Dear Friends:

Happy 2009! I hope it will be a good and peaceful year for all, and a year of justice for poor and homeless Americans who are suffering so much. Let 2009 be the year that our country really decides to end homelessness.

The incoming President has designated Martin Luther King's birthday, January 19th, a National Day of Service. Our country greatly needs such a commitment to service, and we commend him for this. We hope that Americans will take the day to heart. But as advocates we know that to make real change we need sustained advocacy for systemic solutions.

The reality is that homelessness and poverty are skyrocketing across the country. We need bold action by the incoming President and Congress. We and other national advocates are calling on President-elect Obama to make ending homelessness a top priority, including supporting $15 billion in the economic stimulus package to prevent homelessness now.

Please support this initiative by contacti ng President-elect Obama and your Congressional representative. You can click here to read the letter and contact Laurel Weir (lweir@nlchp.org) to add your organization to our list of endorsers. Please use your voice - on January 19th and every day - to advocate on behalf of homeless and poor Americans.

Please also support NLCHP in these difficult times. Please click here to donate now. Any amount makes a difference!

Maria Foscarinis
Executive Director

As the new Congress and the new Administration prepare to begin work, advocates are coming together to press for immediate action on homelessness. A joint letter by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and other national homeless and housing advocacy organizations calls on the new Administration to request $15.6 billion in funding in the economic recovery bill to be used specifically to prevent and address homelessness. The letter also calls on the Administration to request increases in key housing, homeless, and anti-poverty programs that would make a significant impact on addressing homelessness.

The new Congress is moving rapidly to take up legislation. This week, it will begin considering reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Following voting on SCHIP, the House is expected to begin consideration of the economic recovery legislation. Homeless and housing advocates have been pressing for that package to include funding for housing and homelessness prevention. Key measures sought by advocates include $10 billion in capitalization for the National Housing Trust Fund, $2 billion for homeless prevention and assistance under the McKinney-Vento Emergency Shelter Grant program, and approximately $3.6 billion to fund 400,000 Section 8 vouchers over the next two years. Additionally, advocates are seeking an expansion of eligible homeless prevention activities under the Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) program to mirror the language approved by the House of Representatives in the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (H.R. 7221) passed last fall. Advocates are seeking to have that language added to any economic recovery legislation providing prevention funding to the ESG program, in order to give that program greater flexibility to prevent homelessness.

In addition to economic stimulus legislation, Congress must also take up appropriations for Fiscal Year 2009. Last fall, Congress failed to pass individual appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2009, which began on October 1st, 2008. To allow federal agencies to continue operating, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution, which provided temporary funds until March 6, 2009. To avoid a federal government shutdown, Congress must pass either another Continuing Resolution or final appropriations bills prior to March 6. NLCHP is pressing Congress to include increases for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs when it passes the FY09 appropriations legislation.

For more information on NLCHP legislative advocacy, see NLCHP's website or contact Laurel Weir at lweir@nlchp.org.

Just before Christmas, NLCHP together with pro bono partner Goodwin Procter LLP, filed a lawsuit to protect a homeless child's right to attend school.

The case, NLCHP v. New York State, concerns a child who moved into his grandmother's basement in a neighboring school district after his mother lost her housing due to high medical bills from breast cancer. For a year, the school district provided transportation back to the school of origin, as required under the federal McKinney-Vento Act and its state equivalent. During this period, the child, a special needs student, experienced a number of behavioral issues, but since the beginning of the current school year had been having remarkable success. Although the family's living situation had not changed, in November 2008, the district informed them that they would no longer provide transportation and the child would have to enroll in the neighboring district, threatening the child's newfound educational stability.

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, families who are "doubled-up" due to economic hardship are explicitly protected, and there is no time limit placed on homelessness. Moreover, children are allowed to remain enrolled in school pending the resolution of any disputes, but in this case the state refused to issue an order staying the disenrollment.

NLCHP seeks to work with school districts and states to ensure compliance with the McKinney-Vento Act, but where the district and state are in clear violation of the law, we stand ready to protect children's rights in court. If you have concerns about similar cases in your area, please contact our Children & Youth Attorney, Eric Tars, at etars@nlchp.org.

In an unusual move, the Bush Administration is issuing its one year follow-up report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination two months early, in January, before leaving office.

The U.S. government made its oral report to the Committee last February, and the Committee handed down its Concluding Observations in March. The Committee requested follow-up information in a number of areas of concern to be submitted one year later. Among these follow-up areas was the continuing disparate impact of Hurricane Katrina on the housing rights of displaced racial minorities, which was brought to the attention of the Committee through the efforts of NLCHP and its partner organizations.

Although the follow-up report is not due until March, the Bush Administration, which has been characteristically late in its UN treaty reporting requirements, is issuing this report early. According to the government, this is because they did not think the incoming Administration would be able to address the report in a timely manner given the short period between inauguration and the report deadline. However, many advocates have expressed concerns that the Bush Administration is trying to have the final word excusing its post-Katrina behavior rather than actually addressing the Committee's Observations.

NLCHP will be monitoring for the issuance of this report and will conduct additional advocacy with the Committee and the new Administration to ensure our treaty obligations are properly implemented.

NLCHP regularly sublets its extra office space at its 14th and K Street offices in downtown Washington, DC. Three fully furnished offices, which are sufficient for two people each, will be available for sublet beginning February 1, 2009. Each office includes two phone lines and free internet service. Tenants will share use of a kitchen, conference room, copier, postage machine and fax machine. NLCHP offices are convenient to the metro system and major bus lines.

Contact Vibha Bhatia at vbhatia@nlchp.org for more information.

Thursday, February 12 - Friday, February 13, 2009

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, San Diego, CA

NLCHP is joining the National Alliance to End Homelessness as a partner in holding the National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness. Over 400 attendees will come together to share successful strategies that communities and programs have employed to work toward ending family homelessness.

Please visit the conference website for registration and other information.

NLCHP is seeking nominations for this year's Personal Achievement Honoree, to be recognized at the annual McKinney-Vento Awards event in the fall of 2009.

Each year, NLCHP selects a formerly homeless individual to receive the Personal Achievement Award in recognition of his or her personal achievement in overcoming adversity and service to those still experiencing homelessness. NLCHP also honors three other individuals and/or organizations who have demonstrated leadership in advancing solutions to homelessness.

The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2009. Visit the NLCHP website for more information.

NLCHP is seeking submissions from homeless or low-income children and youth in the Washington, DC metro area 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 in the DC area who are enrolled in after-school programs or art- related organizations serving homeless and low- income children, or who 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 June 15, 2009. Visit the NLCHP website at 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