WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness have endorsed and encouraged Mayors to develop and implement Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness for their communities; and

WHEREAS, as a result of the partnership with Mayors and County Executives, the private sector, and all other stakeholders, there are more than 1,000 local jurisdictional executives currently partnered in more than 350 Ten Year Plans across the nation which are innovation infused, research and data driven, and shaped by business principles; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness encourages Mayors to adopt national innovations identified through Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness that have led to reductions in chronic and street homelessness, demonstrating the importance of investing in what is field-tested and evidence-based as shown in the first nationally reported data of a 30% decrease in street and chronic homelessness between 2005 and 2007; and

WHEREAS, Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness are designed to be living documents that are reviewed and recalibrated regularly to evaluate their results, to identify emerging at risk subpopulations and issues, and to incorporate the results of new research and field tested, evidence based innovations; and

WHEREAS, among emerging populations identified as experiencing increased homelessness or at increased risk of homelessness are families impacted by the "double trouble" of foreclosures and job losses; and

WHEREAS, with the current foreclosure and unemployment crisis, millions of individuals and families - both homeowners and renters - are in danger of losing their homes and falling into homelessness; and

WHEREAS, research shows that when families are destabilized by falling into homelessness, both the human cost and the cost to public services can increase dramatically; and

WHEREAS, jurisdictional Ten Year Plans ensure that resources are strategically invested with accountability and results to help those families maintain and quickly find stable housing; and

WHEREAS, there are new federal resources to prevent and mitigate foreclosures and abandoned properties, providing opportunities for permanent housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, including through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and its 25% setaside for persons below 50% of area median income; and

WHEREAS, there are new targeted and mainstream resources to prevent and end homelessness for individuals, families, and youth through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the FY 2009 federal budget; and

WHEREAS, field-tested, evidence based practices and innovations to prevent and end homelessness through effective engagement, increased access to mainstream benefits, and rapid rehousing strategies continue to emerge; and

WHEREAS, the multiple new federal funding streams provide communities an opportunity to create one-stop strategies to concentrate new resources for individuals and families, increase access, and ensure that eligible individuals secure all available supports. NOW,THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the USCM endorses the jurisdictional recalibration of Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness by Mayors to evaluate the strategies that are preventing and ending homelessness in their communities and ensure resources are targeted to those strategies; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the USCM encourages Mayors to identify what's worked to achieve results within the context of Ten Year Plans, for persons who are chronically homeless, through insights from research, targeted investment, and the adoption of results-oriented strategies and to implement strategies for families that are also based on data, informed by business principles, and advance field-tested and evidence-based initiatives within the context of recalibrated Ten Year Plans; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the USCM encourages Mayors to include in the recalibrated plans new strategies to address the "double trouble" of foreclosures and job loss to help prevent individuals, families, and youth from falling into homelessness, and strategies to ensure rapid rehousing of persons who are homeless, drawing on proven innovations, including one-stops; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the USCM encourages Mayors to utilize new resources and programs - both mainstream and targeted - to prevent and end homelessness, for individuals, families, and youth, which are included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the FY 2009 federal budget to support these new strategies in their recalibrated Ten Year Plans.