Legislation, Programs, and Policies, U.S. Federal

A range of federal programs is available to help homeless people. Some programs are targeted specifically to those who are homeless (labeled below as “homeless-specific”), while others are available to a broader group of low-income people, including those who are homeless (labeled as “mainstream”). This entry surveys the most important federal programs for homeless people: what the programs do, their size, and key issues and proposals for change. It covers programs that can provide housing for people who are homeless and those that are designed to lead to better incomes and access to supportive services for homeless people.

Homelessness policy can be divided into the three general functions that it serves: (a) managing the homelessness problem by taking care of people while they are homeless, (b) assisting people who are homeless to move back into housing, and (c) preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place. Existing federal programs and policies treat those three functions in declining order of importance. Federal programs concentrate on managing the problem and meeting the basic needs of people who remain homeless. There is, particularly recently, some focus of moving homeless people into permanent [Page 341]housing. There is little in the way of resources or incentives in federal policy specifically aimed at preventing homelessness.

To make progress toward ending homelessness, a much stronger focus on prevention is necessary, along with continued progress on rehousing people who are already homeless. The last part of this entry briefly examines proposals to meet those goals.