Alliance Online News: Disabled People Living on SSI Cannot Afford Housing Anywhere in U.S.

Alliance Online News View in browser www.endhomelessness.org Tuesday, June 9, 2015 spotlight on... Report:  Disabled People Living on SSI Cannot Afford Housing Anywhere in U.S. People living with disabilities who rely on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for their living expenses can no longer afford housing at fair market rates in America, according to “Priced Out 2014,” a report produced by the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force. The report, released Monday, June 8, presents findings from a study comparing monthly SSI payments of disabled, non-elderly Americans to the fair market rents for studio and one-bedroom apartments. Researchers found that, on average, people with disabilities must devote 104 percent of their income to rent a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rate. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers rent affordable when it is 30 percent of a household’s income. Read the report » Survey: Americans Skeptical about Housing Crisis Recovery, Federal Government’s Role Seven years after a national housing crisis, Americans remain pessimistic in their views on the housing market, with 61 percent believing we are still in the midst of the crisis, according responses to a nationwide survey presented in the report “2015 How Housing Matters.” Released by the MacArthur Foundation today, June 9, the report reveals that 80 percent of Americans agree that housing affordability in American is a problem, but disagree on the role that the federal government should play in addressing the problem, with 53 percent of Americans responding that the issue is not the federal government’s responsibility. Nevertheless, 50 percent agree that elected federal officials should treat the issue as a priority. Read the report » alliance events Webinar: Identifying Housing and Supportive Services for Veterans and Their Families Thursday, Jun 18, 1 to 2 p.m. EDT On Thursday, Jun 18, at 1 p.m. EDT, the Alliance will host a webinar covering steps two and four of the Alliance's "Five Steps for Ending Veteran Homelessness" resource. Presenters from the Alliance and UNITY of Greater New Orleans will discuss strategies for recruiting landlords, identifying housing stock and supportive services, and matching veterans with them to ensure that they are successfully and permanently housed. Register » alliance events Webinar: Tailoring Rapid Re-Housing for Single Adults Tuesday, Jun 23, 2 to 3:30 p.m. EDT On Tuesday, June 23, the Alliance will host a webinar about funding and tailoring rapid re-housing interventions to serve single adults. Rapid re-housing is a strategy designed to help most people who become homeless exit homelessness quickly through the provision of assistance identifying housing, temporary financial assistance, and case management and other services. Register » Conference Reminder: Cancellation Deadlines Approaching Should you need to cancel your registration for the Alliance’s 2015 National Conference on Ending Homelessness, please note that the Alliance will charge a $25 cancellation fee for cancellations received in writing by Tuesday, June 16, and will charge a $100 processing fee in addition to the $25 cancellation fee for cancellations received after that date. After Monday, July 6, no refunds for cancellations will be granted. To learn more about the cancellation policy, please visit the cancellations page of the conference website. More information » from the blog Ending Homelessness Today the official blog of the national alliance to end homelessness 3 Major Takeaways from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans' Annual Conference by naehblog Recently, the National Coalition for Homelessness held its annual conference here in Washington, DC. Homeless assistance practitioners, policymakers, and advocates from around the country gathered to learn about what’s working to end veteran homelessness. The contributions of numerous officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were also featured, including a keynote from Secretary McDonald (or Bob, as he urged the audience to call him). In his remarks he touted the efforts of successful communities from New Orleans to Houston and beyond and spoke of VA’s efforts to cut through bureaucracy to get the job done. Beyond VA’s presence, there were some major takeaways from the conference that are definitely worth sharing: Read more » comments » | Here's What Houston and San Francisco Can Teach Us About Ending Family Homelessness by Sharon McDonald Just yesterday the mayor of Houston Annise Parker announced that her city had ended veteran homelessness. The announcement is getting a fair bit of attention in the press and online (and deservedly so), but here’s one thing those stories aren’t telling you. Over the last two years, Houston has also reduced the number of families experiencing homelessness on a given night by 39 percent. Houston leaders attribute this progress to their investment in rapid re-housing. If they’re right, the city has more dramatic declines in its future, because they recently tripled their rapid re-housing capacity. Read more » comments » | The State of Homelessness in America: Trends in the Homeless Assistance System by Liza Doran On any given day, hundreds of thousands of Americans experience homelessness and interact with the homeless assistance system. Fortunately, many of them will become housed. Though the end point—housing—is the most important part, the process of accessing housing can vary greatly from person to person. The homeless assistance system offers a variety of interventions: emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and rapid re-housing. While some of these interventions (emergency shelter and transitional housing) are designed to be temporary, others (permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing) are long-term solutions to homelessness. Read more » comments » | homelessness in the media The Crisis of America’s LGBT Youths in Foster Care L.A. County has its most accurate count yet of its homeless population Hope remains in homeless fight