Seventy-four members of Congress, led by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), sent a letter to President Biden on July 12 urging the administration to take immediate action to implement evidence-based solutions to homelessness. NLIHC endorsed the letter.
Homelessness increased by 12% nationwide in 2023 due to a combination of the lack of affordable housing, emergency rental assistance, and tenant protections, as well as the widening gap between income and housing costs and the end of pandemic-era relief measures. The letter emphasizes that the solution to ending homelessness is more affordable housing and urges the administration to expand proactive, humane, evidence-based policies that can reduce efforts to criminalize homelessness. Additionally, the lawmakers note that they are working to increase federal investments to scale up proven solutions, including increasing funding for public housing and housing vouchers, eviction prevention and emergency rental assistance, homelessness prevention and reduction programs, and increasing housing supply through programs like the national Housing Trust Fund.
The lawmakers outline three evidence-based initiatives on which the Biden administration should take action to address the homelessness crisis:
- Immediately declare unsheltered homelessness a public health priority.
- Defend the civil rights and liberties of people experiencing homelessness, as well as those who serve them.
- Allow states and communities to better use federal resources to assist people living in encampments move directly into stable housing with voluntary supportive services.
“Punishing unhoused individuals for sleeping outside when there are no adequate shelter or housing options does not solve homelessness or address its causes,” reads the letter. “It is cruel and cynical to impose penalties on people who may be facing real, human challenges like unaffordable rent, financial emergencies, or health and mental health challenges. The solution to ending homelessness is more affordable housing, which is most effective when combined with individualized and voluntary supportive services. Placing housing at the center of solutions to homelessness, as well as expanding programs like alternative crisis response, reentry services, and workforce development, is essential to creating realistic policies to tackle homelessness rather than prolong homelessness.”
Read the full letter and see the list of signatories at: https://tinyurl.com/54ru9jrn
Read a press release about the letter at: https://tinyurl.com/3wuc69sc