Six years ago, President Bush's annual proposed budget included an express commitment to end "chronic" homelessness in ten years. Since then, his budget has consistently proposed cuts to low-income housing, while proposing (in some years) small increases to the HUD homeless programs. In essence, these proposals meant increasing funding to help homeless people, while at the same time (by much larger amounts) cutting the very programs that could prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.

This year, the Administration's strategy of robbing Peter to pay Paul is even clearer. As detailed in this month's issue of IJT, while proposing small increases to HUD homeless programs, the President's proposed budget would cut emergency food and shelter funding, as well as low-income housing programs.

But perhaps even more important than the proposals of this President are the positions of those vying to replace him. So far, homelessness has not been a prominent part of any candidate's campaign. To date, only one major candidate - Senator Barack Obama - has signed the Champion's Pledge to Address, End and Prevent Homelessness sponsored by the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness. Sen. Obama is also the only major candidate leading a legislative initiative to help homeless veterans. No candidate is actively proposing an initiative to end homelessness for all Americans.

We have an opportunity right now to make a difference and we need your help. First, contact your elected representatives in Congress and urge them to oppose the President's proposed cuts. Second, contact the candidates and urge them to make ending and preventing homelessness for all Americans a top priority.

Maria Foscarinis
Executive Director

NLCHP is proud to announce the release of the updated fact sheet State Housing Laws and Legislation to Ensure Housing Rights for Survivors of Violence Against Women. The publication provides comprehensive information on current, pending, and unsuccessfully proposed legislation protecting the housing rights of survivors of domestic violence. This document includes measures that:

• Prohibit housing discrimination against victims of domestic abuse;
• Allow domestic violence victims to terminate a lease in order to flee an abuser;
• Provide a defense against eviction for battered tenants in court;
• Prohibit landlords from refusing tenants the ability to call the police; and
• Require landlords to change the locks on a battered tenant's unit.

This publication is intended for use by advocates and attorneys working with survivors and for organizations working to improve protections in their own state.

Click here to download a copy of the report.

NLCHP would like to thank the Waitt Family Foundation for its support of our Domestic Violence Program.

In Maryland, Alaska, and Ohio, state legislators have introduced bills to add homeless persons to the list of protected classes covered by their hate crimes statutes.

In Maryland, companion bills were introduced into the state Senate and House by Senator Alexander Mooney and Delegate Susan McComas, and committee hearings were recently held in both chambers. At both hearings representatives from NLCHP, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the Homeless Persons Representation Project, the Maryland Catholic Conference, and Health Care for the Homeless testified in support of both bills. On February 21, the Senate bill was passed by the Senate 40 to 4. The House bill is awaiting a committee vote.

This is the third year that the legislation has been introduced in Maryland. Last year, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 38 to 9, but it did not come up for a vote in the House. This year, NLCHP hopes to achieve passage of the bill.

In Alaska, Senator Bettye Davis and Representatives Andrea Doll and Beth Kerttula introduced bills into the Senate (SB 211) and House (HB 292) that would add homeless persons to Alaska's hate crimes law.

A similar bill (HB 419) was introduced in Ohio by Representative Mike Foley.

In March, the National Coalition for the Homeless and NLCHP will be releasing a joint report on hate crimes committed against homeless persons during 2007.

For more information on these bills or the upcoming report, or to be involved in hate crimes advocacy in your state, contact Tulin Ozdeger, NLCHP's Civil Rights Director, by email or at 202-628-2535.

NLCHP would like to thank the Herb Block Foundation for its support of our programs.

In early February, President Bush released his Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2009, proposing significant cuts for many large social safety net programs. Some homeless programs fared slightly better, but proposed increases to some would be offset by bigger cuts to other housing and safety net programs that would have a severe impact.

The following housing-related programs would be among those facing significant cuts:

• The McKinney-Vento Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) program would lose $53 million, a drastic cut of 35% over last year's level;
• The Section 202 program for elderly persons would lose $196 million;
• Housing for persons with disabilities would be reduced by $78 million;
• Housing Choice Vouchers would see a funding drop equivalent to 100,000 vouchers;
• The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program would be reduced 22% from last year's levels despite rising energy prices; and
• Domestic violence programs funded under the Violence Against Women Act would lose $120 million, and the the budget would eliminate the entire $2 billion budget of the Victims of Crime Act Fund.

Other programs would receive level funding or small increases:

• McKinney-Vento programs administered by HUD would receive a 3% increase over last year's budget;
• The McKinney-Vento PATH program, providing outreach and case management for homeless persons with mental illness, would see a $7 million increase (still $15 million less than NLCHP has recommended); and
• The HUD-VASH program would receive $75 million, matching what advocates obtained last year and enough to provide housing vouchers for 8,000-10,000 homeless veterans.

NLCHP is asking all advocates to call Congress and tell them to oppose these cuts - click here for more information.

On February 11, NLCHP joined partner organizations for a historic briefing with Congressional staff on their role in upcoming U.S. review before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Click here to read NLCHP testimony from the briefing.

This week, NLCHP travels to Geneva, Switzerland to participate in the review of the United States before CERD. The review will focus on U.S. commitments under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, a legally binding treaty designed to protect individuals from both intentional and structural racial discrimination.

At the Congressional briefing, the first of its kind, NLCHP Human Rights Staff Attorney Eric Tars told staffers, "When the Senate ratified the treaty in 1994, Congress' job was not complete. The treaty requires a constant review of policy to ensure that racial minorities are not disparately affected."

Tars continued, "But Congress has not fulfilled its role. Minorities represent more than half the population with worst-case housing needs, and more than half the homeless population. Yet we have seen huge cutbacks in funding for affordable housing and other social safety net programs, and this year's budget proposes more. Though few here would admit it, these cutbacks have a hugely discriminatory impact, and are therefore a violation of our human rights obligations."

Congressional staff discussed with NLCHP how they could better help implement their duties under the treaty. Later this month, NLCHP will use CERD's Concluding Observations to inform this ongoing conversation. Stay tuned for updates as this exciting process continues!

Click here to read the evaluation of US policy NLCHP and allies submitted to CERD.

Also, be sure to check out our video updates from Geneva on YouTube and The Hub!

NLCHP thanks the Butler Foundation and the US Human Rights Fund for their support of the Human Rights Program.

Could your organization use more space or a different location? Vacant federal or military property in your community may be available for free to nonprofit organizations for the purpose of assisting homeless persons.

Click here for more information.

Here's a few suggestions for quick-and-easy ways to support NLCHP as you search, shop, or browse online:

iGive.com is an online shopping site that works with over 600 stores. Choose NLCHP as your charity and register with the website. Then anytime you want to shop online, log in and shop, and a percentage of the sale will go to NLCHP.

GoodSearch.com is a search engine that donates 50% of its advertising revenue to charities. Enter NLCHP as your charity of choice and search as usual - no need to register! You can even make GoodSearch.com your homepage to make supporting NLCHP even easier.

GoodShop.com is an online shopping site connected to GoodSearch. Enter NLCHP as the charity you're supporting and then shop as usual at one of the nearly 500 popular stores. A percentage of the sale will go to NLCHP.

Network For Good helps locate charities worthy of support, as well as charities with volunteer opportunities. NLCHP is one of the 20,000 available charities listed. You can even choose to set up a monthly, quarterly, or annual donation.

Of course, you can also donate directly to NLCHP through our website. We also participate in the Combined Federal Campaign as charity #11947. Your support is greatly appreciated and will help NLCHP continue its critical work to prevent and end homelessness.

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