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Shays leads effort to defend
State's Homeless
Washington, D.C. -- Congressman Christopher
Shays sent a letter to Department of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary Alphonso Jackson expressing concern about a formula
change that will result in a $5 million decrease in funding
for the state's homeless service providers. The letter was
cosigned by Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Representatives
Rob Simmons, Nancy Johnson, Rosa DeLauro and John Larson.
The text of the letter follows:
The Honorable Alphonso Jackson
Secretary
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20410
Dear Secretary Jackson:
We are writing to express our concern about a change to the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants formula that will
have a nearly crippling impact on Connecticut's continua of
care. We hope you will keep in place the tools Connecticut
uses to help meet the Administration's goal of ending long-term
homelessness in ten years.
The bonus formula for FY 04 and past years was a bracketed
system. Under this formula, a continuum of care with a Pro
Rata Need of over $10 million would receive a maximum bonus
of $2 million, while a continuum with between $5 million and
$10 million Pro Rata Need would receive $1.5 million, and
a continuum with a Pro Rata Need below $5 million would receive
a bonus of $750,000 or a match of their Pro Rata Need amount,
whichever was less.
HUD's modification to the formula, by which the bonus is
calculated as 15 percent of Pro Rata Need, seems to have some
justification. Unfortunately for smaller continua, such as
those in Connecticut, this change results in a disproportional
decrease in funds. For example, under the FY 04 calculation
a continuum of care with a Pro Rata Need of $500,000 would
receive a bonus of $500,000. Under the new formula, the bonus
is only $75,000 - a decrease of 85 percent. In FY05, Connecticut's
continua of care are losing a total of over $5 million in
McKinney-Vento funds. These are funds Connecticut has relied
upon to create new supportive housing to address chronic homelessness.
The loss of Connecticut's funding will result in at least
100 units of permanent supportive housing not being created.
We respectfully request that during HUD's annual process
of recapturing and redistributing McKinney-Vento funds, the
Department prioritize redistribution of funds to those continua
that had their bonuses most severely reduced. We would also
be eager to discuss any alternative solutions to this problem
you may suggest.
As you may know, Connecticut is a leader in committing state
and local resources to address homelessness. In fact, seven
cities in Connecticut are creating the 10 year plans to end
chronic homelessness that have been encouraged by the Administration.
Connecticut is working hard to meet the President's goal of
ending chronic homelessness, yet the new bonus formula threatens
the state's ability to do so.
We appreciate your assistance in making sure that hardworking
housing and service providers in Connecticut and across the
country have the necessary resources to move citizens from
homelessness into permanent supportive housing.
Contact: Sarah Moore,
202/225-5541
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