Federal funding to end veteran homelessness has had a real impact, but a nationwide shortage of affordable housing could make its success temporary.
By Maria Foscarinis
In 2010, the Obama administration announced a Federal Plan to End Homelessness. Developed by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the plan laid out an ambitious agenda focused on addressing the causes of homelessness. Called Opening Doors, the plan set four specific goals, one of which was to prevent and end homelessness among veterans in five years.
In November 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in its Point-in-Time (PIT) count of the homeless population, reported that 57,849 veterans were homeless on a given night in January 2013—a 24 percent decrease since 2009. By January 2014, two cities—Phoenix and Salt Lake City—had declared that they had ended chronic homelessness, a condition defined by HUD as presence of a disabling condition and three or more periods of homelessness within a year, for veterans.
These reports are striking, but should be viewed with caution. To start, the count is far from scientific, and has been criticized by me as well as others for gaps that include people in facilities who will have nowhere to go upon release and the “hidden homeless,” or individuals who are doubled up in homes or couch surfing……
Planningnerd.net 