The causes of homelessness and determining how best to assist those
who find themselves homeless became particularly prominent, visible
issues in the 1980s. The concept of homelessness may seem like a
straightforward one, with individuals and families who have no
place to live falling within the definition. However, the extent of
homelessness in this country and how best to address it depend upon
how one defines the condition of being homeless. There is no single
federal definition of homelessness, although a number of programs,
including those overseen by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department
of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Labor (DOL) use the
definition enacted as part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (P.L. 100-77). The McKinney-Vento Act definition of
a homeless individual was recently broadened as part of the Helping
Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-22). Previously, a
homeless individual was defined as a person who lacks a fixed
nighttime residence and whose primary nighttime residence is a
supervised public or private shelter designed to provide temporary
living accommodations, a facility accommodating persons intended to
be institutionalized, or a place not intended to be used as a
regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. The new law
expanded the definition to include those defined as homeless under
other federal programs, in certain circumstances, as well as those
who will imminently lose housing. In the 112th Congress, a bill
that would further expand the McKinney-Vento Act definition, the
Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2011 (H.R. 32), has been
approved by the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on
Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity. A number of federal
programs in seven different agencies, many originally authorized by
the McKinney-Vento Act, serve homeless persons. These include the
Education for Homeless Children and Youth program administered by
the Department of Education (ED) and the Emergency Food and Shelter
program, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program run
by the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) administers multiple programs that serve
homeless individuals, including Health Care for the Homeless,
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, and the
Runaway and Homeless Youth program. This report describes the
federal programs that are targeted to assist those who are
homeless; includes recent funding levels; discusses current issues,
including homelessness after the economic downturn and federal
efforts to end homelessness; and provides information on recent
legislation. Among active legislation are bills to reauthorize the
Violence Against Women Act, which includes transitional housing for
those who are homeless as a result of domestic violence (S. 1925
and H.R. 4970) and legislation that would, among other things,
reauthorize the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program
(H.R. 3989 and H.R. 3990).
General
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