Surplus Federal Property Available to Serve Homeless Americans

Press Type: Press Release   Associated Program: Housing

Released: 12/2004

Millions of acres of federal land and millions of dollars' worth of federal buildings are currently unused. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the 1994 Base Closure Act, federal agencies are supposed to make surplus federal properties available to state and local agencies and organizations serving homeless persons. A new report of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty examines the progress of the federal government in implementing these federal laws.

Since 1987, Congress has recognized the federal government's "clear responsibility" and "existing capacity to meet the basic needs of all the homeless." Congress, in the surplus property legislation, sought to use existing capacity to meet those needs. Across the country, government agencies and nonprofit organizations have used surplus federal property to provide homeless persons with shelter, childcare, job training, food, case management services, and mental health and substance abuse treatment. But federal compliance with the laws has been inconsistent, and agencies should be doing much more to ensure that their surplus property helps America's 2.5 to 3.5 million homeless men, women, and children. This week's 2004 survey by the United States Conference of Mayors confirms that homelessness in this country continues to increase, with 70% of the cities reporting an average increase of 6% in requests for emergency assistance. "The federal government's failure to maximize assistance to homeless Americans, in light of the millions of people needing help, is intolerable," said Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of NLCHP.

Unused But Still Useful: Acquiring Federal Property To Serve Homeless People, a report released today by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, examines the failure of the federal government to make surplus property available to serve the 2.5 to 3.5 million homeless Americans. In the last few years, local governments from coast to coast have set agendas to end homelessness in the next ten years, but federal agencies with surplus resources are not doing all they can to help. "The federal government has failed to make a government-wide commitment to the surplus property program," according to Rebecca Troth, NLCHP Legal Director and the report's primary author. "Some federal agencies withhold properties that could serve homeless people, and others responsible for implementing the surplus property program have failed to fulfill Congress' commitment to homeless Americans," she added.

States with ongoing nonprofit and/or government efforts to use surplus federal property to serve homeless Americans include: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

For a copy of Unused But Still Useful: Acquiring Federal Property To Serve Homeless People by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, contact visit: www.nlchp.org.

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