Last weeks introduction of the HEARTH Act by a bi-partisan group of sponsors led by Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN) marks a significant step forward in developing a new national policy on homelessness. The bill would reauthorize the HUD-McKinney programs with significant funding increases, expand the definition of homelessness and introduce policies to discourage cities from the criminalizing homelessness.

It comes at a particularly important time: the twentieth anniversary of the McKinney Act. Enacted on July 22, 1987, the Act was a landmark: the first major federal response to homelessness. It provided aid and created rights that make a difference in the lives of countless homeless men, women and children every day. The McKinney Act saves lives.

But the Act was only meant as a first, emergency step to be followed by separate measures to address the underlying causes of homelessness: the lack of affordable housing and services and low incomes. At the time, dozens of Representatives and Senators, Democrats and Republicans, clearly stated the need for longer-term relief. The late Stewart B. McKinney (R-CT), in whose memory the Act is named, declared that the issue at stake was not just to meet the needs of homeless people, but to decide what kind of America we really want.

Last week, over 200 Floridians discussed the same question. They gathered at NLCHPs statewide forum on the human right to housing where they learned about human rights law and how to apply it here at home. They declared their commitment to create an America that has a place for everyone, an America we can all be proud of.

In Washington, D.C., Rep. Carson and her colleagues took a step towards that goal, and towards making good on Congresss 20-year-old promise to end homelessness.

Maria Foscarinis
Executive Director

Twenty years after Congress passed the first and only federal response to homelessness, a bill to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Act programs was introduced last week in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing or HEARTH Act, H.R. 840, was introduced by Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN) and co-sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ). The bill would make significant improvements to the McKinney-Vento programs and codify the Continuum of Care process.

The HEARTH Act would increase funding for the McKinney-Vento programs to $2.5 billion, more than $1 billion more than Fiscal Year 2007.

Equally significant, the HEARTH Act would align the Department of Housing and Urban Developments (HUDs) definition of homelessness with other federal agencies. For the first time, doubled-up families and those living in hotels or motels because of economic hardship would be eligible for assistance.

Additionally, the Act would repeal the prohibition against providing services to people being released from jails or prisons.

The bill would also reauthorize the Emergency Shelter Grant program, and require broader inclusion of service providers and advocates in developing plans, participating on planning boards, and reporting on results.

Under the bills Continuum of Care process, activities eligible for funding would be expanded to include outreach and mental health services, transportation, legal services, health care, and income assistance. To help communities plan, the bill would set deadlines for HUD to issue Notices of Funding Availability and to announce awards for the Continuum of Care program.

The bills provisions also would discourage criminalization of homelessness, encourage communities to improve homeless persons access to programs, and encourage the prevention of homelessness.

NLCHP endorses H.R. 840 and is working for its passage. For more information on the bill or how you can support it, please contact NLCHPs policy director, Laurel Weir.

Homeless and poor communities in Florida confront some of the worst policies in the country. In the past year, police have destroyed homeless persons tent cities, city councils have introduced anti-feeding ordinances, and affordable housing is being rapidly replaced by luxury condos.

To give advocates new tools to address these problems, NLCHP and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) hosted a statewide Florida Housing & Human Rights Training Forum on Friday, February 9.

Because advocates for the homeless often have limited means to travel for trainings, NLCHP brought the training to them. Through an innovative partnership with the law firm of Holland & Knight (H&K), over 200 city officials, lawyers, advocates, service providers, and grassroots activists were joined via videoconference at H&K offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach.

The forum introduced participants to the human rights framework through case studies and inspired them with panel discussions of housing and human rights success stories. They also developed local action plans for implementing these new strategies.

In one example, participants in Ft. Lauderdale decided that they need to advocate for the right to housing in public forums and they hope to change the framework through which housing and homelessness is discussed. They will develop a set of locally relevant talking points on the human right to housing with NLCHP.

Materials from the training are available on the Florida Training website.

The Florida Housing & Human Rights Training Forum was made possible thanks to grants from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the U.S. Human Rights Fund.

In February, NLCHP and Howrey, LLP filed suit on behalf of two organizations against the city of Dallas challenging the constitutionality of an anti-feeding ordinance.

Unfortunately, Dallas is following the national trend of cities placing restrictions on groups sharing food with homeless people, said Tulin Ozdeger, NLCHP Civil Rights Staff Attorney.

NLCHP and Howrey, LLP, represent Big Heart Ministries and the Rip Parker Memorial Homeless Ministry, two groups that share food with homeless persons, in challenging the ordinance. These groups argue that the ordinance infringes on their rights to freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom to travel as recognized by the U.S. Constitution and Texas state law.

The ordinance severely restricts where food can be shared, prohibiting many groups from sharing food in locations they have served for years. Violators face arrest and fines up to $2000.

Prior to the ordinance taking effect, an estimated 200 organizations served food to homeless people in Dallas. The organizations argue that their service is vital because the city has many unsheltered homeless people who may not seek help at shelters due mental illnesses or other logistical issues. The city has an estimated 10,000 homeless residents.

With such a wide gap between existing resources and the needs of homeless people in Dallas, the city should be praising, not punishing, groups that are trying to help, Ozdeger added.

In less than two months, the 110th Congress has considered weighty issues like an increase in the minimum wage and the war in Iraq. Lost from the headlines, however, are their legislative initiatives that will affect homeless children and youth.

In the area of higher education, the FAFSA Fix for Homeless Kids Act (H.R. 601) was introduced in the House of Representatives at the end of January. Sponsored by Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), the legislation would help unaccompanied youth gain access to federal financial aid. These students face significant challenges due to the unavailability or unwillingness of parents to provide the required personal income information for financial aid forms.

Currently, students can contact officials at the schools they want to attend and request an exception from the parental requirements. However, it is often a trying and burdensome task for young people who have already faced many obstacles on the road to higher education.

H.R. 601 would reduce the burden on unaccompanied youth by making them eligible for financial aid upon certification from a school district official, homeless program provider, or college financial aid administrator that parental income information is unavailable.

H.R. 601 will be considered with the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

The 110th Congress will also review and revise the Head Start Act (providing preschool services for low income children), the No Child Left Behind Act (which includes the federal homeless education program), and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (providing shelter and support services for unaccompanied youth).

NLCHP welcomes Howard Godnick as the most recent addition to its Board of Directors. Mr. Godnick is a partner at the New York law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. He specializes in complex commercial and creditors rights litigation.

Last year, Mr. Godnick provided extensive pro bono service to NLCHP, serving as counsel in McWaters v. FEMA, which successfully challenged FEMAs improper termination of housing assistance payments to Hurricane Katrina evacuees. As a result of the suit, the federal court ordered FEMA to restore assistance, and many evacuees had the opportunity to secure long-term assistance rather than become homeless.

"Through our efforts, we have kept a roof over the heads of more than 100,000 of Hurricane Katrina's neediest victims  the poor, the sick, the elderly  who otherwise would have been evicted from hotels and left on the streets by FEMA in December," Mr. Godnick said about the case.

For Mr. Godnicks work in McWaters v. FEMA, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP was the recipient of NLCHPs Pro Bono Counsel Award at the 2006 McKinney-Vento Awards.

NLCHP seeks a lawyer to work as our Staff Attorney on issues of access to housing for homeless and low-income survivors of violence against women. The Staff Attorney manages our Domestic Violence Program and plays a leading role in national and local systemic advocacy and outreach on housing and domestic violence issues affecting homeless and low-income individuals.

For more information on the key responsibilities and the qualifications required for the position, please visit our employment page on the NLCHP website.

NLCHP and Howrey LLP filed a lawsuit against the city of Dallas claiming that the citys restrictions on where charities can share food with homeless people is unconstitutional. Read about the lawsuit in the Dallas Morning News.

Dallas city officials are also considering tightening their anti-panhandling laws downtown. Read NLCHPs stance on anti-panhandling laws in the Dallas Morning News.

The city of Orlando passed an ordinance severely restricting when and where organizations can share food with homeless people. Read the Associated Press article in the Washington Post.

Last January, NLCHP and the National Coalition for the Homeless released a report on the criminalization of homelessness called, A Dream Denied. Read a new Scripps Howard News Service article on the report.

Visit our website at www.nlchp.org! Contact us at (202) 638-2535 or email us at network@nlchp.org