The road map to end homelessness

Yesterday the Obama administration unveiled Opening Doors 2010, an ambitious plan to end homelessness in the United States. While I am a supporter of any plan to end homelessness, I was particularly excited to see this one because it calls out the plight of homeless families and children (in addition to individuals and veterans) and acknowledges that homelessness takes many forms. 

The plan takes a holistic approach to addressing the issue of homelessness. It includes 10 objectives that cover five areas, including:

• Increasing leadership, collaboration, and civic engagement, by a focus on providing and promoting collaborative leadership at all levels of government and across all sectors and strengthening the capacity of public and private organizations by increasing knowledge about collaboration and successful interventions to prevent and end homelessness.
  
• Increase access to stable and affordable housing, by providing affordable housing and permanent supportive housing.
  
• Increase economic security, expand meaningful and sustainable employment and improve access to mainstream programs and services to reduce financial vulnerability to homelessness.
  
• Improve health and stability, by linking health care with homeless assistance programs and housing, advancing stability for youth aging out of systems such as foster care and juvenile justice, and improving discharge planning for people who have frequent contact with hospitals and criminal justice systems.
  
• Retool the homeless response system, by transforming homeless services to crisis response systems that prevent homelessness and rapidly return people who experience homelessness to stable housing.
  

The plan proposes a set of strategies that will be implemented through partnerships with state and local governments. It recognizes the progress made at the local level (including Mankato, MN!) and that partnerships with state and local governments and the private sector are necessary to providing cost effective, comprehensive solutions to end homelessness. 

If you are interested in the issue of homelessness, take a look at the report. It is a long, but interesting, read. For more information about the plan, visit the Interagency Council on Homelessness website.