Recently, the advocacy community here in Washington has focused much discussion--some heated--on the bills to reauthorize the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) McKinney-Vento programs now pending in Congress. Much of the controversy centers on the definition of homelessness in the Homelessness Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH). As currently written, the house bill would have expanded the definition significantly; the Manager's Amendment passed by the House Financial Services Committee narrows the HEARTH definition, making it similar to that in the Senate bill. With no action now anticipated until September, this is a good opportunity to step back and reflect. Here's my take:

NLCHP endorsed HEARTH, and we support the expanded definition. But we also support the version of HEARTH as passed by the House Financial Services Committee, as this is a step forward on many fronts. There are a lot of good things that we've all worked for in the bill, including: allowing permanent housing renewal funding to come from the Section 8 account; freeing up about another $300 million in new resources; discouraging cities from criminalizing homelessness; increasing the authorized amount of the HUD McKinney programs; expanding the definition of homelessness somewhat from the current HUD definition, albeit not to the extent we would prefer; and providing rural communities with additional flexibility in determining who to serve. Click here for more details on the bills.

Strategically, it's time to reauthorize this legislation. If we can accomplish reauthorization of HUD McKinney- Vento this year, we will have some important victories, and nothing precludes a push for an expanded definition next year. In fact, we will have much more to do, and I'm hoping that next year we can set our sights much higher: on a new, more ambitious agenda to really end homelessness.

This will be a big task, and we'll need to really rally together and be united to accomplish it. To paraphrase the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, it's clear that Members and groups feel passionately about the issues and it would be helpful if we could direct that passion towards achieving a common goal - getting sufficient resources and necessary policies to end homelessness for everyone. I think we can do it, but we have to be united. Let's try to keep our eyes on this goal and move forward together.

Maria Foscarinis
Executive Director

NLCHP is proud to present a summary of 2007 programs, successes, and supporters. A special thanks to all our donors and partners who made it possible! Visit our website to download a copy of the 2007 Annual Report.

NLCHP will hold its annual McKinney-Vento Awards dinner on Thursday, November 6, 2008 in Washington, DC. NLCHP's annual McKinney-Vento Awards recognize individuals and organizations that have advanced solutions to homelessness and poverty. These awards also pay tribute to two outstanding national leaders in the fight to end homelessness, Stewart B. McKinney and Bruce F. Vento. Four awards will be presented at this year's event: the Stewart B. McKinney Award, Bruce F. Vento Award, Pro Bono Counsel Award, and Personal Achievement Award. Check our website for updates, and we hope you will attend!

NLCHP is seeking submissions from homeless or low-income children and youth for its annual artwork contest!

Each year, NLCHP selects one winner and two runners-up whose artwork will be displayed at the McKinney-Vento Awards ceremony, along with other selected artwork from this and previous years' contests. The winning artwork will also be used on the four awards that will be presented to the honorees at the event, as well as other NLCHP outreach materials.

Submissions will be accepted from children who are enrolled in after-school programs or art-related organizations serving homeless and low-income children or are currently residing in shelters. Entries in the contest must meet all criteria listed in the guidelines, and must also include the entry & release form, signed by a parent or legal guardian.

The deadline for submissions is September 15, 2008. Visit the NLCHP website for more information.

Both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees approved increases to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Family Violence Prevention Services Act Funding (FVPSA) and increased the cap on the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds in June. These are the three main sources of funding for domestic violence and sexual assault services, including shelter and transitional housing services. Increased funding is particularly important as service costs are rising. NLCHP worked in with the Campaign for Funding to End Domestic and Sexual Violence to advocate for increases in the program and to combat President Bush's request to cut VAWA funding by $120 million dollars and to deny increases to the VOCA cap. If the appropriation is successful, the increase in available funds will mean that shelters, transitional housing, and service providers will be able to serve more victims.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a $15 million dollar increase to VAWA funding and increased the VOCA cap by $45 million, which will enable states to fund significantly more services. The House Appropriations Committee voted for a $35 million increase in VAWA funding and a $60 million increase in the VOCA cap. Increases are expected to be in the areas of Legal Assistance to Victims, The STOP Grant Program, Rural Grants, and the Sexual Assault Services Program. The Senate Appropriations Committee also increased funding for FVPSA, which primarily funds domestic violence shelter and housing services.

While these increases are important, NLCHP continues to call for full funding of VAWA and FVPSA and for a significant increase in the VOCA cap. There continue to be many victims who become homeless due a lack of safe housing when they flee their abuser, and more funds are needed to ensure that programs can meet this need.

On July 2nd, in M.B. v. Department of Children & Family Services, the 3rd District Court of Appeals said that the Florida Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was wrong to remove a child from his mother after she called saying she was homeless and needed help.

A mother had come to Florida from New York with her child, but she had little money and no job. She contacted 911 asking for help when she could not find shelter on her first night in town. Rather than being offered assistance, she almost immediately had her child taken away by DCFS. At a hearing two days later, a district court judge ordered the child into state care, saying 'We're not going to have 12-year-old children sleeping, not sleeping, getting dragged around the city of Miami.'

The five-page ruling by the appellate court rebuked the lower court's reasoning and said homelessness is not a good enough reason to take a child into foster care. Based on an earlier ruling, the court said, "[h] omelessness, derived solely from a custodian's financial inability" does not constitute the kind or level of "abuse, neglect, or abandonment" necessary to justify the removal of a child, unless the Department of Children and Family Services "offers services to the homeless custodian and those services are rejected." The child was ordered immediately returned to his parent's custody.

NLCHP lauds this ruling for protecting the mother & child's right to family and hopes it will be replicated elsewhere. If you are aware of a similar case, please contact our Children & Youth Attorney, Eric Tars (etars@nlchp.org), for assistance.

Over the last few months, you've seen articles about NLCHP's work with the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism. This month, Terry Coble of the Miami Coalition for the Homeless writes about her experience with the visit. Thanks, Terry!

The Miami-based non-profits advocating for low- income residents in the areas of housing and homelessness first learned of a June 1-2 visit by U.N. Special Rapporteur (S.R.) Doudou Diène in early May. The S.R.'s mission was to gather information regarding the presence of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in the United States. We also learned that the concept of racism in international law includes discriminatory impact, which the U.N. considers to be a societal problem that governments can and should address.

Quickly, our core advocacy partnership delineated the most burning housing and homelessness issues in Miami-Dade County (all of which disproportionately affect minorities), and identified groups to present each topic. Seven organizations mobilized to plan a tour of the county and a panel of housing and homelessness presentations: the Miami Coalition for the Homeless, Power U, the Workers Center and its grassroots coalition, LIFFT (Low Income Families Fighting Together), South Florida Jobs with Justice, the Farmworkers' Association, HOPE, Inc., and ACORN.

We took Mr. Diène on a three-hour tour that included a visit to the county homeless shelter and a drive through desolate inner city neighborhoods that had once been thriving minority communities. The next day, our panel's presentations ranged from homelessness, the displacement of low-income black residents from the inner city, the destruction of black public housing communities, and the Right to the City movement, to the displacement of Hispanic tenants in mobile home parks due to redevelopment, the conditions of farmworker housing, discrimination in the sale and rental of property, and discriminatory subprime lending practices. Our one-hour panel included presentations from both non-profit staff members and affected community members.

Although I believe the effect on Mr. Diène, his staff and the audience was powerful, the impact on our group was electric! Coming together in support of our several causes, speaking our truths, and hearing the cumulative impact of our grievances against a failed system allowed each of us to be more aware of the legitimacy of our shared complaints. We have agreed to come together again on future projects.

As a Georgetown University graduate student in law and public policy, I have spent the last eight months as an intern for NLCHP. I feel that my time here has contributed to ending the criminalization of homelessness through human rights law and public policy, although there is still a good deal of work to do.

Many cities across the US have shown a trend of criminalizing life-sustaining activities, such as sleeping and eating, that people experiencing homelessness must perform in public places as a result of having nowhere else to go.

NLCHP uses a human rights framework in arguing against the criminalization of homelessness, which focuses on protecting the fundamental human dignity of people experiencing homelessness. During my time here, I had the opportunity to prepare a memo arguing that a city ordinance that limits sharing food with homeless individuals in public places violates the human right to food. This summer, human rights fellow Allison Garren and I wrote memos arguing that a city's various measures criminalizing homelessness violate human rights.

In addition to violating human rights and constitutional law, the criminalization of homelessness is harmful to public policy, as these measures are not the most constructive methods for ending homelessness. I have also had the opportunity to write an article presenting constructive alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness, which will be published in the near future. This article is based on the premise that cities should stop inappropriately using the criminal law system to remove homeless individuals from public spaces and start implementing more constructive alternatives that address the root causes of homelessness and poverty, such as providing non-coercive outreach services that engage people experiencing homelessness by providing them with low-barrier permanent supportive housing without any strings attached.

My experience with NLCHP has given me great opportunities to make progress on these important issues. I would like to thank Georgetown Law's Equal Justice Foundation for funding my internship this summer, as well as NLCHP for giving me this opportunity. I hope I can be part of NLCHP's work to end homelessness in the future.

A special thanks to Luis Rodriguez for contributing this article!

NLCHP would like to thank the Trellis Fund for its award of a $50,000 grant in support of our Wiki project, a collaborative online resource created by and for advocates and service providers working to end homelessness.

NLCHP is hosting a series of audio trainings on all of our programs, leading up to a National Conference in early 2009.

Protecting Homeless and Transitional Students' Education Rights: Wednesday, September 10, 1:00-2:00pm EST

As the school year begins, we must remember that educational stability is one of the most important factors in a child's learning. Studies show that children who move more than three times over a 6- year period can fall an entire school year behind their more stable peers. With the foreclosure crisis forcing more and more families to move - either doubling up with family and friends, living in other temporary accommodations, or on the streets - advocates need to be aware of the protections children of these families need in order to stay enrolled in school.

We will share information on the McKinney-Vento Act, which allows homeless and transitional students to stay enrolled in schools even as their home situation changes. We will also discuss applicability of the law to early childhood (HeadStart) and special education (IDEA), as well as implications for higher education.

The Human Right to Housing: Monday, October 6, 2:00-3:00pm EST

The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October each year as World Habitat Day, in hopes that we will reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right to adequate shelter for all. This day also should also remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

The human rights system provides an important framework for connecting civil rights issues with economic and social justice. We will share basic information about the human rights framework and its applicability to domestic issues of affordable housing and homelessness. We will highlight both methods of international advocacy and the use of international standards in domestic litigation and policy advocacy.

Register for upcoming trainings here - Stay tuned for more information!

NLCHP is a 501(c)(3) organization. Visit our website at www.nlchp.org! Contact us at (202) 638-2535 or email us at nlchp@nlchp.org