Homelessness: Improving Program Coordination and Client Access to
Programs (06-MAR-02, GAO-02-485T).				 
								 
Many people are homeless for only a short time and get back on	 
their feet with minimal assistance, but others are chronically	 
homeless and need a range of intensive and ongoing assistance in 
addition to housing. There are 50 programs administered by eight 
federal agencies to assist homeless people. Sixteen of these are 
targeted, or reserved for the homeless, and the others are	 
mainstream programs. Because of the difficulties that homeless	 
people have accessing mainstream programs, much of the assistance
provided under the targeted programs mirrors that provided under 
the mainstream programs. Targeted programs were funded at $1.7	 
billion in fiscal year 2001. Under the varying eligibility and	 
funding requirements of HUD's four McKinney-Vento programs, HUD  
has been unable to ensure that adequate coordination occurs among
the programs without creating undue administrative burdens for	 
the states and communities. Actions have been taken to improve	 
the coordination of homeless assistance programs within 	 
communities and to reduce some of the administrative burdens that
separate programs cause. All low-income populations face barriers
to applying for, retaining, and using the services provided by	 
mainstream programs;  however, these barriers are compounded by  
homelessness. In addition, the underlying structure and 	 
operations of federal mainstream programs do not ensure that the 
special needs of homeless people are met. Consolidating HUD's	 
McKinney-Vento programs is a step that could help reduce the	 
administrative burden. However, to end chronic homelessness in 10
years, another important step is to alleviate the barriers that  
homeless people encounter as they seek services from mainstream  
programs. A number of long-standing and complex issues will need 
to be addressed in order to eliminate the barriers to accessing  
mainstream programs.						 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-02-485T					        
    ACCNO:   A02829						        
  TITLE:     Homelessness: Improving Program Coordination and Client  
Access to Programs						 
     DATE:   03/06/2002 
  SUBJECT:   Federal aid for housing				 
	     Federal aid programs				 
	     Homelessness					 
	     Disadvantaged persons				 
	     Housing programs					 
	     Program evaluation 				 
	     Aid to Families with Dependent Children		 
	     Program						 
								 
	     FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program		 
	     Food Stamp Program 				 
	     Head Start Program 				 
	     HUD Community Development Block Grant		 
	     Program						 
								 
	     HUD Continuum of Care Program			 
	     HUD Emergency Shelter Grant Program		 
	     HUD Section 8 Single Room Occupancy		 
	     Program						 
								 
	     HUD Shelter Plus Care for the Homeless		 
	     Program						 
								 
	     HUD Supportive Housing Program			 
	     Medicaid Program					 
	     Minnesota Family Homeless Prevention and		 
	     Assistance Program 				 
								 

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GAO-02-485T
     
United States General Accounting Office

GAO Testimony

Before the Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs U.S. Senate

For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:30 p.m. EST Wednesday March 6, 2002

HOMELESSNESS

Improving Program Coordination and Client Access to Programs

Statement of Stanley J. Czerwinski Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues

GAO-02-485T

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

We are here today at your request to discuss federal assistance for homeless
people. As you know, homelessness in America is a complex issue. Many people
are homeless for only a short time and get back on their feet with minimal
assistance, but others are chronically homeless and need a range of
intensive and ongoing assistance in addition to housing. In the late 1980s,
Congress recognized that existing programs were not effectively meeting the
needs of homeless people. Consequently, Congress passed the Steward B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (now known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act) in 1987 as a comprehensive federal response to homelessness.
As part its fiscal year 2003 budget submission, the Administration announced
that it has made ending chronic homelessness in the next decade a top
objective. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is
responsible for helping the homeless toward self-sufficiency, in part,
through four key McKinney-Vento Act programs, the Emergency Shelter Grants
program, the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter Plus Care program, and
the Section 8 Single-Room Occupancy program.1 Low-income people, including
those who are homeless, can also receive a wide range of assistance-such as
housing, food, health care, transportation, and job training-through an
array of mainstream federal programs, such as the Food Stamp Program and
Medicaid.

Our testimony today is based primarily on issued reports and testimony over
the past 4 years. We will focus on the (1) federal approach to assisting
homeless people, (2) actions HUD has taken to overcome the coordination and
administrative challenges posed by its homelessness programs, (3) inability
of homeless people to access and use federal mainstream programs that are
available to low-income people generally, and (4) issues that should be
addressed in considering future homelessness policies.

In summary:

* The federal approach to assisting homeless people includes 50 programs
administered by 8 federal agencies. Sixteen of these programs are

1 HUD is also responsible for several other McKinney and non-McKinney
programs that provide housing and services for homeless people. In addition,
other federal agencies are responsible for homeless assistance programs
authorized by the McKinney Act.

targeted, or reserved for the homeless, and the rest are mainstream
programs. In part because of the difficulties that homeless people have
accessing mainstream programs, much of the assistance provided under the
targeted programs mirrors the assistance provided under the mainstream
programs. Targeted programs were funded at about $1.7 billion in fiscal year
2001.

* Under the varying eligibility and funding requirements of HUD's four
McKinney-Vento Act programs, it has been a challenge for HUD to ensure that
adequate coordination occurs among the programs without creating undue
administrative burdens for the states and communities. HUD has taken actions
that have improved the coordination of homeless assistance programs within
communities and have helped reduce some of the administrative burdens that
separate programs cause.

* Homeless people are often unable to access and use federal mainstream
programs because of the inherent conditions of homelessness as well as the
structure and operations of the programs themselves. All low-income
populations face barriers to applying for, retaining, and using the services
provided by mainstream programs; however, these barriers are compounded by
the inherent conditions of homelessness, such lack of a permanent address or
a phone number. In addition, the underlying structure and operations of
federal mainstream programs are often not conducive to ensuring that the
special needs of homeless people are met.

* As we testified previously, consolidating HUD's McKinney-Vento programs is
a step that could help reduce the administrative burden on HUD. However, to
meet the goal of ending chronic homelessness in 10 years, another important
step for the Administration and the Congress is to alleviate the barriers
that homeless people encounter as they seek services from mainstream
programs. A number of long-standing and complex issues such as improving the
integration and coordination of federal programs, ensuring an appropriate
system of incentives for serving homeless people, and holding mainstream
programs more accountable for serving homeless people will need to be
addressed in order to alleviate the barriers to accessing mainstream
programs.

Background Homelessness in America is a significant and complex problem.
According to a survey conducted for the federal Interagency Council on the
Homeless in 1996, 85 percent of homeless clients were single, predominately
male and nonwhite, and almost 40 percent had less than a high school
diploma.2

2 Martha R. Burt, et al, Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve
(Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, Aug. 1999).

About one quarter of those who used the programs were veterans. About 15
percent of homeless clients were families that had on average, two children.
Forty-two percent of homeless clients reported that finding a job was their
top need followed by a need for help in finding affordable housing. Almost
60 percent reported at least one problem with getting enough food to eat
during the 30 days before being interviewed. About 40 percent reported
alcohol problems in the past month, 26 percent reported drug problems, and
39 percent reported mental health problems during that period. As the survey
demonstrates, the homeless population is far from homogenous. For many
homeless people, particularly those in homeless families, homelessness is a
short-term or episodic event. These individuals may require little more than
emergency shelter to help them through a difficult situation. For other
homeless people, particularly those with severe substance abuse or mental
health disorders, homelessness is a chronic condition; these individuals may
require intensive and ongoing supportive services in addition to housing. As
a result, the types of assistance that different homeless people and
families require vary greatly.

HUD has responsibility for administering a homeless assistance grant account
funded at about $1 billion in fiscal year 2002. The homeless assistance
grant account was created to provide funding for HUD's four key homeless
assistance programs:

Emergency Shelter Grants: This program is intended to improve the quality of
existing emergency shelters for homeless people and makes additional
shelters available for this population. In addition, the program is designed
to help grantees meet the costs of operating shelters, provide essential
social services to homeless people, and prevent homelessness. This program
provides formula grants to states, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and
territories in accordance with the distribution formula used for HUD's
Community Development Block Grant program.3 According to HUD, grantees are
generally notified of their annual Emergency Shelter Grant allocation before
the start of each calendar year.

Supportive Housing Program: This program is intended to promote the
development of supportive housing and services, including innovative
approaches to help homeless people make the transition from

3 The Community Development Block Grant is a formula grant program through
which HUD provides assistance to communities to help them develop viable
communities that provide decent housing and a suitable living environment
and expand economic opportunities, primarily for low-to moderate-income
people.

homelessness and enable them to live as independently as possible. States,
local governments, other governmental entities (such as public housing
authorities), private nonprofit organizations, and community mental health
associations that are public nonprofit organizations can annually compete
for supportive housing grants through a national competition. These grants
may be used to provide (1) transitional housing for up to 24 months and up
to 6 months of follow-up services for residents who move to permanent
housing; (2) permanent housing with appropriate supportive services for
homeless people with disabilities to enable them to live as independently as
possible; (3) supportive services only, with no housing; (4) safe havens for
homeless individuals with serious mental illness;4 and (5) innovative
approaches to help develop supportive housing that will meet the long-term
needs of homeless people. The term for initial grants made under this
program is up to 3 years.

Shelter Plus Care: This program provides rental assistance for hard-to-serve
homeless people with disabilities along with supportive services that are
funded from other sources. States, units of general government, and public
housing authorities are eligible to apply for project grants through a
national competition. Grants can be used to provide rental assistance
payments for either 5 or 10 years depending on the type of rental assistance
requested and whether the grantee meets other program requirements.

Section 8 Single-Room Occupancy Moderate Rehabilitation: The Single-Room
Occupancy program brings more standard single-room occupancy units into the
local housing supply and makes them available to homeless individuals. These
housing units are intended for occupancy by a single person and may or may
not contain either food preparation or sanitary facilities. Under this
program, HUD enters into annual contracts with public housing authorities
for the moderate rehabilitation of residential properties so that when the
work is done, the properties will contain multiple single-room units. The
public housing authority is responsible for selecting properties that are
suitable for rehabilitation and for identifying landlords who would like to
participate in the program. Under this program, public housing authorities
and private nonprofit organizations

4 Safe havens-supportive housing serving hard to reach homeless people with
severe mental illness who are living on the street-are authorized as a
separate program under title IV, subpart D, of the McKinney-Vento Act.
However, because Congress has not funded this program, HUD has elected to
provide funding for safe havens under the Supportive Housing Program.

A Wide Range of Federal Assistance is Available for Homeless People

are eligible to compete for rental subsidies through an annual national
competition. Rental assistance payments are provided for a period of 10
years.

As we reported in February 1999, 50 federal programs administered by 8
federal agencies can provide services to homeless people.5 Of the 50
programs, 16 are targeted, or reserved for the homeless; and 34 are
mainstream programs. Although all the mainstream programs may serve homeless
people, the extent to which they do so is generally unknown because the
primary purpose of these programs is to serve low-income- not
homeless-people; therefore, most of the programs do not track the number of
homeless people served. In fiscal year 2001, the targeted programs were
funded at roughly $1.7 billion.

Both targeted and mainstream programs provide an array of services, such as
housing, health care, job training, and transportation. In some cases,
programs operated by more than one agency offer the same type of service. As
shown in table 1, 23 programs operated by 4 agencies offer housing, such as
emergency shelter, transitional housing, and other housing assistance.
Twenty-six programs administered by 6 agencies offer food and nutrition
services, including food stamps, school lunch subsidies, and supplements for
food banks.

5 U.S. General Accounting Office, Homeless: Coordination and Evaluation of
Programs Are Essential, GAO/RCED-99-49 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 26, 1999).

    Table 1: Types of Services that Can Be Provided through Targeted and
                Mainstream Programs Federal agency programs

     Type of service provided     USDA  Education  FEMA  HHS HUD  Labor  SSA VA   Total
 Housing/shelter/rent assistance      0          0    1   8    11     0   0   3
       Primary health care            0          0    0  10     4     0   0   2
          Mental health               0          0    0  10     4     0   0   3
    Substance abuse treatment         0          0    0   9     4     0   0   3
            Education                 0          2    0   8     4     1   0   2
   Employment and job training        1          0    0   4     4     5   0   2
        Food and nutrition           10          1    1   7     4     0   0   3
     Homelessness prevention          0          0    1   6     3     0   0   0
          Income support              0          0    0   2     0     0   1   0
          Transportation              0          0    1   9     4     1   0   2
         Case managementa             0          0    0  15     4     0   0   3

aIncludes counseling activities for individuals, such as conducting an
assessment of an individual's service needs; referring an individual for, or
assisting an individual with, obtaining additional services; and following
up after a client leaves the program.

Source: GAO analysis of program information supplied by the agencies.

In addition, some of the programs are available to the general homeless or
low-income population; others are reserved for specific groups within these
populations. As shown in table 2, only 4 of the 16 targeted programs,
including HUD's Supportive Housing Program and FEMA's Emergency Food and
Shelter Program, serve the homeless population as a whole. The remainder
serve specific subgroups of homeless people. For example, five of the
targeted programs serve only homeless children and youth; and four other
targeted programs serve only homeless veterans. Similarly, of the 36
mainstream programs, 14 programs, such as Medicaid, are available to all
low-income persons who meet eligibility criteria. Eight programs, such as
Head Start, are available only to low-income children and youth.

Table 2: Groups Eligible to Receive Services through Targeted and Mainstream
Programs

Program type

HUD Has Taken
Some Actions to
Address
Coordination and
Administrative
Challenges in
its Targeted
Homeless
Programs

Note: The total
exceeds the
number of
programs because
some programs
provide services
to more than one
group or
subgroup.

Source: GAO
analysis of
program
information
supplied by the
agencies.

Collectively, HUD's McKinney-Vento programs provide a wide variety of
housing and services to meet the diverse needs of several segments of the
homeless population. However, as we testified in May 2000, although the
differences in these programs are meant to serve the diverse needs of a
broad spectrum of homeless people, they also create coordination and
administrative challenges because each program must be implemented according
to differing legislative requirements.6 For example, state governments can
receive Emergency Shelter, Supportive Housing Program, and Shelter Plus Care
grants but not Single-Room Occupancy grants. Similarly, private nonprofit
organizations can apply for Supportive Housing Program and Single-Room
Occupancy grants but not Emergency Shelter and Shelter Plus Care grants.
Coordination can be further complicated by the differences in eligible
activities. For example, although Emergency Shelter and Supportive Housing
Program grants can be used to provide supportive services, Shelter Plus Care
and Single-Room

6 U.S. General Accounting Office, Homelessness: Consolidating HUD's McKinney
Programs, GAO/T-RCED-00-187 (Washington, D.C.: May 23, 2000).

Occupancy grants cannot be used for supportive services. Table 3 compares
some of the requirements among HUD's four McKinney-Vento programs, including
(1) the type of grant, (2) the organizations eligible to apply for funding,
(3), the types of services that can be provided, (4) the types of activities
eligible for funding, (5) the types of homeless people each program can
serve, (6) the initial time period for which funds are available, and (7)
the amount of matching funds required.

      Table 3: Requirements of Four HUD McKinney-Vento Programs Program
                                Requirement

Emergency Shelter Grants

Supportive Housing
Program Shelter Plus Care

Single-Room Occupancy

Type of grants Formula grant Competitive grant Competitive grant Competitive
                                   grant

    Eligible
  applicants        States           States           States       Public housing
                 Metropolitan         Local
                    cities        governments    Local governments   authorities

                Urban counties        Other         Public housing          Private
                                  governmental        authorities        nonprofit
                 Territories        agencies                        organizations

                             Private nonprofit

                               organizations

                          Community mental health

                          centers that are public

                          nonprofit organizations

Eligible program services

     Emergency                           Tenant based         Single-room
      shelter     Transitional housing     rental              occupancy
     Essential     Permanent housing
      social              for            assistance         housing

     services         people with      Sponsor based
                     disabilities      rental
                  Supportive services
                  only                   assistance

                      Safe havens       Project based
                                           rental
                       Innovative
                      supportive         assistance
                        housing        SRO based rental
                                         assistance

Eligible activities Renovation/ conversion Major rehabilitation Supportive
service Operating costs Homelessness

prevention activities Acquisition Rental assistance Rental assistance

Rehabilitation New construction

Leasing

Operating and administrative costs

Supportive services

Eligible population Homeless individuals Homeless individuals and Disabled
homeless Homeless individuals and families families for transitional
individuals and their People at risk of housing and supportive families

becoming homeless services Disabled homeless individuals for permanent
housing

Hard-to-reach mentally ill homeless individuals for safe havens

Initial term of 1 year Up to 3 years 5 or 10 years 10 years assistance

Program Requirement Emergency Shelter Grants

Supportive Housing
Program Shelter Plus Care

Single-Room Occupancy

Matching funds States: no match for first $100,000 and dollar-for-dollar
match for rest of funds.

Local governments: dollar-for-dollar match for all funds.

Dollar-for-dollar match for acquisition, rehabilitation, and new
construction grants. Operating costs must be shared by 25 percent in the
first 2 years and 50 percent in the third year. A 25-percent match for
supportive service grants

No match for grants used for leasing or administrative costs.

Dollar-for-dollar match of the federal shelter grant to pay for supportive
services

                             No match required

Source: GAO presentation of information on HUD's programs.

HUD has taken steps to improve coordination among its McKinney-Vento
programs and reduce the administrative burden caused by different program
requirements. First, in 1993 HUD implemented a process called the "Continuum
of Care" to encourage and enable localities to develop a coordinated and
comprehensive community-based approach for program and service delivery to
homeless people. The Continuum of Care process is designed to build
partnerships among localities, states, nonprofit organizations, and the
federal government. Funding for the housing and service needs identified by
communities within their Continuum of Care plans is available through HUD's
McKinney-Vento programs. HUD also requires that the planning and
implementation of the Continuum of Care process take place within the
broader context of the community's 5-year Consolidated Plan. The
Consolidated Plan describes how resources from HUD's key community
development programs, such as the Community Development Block Grant, will be
used to create long-term development within a community.

In our July 2000 review of HUD's funding for these programs, we found that
most projects that communities ranked as high priority were awarded
funding.7 We also reported that although most communities that applied for
funds during the 1999 competition had few, if any, problems in understanding
HUD's application requirements and completing their paperwork, more than
one-third had significant problems. Community representatives we spoke with
suggested a number of actions that HUD

7 U.S. General Accounting Office, Homelessness: HUD Funds Eligible Projects
According to Communities' Priorities, GAO/RCED-00-191 (Washington, D.C.:
July 24, 2000).

could take to alleviate the problems they experienced, such as better
training for applicants and field office staff, more use of technology to
provide access to information, and a simpler application format.

Second, to support the coordination and planning inherent in the Continuum
of Care process and streamline and simplify the administration of the
McKinney-Vento competitive grant programs, HUD combined the separate
competitions for the Supportive Housing Program, Shelter Plus Care, and
Single-Room Occupancy programs into one competitive process in 1998. Before
HUD combined the application process, these three competitive grant programs
had different time frames, application processes, and selection criteria.
Under the current application process, communities are required to provide a
Continuum of Care plan and an individual application for each project in
that plan for which funds are being requested from any of the three
programs. In addition, HUD now uses the same core rating criteria for making
award decisions for all three programs. By streamlining the application
process, HUD's goal was to lower the costs and problems of program
administration for service and housing providers, with the expectation that
this would enable providers to spend more of their resources on implementing
the programs.

For several years, HUD proposed legislation to consolidate its McKinney
programs into a single homeless assistance grant program and deliver these
funds to communities through block grants. HUD requested this legislation
because it believed that consolidation would create a simpler, less
paper-intensive system through which localities could develop coordinated
community-based efforts to address and prevent homelessness. Although
subsequent congressional action resulted in a single appropriation for HUD's
four McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs, consolidating legislation
has not yet been enacted. As we testified in May 2000, HUD has made a
considerable effort in trying to improve coordination and streamline the
programs within the existing legislative framework. However, there is little
more that HUD can do within the existing legislative framework. Recognizing
the need to move further, both your bill and the Administration's budget
propose consolidating HUD's McKinney-Vento programs.

Homeless People Encounter Barriers to Using Mainstream Programs

Despite the availability of a wide array of programs, we reported in July
2000 that homeless people are often unable to access and use federal
mainstream programs because of the inherent conditions of homelessness as
well as the structure and operations of the programs themselves.8 All
low-income populations face barriers to applying for, retaining, and using
the services provided by mainstream programs; however, these barriers are
compounded by the inherent conditions of homelessness, such as transience,
instability, and a lack of basic resources. For example, complying with
mainstream programs' paperwork requirements and regularly communicating with
agencies and service providers can be more difficult for a person who does
not have a permanent address or a phone number.

Furthermore, as we reported in July 2000, the underlying structure and
operations of federal mainstream programs are often not conducive to
ensuring that the special needs of homeless people are met. Federal programs
do not always include service providers with expertise and experience in
addressing the needs of homeless people. These providers may not be
organized or equipped to serve homeless people, may not be knowledgeable
about their special needs, or may not have the sensitivity or experience to
treat homeless clients with respect. For example, many providers delivering
Medicaid services for states are not adept at dealing with homeless
patients' special needs and characteristics, such as their inability to
store medicines or their lack of adequate shelter, nutrition, and hygiene.

In addition, we noted that federal mainstream programs may not provide
adequate incentives for service providers to serve the homeless population.
Homeless people often have multiple needs, more severe problems, and fewer
resources than other segments of the low-income population. Therefore, they
can be a comparatively more expensive and difficult population to serve.
States, localities, and service providers who receive federal funds but face
resource constraints may therefore be deterred from making the special
efforts that are needed to reach out to and serve the homeless population.
Also, the federal government's performance-based approach to measuring
program outcomes, although beneficial in many respects, can inadvertently
create disincentives for states, local areas, or individual providers to
serve the most challenging

8 U.S. General Accounting Office, Homelessness: Barriers to Using Mainstream
Programs, GAO/RCED-00-184 (Washington, D.C.: July 6, 2000).

populations, such as homeless people. This is because programs that focus on
hard-to-serve populations, such as homeless people, may not have outcomes
that are as successful as programs that focus on more mainstream and
easier-to-serve populations.

As we and others have reported in the past, the federal government's system
for providing assistance to low-income people is highly fragmented. Each
federal assistance program usually has its own eligibility criteria,
application, documentation requirements, and time frames; moreover,
applicants may need to travel to many locations and interact with many
caseworkers to receive assistance. Among other things, this fragmentation
can make it difficult to develop an integrated approach to helping homeless
people, who often have multiple needs. Numerous studies have demonstrated
that the multiple and complex needs of homeless people-which may include
medical care, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, housing, income
support, and employment services-should not be addressed in isolation but
rather through programs that are integrated and coordinated.

As we reported in July 2000, alleviating these barriers would require the
federal government to address a number of long-standing and complex issues.
An expert panel we convened during the course of our work on the July 2000
report presented a variety of strategies that the federal government could
pursue to improve homeless people's access to, and use of, mainstream
federal programs. These included (1) improving the integration and
coordination of federal programs, (2) making the process of applying for
federal assistance easier, (3) improving outreach to homeless people, (4)
ensuring an appropriate system of incentives for serving homeless people,
and (5) holding mainstream programs more accountable for serving homeless
people.

The issues the panel members identified are not new to the federal agencies
responsible for administering mainstream programs, and federal agencies have
tried to address them for years with varied degrees of success. For example,
as we reported in July 2000, with regard to improving coordination and
simplifying the application process, the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) developed an information system design in the 1980s that
facilitated state efforts to combine the eligibility determination process
for Medicaid, the Food

Stamp Program, and Aid to Families With Dependent Children.9 In addition,
several states are planning or implementing their own automated systems to
coordinate the delivery of services provided by multiple federal programs.
However, these projects have faced several serious challenges, owing, in
part, to the complexity of the system of aid for low-income people and the
difficulties inherent in managing any large information technology project.

Another mechanism for coordination of targeted and mainstream programs is
the Interagency Council on the Homeless, which was established by Congress
in 1987 to help streamline the governments approach to homelessness by
bringing together representatives of federal agencies that administer
programs or resources that can be used to alleviate homelessness. In 1994,
however, because of congressional concern that the Council was not
effectively coordinating a streamlined federal approach to homelessness,
funds were not appropriated for the Council and it became a voluntary
working group. In fiscal year 2001, the Congress funded the Council again.
The conference report to the fiscal year 2002 HUD appropriations directed
that the Council be placed under the President's Domestic Policy Office,
that meetings be held at least semi-annually, and that the chairmanship of
the Council be rotated among the Secretaries of HUD, Health and Human
Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs.10

In terms of increasing accountability, the Government Performance and
Results Act of 1993 requires federal agencies to collect performance data
and use these data to hold programs accountable for their performance.
However, we reported in 1999, the extent to which federal agencies were
using this process to hold mainstream service providers more accountable for
serving homeless people was not yet clear. Nevertheless, we reported in 1999
that communities were increasingly using outcome measures to manage their
homeless assistance programs, focusing less on the types and numbers of
activities performed and more on the results achieved.11 In

9 Aid to Families With Dependent Children, which provided eligible families
with monthly cash assistance, was replaced by the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families block grant for the states.

10 H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 272, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. 110 (2001).

11 U.S. General Accounting Office, Homelessness: State and Local Efforts to
Integrate and Evaluate Homeless Assistance Programs, GAO/RCED-99-178
(Washington, D.C.: June 29, 1999).

Minnesota, for example, the state-funded Family Homeless Prevention and
Assistance Program is an outcome-based program that provides agencies with
flexible grants but holds them accountable for achieving certain measurable
outcomes related to preventing homelessness among families. One outcome
measure used by the program is the number of at-risk families who maintain
stable housing.

Federal agencies have developed a large body of knowledge about serving
homeless people effectively through the McKinney-Vento Act programs and
various demonstration and research projects targeted to homeless people.
These programs and demonstration projects clearly show there are strategies
mainstream programs can adopt to better serve the homeless population in
such areas as mental health, substance abuse treatment, primary health care,
housing, and job training. In 1994, we recommended that the secretaries of
HUD, HHS, Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Education incorporate the successful
strategies for working with homeless people from the McKinney-Vento Act
demonstration and research projects into their mainstream programs. Although
the federal agencies have taken some steps to implement our recommendation,
members of the expert panel we convened during our review of barriers to
access to mainstream programs emphasized that these efforts could go
further. They said that federal agencies could do more to incorporate into
mainstream programs the "best practices" for serving the homeless population
that have been learned from past demonstration and research projects.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, although the wide array of assistance provided
by HUD's McKinney-Vento Act programs is critical to meeting the diverse
needs of homeless people, their complex and differing eligibility and
funding requirements cause coordination and administrative challenges for
HUD and the communities that rely on the funds. HUD has made a commendable
effort in trying to improve coordination and streamline the administrative
burden within the existing legislative framework for these programs. To the
extent that further streamlining and simplification can be achieved by
consolidating the McKinney-Vento programs, it will help HUD more efficiently
administer these programs. However, this consolidation should be viewed only
as a first step. To meet the goal of ending chronic homelessness in 10
years, another important step for the Administration and the Congress is to
alleviate the barriers that homeless people encounter as they seek services
from mainstream programs. A number of long-standing and complex issues such
as improving the integration and coordination of federal programs, ensuring

an appropriate system of incentives for serving homeless people, and holding
mainstream programs more accountable for serving homeless people will need
to be more fully addressed in order to alleviate the barriers to accessing
mainstream programs.

Mr. Chairman, this completes my prepared statement. I would be happy to
respond to any questions.

Contacts and For further contacts regarding this testimony, please contact
Stan Czerwinski at (202) 512-6520. Individuals making key contributions to
this Acknowledgment testimony included Susan Campbell and Jason Bromberg.
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