New federal aid is targeted toward communities with high homeless populations or individuals at risk … [+]
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it will provide $2.96 billion in the remaining Emergency Solutions Grants funding to aid homeless Americans and people at risk of becoming homeless because of hardships such as job loss, wage reduction or illness due to COVID-19. The funding is in addition to $1 billion of ESG grants announced within a week of President Trump signing the CARES Act.
“Homelessness was a major issue in some cities across our nation long before this pandemic occurred, and unfortunately, the dire living conditions of our most vulnerable Americans left many without a home to isolate in or proper medical and healthcare resources to defend themselves against this invisible enemy,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson in an official statement posted on the agency’s website.
He added, “As we continued to monitor the effects of COVID-19 in at-risk communities, the department and our partners worked quickly to respond to outbreaks and minimize the spread from hot spots to other locations. This increased funding to help provide for our homeless will make a difference now as we combat the coronavirus and inform long-term, innovative solutions for addressing homelessness in the future.”
Congress has provided $4 billion for HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grants program for local governments to prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus among individuals and families who are homeless, receiving homeless assistance or are at risk of becoming homeless.
In total, HUD has allocated $3.96 billion in ESG funding to communities affected in every state and U.S. territory. The remaining $40 million is being used to provide technical assistance to build capacity of grantees in those communities receiving ESG funding.
The $2.96 billion in emergency funding can be used for a variety of purposes, including the following:
- Make more emergency shelters available for homeless individuals and families
- Operate emergency shelters by providing food, rent, security, maintenance, repair, fuel, equipment, insurance, utilities, furnishings, and supplies necessary for their operation.
- Provide hotel/motel vouchers for homeless families and individuals
- Provide essential services to people experiencing homelessness including childcare, education services, employment assistance, outpatient health services, legal services, mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, and transportation
- Prevent individuals from becoming homeless and rapidly rehouse homeless individuals
“People experiencing homelessness in the United States—already at heightened risk and with fewer resources due to the pandemic—now face even greater challenges as a result of both the violence sweeping many city streets and the curfews many are imposing in an effort to control,” according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
“Without homes to shelter in place and with limited access to already-burdened emergency shelter, people experiencing homelessness are left to fend for themselves,” the Law Center states. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidance urging cities to house unsheltered people whenever possible, avoid sweeping encampments and reconfigure shelters to conform to social distancing and sanitation guidelines. Unfortunately, compliance across the nation has been spotty at best, and people experiencing homelessness have remained at extraordinary risk.”
Planning and response to coronavirus transmission among the homeless population requires a “whole community” approach, which means involving partners in the response plan development with clearly outlined roles and responsibilities, according to the CDC.
A community coalition focused on COVID-19 planning and response should include local and state health departments; outreach teams and street medicine providers; homeless service providers and continuum of care leadership; emergency management; law enforcement; healthcare providers; housing authorities; local government leadership; other support services like case management, emergency food programs, syringe service programs and behavioral health support; and people with lived experiences of homelessness, the CDC states.
Several cities have implemented curfews as an effort to curb violence conducted outside of protests against police brutality.
“Unfortunately, curfews have created further challenges, as unsheltered people, already subject to laws criminalizing acts such as sleeping in public, are at risk of arrest for yet another ‘crime’—violating an order to stay inside after curfew when they have nowhere inside to go,” states the Law Center.
“We call on cities across the country to follow the CDC guidance by housing people experiencing homelessness immediately—and to protect them from arrest, violence and further trauma,” said Maria Foscarinis, founder and executive director of the Law Center.