NPACH Statement on
President Bush’s FY2005 Budget
President
Bush’s FY2005 budget, released today, announced that
“The Administration is… fundamentally changing the
way the nation manages the issue of homelessness by focusing
more resources on permanent housing and supportive services,
instead of simply providing more shelter beds.”
This
statement is at odds with the budget numbers that surround
it.
- The
budget does not provide more resources for permanent
housing, but rather holds level or reduces critical
housing assistance programs that prevent and end
homelessness. The only permanent housing response
to homelessness included in the budget is a shift in
the portion of HUD homeless assistance dollars –
dollars from a meager account designated for the emergency
needs of people who are already homeless –
primarily toward supportive housing for a very small
percentage of people experiencing homelessness (the
“chronically homeless”). The
President’s budget fails to include any
significant resources for affordable housing
production, and holds level funding for housing
programs that serve low-income, disabled, and elderly
populations. These populations, already at high risk
of experiencing homelessness, are even more at risk
without adequate housing support. Moreover, the
budget proposes cuts in rural affordable housing
assistance under the USDA budget, cuts to American
Indian housing, and includes a $900 million cut (and
an overall $1.6 billion shortfall, according to the
Congressional Budget Office) to the Section 8 Housing
Voucher program, leaving as many as 250,000 voucher
holders at risk of losing their housing assistance.
In a sad illustration of the overall decline in
federal support for housing, the
Administration’s proposed FY2005 HUD budget
represents a 63% reduction since the last year of the
Ford Administration. Indeed, over the last 27 years,
requests for new Section 8 vouchers alone dropped
from over 400,000 to zero this year. Yet the
real permanent housing issue at stake is one of
equity: the President’s entire proposed HUD
budget of $31 billion represents approximately
one-fourth of what the Federal government will
subsidize homeowners this year in the form of
mortgage and property tax deductions. Finally, while
the President stresses homeownership as the central
pillar of his housing policies, we are reminded that
there is no state in the union in which an extremely
low income household can afford the fair market rent
on a two-bedroom home. Thus, his budget continues the
tragic historical trend that created modern
homelessness and remains at its root – lack of
affordable housing for the poorest Americans.
- The
budget does not provide adequate funding to meet
emergency needs. The proposed funding level for
HUD McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs,
$1.257 billion – falls far short of the amount
necessary to even meet emergency needs. According to
the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual survey,
the number of families seeking shelter in 2003
increased by 15 percent, while 30 percent of all
people experiencing homelessness were turned away for
lack of room. In fact, in the last round, 16% of the
projects requesting assistance failed to receive any
funding – entire continuums of care,
particularly in smaller and rural communities went
unfunded, leaving those communities to scramble for
resources to meet the shortfall in emergency
services. At the same time, the demand for emergency
services is likely to increase. The impact of the
current economic downturn continues to be felt across
the nation, with some communities reporting dramatic
surges in homelessness, particularly among families
and children. As the gap between wages, income, and
the cost of housing – already at an all-time
high – continues to grow, more people are likely
to experience homelessness and need emergency
assistance.
·
The continued emphasis on “chronic homelessness”
perpetuates a dangerous zero sum game by addressing
homelessness in isolation from its causes and by preventing
communities from meeting local needs. The budget’s
$50 million request for housing and services for the
“chronically homeless” (i.e. “unaccompanied
individuals with a disabling condition who have been
continuously homeless for a year or more”), while a
welcome source of assistance for meeting the needs of some
people with disabilities, does nothing to address the
underlying causes of their homelessness or prevent more
people with disabilities from becoming homeless. Moreover,
despite claims of “focusing more resources on supportive
services,” the percentage of the HUD McKinney grants
devoted to such activities has steadily declined over the
last three years. In FY 2003, almost half of the competitive
grants, totaling $501 million, were awarded specifically to
permanent housing projects for people with disabilities,
leaving little by way of support services, prevention,
transitional housing, or housing for non-disabled individuals
or families with children.
In sum,
rather than connect homelessness with the affordable housing
crisis that underlies it and expand resources to prevent and
end homelessness, HUD appears to be attempting to re-define
homelessness out of existence. What has emerged is a cynical
strategy of “out of sight, out of mind:” reducing
emergency shelter beds and supportive services and targeting
the most visible population, or roughly 5% of the population
experiencing homelessness, while ignoring larger needs and
systemic causes. Cut through the rhetoric and we are left
with the real numbers and consequences of a policy of
managing, not ending, homelessness.
In his
budget, the President requested over $400 billion for
military spending and over $47 billion for Homeland Security.
But in the absence of meeting the basic needs of housing,
health care and livable incomes, it is perhaps worth asking
just what it is we are securing. President Bush’s budget
is one of tragically misplaced priorities – sending a
mission to Mars may be the nation’s pride, but the
hunger, homelessness, and poor health of our most vulnerable
citizens are its shame. We call on the Administration to
ensure the housing security of all Americans as a
priority of its FY2005 budget and policies.