) will be seeking the PIT Count data collected by communities in order to track homelessness and maintain a 2015 Homeless Counts Map. If you learn of 2015 Count information available for your community, please send it to the Alliance at counts@naeh.org.





Legislation Addressing Housing Needs of Veterans Introduced
On Friday, Jan. 9, Rep. Al Green, D-Tex. introduced two bills that would address the housing needs of veterans. The first bill, H.R. 251, the Homes for Heroes Act of 2015, would establish the position of special assistant for veterans affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to submit to Congress on an annual basis a veteran homelessness report that supplements the "Annual Homeless Assessment Report" (AHAR). Currently the supplemental report isn't mandated by law.
The second bill, H.R. 252, the Comprehensive Homes for Heroes Act of 2015, would allow the HUD Secretary to expand supportive housing for low income veteran households by providing assistance such as planning grants, capital advance funds, project-based rental assistance, or tenant-based rental assistance to nonprofits and consumer cooperatives. As with H.R. 251, this bill would also create the position of special assistant for veterans affairs at HUD and mandate the annual submission of the veterans supplemental report.
Bill Addressing Youth Homelessness Introduced
Today, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced a bill reauthorizing the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA). The RHYA reauthorization bill strengthens the prevention of human trafficking and includes a nondiscrimination clause to ensure that all homeless youth are treated fairly. The bill also provides for national support activities like the national call center for youth in crisis and research and data collection by authorizing funding for a national incidence and prevalence study, among others.
House to Depart for Recess
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, the House will recess as the House Democrats part for their legislative retreat in Philadelphia. The chamber will reconvene Monday, Feb. 2.



HUD announced yesterday, Monday, Jan. 26, that as part of the $1.8 billion in grant funding it was awarding to existing projects to fight homelessness, it would award nearly $45 million to new projects in 25 communities. Competition for these grants was based on the comparative strength of these communities' strategies for leveraging Medicaid funds to pay for health care and services as part of the permanent supportive housing model. Funding for these projects was made possible by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, a two-year congressional budget agreement negotiated by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that temporarily expanded the limit on federal spending for fiscal year 2014.
Historically, volunteers and service providers conducting the PIT Count have struggled with attaining an accurate count of homeless youth. In this post, we provide some easy steps communities can take to ensure a more youth-inclusive count this year.
The 2015 Point-in-Time Count is Finally Here.
By Liza Doran and Emanuel Cavallaro
In this post, we briefly discuss the 2015 PIT Count, the Alliance's effort to gather experts for a series of webinars on how best to conduct it, and the Alliance's ongoing effort to track homelessness in communities.

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