Yesterday, Congress passed S. 896, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 and Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009.
S. 896 also includes the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, which reauthorizes the HUD McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act programs and amends HUD’s definition of homelessness. (more…)
Today, the US Senate approved the HEARTH Act (S. 808), which would re-write the federal law governing HUD’s homeless assistance grant programs. We remain very concerned about the definition of homelessness contained in HEARTH. It excludes too many vulnerable children, youth, and families in need of HUD housing assistance; it would be overly complex to administer at the local level; and it was developed well before the recent recession-driven spike in family and youth homelessness. It is not a “compromise” definition, as evidenced by the broad array of housing, children, youth, education, and legal organizations who do not support it. Those of us involved directly in negotiations consistently objected to provisions harmful to child and youth development, including requirements for multiple moves and other arbitrary restrictions imposed on those in motel and doubled-up situations. (more…)
As we have all seen, on our streets and in the media, family homelessness over the past three years has skyrocketed. The recent mortgage crisis has escalated the numbers even more.
In the face of growing numbers of families losing their homes, having to split up for survivals sake, and even some children ending up in the hellhole of the Foster Care System, what is our federal government doing? Unbelievably, they seem intent on putting system-wide, draconian obstacles in front of families trying desperately to find a roof over their heads.
On April 2, 2009 the House (HR 1877) and the Senate (S 808) both reintroduced legislation entitled Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009. If this bill becomes law, as many people fear, thousands of destitute and poor families will fail to “qualify” for services funded with federal homeless assistance dollars because they will be deemed not homeless enough. (more…)
MIAMI — When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection.
What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home.
Ms. Omega, 48, is one of the beneficiaries of the foreclosure crisis. Through a small advocacy group of local volunteers called Take Back the Land, she moved from a friend’s couch into a newly empty house that sold just a few years ago for more than $400,000.
Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said about a dozen advocacy groups around the country were actively moving homeless people into vacant homes — some working in secret, others, like Take Back the Land, operating openly. (more…)
PROVIDENCE – U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, joined by local advocates for the homeless, today unveiled a $2.2 billion homelessness-prevention initiative.
“Homelessness is a pervasive problem that touches every state across the nation,” he told the 10:30 a.m. gathering at Amos House. Joining him were Eileen Hayes, president and CEO of the South Providence-based shelter and social services center; and Jim Ryczek, executive director of Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.
“While strides have been made to reduce homelessness over the last couple of years, the current economic decline has halted such progress,” added Reed, who is a senior member of the Banking Committee that oversees federal housing policy. “We have already seen tent cities forming, shelters turning away people in need and most major cities reporting double digit increases in the numbers of families experiencing homelessness.” (more…)