President Obama has proposed that $11 billion, over the next ten years, be invested in housing homeless families. This will be accomplished through new allocations for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget in fiscal year 2017 and beyond. HUD Secretary Julián Castro held a briefing on February 9 to discuss the new funds, which he said will be applied directly to proven community-based and cost-effective strategies to combat homelessness.
“It’s a blueprint for opportunity so that more Americans can succeed no matter where they’re from, what they look like, or who they are,” Castro said. “Basically, when every person gets a fair shot in our nation.”
The budget calls special attention to family homelessness, which Castro and the Obama Administration plan to absolve completely by the year 2020. This can be achieved by connecting housing to economic and educational opportunities that will promote economic mobility, according to Castro.
This investment also calls for new units of permanent supportive housing, expanding availability of rapid rehousing, and a dramatic increase in funding for rental assistance. The budget will also include $2.7 billion in homeless assistance grants, a $414 million increase.
From 2010 to 2015, under the Obama Administration, the United States has seen a 19 percent drop in family homelessness, a 26 percent decline in chronic homelessness and a 36 percent reduction in veteran homelessness, Castro reported. He said the proposed budget seeks to build on this work.
“What we’re doing we know is working,” Castro said. “We’re convinced these investments will accelerate our progress and bring us closer to that day where every American has a place to call home.”
The 2017 budget is a 4 percent increase over fiscal year 2016, Castro said. States and local communities will compete through their local continuums of care for funding to address homelessness in their communities.
“I’m proud of this budget, and even prouder of the initiatives it’s going to support and the communities it’s going to strengthen,” Castro said.
