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The Biden-Harris administration announces new initiative, ALL INside to tackle unsheltered homelessness while praising the efforts of the State of California and Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass
Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced the launch of ALL INside, a first-of-its-kind initiative to address unsheltered homelessness across the country. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) and its 19 federal member agencies will utilize the program for up to two years to partner with state and local governments at six key locations: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix Metro, Seattle, and the State of California.
The launch was presented by Ambassador Susan Rice, the White House director of domestic policy; Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough, the chair of USICH; and USICH Executive Director Jeff Olivet. Ambassador Rice praised the efforts of Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass along with California’s Secretary of Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, Lourdes Castro Ramírez for being on the front lines of ending unsheltered homelessness. The partnership sets a bold goal to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025 and ultimately build a country where every person has a safe and affordable home.
“President Biden firmly believes that everyone deserves a safe, decent, and affordable place to live, and from Day One, the Biden-Harris administration has taken unprecedented actions to lower housing costs, increase housing stability, and address homelessness. We know we cannot meaningfully address our nation’s homelessness problem without a distinct focus on unsheltered homelessness,” said Ambassador Rice who pointed out that many residents facing homelessness range from veterans who have served our country to the youth who have aged out of the foster care system.
“These communities are taking meaningful action to address unsheltered homelessness, and this first of its kind partnership with our Administration will help strengthen and accelerate local efforts in these sites, and communities across America, to ensure every unsheltered person has accesses to the housing they need.”
Leaders from these communities were highlighted for showing clear vision, commitment, alignment of value and effectiveness in tacking the challenges by providing holistic solutions which also includes tasks to prevent homelessness while comprehending various reasons for those who are disadvantaged. California locking arms with cities such as Los Angeles proves that a whole of government approach will assist communities to directly reach residents. This all-hands-on-deck approach increases knowledge and resources that can only come from the blueprint laid forth by those who have done the grunt work inclusive of those with lived experience. All these entities finding ways to effectively work together brings new energy to these crucial endeavors.
Ambassador Rice pointed out that Mayor Bass prioritized the issue of homelessness even before her first day in office recognizing her extraordinarily fast start in making critical progress. By inviting allies formed as a former member of Congress, Mayor Bass invited Ambassador Rice to Los Angeles so she could see for herself and tour the sites devastated by the consequences of not properly addressing what she described as a humanitarian crisis. “This is a historic memorandum of understanding with our cities, says Mayor Bass who then directed attention to the work of Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum who leads as the CEO of Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). ALL INside will accelerate Inside Safe’s services already in operation. “Inside Safe is the way that we have been eliminating street encampments by moving people into motels, but that is a very difficult model to sustain.” Mayor Bass described the challenge in having more than 1,200 people moved into motels yet difficulty placing them into permanent, supportive housing. “The idea that we, as participating in this (MOU), might be able to look at things like presumptive eligibility that would allow people to be housed right away-instead of spending months while we compile documents and verify that they are in fact in need- will really be a huge step forward.” She identified that the memorandum allows regulatory relief, flexibility, assistance with the coordinated entry system which priorities who should be housed and most importantly, “unsticking bureaucracy” suggesting the current system isn’t designed for the emergency that we are facing today. She concluded by stating, “We can do some ground-breaking work that can really provide a model for other cities and states experiencing homelessness. It is an honor to have been chosen, this is a historic day, and [I’m] very excited about what we can do together.” Her city budget includes a groundbreaking $1.3 billion investment to address the homelessness crisis, including $250 million directed towards Inside Safe. Several of the ALL INside communities have already received monetary resources with $60 million going to Los Angeles and $36 million to other communities across the state of California.
California-being the only state listed- is leading the way because it has a proven track record of building strong foundations. “We’re focusing on these Californians because there is a pronounced need and profound opportunities to join forces and take real action,” said Secretary Ramírez who chimed in to describe why California chose to focus on its most vulnerable populations comprised of unhoused veterans, foster youth, and older adults. Federal support is being delivered to make progress which has galvanized local governments. The funding breaks records and shows the advantages of working in lockstep with the Biden-Harris administration. For the state, this partnership bolsters a collaborative model of best practices. “Gavin Newsom has made solving homelessness and expanding affordable housing top priorities since day one of his administration. Today, California has an interagency council on homelessness, very similar the USICH at the national level. We also have the first statewide action plan to prevent and end homelessness and have invested unprecedented funding to address housing and homelessness.” Secretary Ramírez echoed the governor’s sentiment expressed to local leaders. “The state’s vision is realized at the local level by champions like Mayor Bass, so we’re working very closely with mayors, counties, and continuums of care up and down our state. We’re addressing this issue with urgency. We’re addressing the issue of having a structural housing supply deficient and keeping unhoused Californians at the fore front by providing policy direction, guidance on evidenced-based/people-centered and equity focused strategies.” The state aspires for these necessary solutions to restore trust and confidence amongst the public and its constituents.
The launch builds on historic support by the Biden-Harris Administration to help states and cities battle homelessness. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARP)—which represents the largest single-year investment in ending homelessness in U.S. history—helped prevent a surge of homelessness. Through the Treasury Department’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, for instance, the six ALL INside sites have invested more than $2.5 billion in projects focused on reducing and preventing homelessness. The ARP provided $5 billion for 70,000 Emergency Housing Vouchers—the first HUD voucher specifically for people experiencing homelessness beyond veterans. The ARP also delivered over $21 billion in emergency rental assistance, standing up a first-of-its-kind national eviction prevention infrastructure that has helped 8 million struggling households make rent and pay utilities bills, and kept eviction filings below pre-pandemic levels in the 1.5 years after the end of the eviction moratorium. Through the House America initiative, HUD and USICH worked with more than 100 communities to make the most of the American Rescue Plan; and in just over a year, they helped more than 100,000 people experiencing homelessness move into permanent homes.
