Federal Agencies Organize to Better Coordinate
Battle to End Homelessness

One of the key ingredients in the recipe for ending homelessness is cooperation among Federal agencies. In the Midwest Region this task was recently given a boost with the formation of the Region V US Interagency Council on Homelessness Federal Regional Council.

Deputy Regional Director Beverly Bishop (sitting in for Regional Director Joseph Galvan) along with HUD's Regional Interagency Homeless Coordinator, Daryl Hernandez chaired the initial kick off meeting at HUD offices in Chicago. In addition to HUD, participants included the Veterans Administration, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture Rural Development, Justice, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Social Security Administration, and the General Services Administration. The Midwest Region includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The interagency council will meet every quarter with the next meeting planned for April or May, The new Region V council will assist in the creation of State Interagency Councils and in encouraging cities to adopt 10 yr plans to end homelessness. The group will also encourage increased planning and coordinating of homeless programs and services across the Midwest Region and improve communication across federal agency lines to better share information on notices of funding availability and specific programs. In the Midwest, Detroit, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio have adopted ten-year plans. Columbus was recently cited by the Department as one of seven leading cities in the country in developing innovative approaches to reducing homelessness.