Federal Policy Issues | Monarch Housing's Blog!

Jul 18

Federal Budget Update

by Richard Brown Advocacy Network, Congressional Reception, Ending Homelessness 2 Comments »

NAEH releases policy papers on funding!

Key issue for the July 30th Congressional Reception!

With less than two weeks to go until the 2nd Annual Congressional Reception, the National Alliance to End Homelessness has released several important policy papers on federal funding for housing and supportive services. The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness’ mission is to advocate on a federal level for adequate funding for permanent affordable and supportive housing for homeless individuals and families. The Advocacy Network’s next event the Second Annual Congressional Reception will be held on July 30, 2008. Click here for a Save the Date form.

These are the materials on the federal funding that are important to read prior to the Congressional Reception.

2008 Capitol Hill Day Federal Policy Agenda (PDF | 23 KB | 2 pages)

Facts on Affordable Housing (PDF | 58 KB | 1 page)

Federal Spending in Homelessness and Housing (PDF | 54 KB | 2 pages)

FY 2009 Services Appropriations (PDF | 46 KB | 2 pages)

HHS Appropriations: Multi-Year Strategy (PDF | 34 KB | 1 page)

HUD Appropriations: Multi-Year Strategy (PDF | 34 KB | 1 page)

More detailed updates will be provided prior to the July 30th event.

Tags: Advocacy Network, Congressional Reception, Ending Homelessness, Federal Budget, federal policy issues, NAEH, New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness

Jul 06

Progress being made in DC on the federal budget

by Richard Brown Advocacy, Ending Homelessness, Supportive Housing No Comments »

More advocacy needed!

Congressional Reception could be crucial!

Click here to register to attend!

The following information is from the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Although this post is lengthy it is definitely worth reading in full as it provides a comprehensive overview of the budget issues that affect programs to end homelessness and expand supportive housing.

Appropriations - As we reported on June 24th, the House of Representatives, both the Transportation-HUD (T-HUD) and the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittees passed bills to fund the departments and agencies under their jurisdictions.

A full chart of the T-HUD Subcommittee’s funding levels may be found by clicking here.

The T-HUD Subcommittee suggested McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants be funded with $1.691 billion, an increase of $105 million over FY 08 and $55 million more than the President requested.

HUD’s proposed cuts to the 811/202 programs were rejected and instead received small increases.

Both the project-based and tenant-based Section 8 accounts received substantial increases.

Another round of $75 million for 10,000 new HUD-VASH vouchers was included in the legislation, as well as $30 million for 4,000 new vouchers for the disabled.

Unfortunately the HOPWA program was funded at the same level as last year — at the President’s requested level of $300.1 million.

The Senate T-HUD Subcommittee is scheduled to meet on July 10th to consider their version of the FY 09 Appropriations bill.

The Labor-HHS Subcommittee is responsible for funding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), which administers several programs that benefit homeless individuals. CSH, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, NAMI, Enterprise, National AIDS Housing Coalition and other partners were successful in advocating for an increase to programs that fund services in permanent supportive housing. The victory was all the more significant in the face of proposed cuts to this account in the President’s budget.

The bill set to be voted will increase SAMHSA’s homeless programs by $21.4 million above the FY 2008 level for a total of $75 million. It appears that nearly all of the increase would go to fund services in permanent supportive housing. This would significantly expand SAMHSA grant funding for supportive housing.

Read the rest of this entry �

Tags: Congressional Reception, CSH, Ending Homelessness, Federal Budget, federal policy issues, homeless assistance, homelessness, McKinney-Vento, NAEH, New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness, permanent supportive housing, Second Chance Act, Supportive Housing

Feb 27

Advocacy Network

by Richard Brown Uncategorized 34 Comments »

New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness

The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness’ mission is to advocate on a federal level for adequate funding for permanent affordable and supportive housing for homeless individuals and families.

The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness (NJANEH) is a statewide organization that coordinated its First Annual Congressional Reception on July 11, 2007. New Jersey was well represented by more than one hundred (100) New Jersey constituents including the formerly homeless, passionate advocates and housing providers from across the state. People traveled by train, bus and car to get there to be part of this unique opportunity to meet with our legislators to let them hear firsthand issues of importance to our communities.

The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness will hold the Second Annual Congressional Reception on July 30, 2008 starting at 1:30 PM and ending at 3:30 PM. Please plan to arrive by 1 PM. This year’s reception will build on the success of last year’s Reception and seek to have an even larger impact on federal policy issues that impact homeless individuals and families.

This year’s event will be held at the following location:

Russell Senate Office Building
Room SR-385
Constitution Avenue and First Street, SE
Washington D.C.

At least three buses will be chartered to help transport participants to the Congressional Reception.

To register online for the Congressional Reception and the bus click here. If you are unable to access this form click here [Email address: EVENTS #AT# ENDINGHOMELESSNESSINNJ.ORG - replace #AT# with @ ] to send an email.

Click here for a Save the Date form. Please circulate to all interested parties.

For more information on membership click here.

The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness encourages new members. For more information on how to join please contact Richard W. Brown [Email address: rbrown #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ] via email or phone 908-272-5363.

To view a list of the membership of the New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness click here. To view the list of members of the Steering Committee of the New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness click here.

This is a listing of the last five posts on the New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness. To view all of the articles click here.

This is a listing of the last five posts on the Congressional Reception. To view all of the articles click here.

This is a listing of the last five posts on Advocacy. To view all of the articles click here.

These are the list photos from various Advocacy Network events. To have your photos, audio and video added to the blog please contact Taiisa Telesford [Email address: ttelsford #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ]. Below the links are random photos from each album:

Congressional Reception