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HUD awards homeless
grants
(March 2008
Issue)
By Catherine Robertson Souter
In December, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD), announced this year's recipients of its annual funding for
homeless programs.
The announcement of this year's grants, mostly renewed funding
from previous years, came one month after the agency reported an
11.5 percent decrease in the number of chronically homeless people
across the country. The data, collected from 3,900 cities and counties,
showed that more than 20,000 people moved off the streets and into
supportive housing between 2005 and 2006. This was the first-ever
such decrease, the result, according to the announcement, of the
agency working in close partnership with local "continuums of care"
throughout the nation to provide assistance to homeless men and
women.
Through their "Continuum of Care" grant program, HUD will award
more than $1.5 billion nationally for programs that work together
within a community to support the entire range of needs for the
homeless. Programs may offer temporary or permanent housing options,
job training, child care, substance abuse treatment and mental health
counseling, all providing a safety net to help transition men, women
and children off of the "street" and into permanent, safe and sustainable
housing options.
In addition to this competitive process for awarding grants, HUD
also distributes grants to emergency shelters as part of a formulaic
system, awarding money according to a consolidated plan filled
out by individual states and local jurisdictions.
In New England, each of the seven states received money both through
the Continuum of Care and the Emergency Shelter Grants programs.
The largest recipient, Massachusetts, received a grant of nearly
$55 million for their Continuum of Care programs and $4.7 million
for Emergency Shelter Grants. Programs to receive money include
more than $1 million for Boston's Pine Street Inn and $6.4 million
for the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership. The grant recipients
are listed as either supportive housing programs or shelter plus
care, designed to provide long-term housing and supportive services
for disabled homeless including those with HIV/AIDS, mental illness
and substance abuse issues.
Connecticut received the next greatest amount, with $26.4 million
total. Of that, $24.6 million was earmarked for Continuum of Care
programs and $1.8 million for emergency shelters. Of that amount,
about $5 million went directly to the state of Connecticut for its
"shelter plus care" programs.
Maine received $10 million, with $9.2 million for Continuum of
Care programs and $860,526 in Emergency Shelter Grants with $4.6
million going to the state for its "shelter plus care" programs.
Rhode Island received a grant of $5.6 million for its Continuum
of Care programs and more than $705,000 for Emergency Shelters,
a total of $6.4 million.
New Hampshire's programs received a total of $4.9 million; with
$4.3 in Continuum of Care and $575,000 in Emergency Shelter grants.
Vermont received a total of $2.8 million; with $2.5 for Continuum
of Care programs and $363,000 in Emergency Shelter grants.
For most of these programs, this funding has been extended from
last year and will help keep the programs running. It is grant money
that, because it is tied with other grants for the entire community's
system of care, is vitally important for recipients, who realize
the importance of winning the renewed funds in the competitive
process.
As Cathy Voyer, director of housing and transportation for the
Agency of Human Services of Vermont points out, "It is a very competitive
process and there is a limited amount of funding that is provided.
There were a couple of years where we were at risk of losing funding.
We have actively worked hard at bringing our scores up. It is a
true collaboration between state, quasi state and local programs."
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