NAHMA Update: Inter agency Council on Homelessness requests public input on federal strategic plan

August 28, 2017

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) is currently gathering stakeholder input to revise and strengthen the federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. Similar requests for public comment in 2012 and 2015 helped to generate the goals, objectives, and strategies within the current plan (summary attached). Please submit any comments to us by Tuesday, September 12th, 2017.

USICH is emphasizing the following aspects throughout the process of gathering stakeholder:

• Building on what is working and leading to positive outcomes
• Reflecting on what we are learning from evolving practices
• Addressing areas in need of greater attention, including racial inequities and other disparities in the experience of and risk for homelessness
• Aligning strategies with emerging federal, state, and local priorities

Feedback that has already been received by USICH includes the following points:

• Putting people with lived experience more front and center
• Increasing focus on employment services and outcomes
• Doing more to translate solutions to rural and tribal communities
• Strengthening pathways to housing for people living in encampments
• Helping emergency shelters drive an end to homelessness using Housing First
• Strengthening housing as a platform for recovery for people affected by substance use

Kindly submit your comments to us by Tuesday, September 12th, 2017. For more information on the USICH federal strategic plan, please click here.