How Would Terminating USICH Affect Efforts to End Homelessness? Findings from Interviews with Federal Agencies, National Advocacy Organizations, and State and Local Stakeholders

HOUSING AND HOUSING FINANCE RESEARCH REPORT How Would Terminating USICH Affect Efforts to End Homelessness? Findings from Interviews with Federal Agencies, National Advocacy Organizations, and State and Local Stakeholders Sarah Gillespie Lily Posey Mary Cunningham Josh Leopold Brandi Gilbert Harry Hatry Shiva Kooragayala October 2016 ABOUT THE URBAN INSTITUTE The nonprofit Urban Institute is dedicated to elevating the debate on social and economic policy. For nearly five decades, Urban scholars have conducted research and offered evidence-based solutions that improve lives and strengthen communities across a rapidly urbanizing world. Their objective research helps expand opportunities for all, reduce hardship among the most vulnerable, and strengthen the effectiveness of the public sector. Copyright © October 2016. Urban Institute. Permission is granted for reproduction of this file, with attribution to the Urban Institute. Cover photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. Contents Acknowledgments iv Executive Summary v How Would Terminating USICH Affect Efforts to End Homelessness? 1 About This Assessment 1 Why Is Ending Homelessness So Challenging? 2 What Is USICH? 5 How Are Efforts to End Homelessness Progressing? 11 How Does USICH Facilitate National and Local Progress? 15 What Are the Potential Effects of USICH’s Planned Termination? 29 How Could USICH Improve or Strengthen Its Role? 34 Conclusion 36 Appendix A. Interview Respondents 37 Appendix B. Interview Guide 40 Notes 43 References 44 About the Authors 45 Statement of Independence 47 IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgments This report was funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Melville Charitable Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and the Butler Family Fund. We are grateful to them and to all our funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Funders do not determine research findings or the insights and recommendations of Urban experts. Further information on the Urban Institute’s funding principles is available at www.urban.org/support. The authors thank all who gave their time to participate in an interview, site visit, or other piece of this assessment; the lessons in this report would not be possible without their ongoing efforts to end and prevent homelessness. We would also like to thank Marge Turner for her technical review of this report, and the excellent editing work of David Hinson and Fiona Blackshaw. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY V Executive Summary To understand the US Interagency Council on Homelessness’s (USICH’s) role in the nation’s efforts to end homelessness and potential effects of the agency’s impending termination in 2017, we interviewed more than 50 federal, national, state, and local stakeholders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Overwhelmingly, stakeholders considered USICH an important part of a highly effective performance-driven partnership and argued that terminating USICH could slow down efforts to end homelessness. Since 1987, USICH has coordinated the federal response to homelessness and created partnerships with the private sector and local governments to prevent and end homelessness. Progress toward ending homelessness has been mixed since the 2010 release of Opening Doors, the federal strategic plan to end homelessness. While significant progress has been made for particular populations, such as ending veteran homelessness, progress for other populations—such as families and youth—has been slower, and in some communities, homelessness has been on the rise. To understand USICH’s role in the progress to date, our methods for this assessment captured the perspectives of those who work directly with USICH to end and prevent homelessness and who would be most affected by USICH’s termination. Interviewees at the federal and local levels perceived USICH as uniquely positioned to help achieve the nation’s ambitious goals to end homelessness. Stakeholders discussed five key components of USICH’s role in facilitating national and local progress:  USICH coordinates an interagency, multisector response. » For example, cabinet-level leadership regularly attended USICH council meetings, USICH convened national nonprofits and advocates on a regular basis, and business leaders have credited the formation of local homelessness task forces to strong USICH messaging on the need for a cross-sector response to homelessness.  USICH navigates silos that block coordination, thereby reducing fragmentation. » For example, USICH brought the US Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs together to plan “warm handoffs” of transitioning military service members—strengthening housing stability throughout their transition—and has provided guidance on overlapping data systems from the US Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Ur