United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2002-03-06 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:GAO-02-485T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-485T P0b002ee18039b1f6 f:d02485t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-485T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-485T GAO-02-485T Federal aid for housing Federal aid programs Homelessness Disadvantaged persons Housing programs Program evaluation Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program Testimony A02829 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. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-485T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-485T.htm GAO-02-485T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-485T Testimony GAO-02-485T; Homelessness: Improving Program Coordination and Client Access to Programs; Federal aid for housing Federal aid programs Homelessness Disadvantaged persons Housing programs Program evaluation Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program