Proposed Rule on the Definition of Homelessness
Today, HUD published the proposed rule for the definition of homelessness. The publication of the proposed rule commences HUD’s regulatory process of the implementation of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH Act), enacted into law on May 20, 2009. This proposed rule only addresses definitions of the following terms: “homeless,” “homeless individual,” “homeless person,” and “homeless individual with a disability.” The proposed rule clarifies that individuals and families may qualify as homeless under four possible categories, corresponding to the broad categories established by the statutory language of the definition in section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Act as amended by the HEARTH Act.
The proposed rule and the McKinney-Vento Act as amended by HEARTH are available on the HRE at www.hudhre.info/hearth. Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the proposed rule by June 21, 2010 at www.regulations.gov.
I’m still trying to get the current definition for exactly what “homeless” means. What does it mean right now in Central Florida?
The definition of homelessness is a moving target, so the answer usually is, “It depends.” For service providers, it depends on where the funding for their services comes from. When such funding is accepted by an agency it is tied to a definition as to who that service provider may serve with that funding. So if it’s money from HUD, you apply their definition for the people served by that funding. If it’s funding from Florida’s Department of Children and Families, you apply their definition. If it’s money from the federal Department of Education for homeless children, you apply their definition. And as you can probably guess, none of those definitions are exactly the same. But they are working to bring them in alignment with each other at least at the federal level. We’ll know more when the HEARTH Act regulations are finalized, probably this fall.
The State of Florida releases an annual report on homelessness and within it, they discuss their own definition (which was revised June 1, 2009) and the issues around defining homelessness. You can find the 2010 report at DCF’s web site. Check out Section 1.