Trump budget cuts could jeopardise efforts to end homelessness among war veterans
Source: Independent
President's proposal to eliminate US Interagency Council for Homelessness risks leaving ex-soldiers without support
Jennifer McDermott 5 hours ago
The push to end homelessness among veterans would suffer without the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, which is up for elimination under President Donald Trump's proposed budget, non-profits and local officials say.
The council coordinates the efforts of 19 federal agencies that play a role in preventing and ending homelessness among all Americans. But the strides made with the subset of veterans - for whom homelessness has been effectively ended in three states and dozens of communities amid a concerted effort - make the proposed cuts particularly upsetting to advocates.
Homeless advocates in any given state consult the council, whose annual budget is about $3.5 million, on which strategies are working elsewhere as they seek to house veterans. They worry momentum will slow.
“We've learned how to end homelessness,” said Nonie Brennan, chief executive of the nonprofit All Chicago. “It would be a tremendous shame if we were not able to continue to implement these strategies in our communities across the country.”
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-budget-cuts-end-homelessness-war-veterans-va-military-us-interagency-council-on-us-president-a7654091.html
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