USICH appreciated all of the thoughtful comments and ideas. Please visit www.usich.gov to read Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.

USICH wants to hear the best ideas that its stakeholders have to offer on ending homelessness. Explore each of the forums below and submit your own ideas to ensure that no one should experience homelessness - no one should be without a safe, stable place to call home.(click for site instructions)
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About USICH/Frequently Asked Questions

This discussion forum, powered by a tool called UserVoice, allows people to come together, share ideas in response to a question, discuss those ideas, and vote the best ones to the top for consideration by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. In this case, we are using the tool to get your ideas on the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Stakeholders from across the country will weigh in -- make sure your voice is heard!

What is the mission of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness?

The mission of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness is "to coordinate the federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership at every level of government and with the private sector to reduce and end homelessness in the nation while maximizing the effectiveness of the Federal Government in contributing to the end of homelessness."

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What is the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness?

The President and Congress charged the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) via the HEARTH Act to develop and submit the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness to Congress by May 20. The Plan will serve as a roadmap for joint action by Council agencies to guide the development of programs and budget proposals towards a set of measurable targets. The Plan will reflect interagency agreement on a set of priorities and strategies the agencies will pursue over a five year period.

USICH is centering its plan on the belief – the moral foundation – "no one should experience homelessness – no one should be without a safe, stable place to call home." The Council has charged the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness' planning process to align federal resources effectively and appropriately toward four key objectives: 1) finish the job of ending chronic homelessness; 2) prevent and end homelessness among Veterans; 3) prevent and end family homelessness; and 4) set a path to ending all types of homelessness.

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Were there public meetings to discuss the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness?

The process to create this plan is designed to be transparent and provide multiple opportunities for input, feedback and collaboration. More than 400 people participated in regional stakeholders meetings held in February with several more meetings to take place during the first week of March. They were intended to engage leaders of regional and state interagency councils, as well as stakeholders from throughout the multi-state regions. These meetings have been a great opportunity for USICH to hear directly from external and Federal Government stakeholders regarding challenges, priorities and different perspectives on how to prevent and end homelessness in the United States. The input from these sessions is incredibly valuable and will be incorporated into the development of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.

For more information, please see http://www.usich.gov/images_uservoice/FSP_Overview_Summary.pdf

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What will the outcome be from the stakeholder and electronic input for the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness?

USICH will jointly create -
a set of targeted, solutions-driven goals and collaborative strategies

  • a roadmap for joint action to guide the development of programs and budget proposals toward a set of measurable targets
  • a set of priorities the agencies will pursue over the five year period – FY 2010 through FY 2014

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    How are you expecting people to engage with the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness?

    Each of the six key questions for the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness has its own forum that participants can submit their best ideas to and engage in. Through this UserVoice site, USICH is able to:

    • Engage stakeholders in an open and transparent process to ensure every stakeholder has a voice in the creation of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
    • Collect innovative input and perspectives on key goals and strategies that have worked in communities across the United States

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    What kind of feedback are you looking for?

    The UserVoice application will allow all stakeholders to:

    • Submit ideas related to the six key questions of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
    • Rate and comment on the ideas of fellow stakeholders

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    How does voting work?

    When you visit the site, you will automatically be sent to the first of the six areas on this site, a discussion of how local communities can contribute to the vision of preventing and ending homelessness? As a new user, you will have 30 votes in each of the six areas to express your support for others' ideas, or for your own. You can give any idea 1, 2, or 3 votes, depending on how strongly you support it. As you allocate votes, you will see the number of votes you have left, which is displayed on the right-hand sidebar, decrease. Votes are not permanent; you can reallocate votes away from one idea and towards another at any time, as many times as you like. To do this, simply click the vote display next to an idea you've voted for, and choose 0, 1, 2, or 3 from the vote selection menu that pops up.

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    Why do I only have 30 votes in each forum?

    This site's voting system is based on the idea that, when people have a finite number of votes to "spend", they tend to think more carefully about what they really support and how much they support it. You should use your votes to support the ideas you think are most important, so that the overall best ideas and top priorities emerge!

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    How can I add my own idea to what's already here?

    To add an idea, make sure you are in the right forum and simply begin typing the "title" of your idea - a brief (5-10 word) summary of the idea - into the big search box in the middle of the page. As you begin to type, the system will automatically search for similar ideas that have already been created. If something comes up that is similar to what you're suggesting, you may want to simply vote for that idea instead of creating your own. If you determine that your idea is not a duplicate, click the "Create New Idea" button, and elaborate briefly on your idea in the "Description" box that appears. Assign 1, 2 or 3 votes to your idea, as you deem appropriate, and click "Suggest it!" Your idea will be posted immediately, along with your username.

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    How can I learn more about an idea?

    In order to save space and make the site usable, the front page of each discussion area only lists the titles of ideas, part of their descriptions, the number of comments they have received, and their overall score. To see more in-depth information, including the actual comment thread as well as a list of who has voted for the idea, simply click on any idea's title.

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    What's that orange symbol I see around the site?

    You mean this: That's a link to an RSS feed of all the "action" in a particular area of the site, including ideas and comments, etc. To learn more about what RSS is and how you can use it, check out this helpful video.

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    I suggest ...

    ← How can we finish ending chronic homelessness?

    We cannot end chronic homelessness, so we should adopt a more realistic goal

    In order for people to work most effectively, they must understand their goals and believe in those goals. Almost no one I know believes that ending chronic homelessness is possible. It is an aspirational (political) goal, so it can't be as effective as a concrete goal that people can believe in.

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      anonymousanonymous shared this idea  ·   ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →

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        • AngelaAngela commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

          Yes we can! we only need to coordinate the agencies & services that already exist, with new ones we know that we need effectively and efficiently. It's so easy to do, and we have everything available to make it happen! NO EXCUSES!

        • Chris MegisonChris Megison commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

          With 19 years on the front lines of battling the impacts of homelessness I completely agree that we CAN NOT end chronic homelessness. The term "Ending" homelessness has lost all credability among community leaders. It's time to wake up and accept this. Replace the word "end" with solve. Define solve as meaning - access to permanent solutions. Create more access to permanent solutions using a blended model of affordable housing, education and health solutions. The last thing to underscore why we cant end chronic homelessness -- a significant percentage of the chronic homeless are stuck in an active addiction to drugs or alchohol...the only feasible way to "end" it for these folks is to give them free housing and allow them to use drugs and drink because they will not enter the housing unless they can continue to use. America will never do this (nor should we), thus there will always be this subpopulation of the homeless churning around on the streets. How we deal with this subpopulation is an entirely different topic. The key is a sufficient level of ACCESS to permanent solutions so that every person and family who needs housing (not shelter), that needs supportive housing, that needs service blended housing, can access it. We are a long way away from this....cast your vision around solving homelessness for individuals, families and communities, move people around solving it and watch what happens.

        • Laura KadwellLaura Kadwell commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

          I disagree with this comment. It will be difficult to end chronic homelessness, primarily because people with long histories of homelessness no longer trust the system or those who work in it. Our plans need to focus -- and follow through -- on developing relationships with people who have long histories of homelessness so they will move into housing and to prevent others from joining their ranks. There may always be people who become homeless, but they should have a place to go and immediate access to the housing (services if necessary) that they need. That's the goal.

        • Ken ManessKen Maness commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

          Don't agree that we can't end chronic homelessness and should effectively give up on that effort. There are many persons who are chronically homeless that just need a different type of individualized care / case management... ie. they don't like the structure that comes with most shelter programs for example. The way to end homelessness, including chronic homelessness is to catch them as soon as their feet touch the streets.... SABILIZE their situation, ASSESS their needs and REFERRAL to the system of care that will address their situation. Affordable Housing / Housing Vouchers is the real challenge to Ending Homelessness..

        • WendyWendy commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

          My problem with setting a "realistic goal" - say ending most homelessness - is that you are then saying it is OK - normal - natural - allowable - unavoidable - for some fellow human beings in our society to be homeless - to endure cruel, unsafe conditions on our streets - to raise children in and out of shelters - to suffer malnutirition and shortened lives. I think that out of principle - we should start from a place that does not tolerate any homelessness - saying that we are a community that rejects the idea that some people should inevitably languish on the streets.

        • MargaretMargaret commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

          Granted ending homelessness is no small feat and there are substantial barriers to overcome, stating that it is impossible to end chronic homelessness does not get us closer to any goal. Homelessness has many mitigating factors that compound the issue, but by working towards that goal by providing affordable housing, equal educational opportunities, case management, re-entry programs, etc. we will make progress. ‘Ending homelessness’ and 10-year plans may have become political rhetoric; however, the core belief that everyone deserves a stable living situation should continue drive our efforts to reach the realistic goal of ending homelessness.

        • Jasper JonesJasper Jones commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

          WE CAN END ALL HOMELESSNESS BY CREATING AN INDIVIDUAL DEBVELOPMENT ACCOUNT TRUST AGREEMENT FINANCIAL WRAP AROUND FOR ALL CITIZENS IN DISTRESS SITUATIONS MANAGED BY AN INSTITUTIONAL GUARDIAN ORGANIZATION. DISTRESS SITUATIONS INCLUDE HOMELESS-TO-HOME-TO-WORK, SCHOOL-TO-WORK, MILITARY-TO-WORK, UNEMPLOYED-TO-WORK

        How can we finish ending chronic homelessness?

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