Get us going. [noise] the subcommittee on housing, transportation, and Community Development will come to order. This hearing is in hybrid format. We will have witnesses testifying both in person and by video, and senators may appear in person and by video as well. I want to thank senator rounds for joining me in this bipartisan hearing, focusing on the issue of homelessness. Senator rounds found out late yesterday, i think, that he is needed at an important market with the form of relations committee, so we wont be able to stay for the entire subcommittee, which we understand. Thank you for being here. And thank you all to our panelists, those of you in person as well as those of you joining virtually, for being here today. So, without a safety, sit, affordable place to live, nothing in your life works. Its nearly impossible to maintain a job, go to school, or stay healthy. Based on data from 2020, almost 600,000 americans experienced homelessness on any given night. With this number, 61 of those experiencing homelessness are sheltered, and another 39 are unsheltered. Homelessness is a significant challenge in our country, and getting worse. While Current National data is sparse, we know the number of people experiencing homelessness already too high, the again, rising again around 2015. Of course, the pandemic only exacerbated the challenges that individuals and families face. But addressing homelessness is an area of bipartisan interest in the senate. For example, senator bennett and senator portman, along with our full committee chair, senator brown, to introduce the eviction crisis act, which would direct assistance to families most at risk of losing their homes, and help prevent families from becoming homeless. They are built draws on the lessons of the pandemic, and i look forward to hearing from our Witnesses Today about that important bipartisan measure. I also know that several other colleagues on the subcommittee have been working on important bills to address homelessness, and many of them, bipartisan. Senator van hollen leads senator young for opportunities with family mobility. Senator reed and collins worked together for years to strengthen the United StatesInter Agency Council on homelessness. And while its outside the subcommittees jurisdiction, senator cantwell and senator young have had a bill to reform and expand the low Income Housing credit. These examples illustrate the bipartisan important work happening in the senate, and i look forward to hearing from the Witnesses Today about these pieces of legislation, and how we can work with everyone to try to advance some of these measures. It also must be acknowledged that the biggest factor in the rise and homelessness is the severe shortage of Affordable Housing, and the lack of housing supply. People sometimes have the misunderstanding that folks and upon housed because they experienced Mental Illness or Substance Use disorder, when the reality is that most people become ill because they dont have a safe, affordable place to live. In my view, the answers to provide shelter and Housing First, and the support of Services Necessary to help people get stable and healthy. The backdrop to the issue of homelessness is that our nation is facing an Affordable Housing crisis. According to data published by the national low Income Housing coalition, not one state in our country has an adequate supply of affordable rental housing for the lowest income renters. In fact, for the 1. 8 million families with extremely low incomes in the United States, there is a shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes. This is an incredibly alarming problem that we all face in every part of the country. The challenge, finally, and keeping a safe, affordable place to live, is real and every part, urban, suburban, and rural, affects everyone. However, homelessness also disproportionately affects some communities more than others, including black, latino, and native communities. The mom home state of minnesota, where native americans make up about 1 of the adult population, the 2018 statewide homelessness study found that native americans make up 12 of the adults experiencing homelessness. The experience of native people in tribes around homelessness led me to partner with senator murkowski, Ranking Member of the Indian Affairs committee, to write and pass the bipartisan tribal and Housing Assistance act. It makes tribes a little trouble for homeless Assistance Funds through the continuing care program. We are now focused on implementing this law, and hope to hear today what we can do to make sure its a successful. Additionally, homelessness remains a significant challenge for veterans. No one who serves our country should ever find themselves without a safe, decent place to call home. In recent years, bipartisan efforts have sharply reduced the rate of homelessness among veterans, but this war we must do. I know this is a priority for senator rounds, and i look forward to working with you on this issue, as well as a tribal and native housing issues that you and i have collaborated on frequently. Homelessness is not only a housing crisis, but also a Public Health crisis. As a lack of housing exacerbates health challenges. Simply put, housing is a social determinants of health. But covid 19 Public Health emergency created new challenges for unhoused people, both for People Living in congregate shelters, where there were deep worries about safety in Public Health, as well as people without any shelter at all. The cares act and the American Rescue plan provided billions of dollars in emergency solution grants, rental assistance, and homeowner assistance, to help people avoid foreclosure and keep them in their homes. This emergency funded directed to states and local providers made a huge difference, keeping people healthy, safe, and sheltered. And they created opportunities for Community Organizations to improvise and innovate. However, much of that funding is now coming to an end. I hope that today, we can hear both what weve learned from the last two years in terms of Innovative Strategies that have worked, and also what our experience has been, whatever experience tells us about the importance of Adequate Funding for Homelessness Prevention efforts. I often hear from people who work in this field that we know what to do to solve this problem, we just need the will to fix it. We have data driven strategies that have proven effective at addressing homelessness in recent years. We have seen this in veterans, addressing veterans homelessness in my home state of minnesota. The Housing First model builds on what we know, that if you dont have, again, a safe, stable place to call home, its very hard to hold on to a job, go to school, or get the health care that you need. It has been successful in reducing homelessness in many parts of the country, and i believe that we should build on its success. Addressing homelessness has long been an issue that republicans and democrats have shared concerns about. I hope that in this hearing, we can continue this bipartisan work and look for concrete steps to take together to address this challenge, with comprehensive approach, effective strategies, and the resources we need. Thank you, and i now turn to senator rounds for your opening statement. Thank, you chairwoman smith. Once again, i apologize for having to leave early. We have mark out in the section into nato for sweden and finland this afternoon, and this is one that we wants to move forward on rather quickly. First off, i would like to thank our witnesses for taking the time to be here today, especially jamie, who is coming to us from rapid city, south dakota, this afternoon. From sioux falls to washington, d. C. , to los angeles, americans are experiencing growing housing insecurity. Homelessness implicates several critical issues. Americas acute shortage of affordable homes, behavioral and physical health challenges, addiction and Domestic Abuse and violence. Therefore, the need goes beyond just a safe place to stay. Individuals also need supportive services. Whether it is clinical help, career coaching, or Case Management, so they can break the cycle of homelessness. Thats why organizations like journey on, which is successfully working and rapid city, as well as the dough fund in new york, havent expanding the right of supportive services, including job training, childcare, and others that are successfully going well beyond shelter. Journey on successfully partners with Law Enforcement in south city, south dakota, to provide social services where shelter unsheltered individuals. However, journey on, like many nonprofits across the nation, have run into mounds of government red tape. Even when they have received federal dollars, the money takes too long to be released, and the paperwork burden is onerous. We should be removing barriers to address homelessness, not creating new ones. Over the last decade, has pursued a Housing First approach to helping Homeless Individuals with families obtain stable housing as quickly as possible, without barriers or preconditions. However, the Housing First model often ignores the underlying causes of homelessness, and our only proven to be effective at curbing homelessness at the individual level, rather that the Broader Community level. Hud now allocates roughly 75 of all competitive grants to permanent Supportive Housing projects, even though these projects were originally intended to serve just a portion of the total homeless population, who are chronically homeless. This sole reliance on Housing First has prevented federal assistance for any alternative approaches by Housing Providers that may better address local housing needs. The doe funds based in new york city, for operating the shun wide, is a stunning example of how federal policy disadvantages organizations that have made incredible strides and combining stable housing, dignified work, and Life Coaching to improve their clients lives. In analysis of the funds work, in 2020, 82 , thats 82 of graduates, maintains their jobs months after leaving the program, and the average starting wage of 16. 60. For every dollar, that new york city taxpayers spent on the program, they saved an hour of 3. 60 it costs remember can see City Services and criminal justice costs. These successes raise serious questions of how we prioritize federal funding. Although a Housing Force model may be effective in some cases, a one size fits all solution is not the answer. We should instead give communities flexibility to implement interventions to address their issues. We also need greater local level accountability with the continuum of care funding distribution model used by hug to make more homeless dollars used to those with the greatest needs. And targeted Government Spending is particularly inappropriate at a time of elevated inflation. Hud should put into place Performance Measures that indicate whether the program is succeeding or failing, and reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness. Veterans represent a unique subgroup of the entire homeless population, as they are eligible for specialized federal programs and benefits. Despite tremendous success in reducing the number of Homeless Veterans over the last decade, tangible impediments remain in securing adequate housing for this group, including a severe shortage of affordable homes, under utilization of the hud vouchers, and a lack of va support and medical staff. Every single veteran should have a place to call home. This is why i have sponsored legislation like that reducing veteran homelessness act, which would make much needed improvements to both the hud dash and the grant programs, to make sure that every veteran has the resources they need to find a home. Nationwide, native americans have the second highest rate of homelessness according to the National Alliance to end homelessness is 2020 state of the homelessness report. Reservation, furthermore, for those native americans who live on the reservation, traditional homelessness tends to not be as big of a problem as under housing and overcrowding. According to a 2017 urban institute report, 16 of tribal area households were overcrowded, and 6 or severely overcrowded. Overall, there is a major lack of reliable data and research on native homelessness and overcrowding, and its something i believe hud should prioritize. Once again, i want to thank madam chair for holding this important hearing, and i look forward to this discussion on how to address homelessness in america, especially among our native and veteran populations. This is one area where republicans and democrats really do Work Together in a bipartisan fashion, and its one area that i really think we can find additional success. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you, senator rounds. I am not going to introduce our witnesses. I will introduce all five of you, and turn to each to make your opening statements. We have three witnesses who are with us in person today. And oliva, who is the chief executive officer of the National Alliance to end homelessness, isabella mcdavid, who is the cofounder and board president of work what works america, catherine america, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, and joining us remotely, we have cassie and brooke, assistant commissioner and executive director in the minnesota Inter Agency Council on homelessness, and jamie kershaw, board member from journey on, based in rapid city, south dakota. Welcome, and thank you all for your willingness to speak with us today. I look forward to hearing from each of you. Before you begin your opening statements, i just have a few reminders. Four witnesses and senators joining us by video, once you start speaking, there will be a slight delay before you are displayed on the screen, to minimize background noise, please click the mute button, until it is your turn to speak or ask questions. You should all have one box on your screens labeled clock, that will show you how much time is remaining. For all witnesses, you will have five minutes for your opening statements, your full, written statement will be made part of the record. For all senators, the five minute clock applies to your questions. If there is any technology issue, we will move on to the next witness until we get a figured out. And for that information, senators, we will have opportunities for everybody to ask all of your questions during the course of this hearing. I am happy to stay here as long as peoples questions are still ready to be answered. And i will now turn to miss oliva, for five minutes of opening statements. Thank you so much. Chairwoman smith, Ranking Member rounds, and members of the subcommittee, again, my aim is ann oliva i am the ceo of the National Alliance to end homelessness, and a board member of true colors united. Thank you again for having me testify today. I want to commend the subcommittee for the housing related relief measures in that that during the pandemic. I want to talk about the positive results of those investments momentarily, but first, i want to start with the data. All the reliable evidence tells us the situation for people experiencing homelessness its incredibly urgent. The homelessness crisis, which predates the pandemic, will persist without serious intervention. In 2020, hud reported two unfortunate firsts. We saw an increase in the number of people and families living unsheltered. And, we solve the number of individuals living on the streets exceed the number of individuals living in shelters for the first time. More than 580,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in january 2020, and one in the half Million People experienced sheltered homelessness at sometime in 2018. People of color and historically marginalized people are disproportionately impacted by homelessness. Families experiencing homelessness are typically headed by women. Many are headed by young parents, and they include a High Percentage of young children. Youth, veterans, and adults experience and chronic homelessness are suffering on our streets and in our shelters every day. And they the shows that more than half of shelter people and 40 of until three people work, but still cant afford housing. Most continuum of care that we surveyed believed that consulted homelessness has increased. Homelessnessbut our informatione field also indicates the number of families experiencing homelessness seems to have decreased during the pandemic. This is likely the result of pandemic relief measures like the tax credits, unemployment insurance, supplements, emergency rental assistance, the eviction moratorium, and other steps that the federal government took to