Federal Government Policy and Business

The Only Federal Agency Dedicated to Homelessness Is At Risk of Extinction

Governing: Last week, Atlanta ended veteran homelessness, placing nearly 1,900 people into permanent housing. The news would have attracted more media buzz if three states and more than 40 communities hadn't already claimed the same achievement in the last few years. Nationally, veteran homelessness has declined 47 percent in seven years. Overall homelessness is also down 14 percent.

Now, the federal agency largely credited with making that historic progress is at risk of losing all of its funding.

“When I was working on this stuff,” says Ralph Becker, the former mayor of Salt Lake City, which was one of the first cities to end chronic veteran homelessness, “the federal role never got enough acknowledgment. The fact of the matter is, the federal resources are what made the difference.”

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