HUD, VA Release Supplemental Report on Veteran Homelessness
Marks shift toward interagency data integration

The Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) have released Veteran Homelessness: A Supplemental Report to the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. The report, released on Feb. 10, is the result of ongoing collaboration between HUD and VA to understand the extent and nature of veteran homelessness, and marks the shift toward interagency data integration.

The report determined that on a single night in January 2009, 75,609 veterans were homeless, and an estimated 136,334 veterans spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2009.

This estimate is different than the VA CHALENG report, which estimated 107,000 veterans were homeless on a given night in 2009 and twice that many experienced homelessness over the course of the year. The HUD one-year estimate was based on information from community Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), which prior to 2011 were not required to report veteran data. Beginning this year, all VA-funded homeless programs are required to report client data to their regional HMIS.

By establishing an information baseline acceptable to all the federal agencies working to end veteran homelessness, the report advances the implementation of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. It includes demographic information, analysis of risk factors, and regional utilization of services by veterans. This document will guide development of effective intervention and prevention policies and programs, and help justify funding requests submitted to Congress.

For more information and highlights from the report, click here.

To read the full report, click here.

DOL Announces $11.7 Million for Reintegration of Ex-offenders
Applications due March 17, 2011

On Feb. 10, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the availability of approximately $11.7 million in grant funds to serve adult offenders who are returning from incarceration to high-poverty, high-crime communities. The purpose of these grants is to provide an employment-centered approach to reintegration that improves long-term labor market prospects for ex-offenders. DOL expects to award approximately 10 grants of approximately $1,170,000 each for a 27-month period of performance.

Authorized by the Workforce Investment Act, the grants will be awarded through a competitive process open to nonprofit, faith-based and community organizations to provide pre-release and post-release services. Participants will be individuals ages 18 and older who have been convicted as adults under federal or state law, but who have never been convicted of a sex-related offense, with the exception of prostitution. Complete eligibility criteria are included in the solicitation for grant applications.

Applications must be received by March 17, 2011, at 4 p.m. ET.

To view the full solicitation, click here.

For more information on DOL employment and training programs, click here.

Registration Now Open: 2011 NCHV Annual Conference, June 6-8 in Washington, D.C.
Make hotel reservations before discount room block sells out

Registration is now open for the premiere homeless veteran-specific training and networking event in the nation: the 2011 NCHV Annual Conference! This year's event will take place June 6-8 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C.

The conference brochure is now available for download here (PDF). To register, download the registration form here (PDF).

A block of rooms has been reserved at the discounted government rate. You are responsible for making your own reservations with Hyatt; call the hotel directly at (202) 582-1234 and specify you will be attending the NCHV Annual Conference in order to receive the discounted rate. Book in advance, as the reserved block has sold out several years in a row.

The 2011 conference will mark the second year of the current administration’s Five-Year Plan to End Homelessness among Veterans. Join us for updates from federal agencies, training on topics across the spectrum of homeless veteran services and issues, and networking with service providers from across the country.

Training tracks of special emphasis will include:

• Policy and Practice: Changes Necessitated by the Five-Year Plan
• Housing: Effective Strategies in Supportive Housing
• Legal Assistance for Homeless Veterans

Conference fees will remain the same as last year in order to help attendees control costs. Three-day registration fees for the 2011 NCHV Annual Conference are $395 for members and $475 for non-members. 

For the latest updates, stay tuned to NCHV's 2011 Annual Conference page.

Call for Entries – Annual NCHV Awards

NCHV members are invited to nominate deserving individuals and organizations for the following awards. Winners will be honored at the NCHV Annual Awards Banquet on June 7 in Washington, D.C. 

• Outstanding Member
  To the NCHV member that has demonstrated leadership
  in coalition building.
• Partnership Award
  To a person or organization (not an NCHV member) who
  has contributed to the development of partnerships to
  expand the services available for homeless veterans.
• Public Policy Award
  To a local or state person or organization for influencing
  or implementing public policy to benefit homeless veterans.
• Unsung Hero Award
  To a person who has contributed to the recognition of the
  homeless veteran issue in a supporting or unrecognized
  leadership role.
• Departments of Veterans Affairs and Labor Staff Awards 

Fax your nomination to (202) 546-2063, or email to rbrown@nchv.org.

New Paper Available on “Moving On” from Permanent Supportive Housing
From the NAEH Leadership Council

The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) Leadership Council has released a paper to help service providers identify and assist appropriate tenants in permanent supportive housing (PSH) who may be ready to move on to more conventional housing. The paper, titled “Moving On: Facilitating Tenants’ Ability to Move from Permanent Supportive Housing to Other Housing Opportunities,” examines practices and key lessons from pilot programs in Chicago, Seattle and New York City.

“Through creation of new opportunities, tenants receive greater choice in where they want to live, what type of unit they live in, and how their daily activities will be structured,” the report states. “Tenants who no longer need the intensive and often expensive housing and supportive services in intensive-services site-based PSH can move into less expensive housing placements, freeing up the site-based resources for the households with highest needs, and tenants in scattered site facilities, by electing to use fewer supports, free up resources for other tenants.”

For more information and to download the paper, click here.

Funding Opportunities

The Oak Foundation commits its resources to address issues of global social and environmental concern, particularly those that have a major impact on the lives of the disadvantaged. Its housing and homelessness program promotes economic self-sufficiency, increasing the supply of affordable housing and housing opportunity, and homelessness prevention. The program currently focuses on three U.S. cities: Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Grant inquiries are typically responded to within two months. For more information, click here.

Singing For Change (SFC) offers competitive grants to progressive, community-based nonprofit organizations nationwide that address the root causes of social and environmental problems. SFC defines these groups as people who have been marginalized in our society because of their low levels of skill, education or income; people with AIDS or disabilities; and homeless people. Potential grantees must first submit a letter of interest. There are no deadlines. For more information, click here.