Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions - S. 2937

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. REED):

S. 2937. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to provide supportive services in permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I am proud to join my colleague from Ohio, the Chairman of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Subcommittee of the Senate HELP Committee, to introduce a bill that we believe will bring us closer to helping people who experience chronic homelessness get off the streets, out of shelters and into permanent housing. The Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act (SELHA) will help local communities provide health care, mental health and substance abuse services in conjunction with safe, decent and affordable housing. This bill is another essential component in the continuum of housing and supportive service programs geared towards people who have become homeless in our society.

Nationwide, as many as 3.5 million people experience homelessness every year. Between 200,000 and 250,000 of them-including at least 12,000 children-experience chronic homelessness. They live on the streets and in emergency shelters for years on end or cycle between homelessness, jails, emergency rooms, and other institutions. Many also confront mental illness, substance addiction or other serious chronic health conditions. Moreover, because they don't get appropriate and regular care, these people exact a substantial toll on our public health systems.

The legislation the Senior Senator from Ohio and I are proposing today would authorize funding for grants to state and local entities to offer services to individuals and families in supportive housing to help bring them out of the downward spiral of homelessness and onto the road to recovery and self-sufficiency. Permanent supportive housing combines safe, decent and affordable housing with needed services such as mental health, substance abuse, employment, health care, and other services.

Research indicates that supportive housing represents a cost-effective investment toward the goal of ending long-term homelessness. In one California supportive housing program, residents experienced a 57 percent decline in emergency room visits, a 58 percent decline in the number of inpatient hospital days, and a near elimination of their need for residential mental-health facilities. A study in New York City found that each unit of supportive housing saved $16,282 per person per year in public expenditures for emergency care, court and jail costs, and other public services. After deducting the public benefits, the average supportive housing unit in New York City cost only $995 per year. In other words, it costs
little more to house and offer supportive services to people than it does to leave them homeless.

These remarkable findings have led the bipartisan Millennial Housing Commission, the President's New Freedom Mental Health Commission, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities to endorse the goal of creating 150,000 units of permanent supportive housing.

As the Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing of the Senate Banking Committee, I am deeply interested in tackling the challenge of homelessness on several fronts. I have been working on a bill to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. My legislation would realign the incentives behind HUD's homelessness assistance programs, while more funding would flow to communities that actually demonstrate a commitment to accomplishing the goals of preventing and ending homelessness. It would also simplify and consolidate the three competitive HUD homeless assistance programs into one program and provide new flexibility in using McKinney-Vento funds.

The Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act perfectly compliments these efforts by making sure that communities offering permanent housing are also able to provide health, education and other supportive services that are so critical to the ultimate success of these efforts.

I believe we have the ingenuity and dedication to ensure that everyone has a safe decent and affordable place to call home. We need to support innovative solutions, and this bill does just that. It gives communities some of the resources they need to develop more supportive housing and move towards ending chronic homelessness, and I am proud to join my colleague from Ohio in spearheading this initiative.