By Eugene T. Lowe
July 16, 2007

June 22 The Conference of Mayors Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness tackled a broad agenda that covered federal agency programs, city 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness, federal homeless legislative initiatives and model homeless programs. The meeting was moderated by Task Force co-chairs San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper described his 10-year plan which he said was liberally borrowed from other cities including San Francisco’s Project Connect and the well known program — Swords to Ploughshares — also located in San Francisco. Hickenlooper said that chronic homelessness is down by 37 percent in his city and that there are now are over 900 jobs for homeless people.

Peter H. Doughtery, Director, Homeless Veterans Programs, of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Leon Winston, Deputy Director of Swords to Ploughshares, directed their remarks to reducing homelessness among veterans. Doughtery gave an overview of the Veterans Affairs Department with the homeless. The department has a wide range of health and housing programs for veterans. Leon Winston told the task force that veterans do better in specific programs for veterans.

Sam Cobbs, Executive Director, First Place Fund for Youth (Oakland, CA) and Adolfo Bailon, Office of Senator Barbara Boxer focused their remarks on reducing homelessness among foster youth. Cobbs said that over 70 percent of the homeless 18-24 years of age were once foster care children. He said “we need to cut off the faucet on this.” His organization pursues the policy of permanency or permanent connections for children in the foster care system. Adolfo Bailon announced a bill (S.1512) by Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) which will assist children leaving foster care.

Phil Mangano, Executive Director, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, gave an update on the 10-Year Plans to End Chronic Homelessness. He told the task force that more than 300 cities have now developed or are in the process of developing 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness. He then guided the task force through the key elements of great plans.

Lorna Donatone, President School Services of Sodexho, the corporate sponsor of the annual hunger and homelessness report conducted by the Conference of Mayors, presented an overview of several of her company’s food programs directed toward eliminating hunger in America.

The task force concluded with the mayors signing a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate requesting:

• Increased investment in proven strategies that end chronic homelessness, with a strong focus on permanent housing with supportive services.

• Provide $1.8 billion in HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program, which would enable communities to develop 15,000 units of permanent supportive housing.

• Create new permanent funding sources for supportive services for the homeless within the Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services budget.

• Re-authorize the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

• Provide necessary funding for permanent supportive housing to assist the nation’s significant and growing homeless veterans population, including providing additional Section 8 Vouchers for the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) program, as well as a dollar for dollar supportive services match for the HUD-VASH Section 8 vouchers through the VA Medical Care Account.

• Provide rapid rehousing programs that focus on helping the roughly 600,000 homeless families move back into permanent housing as quickly as possible.

• Enact legislation that provide Federal assistance to youth over the age of 18 aging out of foster to help prevent their entrance into homelessness.