Homelessness: Overview of Current Issues and GAO Studies (Testimony,
03/23/99, GAO/T-RCED-99-125).

A recent GAO study (GAO/RCED-99-49, Feb. 1999) identified 50 federal
programs run by eight agencies that either are specifically targeted to
the homeless or are nontargeted and therefore available to poor people
in general, including those who are homeless. GAO found that both the
targeted and nontargeted programs provide an array of services, such as
housing, health care, job training, and transportation. In some cases,
programs run by more than one agency offer the same type of service.
Given the multiple agencies and the large number of programs that can
potentially serve the homeless, GAO believes that coordination among
federal agencies and the evaluation of programs' effectiveness are
essential to ensure that the programs are cost-effective. Most agencies
that administer targeted programs for the homeless have identified
crosscutting responsibilities related to homelessness, but few have
tried the more challenging task of describing how they expect to
coordinate their efforts with those of other agencies or develop common
outcome measures. GAO also found that although most federal agencies
have established process or output measures for the services they
provide to the homeless through their targeted programs, they have not
consistently developed results-oriented and outcome measures for
homelessness in their plans. This testimony also describes ongoing GAO
work in the following areas: (1) state and local efforts to integrate
and evaluate programs for the homeless, (2) the use of grants under the
supportive housing program to deliver services to the homeless, (3)
programs that serve homeless veterans, and (4) barriers to obtaining
services.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-RCED-99-125
     TITLE:  Homelessness: Overview of Current Issues and GAO Studies
      DATE:  03/23/99
   SUBJECT:  Housing programs
	     Homelessness
	     Federal aid for housing
	     Interagency relations
	     Program evaluation
	     Disadvantaged persons
	     Performance measures
	     Redundancy
IDENTIFIER:  Ohio
	     Washington
	     Massachusetts
	     Minnesota
	     HUD Supportive Housing Demonstration Program

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GAOSEAL.EPS GAO United States General Accounting Office

Testimony Before the Committee on Government Reform, House of
Representatives

For Release on Delivery Expected at 12: 00 a. m. EST Tuesday March
23, 1999

HOMELESSNESS Overview of Current Issues and GAO Studies

Statement of Stanley J. Czerwinski, Associate Director, Housing
and Community Development Issues, Resources, Community, and
Economic Development Division

GAO/T-RCED-99-125

Page 1 GAO/T-RCED-99-125

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: We are here today to
provide you with information on GAO's recently issued report 1 and
ongoing and planned body of work on homelessness. As you are
aware, homelessness has persisted in America for decades. While

no one knows exactly how many people in the United States are
homeless, according to the most widely accepted estimate, up to
600, 000 people may be homeless on any given night. Moreover, the
causes of homelessness have become more complex, and its effects
are now more widespread than

in the past. The homeless population no longer consists primarily
of transient adult males but also includes women, families with
children, the mentally ill, the unemployed, and those who are
dependent on drugs or alcohol. Addressing the needs of homeless
people is often a formidable challenge because many of them face a
combination of personal, social, and economic problems that
prevent them from maintaining permanent housing.

Recognizing that states, localities, and private organizations had
been unable to respond to the crisis of homelessness in America,
the Congress enacted the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance
Act in 1987. The McKinney Act was the first comprehensive law
designed to address the diverse needs of the homeless and was
intended to provide both shelter and supportive services. 2 Over
time, some McKinney Act programs have been consolidated or
eliminated and some new programs have been added. Recently,
several Members of the Congress, including you, Mr. Chairman and
Representative Kucinich of this Committee, have become
increasingly concerned about the apparent lack of impact that
federal programs have

had on homelessness. This concern has arisen because federal
agencies seem to have made little progress in addressing the root
causes of homelessness, and federal programs seldom focus on
preventing

homelessness. Some congressional leaders are further concerned
because, in trying to solve the problems of homeless people, the
federal government has created a separate system of programs
designed specifically to serve the homeless that often mirror
existing federal and state social service programs that serve
other populations (generally called mainstream social 1
Homelessness: Coordination and Evaluation of Programs Are
Essential (RCED- 99- 49, Feb. 26, 1999). 2 Supportive services
include those that provide day care, education, employment and
training, legal assistance, health care, mental health care, and
substance abuse treatment.

Lett er

Page 2 GAO/T-RCED-99-125

service programs) raising questions about efficiency in the use of
limited federal resources. To address some of these issues, GAO
initiated a body of work in 1998 on homelessness that we would
like to describe for you today. First, we will discuss the results
of a recently completed review, and then we will briefly describe
four additional pertinent assignments that we have

started or planned. Last month, we completed a study identifying
key federal programs that could potentially serve the homeless.
Entitled Homelessness: Coordination and Evaluation of Programs Are
Essential, this study identifies 50 programs, administered by
eight federal agencies, that either are specifically targeted to
the homeless or are nontargeted and therefore

available to low- income people in general, including those who
are homeless. We found that both the targeted and nontargeted
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.
For example, we found that 23 programs operated by four federal
agencies offer housing services, and 26 programs operated by six
agencies offer food and nutrition services. We also determined
that over $1. 2 billion was obligated in fiscal year 1997 for

programs that specifically served the homeless and about $215
billion was obligated for programs that served low- income
populations, including the homeless. Although information is not
available on how much of the funding for nontargeted programs is
used to assist homeless people, we estimate that a significant
portion of the funding is not likely to benefit them. Given the
multiple agencies and the large number of programs that can

potentially serve the homeless, we believe that coordination among
federal agencies and evaluations of programs' effectiveness are
essential to ensure that these programs achieve their desired
outcomes in a cost- effective manner. Through our review, we found
that federal efforts to assist the homeless are coordinated in
several ways, and many agencies have

established performance measures as required by the Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993. For example, coordination can
take place through the Interagency Council on the Homeless, which
brings

representatives of federal agencies addressing homelessness
together, and through compliance with the requirements of the
Results Act. The Results Act requires federal agencies to identify
crosscutting responsibilities, specify in their strategic plans
how they will work together to avoid unnecessary duplication of
effort, and develop appropriate measures for evaluating their
programs' results.

Lett er

Page 3 GAO/T-RCED-99-125

We found that most agencies that administer targeted programs for
the homeless have identified crosscutting responsibilities related
to homelessness, but few have attempted the more challenging task
of describing how they expect to coordinate their efforts with
those of other agencies or develop common outcome measures. In
addition, we found that while most federal agencies have
established process or output measures for the services they
provide to the homeless through their targeted programs, they have
not consistently developed results- oriented and outcome measures
for homelessness in their plans. While some agencies have
developed outcome measures for their targeted programs, other
agencies either plan to develop outcome measures in the future or
told us that developing such measures would be too difficult.
Consequently, we concluded that federal agencies have not yet
taken full advantage of the Results Act and that their efforts
could be strengthened

through increased coordination and the development of common
outcome measures for federal programs that serve the homeless.

To address the other issues raised by congressional leaders, we
have started or planned work in the following areas:

 State and Local Efforts to Integrate and Evaluate Programs for
the Homeless. To provide the wide range of services that homeless
people often need, local communities sometimes have to find ways
to better integrate their services for the homeless with
mainstream social service systems. In addition, some states are
increasing their use of outcome measures to ensure that their
programs do not only focus on providing services, but also on the
goal of moving people out of homelessness. Our ongoing study will
describe how some states and localities have

tried to (1) link their homeless programs to mainstream social
service systems to better serve the homeless and (2) use program
outcome evaluations to better manage their programs. For this
study, we identified and visited Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio,
and Washington. According to national experts on homelessness,
these states are generally recognized as having made good progress
in integrating or evaluating their programs for the homeless. We
believe that the examples included in our study will be useful to
other communities seeking to better integrate and evaluate their
own programs, as well as provide information that can be used by
federal agencies attempting

similar improvements at the national level.  Use of Grants Under
the Supportive Housing Program to Provide Services to the
Homeless. The Congress established the Supportive Lett er

Page 4 GAO/T-RCED-99-125

Housing Program as one of the nonemergency housing programs under
the McKinney Act. 3 This program recognizes that many homeless
people will need supportive services, such as mental health
treatment, substance abuse treatment, and employment assistance,
along with housing to help them make the transition from
homelessness and live as independently as possible. In fiscal year
1997, the Department of Housing and Urban Development obligated
$620 million for this program. These funds were then awarded
through a competitive grant

process to providers of services for the homeless, nationwide;
about 60 percent of the funds were used to provide supportive
services. Our ongoing review of the Supportive Housing Program
will provide information on the (1) types of housing and
supportive services that grant applicants provide for the
homeless, (2) other sources of federal and nonfederal funding that
grant applicants rely on to fund supportive

service programs for the homeless, and (3) the importance of the
Supportive Housing Program's funds to grant applicants' programs.
To provide this information, we will analyze data obtained through
a

nationwide survey of about 1,200 service providers who applied for
Supportive Housing Program grants.  Programs That Serve Homeless
Veterans. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA),
veterans make up about one- third of the adult

homeless population. To address the needs of homeless veterans,
over the past decade VA has established a number of targeted
programs, and in fiscal year 1997 it spent approximately $84
million on these programs. Our ongoing review of VA's programs for
the homeless is designed to (1)

describe the various programs that serve homeless veterans, (2)
determine what VA knows about the effectiveness of its programs
for the homeless, and (3) identify some promising approaches that
serve the

needs of different groups of homeless veterans.  Barriers to
Accessing Services. We also plan to study the barriers faced

by homeless people when they try to gain access to and use
services provided by mainstream social service systems. As part of
this review, we will determine how existing mainstream social
service systems can be changed to facilitate homeless people's
access to services. Making mainstream programs and services more
accessible to homeless people would expand the range of programs
and services available to them.

3 The Supportive Housing Program was originally established as a
demonstration program; the Congress made the program permanent in
1992.

Lett er

Page 5 GAO/T-RCED-99-125

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, homelessness has been and continues
to remain a formidable challenge facing our nation. Given the
federal government's high level of investment and involvement in
developing solutions to this problem, we believe that addressing
homelessness will continue to be a priority for the Congress,
federal agencies, states and localities, private organizations
that serve the homeless, and the public. Consequently, work on
homelessness will continue to be important for GAO, and we look
forward to providing the Congress and the public with the
information they need to address this issue in the future.

Mr. Chairman, this completes our prepared statement. We would be
happy to respond to any questions that you or Members of the
Committee may have.

(385796) Lett er

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