USICH Holds Final Council Meeting of 2024

Under the leadership of Secretary Xavier Becerra of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary Tom Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) met on December 16 for its final meeting of Calendar Year 2024 and the first meeting of Fiscal Year 2025. This meeting also marked the last meeting under the leadership of USICH Executive Director Jeff Olivet, whose final day of service was December 16.  

USICH, the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Council agencies reviewed key activities and accomplishments towards implementation of All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, including:   

• A final summary report is forthcoming concerning the completion of ALL INside, the Biden-Harris Administration's signature, a seven-community initiative to address unsheltered homelessness.
• The publication of the 19 Strategies for Communities Address Encampments Humanely and Effectively and accompanying webinar and community spotlights. 
• The first-ever federal homelessness prevention framework, Ending Homelessness Before It Starts, was released, with accompanying community spotlights. 
• The launch of the Housing and Services Resource Center and the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator. 
• The development and publication of From Evidence to Action was the first federal research agenda in over a decade. 
• Collaboration between the VA, HUD, and other Council agencies resulted in Veteran homelessness reaching its lowest levels since 2009  

Leaders from HHS, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the Office of Head Start, and the Department of Education (ED), briefed the Council on homelessness among families with children and students enrolled in public schools, respectively.   

After a 29% reduction in homelessness among families with children between 2010 and 2020, this population has increased in recent years and now makes up one-third of the overall homeless population. Similarly, homelessness among public school students has been rising after several years of downward progress, with 1.375 million homeless identified by public schools during School Year 2022-23. As with homelessness among other subpopulations, much of this increase can be attributed to the end of pandemic-era protections such as eviction moratoria, income support, and the availability of non-congregate shelters. Speakers emphasized the importance of upstream prevention and interagency coordination at all levels of government in reversing these upward trends.   

The USICH Chair and Vice-Chair concluded the meeting by emphasizing the importance of improving federal programs and policies to respond to the needs of state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies and thanking the Council for its leadership in these efforts.