In recent days, some confusion has surfaced about the FY 2012 budget proposal for homeless services and the size of the funding shortfall. Given the complexity of the issue, this is understandable. There are many moving parts at work — including increasing need for shelter in the recession, DC efforts to support permanent housing initiatives for the homeless, and now-expired federal stimulus funds.
Amidst this complexity, though, one thing is clear: the budget now before the DC Council is $20.5 million below the level needed to maintain already-strained services. Here are five facts to help sort out the confusion.
- The District has committed to Permanent Supportive Housing in recent years. In FY 2010, DC began ramping up Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units as part of the Strategic Action Plan to employ a highly successful tool to address chronic homelessness. Housing for individuals increased from 213 units to 941 units from FY 2009 to FY 2011, and family units increased from 71 to 230.
- DC has seen a dramatic increase in homelessness, despite new permanent supportive housing. The number of people in homeless families increased from 1,800 in 2008 to 2,700 in 2011 — even as 150 new families were placed in permanent housing during that time. And yet funding for homeless services increased just 18 percent from 2009 to 2011 — far less than the increase in need. This disconnect has created a severe strain on homeless services — for the first time ever, the District’s largest family shelter began turning away families with children and no other place to go on April 1. Under the Mayor’s budget, total funding for homeless services other than PSH would fall below the 2009 level, despite the increase in homelessness.
- The District has used federal funds to maintain services in the recession. Use of federal funds for homeless services jumped this year, but most of that money will not be available in 2012 (see the next fact). The District received $17 million in Federal “seed” money for PSH across FY 2010 and FY 2011. It was always expected that these dollars were meant to be replaced with local dollars after this time period. For other homeless services, the District faced a large potential shortfall in 2011, due to rising need, and the city chose to devote flexible stimulus money under the TANF program to maintain operations in homeless services. If those TANF funds had not been available, the District would have faced large cuts in homeless services and the need to increase local funds. The use of stimulus funds did not create the problem we now face for 2012, but instead delayed the problem for a year.
- Both stimulus money and Federal “seed” money for PSH have dried up, leaving a $20.5 million funding gap. Homeless services will lose $30 million in federal funds in 2012: $18 million in stimulus funding and $12 million for PSH. And yet, the total restoration of local funds amounts to just $10 million. This leaves a gap of $20.5 million.
- The budget fully replaced stimulus money with local money in other budget areas, but not in homeless services. Other areas — like Education — also benefitted from stimulus money during the recession, and just like in homeless services, that money is now gone. For Education, the Mayor was able to find local dollars to maintain total funding, since education is a priority. Basic shelter for the District’s residents should be a priority, too.
