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To stay abreast of federal policy changes related to preventing and ending homelessness, visit the website of the National Alliance to End Homelessness and see their advocacy section.
Join the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness in July 2009 at the Annual Conference of the National Alliance to End Homelessness to participate in educational activities with Virginia's Congressional Delegation.
Legislative Status Update - May 20 - President Obama signed S. 896, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which included as an amendment the HEARTH Act - legislation to reauthorize the McKinney Vento Continuum of Care program.
The legislation mirrors the final legislation from 2008 (see below for more information on the 2008 legislation).
For the VCEH summary of changes, click here.
For a longer summary from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, click here.
Fall 2008 Update:
The United State Congress has made substantial progress on legislation to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program.
VCEH sponsored an audio conference presentation on October 30, 2008, to review the latest proposal to reauthorize the McKinney program. VCEH Executive Director Phyllis Gilberti Chamberlain presented. The new McKinney program will increase focus on permanent housing for families who experience homelessness, prevention and ensuring that rural communities compete more effectively for funding.
For the power point presentation from the audio conference:
Being Competitive in a New McKinney World: How McKinney Reauthorization Will Change the Continuum of Care
The reauthorization proposal makes significant changes to HUD's definition of homelessness.
Proposed Changes to the Definition of Homelessness
For HUD's current definition of homelessness, click here.
Legislative Status: The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee both passed similar versions of the legislation out of committee. Congress did not act on the legislation before the session ended in the fall of 2008. As of February 1, 2009, it is widely expected that the U.S. Congress will reintroduce the legislative proposal that was widely agreed upon in the last Congress and was outlined on VCEH's October 30, 2008 Audio Conference.
VCEH sponsored an Audio Conference in November 2008 on "New Housing Dollars Coming Soon to Virginia via the National Housing Trust Fund." Sheila Crowley, President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition - the lead organization in developing the NHTF proposal and advocating for its passage - presented. Go to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's website for updates on the National Housing Trust Fund.
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