Plans need to include the parents and children. Parents need access to medication, support and skill enhancement. Children are exposed to these problems and need skills to end the cycle.

Returning funding for Homelessness child-care vouchers (DTA) and Career Center programs, such as CNA

Any plan that aims to end or prevent family homelessness must take Domestic Violence seriously. Domestic Violence coalitions and advocates need to be at the table to design programs that will make a lasting impact. Also, because domestic violence programs are forbidden to enter data into HMIS by VAWA - there seems to be a federal data gap regarding this population that minimizes the role domestic violence has in family homelessness.

Much like the guidelines for affordable housing states that affordable housing is 33% of someone's income, there need to be guidelines for how affordable childcare is in a community. This should be linked to income earned -- and possibly be linked to subsidies as well.

State governements trying to balance their budgets are doing so on the backs of the most vunerable members of our society. These include families in need, children, aged, disabled, and homeless. The federal government should step in and stop this. A federal mandate - and funding - to keep programs open and operating is desperately needed.

Homelessness is at a basic level, and income problem. LInking employment services and job coaching with transitional, housing first, and rapid-rehousing models will help familes stabilize more quickly.

needs to increase to match the reported needs among schools

With 350,000 congregations nationally, a targeted invitation to faith communities for 1st month's rent and deposit along with mentoring would have an enormous national impact on ending family homelessness. Denver has already assisted nearly 700 homeless families successfully with this approach with 89% of families maintaining permanent housing one year later in 2008! Boise has helped over 100 families. LA is joining the effort, along with Sacramento, Knoxville, Norfolk, to name a few.

Address mental health issues seriously, not treating it like it isn't one of the biggest reasons for homelessness. Mental health must come out of the shadows and put on the front lines of our health care plan. If families/ individuals had a decent wage to live on, this would not drive so many to such dispair and mental stress.

provide a national transit authority to make services, employment, etc. accessible to all

Homelessness is a traumatic experience in itself, especially for children. It is important to realize though that most homeless mothers and children have been exposed to additional traumatic violence in their lives, resulting in multiple debilitating issues that make a stable life difficult to achieve, such as withdrawal from close relationships, aggressiveness, and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Almost all homeless families are trauma survivors, and need services tailored to these issues. Trauma informed care results in better outcomes overall, allowing for long-term, sustained success in life.

Cliff Effect: Small increases in earnings cause struggling families to immediately lose all aid in programs like the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), food stamps, the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), and Child Care Assistance. This leads to workers turning down raises and promotions for fear of losing assistance and thus damning their families to a life of dependence.