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Category Archives: Advocacy Alerts

Advocacy Alert From National Alliance

Because of your particular interest in Continuum of Care programs, the National Alliance to End Homelessness is writing to make sure you know about a vote coming up on HR 32, a bill to expand access to the Continuum of Care programs to those who are currently living doubled up with friends and family by expanding the HUD definition of homelessness. The Alliance is strongly opposed to HR 32, as it aims to meet the needs of doubled up children in the worst possible way – by diverting CoC resources away from those who are literally homeless, sleeping in shelters or on the streets, and applying them to families able to rely on friends or family.

 

What’s Happening?

Tomorrow, February 7, the Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee will vote on HR 32, which would expand the HUD definition of homelessness to include people who qualify under several other federal definitions, including the one used by the Department of Education. Click here to access full text of the bill.

 

Why is the Alliance Opposed?

 

 

The legislation is well-intentioned but would have disastrous consequences. It would make an estimated additional 2.35 million children (and their parents) eligible to receive transitional housing and permanent supportive housing without providing any additional resources to serve them. We believe strongly in the importance of matching the most intensive interventions to the people with the most intensive needs. We believe that other affordable housing programs – including Section 8 and public housing – need to do a better job of serving people who are doubled up, but that the CoC programs are designed to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable people who have literally no other place to turn and who have fallen through every single other safety net (both public and private).

 

As you all know only too well, there are insufficient resources to serve even those currently defined as homeless. Expanding program eligibility would hurt the most vulnerable people who literally have no roof over their head. Resources cannot be expected to expand to meet this nearly seven-fold increase in the number of children counted as homeless. As a result, every CoC dollar spent on someone living with family or friends is a dollar NOT spent on someone sleeping on the streets, in shelter, or in places not meant for human habitation.

 

In addition, as you know, under the HEARTH Act, all people who meet other federal definitions of homelessness are eligible for homelessness prevention assistance. The new definition has only been in effect for a month, and it is far too soon to throw out a new, compromise definition without seeing how it plays out.

 

What Can I Do?

Please contact your representatives’ DC offices and explain the drawbacks of HR 32 – especially if your representative sits on the subcommittee that will be voting on the issue tomorrow. Please feel free to share this one-page policy brief with congressional staff.

 

We know this is a controversial issue, but we are deeply concerned that this bill will have the unintended consequence of taking CoC resources like transitional housing and permanent supportive housing away from the people they were designed for – people who are literally homeless and have very intensive service and housing needs – by giving them to people who are currently in housing.

Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Budget Hearings Announced

The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development has announced the dates and locations of its FY13 budget hearings.

 

Hearings will be held on Tuesday December 20th at 5:00pm at the Union Station Grand Hall in Worcester and on Tuesday December 27th at 10:00am at at 1 Ashburton Place, conference rooms 2 and 3.

 

This is a great opportunity to express your ideas and recommendations regarding homeless and affordable housing programs.

Call to Action: Affordable Housing Call In Day

One Family will be participating in the Affordable Housing Call-in Day on December 14th to ask the Governor to increase investment in affordable housing.  Here is a brief message to share with your allies, residents and colleagues:

 

Please contact Governor Patrick on December 14th by calling 617.725.4005 or emailing the Governor with one simple message: increase investment in affordable housing in FY2013.  Here is a sample script:

 

“This is [name] calling from [organization] in [town/city].  I am calling to ask the Governor to increase funding for affordable housing in the FY2013 budget. High housing costs and home losses are hurting our communities.  Working families, seniors, and persons with disabilities all need affordable housing to be healthy and productive, and for children to be able to learn.  Thank you for your support for affordable housing.”

EOHHS FY13 Public Budget Hearings- Dec 2nd and 9th – New Location!

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) will be conducting a public hearing on the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget. Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, M.D., and the Assistant Secretaries at EOHHS are looking forward to hearing the views of members of the community regarding the agencies under their purview.
Friday, December 9, 2011 Agganis Arena at Boston University
Francis D. Burke Club Room
925 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215-1204
2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
The hearing will be tentatively divided as follows:

  • 2:00 to 3:00 Disabilities and Community Services – MCDHH, MCB, MRC, DDS
  • 3:00 to 4:00 Health Services – DMH, DPH, DHCFP, MassHealth
  • 4:00 to 5:00 Veterans, Elder Affairs, Soldiers’ Homes
  • 5:00 to 6:00 Children, Youth and Families – DCF, DYS, ORI, DTA

 

Friday, December 2, 2011 Department of Mental Health Western Massachusetts Area Office
Northampton Haskell Building
1 Prince Street
Northampton, MA 01061
3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

 

The hearing will be tentatively divided as follows:

  • 3:00 to 3:45 Disabilities & Community Services – MCDHH, MCB, MRC, DDS
  • 3:45 to 4:30 Health Services – DMH, DPH, DHCFP, MassHealth
  • 4:30 to 5:15 Veterans, Elder Affairs, Soldiers’ Homes
  • 5:15 to 6:00 Children, Youth and Families – DCF, DYS, ORI, DTA

 

Written testimony is also strongly encouraged and may be mailed to:
Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, EOHHS
One Ashburton Place, Room 1109, Boston, MA 02108
Or emailed to: eohhshearings@massmail.state.ma.us

Impact of Budget on HEARTH and Next Steps

On Thursday, Congress provided final approval to H.R. 2112, which provides fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding for HUD programs, including McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law shortly. The legislation provides $1.901 billion for HUD’s McKinney-Vento programs – the same amount as in FY 2011.

 

So, where does that leave us?

 

HEARTH Implementation

 

FY 2011. Now that HUD has issued the interim rule for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program, a second allocation of funding will soon be available to communities for homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing. To help communities understand the new ESG rule and think about how to use HPRP lessons to best implement the ESG provisions, the Alliance will host a webinar on Tuesday, November 29 at 1 pm ET. To register for this webinar, click here.

 

FY 2012. In the report accompanying the FY 2012 legislation Congress just passed, it very clearly indicates that Congress wants HEARTH implementation to advance as far as possible this year. The bill includes at least $250 million for the new ESG program. Of this, at least $90 million is expected to go toward the newly-eligible activities of prevention and rapid re-housing. Congress also provided sufficient resources to fund all Continuum of Care renewals, as well as $7 million for the national homeless data analysis project. In its accompanying report, Congress directed HUD to put any additional funding toward the ESG and rural housing stability programs. In addition, Congress urged HUD to publish interim CoC HEARTH Act regulations this fiscal year. To read the full report language, please look at the attached document.

 

It is still too early to know exactly how much funding this will result in for the ESG program or what the rural housing stability program will look like. It is also unclear whether HUD will run a competition this year. We will keep you updated as we learn more in the coming months about what this means for HEARTH implementation.

 

Overall Budget Picture

On Friday, Alliance Vice President Steve Berg wrote a blog reflecting on current funding for HUD affordable housing and homelessness programs, and where we go from here. The overall budget constraints are expected to be even tighter over the next few years, especially if the Super-Committee process either fails to produce legislation, or produces legislation that further impacts programs for low-income Americans.

 

We’re going through a tough period now, and it will require us, working together, to continue to do remarkable things. But remarkable things are the stock in trade for the community of people around the country working to end homelessness.  As a result of your efforts over the past year with the new Congress, new decisionmakers are increasingly getting the message that money spent on homelessness produces tangible and profound results, moving toward solutions to a problem that very few people, only a few years ago, thought could be solved. Our commitment to achieving better results every year, and to sharing those results with policymakers, has given us the ability to generate support for homelessness programs in any political or fiscal environment.

**From the National Alliance to End Homelessness**

 

Advocacy Alert: Supportive Housing Bill

Below is an advocacy alert from CHAPA:

 

Dear friends and colleagues,

 

Please call your State Representative today and ask them to take action to support An Act Relative to Community Housing and Services filed by Representative Kevin Honan to increase the Commonwealth’s focus on supportive housing.

 

Permanent Supportive Housing reduces homelessness by providing families and indivudals with an affordable home that includes supports and services to enable these residents to maintain safe and stable housing, and avoid the costs of eviction, shelter, poorer health and related healthcare costs.  It also enables many seniors and persons with disabilities to maintain independence and avoid more costly institutional living.

 

An Act Relative to Community Housing and Services, H. 368/S. 1967 will lead to 1,000 new supportive housing opportunities over the next three years and expand the housing opportunities many Commonwealth residents need to be independent and successful.  The bill focuses on promoting better coordination among the various agencies involved in housing and services to eliminate silos and deploy existing resources most effectively.

 

Please ask your Representative to contact Speaker DeLeo and Chairman Dempsey today to indicate strong support for passing H. 368/S. 1967 before the House recesses on November 16th.  The legislation passed the Senate unanimously in July and is before the House Committee on Ways and Means.  If you’ve already contacted your Representative on this issue, please call back and check in to see if they have a status update.  

 

The bill text is available at: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/Senate/S01967

 

Visit http://www.malegislature.gov/People/Search to find contact information for your Representative.  Thank you and please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.

 

Click here to access the Supportive Housing Fact Sheet.

 

Sincerely,

 

Sean Caron

Director of Public Policy

CHAPA

 

Advocacy Alert: House McKinney Sign-On Letter Circulating

The National Alliance to End Homelessness just released is urgent advocacy alert:

Representatives Alcee Hastings (D-TX), Gwen Moore (D-WI), and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) are circulating a congressional sign-on letter to their colleagues in the House, requesting an increase for HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants in fiscal year (FY) 2012. The deadline for representatives to join the letter is TOMORROW, November 10. 

 

We need your help getting as many signatures as possible!  

 

What You Can Do:   

  1. Find out if your representative already signed the letter or if he/she signed onto a previous McKinney sign-on letter last May, which called for about $2.4 billion in FY 2012 (list of signatories here).
  2. If your representative already signed the letter, thank him/her! If not, call your representatives’ offices TODAY. Ask to speak to the person who handles housing issues. (Office phone numbers can be found by dialing the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121.)
  3. Ask the staff if their bosses will join the McKinney sign-on letter by Thursday. If they signed the letter last May, remind them that they supported an increase just a few months ago. If they agree to sign on, have the office contact Mindy Reinstein in Rep. Hasting’s office at mindy.reinstein@mail.house.gov to join.


Finalizing FY 2012 HUD Funding

Congress is working to finalize the FY 2012 funding level for HUD programs, including McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, in the coming days. The official House-Senate Conference Committee met last Thursday to formally begin the process of working out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the FY 2012 HUD funding bill and to negotiate a final version. While the final details are being worked out, we must convince Congress to provide additional resources to HUD’s McKinney-Vento programs.

 

In addition to reaching out to your representatives about the sign-on letter, please contact both your representatives and senators THIS WEEK and ask them to work with their colleagues on the Conference Committee to provide an INCREASE in funding for HUD’s McKinney-Vento programs. Sample talking points for your conversation are available here.

Background  

Negotiators on the Conference Committee hope to finalize the legislation, H.R. 2112, early next week, when members of the House return to Washington, DC from their Veterans Day recess. Congressional leaders hope to pass the bill next week and send it to the President for his signature by next Friday, November 18.

 

The current stopgap measure funding the government expires on November 18. H.R. 2112 is being referred to as a “minibus” because it would provide FY 2012 funding for the Departments of Transportation, HUD, Agriculture, Commerce, and Justice, and some related programs and agencies. Congress hopes to use H.R. 2112 to finalize the FY 2012 funding levels for these agencies and to provide stopgap funding beyond November 18, likely into December, for the remaining federal departments not included in the minibus.

 

Adovcacy Alert: Oversight of Private Occupational Schools

Advocacy Alert from Crittenton Women’s Union

The governor’s bill, An Act Relative to Oversight of Private Occupational Schools (H3512/H3625), has yet to be taken up by the house and representatives and Speaker DeLeo need to hear from us!

CWU ask that you send a letter to your Massachusetts state representative and Speaker DeLeo conveying your support for the bill.  Click here for a template that might be useful in drafting a brief letter.   Click here to find your State Representative.

The governor’s bill seeks to consolidate the oversight of these schools under a single state agency with clear lines of authority and effective investigatory and enforcement tools (letter with information on the bill attached). This is an effort we mention in our for-profit schools commission bill (H1066/S134) and one that we support. The commission bill still sits in the Joint Committee on Higher Ed and we are hopeful of a favorable report.

We need to make support for this bill heard at the State House.

Please contact Chelsea Lettieri Sedani at CWU if you have any questions.

Advocacy Alert: Support the The Middle-Skills Solutions Act

The Workers’ Pathways to Education and Jobs Coalition is supporting The Middle‐Skills Solutions Act. This legislation would  establish a middle‐skills council and the creation of regional skills academies in the Commonwealth .The Act’s three main sections build upon existing resources to develop a more robust system to prepare adult, non‐traditional students for employment in economic sectors targeted by the Commonwealth for increased growth and investment.Workforce development and access to education for nontraditional students is a key component of stabilizing at-risk and homeless families.

Background Information:

  • Approximately 45% of all jobs in MA require middle‐skill training (more than a high school diploma but less than a four‐year degree) but only 32% of MA workers have the education required to fill those positions.
  • Nearly two‐thirds of the people who will be in Massachusetts’ workforce in the year 2020 were already working adults in 2005—long past the traditional high school‐to‐college pipeline.2
  • Non‐traditional students make up the largest pool of students at community colleges and most of the growth in community college enrollments across the state.
  • Nationally, 61% of students who enter community college through adult basic education programs never earn any college credits within five years, and only 3% earn a credential of one year or more.

Take Action

The Middle-Skills Solutions Act (H2713/S921) will be heard before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on Thursday, October 27, 2011, 10:30am in Hearing Room A1, The State house. 

The Workers’ Pathways to Education and Jobs Coalition hopes you can attend the hearing to demonstrate support for this legislation. If you are interested in testifying at the hearing please contact Chelsea Sedani from Crittenton Women’s Union. Written testimony can be submitted to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development at: MA State House Room 39 Boston, MA 02133.

Click here for more information.

Advocacy Alert: State Supportive Housing Bill

CHAPA’s supportive housing bill has passed the Senate unanimously and is pending before the House Committee on Ways and Means (S. 1967).    If you are interested in supporting this important piece of legislation please contact a your legislators and request that they indicate their support to the Speaker and Chairman Dempsey.   Click here for a document that lists legislators on relevant committees and bill cosponsors.  These are the folks we hope you can reach out to.

 

An Act Relative to Community Housing and Services

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Kevin Honan and Sen. Pat Jehlen

Goals of Proposed Permanent Supportive Housing Legislation:

The legislation proposes several actions to address the need for permanent supportive housing:

  • A Memorandum of Understanding to be developed among state agencies to identify shared barriers to creating supportive housing, an Action Plan to coordinate the three critical elements, and an assessment of the long-term need for supportive housing.
  • Demonstration Program of 1,000 units or more of permanent supportive housing
  • Establishment of Community Housing Support Service Action Grant through the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness for supports such as service coordination and Housing Support Teams.

Sample Letters and List of Supporters:

Included here are two sample support letters, one that is more general and one that is focused on homelessness. Please customize these letters as you see fit and submit to legislators.

Click here to access a list of organizations that have expressed support for the proposal.  If you’re not listed but you’d like to be, please email Sean Caron at scaron@chapa.org.