Expanding HUD's Definition of Homelessness

Expanding HUD's Definition of Homelessness:
A Call to Action

from the National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness

In June 2005, the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution expressing concern about homeless families and youth and urging the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) to adopt a common definition of homelessness.

Since then, views about the issue of homeless definitions have evolved through discussions among many housing and homeless organizations across the country.* The prevailing view that has emerged is that the real problem with homeless definitions is not the lack of a common definition, but more specifically the ways in which the current HUD definition of homelessness excludes many homeless people - particularly families, children, and youth.

Anchorage, AK, Mayor Mark Begich will introduce a resolution before the US Conference of Mayors at its annual meeting, June 2-6, calling for HUD to expand its definition of homelessness to include people who are sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason, and people living in motels due to a lack of alternatives.

NPACH, along with a growing number of national, state, and local groups, is asking that your organization sign-on in support of this expanded definition. We also urge you to contact your local elected officials, mayors, city councils, county commissioners, and others, asking them to support an expanded definition of homelessness. To be added to our sign-on list or to have your local officials listed in support, please contact Brad Paul via e-mail, bpaul@npach.org, or by phone at (504) 524-8751.

Please find the following resources linked below:
1) The new resolution;
http://www.npach.org/homeless_resolution2006.pdf
2) Questions & Answers about Expanding HUD's Definition of Homelessness;
http://www.npach.org/deffaqfinal.htm
3) A letter from national, state, and local organizations to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
http://www.npach.org/nlchp_federal_definition.pdf

*The following national, state and local groups have endorsed the call for an expanded HUD definition of homelessness:
National Agencies
American Friends Service Committee
Catholic Charities USA
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
Child Welfare League of America
Family Promise
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
National Center on Family Homelessness
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Network for Youth
National Network to End Domestic Violence
National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (NPACH)
Stand Up For Kids, Inc.
Volunteers of America

Regional and State Agencies
Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness
Arkansas Hunger Coalition
California Coalition for Rural Housing
CT Coalition to End Homelessness (Connecticut)
Central Texas Homeless Alliance
Florida Coalition for the Homeless
Illinois Coalition to End Homelessness
Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homeless Issues
Iowa Coalition for Housing and the Homeless
Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness
New York State Rural Housing Coalition
Northeast Louisiana Delta Community Development Corporation
Northern Kentucky Housing and Homeless Coalition
PathWaysPA (Pennsylvania)
Southeast Minnesota Continuum of Care
Southeastern (MA) Regional Network, Inc.
Texas Homeless Network
Upstate Homeless Coalition of South Carolina
Virginia Organizing Project State Governing Board
Washington Low Income Housing Alliance
Washington Low Income Housing Institute
Washington State Coalition for the Homeless
Western Regional Advocacy Project, San Francisco, CA
Youth Empowerment Program of Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio

Local Agencies
Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless
Anchorage AK Continuum of Care
Big Bend Homeless Coalition, Tallahassee, Florida
Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim, CA
Cabell-Huntington Coalition for the Homeless, (WV)
Camillus Health Concern, Inc., Miami, FL
Caracole, Inc., Cincinnati, OH
Catholic Charities of New Orleans
Catholic Social Services, Fall River, MA
Charlotte County (FL) Homeless Coalition
Chicago (IL) Coalition for the Homeless
Committee for Housing Stability, Dalton, GA
Community Enrichment Center, Fort Worth, TX
Continuum of Care for Cabell and Wayne Counties and Huntington, WV
Corbin's United Effort, Corbin, KY
Dubuque Continuum of Care, Dubuque, IA
The Empowerment Program, Denver, CO
Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. (WV)
Hazard Perry County Community Ministries, Inc. (KY)
High Point Treatment Center, Inc., New Bedford/Plymouth, MA
Homeless Action Group, Atlanta, GA
Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County, Inc. (FL)
Homeless Health Care Center, Chattanooga, TN
Homes for Life Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Hope House, New Orleans, LA
Housing Association of Delaware Valley, Philadelphia, PA
Housing Partnership for the New River Valley, VA
Interfaith Council for Homeless Famlies, Morris County, NJ
Johnson County Local Homeless Coordinating Board, IA
LA Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness, Los Angeles, CA
McCreary County Community Housing Development Corporation, KY
Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless, Montgomery, Alabama
Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless, Garden City, New York
Neighborhood Development Foundation, New Orleans, LA
Neighborhood Housing Services, New Orleans, LA
New Bedford (MA) Council on Addiction
New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative
Norfolk Homeless Consortium, Norfolk, VA
North Shore Community Action Programs, Inc., Peabody, MA
Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing, Yakima, WA
Phoenix Health Center, Louisville, KY
Project IRENE, Berwin, IL
Restoration Enterprises, Redding, CA
St. Paul / Ramsey County Homeless Advisory Board, MN
Serving People in Need, Costa Mesa, CA
Thomas House Temporary Shelter, Garden Grove, California
Virginia Beach Homeless Advocacy Resource Partnership, VA
Women In Need, Inc., New York, NY

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