The Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) was created in 1987 by the Homeless Act, which was re-named the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act after the death of Stewart B. McKinney, the chief Republican sponsor of the Act, and then re-titled McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act when Representative Bruce Vento died, after having been the strongest supporter of the Act once it became law. The Homeless Act established ICH to coordinate the federal response to homelessness, and to create partnerships throughout government, as well as via government teaming with the private sector, with the aim of ending homelessness. The only major legislative response to homelessness, the Act charged the Council with reviewing all federal activities and programs to assist the homeless; reducing duplication of efforts by federal agency homeless assistance programs; monitoring, evaluating, and recommending improvements in these programs; providing technical assistance to states, local government, and other private and non-profit organizations; collecting and disseminating information relating to homelessness; putting together bi-monthly bulletins describing resources available to states, and other providers, as well as application deadlines for the various federal programs; and preparing an annual report. In 1996, the Interagency Council on Homelessness fell dormant. It was revitalized in 2002 in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the signing of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The agency was reauthorized in 2009 with enactment of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. In June 2010, ICH presented to President Obama and the Congress Opening Doors, the nation’s first federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, serving as a roadmap for the 19 member agencies of the ICH.

The Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH)  develops, helps implement, and works to expand a comprehensive national approach to abolishing homelessness.

Those currently involved in the ICH process include: 19 federal agencies, 49 states, three territories, the District of Columbia, 53 governors, mayors, county executives, more than 325 local communities, and various faith-based entities, charities, and private sector individuals and organizations across the country.

Among the U.S. federal government participants: The Departments of Agriculture; Commerce; Defense; Education; Energy; Health and Human Services; Homeland Security; Housing and Urban Development; Interior; Justice; Labor; Transportation; and Veterans Affairs; and the Corporation for National Community Service; General Services Administration; Office of Management and Budget; Postal Service; Social Security Administration; USA Freedom Corps; and the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

Individuals from the involved agencies meet regularly to share information, coordinate program and funding efforts, and ensure that agency resources are available and accessible to the homeless. The ICH, through the work of its Washington D.C. staff and regional coordinators dispatched throughout the United States, provides oversight and any assistance necessary to those involved in the creation and/or development of strategies and programs that house and otherwise aid homeless individuals and their families, which includes assistance in locating food programs and education and work opportunities.

The ICH encourages all states and territories to establish by legislative authority or Governor’s Executive Order a State Interagency Council on Homelessness, and urges cities and counties around the nation to create business-like, results-oriented 10-year End Homelessness Plans that incorporate cost-benefit analysis, prevention, housing, and services innovations.

The council creates and disseminates replicable initiatives and toolkits to help remedy homelessness, to officials, organizations, businesses, volunteers, consumers, universities, professional sports teams, members of the military, and others all across the country, to help them establish their 10-year plans to end homelessness, and create government and private sector partnerships to aid them in achieving the target.

With the enactment of the Opening Doors initiative in 2010, ICH is striving to end family and youth homelessness within a decade, and end veteran and chronic homelessness within five years.  

From the Web Site of ICH

ICH Facebook Page

Contact Information

Interagency  Council on Homelessness Newsletter

 Opening Doors InitiativeResourcesMeeting the Needs of Homeless and At Risk Veterans

 State and Local Information

The Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) hires outside contractors for web site and network support, and works with divisions at the General Services Administration for additional operational support. The agency anticipates spending $345,717 on such services in FY 2013.

The U.S. ICH FY 2013 Congressional Budget Justification provides the following outline of expected funds distribution for that year:

Personnel                                                                    $2,004,626

Communications, Utilities, and Miscellaneous             $500,000

Benefits                                                                          $475,657

Contracted Services                                                       $345,717

Travel                                                                             $219,000

Supplies and Materials                                                    $40,000

Printing and Reproduction                                               $12,000

Transportation of Things                                                  $3,000

“Opening Doors” Seeks to End Homelessness

In June 2010, the Obama administration unveiled an ambitious plan to end homelessness within a decade. In the report “Opening Doors,” the Interagency Council on Homelessness and the 19 federal agencies it works with offered a series of reforms for resolving veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015 and ending homelessness among children, families, and youths by 2020.

The proposal entailed improving collaboration between federal, state and local government offices and doing a better job of coordinating with private organizations dedicated to ending homelessness.

The administration also intends to increase access to stable and affordable housing and to “expand meaningful and sustainable employment and improve access to mainstream programs and services to reduce financial vulnerability to homelessness.”

Another facet of the plan involves linking health care with homeless assistance programs and housing, while working to prevent young people who grow out of foster care and the juvenile justice system from slipping through the cracks and winding up on the streets.

US Interagency Council on Homelessness Is Seeking Best Practices (IACED)

Among the groups working to end homelessness are:

National Alliance to End Homelessness

National Coalition for the Homeless

National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness

National Health Care for the Homeless Council

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

The National Center on Family Homelessness

National Center for Homeless Education

National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness

Government Funding Going to Waste

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2009 that federal agencies spent about $2.9 billion on more than 20 programs that targeted homelessness. The GAO pointed out that had the money been spent on building homes, it could have potentially produced 145,000 houses for shelter. The report touched off a debate between homeless advocates and critics of the federal programs.

Pro

Advocates disputed the GAO’s assessment, claiming the problem of homelessness is far to complex for the simplistic reasoning offered by the auditors. The government needs multiple agencies, and the Interagency Council on Homelessness, because the issue involves economic, mental health, veterans, and other concerns. “The fact that we have different federal agencies doing different programs is actually a decision the Congress made pretty intentionally with the idea that the program should stay within their area of expertise,” Steve Berg from the Alliance to End Homelessness told FOX News.

Con

For conservatives, the GAO report demonstrated that the current approach represents an enormous waste of money. Things must be made more efficient. Brian Darling, director of government studies at the Heritage Foundation, argued the money should be given directly to homeless “so they can go get housing on their own, or get some mental health benefits.” There are just too many offices involved in the issue, critics insist, and still there isn’t a single program that collects timely data on the full extent and nature of homelessness.

GAO Report Highlights Wasteful Spending on Ending Homelessness (by Doug McKelway, FOX News)

Philip F. Mangano (2002-2009)

President George W. Bush appointed Philip Mangano Executive Director in March 2002,

Mangano began working in the homelessness field in the 1980s, after working as a talent representative in the music business (clients included acts such as Peter, Paul and Mary). His first homeless-related experience was volunteering fulltime on a Boston breadline. He went on to work with African-American churches involved in responding to homelessness, and was responsible for creating Cambridge Clergy for Affordable Housing. He also served as Director of Homeless Services for the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and worked with Children’s Services of Roxbury, Massachusetts, helping create housing programs for homeless families. In addition, he participated in the creation and development of a variety of community-based organizations, including serving as a founding member of a social justice group in Los Angeles, and as President of Social Action Ministries of Greater Boston. Then, for the 12 years prior to being named to his ICH position, he was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance.

Program Offers Free Housing to Homeless (Weekend Edition, NPR)

Bush's homeless czar is a man on a mission: He's helping S.F. craft 10-year plan (by Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle)

Fred Karnas (DPC Working Group), 1995‐2001

Marsha Martin (DPC Working Group), 1993‐1995            

Patricia Carlile, 1989‐1992

James Stimpson (Acting Director), 1988

Cassandra Moore, 1987‐1988