RD269 - Annual Report on Virginia’s Homeless Programs


Executive Summary:
Homelessness directly affects thousands of Virginians annually. According to the annual 2007 point-in-time count conducted by localities statewide, at least 9,644 individuals were homeless during a 24-hour snapshot in January 2007. Four to five times that number may actually experience homelessness at some point during the year, according to national homeless studies. Many of these persons have special needs based on situations ranging from physical or mental disabilities to chronic substance abuse. Of the total homeless population, many are also victims of other circumstances such as job loss or domestic violence. The Commonwealth of Virginia utilizes a variety of approaches to serve the needs of a diverse homeless population.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) directly addresses the problems associated with homelessness by administering several programs that provide financial support to local governments and nonprofit providers of housing and supportive services to the homeless. These programs range from preventative in nature to homeless intervention and include:

• Child Care for Homeless Children Program (CCHCP)
• Child Services Coordinator Grant (CSCG)
• Emergency Home Repair Program (EHR)
• Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG)
• Homeless Intervention Program (HIP)
• HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME)
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
• State Shelter Grant (SSG)
• Weatherization and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

The following summarizes funding and number of persons served during the 2006-07 program year:

• CCHCP
* DHCD received a $300,000 block grant for the CCHCP program
* 556 children received child care through the program at $512 cost per child

• CSCG
* Funding included $500,000 in state general funds and $576,250 in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program funds
* 3,701 homeless children in 50 emergency and transitional housing facilities assisted

• EHR
$352,725 was appropriated from Virginia General Assembly
Home repairs completed for 678 low-income households

• ESG and SSG
ESG is a HUD allocation of $1,571,410
* SSG is a state-funded program with $3,226,705 in TANF funds and $2,559,187 in State general funds
* ESG and SSG programs together assisted 5,477 shelter beds

• HIP
* Funding included $4.5 million in State general funds and $821,467 TANF funds
* $4.2 million in direct financial assistance was provided to 1,797 households (4,757 individuals)

• HOME
* Allocation of $14.5 million available for producing and preserving affordable housing
* DHCD produced 1,114 units of affordable housing

• HOPWA
* DHCD administers about $600,000 of funds annually
* Primarily short-term rent, mortgage, and utilities assistance was provided to 249 individuals and their families

• LIHEAP
* $4.4 million from the Department of Energy and $5.7 million from Department of Social Services is combined for the program
* DHCD assisted 2,280 low-income households with weatherization assistance

Additionally, DHCD participates in the Virginia Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness, which serves to represent Virginia at the Policy Academy on Chronic Homelessness. The Academy seeks to implement a plan to end chronic homelessness in 10 years.

This report serves as a means to report overall conditions and progress made related to the administration of the State’s homelessness programs in compliance with Budget Item 103 D.

The Department shall report to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance, the House Appropriations Committees, and the Director, Department of Planning and Budget by November 4 of each year on the state's homeless programs, including, but not limited to, the number of (i) emergency shelter beds, (ii) transitional housing units, (iii) single room occupancy dwellings, and (iv) homeless intervention programs supported by state funding on a locality and statewide basis. The report shall also include the number of Virginians served by these programs, the costs of the programs, and the financial and in-kind support provided by localities and nonprofit groups in these programs. In preparing the report, the Department shall consult with localities and community-based groups.