How to End Homelessness: The Ten Essentials

Plan

Your community has a set of strategies focused on ending homelessness. A wide range of players (government programs, elected officials, homeless providers, etc.) has made funding and implementation commitments to these strategies.  


As Interagency Council on Homelessness Director Philip Mangano said in his address to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in January 2003, "When we recognize a problem in our cities, we make a plan to address it." This is what cities like Indianapolis, Chicago and New York have done, and many more are presently doing, in regard to the problem of homelessness. These cities have taken a serious look at the homeless assistance system as well as broader public systems and are moving beyond efforts to manage this costly problem toward strategies that will prevent and end it. Such strategies address:
  • Prevention of homelessness 
  • Re-housing options that improve cost efficiency and ensure long-term stability
  • Improving the availability of affordable housing, livable incomes, and necessary support services for people at the lowest end of the economic spectrum
  • Collection of accurate data in order to improve system-wide effectiveness in preventing and ending homelessness.

Strategies with the most momentum are those built with support and input from a broad range of partners―public, private, and nonprofit. They are based on independent research and effective practices both within and beyond their jurisdictions. They have the endorsement of top city officials and include the commitments of all relevant resources and partners. Through such coordination and planning, cities are changing homelessness from being a permanent fixture embedded in the current economic and social climate to a finite and solvable problem that can be ended in ten years.

Explainer: What is a Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness?

In 2000, the National Alliance to End Homelessness released A Plan, Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in Ten Years. Drawing on research and innovative programs from around the country, the plan outlined key strategies in addressing the issue locally, which cumulatively can address the issue nationally. Since the release of this blueprint, over 300 communities have undertaken efforts to end homelessness and over 180 communities have completed plans to end homelessness. Read More >

A New Vision: What is in Community Plans to End Homelessness?

A New Vision: What is in Community Plans to End Homelessness? examines the content of Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness from across the country. This study reveals that 90 communities have completed plans that dramatically transform their homeless assistance systems. The study also shows that communities must set clear numeric goals, timetables, and identify funding and implementing bodies to ensure they move from planning to action. In each of the plans, communities outline a wide range of strategies, including: creating data systems; preventing homelessness — both emergency prevention and prevention at the systems level; outreach to homeless people to get them back into housing; shortening the time that people spend homeless by using rapid re-housing strategies; creating permanent housing options for homeless people; and, once homeless people become housed, linking them to services and to programs that will help them boost their income and increase their ability to afford housing in the future. The report then goes on to analyze the strength of the plans by calculating a score for each strategy based on the likelihood that it would be implemented. Read More >

Why We Can End Homelessness in Ten Years

An essay by Nan Roman published in Housing Facts & Findings, Fannie Mae Read More >

Community Snapshot: Columbus

May 2006 Read More >

Community Snapshot: Hennepin County

July 2005 Read More >

Community Snapshot: New York City

July 2005 Read More >

Community Snapshot: San Francisco

July 2005 Read More >

Building Effective Plans to End Family Homelessness by Tom Albanese

Presented by Tom Albanese of the Community Shelter Board in Columbus, Ohio as part of the workshop, "Building Effective Plans to End Family Homelessness," held on Thursday, October 14, 2004. Read More >

Ten Essentials Toolkit

This Toolkit provides communities with the resources they need to develop plans to end homelessness. Read More >

A Plan, Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in Ten Years

The Alliance's Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness calls on America to change its thinking and pursue steps that seek not just to manage but to permanently end the problem within ten years. Composed of four main components, the plan zeros in on the gaps in existing programs and identifies the practical steps necessary to prevent and end homelessness effectively. Read More >


NEWSLETTER


PODCAST VIDEO Q&A

Permanent Housing Solutions for Homeless Veterans

This audio conference covered the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. Read More >
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