How Would Terminating USICH Affect Efforts to End Homelessness?

To understand the US Interagency Council on Homelessness’s (USICH’s) role in the nation’s efforts to end homelessness and potential effects of the agency’s impending termination in 2017, we interviewed more than 50 federal, national, state, and local stakeholders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Overwhelmingly, stakeholders considered USICH an important part of a highly effective performance-driven partnership and argued that terminating USICH could slow down efforts to end homelessness. Since 1987, USICH has coordinated the federal response to homelessness and created partnerships with the private sector and local governments to prevent and end homelessness. Progress toward ending homelessness has been mixed since the 2010 release of Opening Doors, the federal strategic plan to end homelessness. While significant progress has been made for particular populations, such as ending veteran homelessness, progress for other populations—such as families and youth—has been slower, and in some communities, homelessness has been on the rise. To understand USICH’s role in the progress to date, our methods for this assessment captured the perspectives of those who work directly with USICH to end and prevent homelessness and who would be most affected by USICH’s termination. Read More. 

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