An unprecedented collaboration between HUD and the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Veterans Affairs (VA) is making $35 million available to provide permanent housing, health care and other supportive services for the chronic or long-term homeless. Coordinated by the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness, the funding notice published Monday builds upon the Bush Administration's goal to end chronic homelessness within a decade.

Secretary Martinez, who serves as chairman of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, said, "We are combining the resources and energies of three government agencies in an effort to not only help end chronic homelessness on the streets of America, but to prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place."

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said, "We are keenly aware that serious health, psychiatric, and substance use disorders contribute to the complexities of long-term and repeated homelessness. The expert contributions of health care professionals, combined with the provision of permanent housing, will help break the cycle of chronic homelessness and put people on the road to recovery and self-sufficiency."

"The Department of Veterans Affairs has long recognized that the effort to end chronic homelessness must be a collaborative effort at the Federal level that will create strong effective local partnerships with faith- and community-based organizations," said VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi.

A notification of funding availability (NOFA) was announced on January 27th. It is seen as a critical component to address the needs of chronically homeless persons and will draw upon innovative local programs that respond to homelessness. Research confirms that approximately 10 percent of the nation's homeless are so-called chronically homeless - often suffering from mental illness or addiction. According to a May 2001 report from the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research, University of Pennsylvania, this small fraction of the overall homeless population accounts for approximately half of all the resources dedicated to meet the needs of the entire homeless population.

"What we do today will make a difference on the streets of our nation and create a new standard of expectation for homelessness," said Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the federal agency responsible for coordinating and creating homelessness policy for the Administration. "We seek visible, measurable and quantifiable change on our streets, in homeless programs and, most importantly, in the lives of homeless people. Our goal is to focus on those who are most at risk and to offer a permanent solution."

Congress established the Interagency Council in 1987 with the passage of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. Over the past six years, however, the Council was relatively dormant. Last year, President Bush reactivated the Interagency Council to better coordinate the activities of 18 federal agencies that are involved in assisting the homeless and to create the strategies to reduce and end homelessness. Learn more about the work of the Interagency Council on Homelessness. (www.ich.gov)