News from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness


First Lady Michelle Obama Urges Communities To Be Unwavering in Efforts To End Veteran Homelessness

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at the White House Summit to End Veteran Homelessness
On Monday, November 14, the White House hosted a Summit on Ending Veteran Homelessness, attended by more than 200 elected officials, federal staff, and national organizations that have collaborated with Joining Forces, USICH, VA, and HUD on the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.

Addressing the Summit participants, First Lady Michelle Obama said: "We are making real progress. We are absolutely on our way to solving this problem. And we cannot let up for a single minute. Can't do it. Because we all know how this issue works. We all know that as long as our fellow Americans are serving in harm's way, we will always have new Veterans transitioning to civilian life who might need our support. And a Veteran who's doing just fine today could hit on hard times tomorrow. So our work is never finished. The day that we find homes for every Veteran, it's still not finished. We can never just pat ourselves on the back and move on to the next thing, not on this issue. On this issue, it takes continuous and unwavering attention and action no matter what else is going on in this country." Watch the speech or read the full text.
Read a White House blog on ending Veteran homelessness
by Tina Tchen, the First Lady's Chief of Staff.

Join Us Monday for a Webinar on Counting Youth in the 2017 Point-in-Time Count  

Youth To help communities prepare for the 2017 PIT count, we are hosting a webinar on promising practices for counting youth, including information on recently published federal resources, early lessons learned from the national Voices of Youth Count initiative led by Chapin Hall, highlights from a local youth count, and recommendations on integrating efforts to count youth as part of the broader PIT count.

What Works to Connect Youth with Their Families? Findings and Lessons from a Recent HHS Study  


Mother and daughter We know that strengthening family relationships can be critical in helping prevent youth homelessness. But it can be difficult to sort through all the models of family interventions and determine which have evidence behind them.

Read
 HHS Social Science Analyst Amanda Benton's summary of the findings from a recent study on the evidence behind various family interventions to address youth homelessness.

Register for a Dec. 6 webinar to learn more about the findings from the study.  

New Federal Guidance Supports Young Children and Families Experiencing Homelessness

Study after study confirms what every teacher knows: young children who experience secure, stimulating environments with rich learning opportunities from an early age are better prepared to thrive in school and in life.

Marsha Basloe, Senior Advisor for Early Childhood Development at HHS, reviews a host of new guidance
that was recently released to increase access to and strengthen the quality of services for families with young children experiencing homelessness.