Two major bills cleared the Senate last week, and one was introduced in the House, signaling an important step forward in national policy on homelessness. These actions also may help bring a close to internal disagreements that have roiled the national advocacy community.

The Senate's passage of a bill to reauthorize the housing programs of the McKinney-Vento Act, for the first time in 17 years, marks a major milestone. In NLCHP's view, the bill is not perfect, but it contains significant improvements over current law, including many of our recommendations. It is a step forward, and something we can build on. More information on the bill is below.

It also heralds new momentum, and this is important: We know that the McKinney housing programs alone will not end or prevent homelessness, even if they are improved and expanded. To meet that goal, we must do much more. The Senate's second important action last week, passage of Senator Kerry's renter protection amendment, is a crucial step towards that broader goal. That bill addresses the largely overlooked issue of renters in foreclosure, with legal protections that will help prevent them from becoming homeless. It incorporates the recommendations in Without Just Cause, NLCHP's report (produced jointly with the National Low Income Housing Coalition), and is a step in reclaiming housing and other basic human rights that are essential to ensuring that no one has to be homeless in America.

And, in the House, Rep. John Lewis introduced a resolution calling on the Senate to ratify outstanding human rights treaties, including those that protect economic and social rights, such as housing, reflecting our advocacy.

Moving forward effectively to reach these greater goals requires a united and greatly expanded coalition. My hope is that the broader view of the work that still needs to be done will prevail, and that we can all come together for the long road ahead.

Maria Foscarinis
Executive Director

Legislation to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Act housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was passed out of the Senate on May 6, 2009 as an amendment to S. 896, the "Helping Families Save Their Homes Act."

The amendment, authored by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), would codify the Continuum of Care process and consolidate three competitive HUD McKinney programs (Supportive Housing, Shelter Plus Care, and Section 8 Single Room Occupancy) into a single program with greater flexibility. The bill would also rename the Emergency Shelter Grant program as the Emergency Solutions Grant program and expand eligible activities to include short- and medium-term rental assistance, housing relocation assistance, and additional activities to prevent homelessness.

Additionally, the bill creates new flexibility for nonprofits in rural areas and directs the Interagency Council on Homelessness to develop a national plan to end homelessness and work to eliminate laws and policies that criminalize homelessness. While the bill is not perfect, NLCHP believes that it represents an important step forward.

In addition to Senator Reed's HUD McKinney amendment, S. 896 as passed by the Senate also included an important renter protection amendment offered by Senator John Kerry (D-MA). Senator Kerry's amendment would require that in any foreclosure made "on a federally-related mortgage loan or on any dwelling or residential real property after the date of enactment", tenants in such dwellings with bona-fide leases or tenancies would have the right to remain in the unit for the remainder of their lease and would have the right to 90 days notice prior to eviction.

A recent review of state foreclosure laws by NLCHP and the National Low-Income Housing Coalition found that renter notification laws were uneven across states and that in only a few states did tenancy survive foreclosure (a copy of the report "Without Just Cause" may be found here). NLCHP supported both the Reed and Kerry amendments.

The Senate passed its version of S. 896 by a vote of 94-5. A companion bill to S. 896 has already passed the House but lacks the tenant protection and McKinney reauthorization provisions. The next step in the process will be for the House and Senate to appoint a conference committee to address differences between the two bills. Once the conference committee has agreed to the language, the bill must be passed again by the full House and Senate and be signed by the President in order to become law.

NLCHP applauds Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who introduced an important resolution, H. Res. 416, on May 7, 2009 calling for the U.S. to renew its global leadership on human rights by ratifying outstanding human rights treaties that protect basic economic and social rights, including the human right to housing.

Recognition of the human right to housing here at home is an essential step in ending and preventing the unacceptable reality of homelessness in America. Of particular importance, the resolution includes language suggested by NLCHP for a "thorough review [of] domestic policy and legislative proposals that would improve the economic, social, political, cultural, and civil rights and lives of marginalized communities within the United States."

More than 2/3 of Americans believe that adequate income to meet basic housing and food needs is a human right.

NLCHP will be working with its allies to garner support for the resolution in the House, and in the Senate to secure ratification of the treaties themselves. More information is available on our Wiki. Those interested in assisting this process should contact NLCHP at nlchp@nlchp.org, or 202-638-2535.

Due to successful advocacy by NLCHP and its partners, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) and the Homeless Persons Representation Project (HPRP), Governor O'Malley of Maryland signed into law bill SB 151 on May 7, 2009. The bill made Maryland the first state to add homeless people as a protected class to its hate crimes law.

From 1999-2007, there have been 774 documented acts of violence committed against homeless individuals in the United States, 217 of which have resulted in deaths. In Maryland, documented attacks on homeless people date back at least to 1992, when a homeless Korean War veteran was killed in Annapolis after being soaked in urine, kicked down a ravine, and called a "worthless bum." In 2001, a group of young men from South Baltimore began beating and robbing homeless people, a spree that resulted in three deaths. On Valentine's Day in 2008, a homeless man was beaten to death while sleeping in an alley in Frederick.

These incidents demonstrate the dangerous reality of life without housing and the increasing disregard for people experiencing homelessness. This law magnifies the importance of protecting our most vulnerable neighbors. Adding homeless individuals to Maryland's hate crimes law sends a message that homeless individuals are not second-class citizens and deserve the same protections as historically targeted groups.

In 2006, the City of Orlando passed a law prohibiting groups from sharing food with 25 or more people more than twice per year in downtown parks. Charitable and faith-based groups, which shared food with homeless people in public, filed a suit to oppose this law.

NLCHP and its partner groups filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in a district court case on this law in early 2008, with the assistance of Goodwin Procter. In the fall of 2008, the district court ruled in favor of the plaintiff food sharing groups, finding the law violated food sharing groups' rights to exercise free speech and religion.

The City of Orlando has since appealed this ruling.

On March 18, 2009, NLCHP, together with the National Coalition for the Homeless, the National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness, and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council filed an amicus brief with the assistance of Goodwin Procter in the appeal case before the 11th Circuit related to Orlando's food sharing restrictions.

The full briefing is available here.

NLCHP is pleased to announce this year's recipients of the Stewart B. McKinney Award, to be presented at its annual McKinney-Vento Awards event. These awards recognize individuals and organizations that have advanced solutions to homelessness and poverty; they also pay tribute to two outstanding national leaders in the fight to end homelessness, Stewart B. McKinney and Bruce F. Vento.

The Stewart B. McKinney Award will be presented to the director and producers of the film, Kicking It, about the Homeless World Cup, for their important work in raising awareness about the personal and social challenges faced by homeless people around the world. This documentary, selected to World Premiere in the Spectrum category at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the lives of seven players in the 2006 Homeless World Cup, representing several different countries, including the U.S. The film portrays men made invisible by poverty and addiction but who now emerge as compelling figures, for whom soccer provides an escape from their problems while also inspiring hope for actual change in their lives.

NLCHP will honor Susan Koch, the film's director and a filmmaker at Cabin Films, and the following producers: Ted Leonsis (Washington Capitals; AOL), Rick Allen (Snag Films), Kat Byles (Homeless World Cup), Keith Clinkscales (ESPN), Jack Davies (Venture Philanthropy Partners), Raul Fernandez (Object Video), and Russ Ramsey (Ramsey Asset Management).

NLCHP will announce the winners of the Bruce F. Vento Award, the Pro Bono Counsel Award, and the Personal Achievement Award in the coming months. This year's reception and dinner will be held at the end of September, 2009. Information on sponsoring the event is available by contacting Jordan Lamb Railsback at jlamb@nlchp.org.

NLCHP would like to host a law firm associate, whose start date is being deferred, for a fellowship. Benefits will be determined by the law firm, including salary, health insurance, etc. Fellows would concentrate on one advocacy area, but would likely work on several different issues during the fellowship period.

Focus areas include: Protecting the rights of homeless children; Protecting renters in foreclosed properties; Protecting the rights of domestic violence survivors; Increasing homeless persons' access to disability benefits; Advancing the right to affordable and supportive housing; and Promoting the human right to housing.

More information on these fellowship opportunities is available here.

Interested fellowship candidates should send a resume, cover letter, and short writing sample to Melanie Orhant at morhant@nlchp.org with "Law Firm Fellowship" as the subject line.

Maria Foscarinis, Founder and Executive Director of NLCHP, was featured in the May 2009 issue of the Washingtonian magazine in the cover article about the top 26 reasons to love living in DC. Ms. Foscarinis was cited in reason #20 - "We're Helping to Save the World: There are more idealists here than anywhere else." The article describes her journey from working at a large law firm in New York City to moving to DC to establish a new organization. Ms. Foscarinis is quoted in the article as saying, "There's something very powerful about seeing that a small organization with few resources can have an impact on a larger scale." Indeed, since its founding, NLCHP has achieved many successes in pursuit of its mission to end and prevent homelessness in America.

Click here to view the article.

NLCHP is pleased to welcome DLA Piper to its Lawyers Executive Advisory Partners (LEAP) program. DLA Piper has a long history of, and commitment to, pro bono service. On behalf of NLCHP, DLA Piper has assisted a non-profit organization in its application to turn unused federal property into low-income housing under the Base Realignment and Closure Act, updated materials informing domestic violence survivors of their rights, helped write a "Shadow Report" for the UN Human Rights Committee, and assisted a partner human rights organization with its by-laws. We are proud to have DLA Piper as a LEAP partner!

NLCHP is a 501(c)(3) organization. Contact us at (202) 638-2535 or email us at nlchp@nlchp.org

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