On May 20, 2009 President Obama signed the Homeless Emergency and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009 into law. The HEARTH Act will provide communities with new resources and better tools to prevent and end homelessness.

In September, 2010, HUD hosted two National conferences, in Denver and Atlanta, to discuss the new HEARTH Act and HMIS.

 

More information from the conferences

The HEARTH Act:

• Increases priority on homeless families with children, by providing new resources for rapid re-housing programs, designating funding to permanently house families, and ensuring that families are included in the chronic homelessness initiative.
• Significantly increases resources to prevent homelessness for people who are at risk of homelessness, doubled up, living in hotels, or in other precarious housing situations through the emergency solutions program.
• Continues to provide incentives for developing permanent supportive housing (link to new PSH page) and provides dedicated funding for permanent housing renewals.
• Grants rural communities greater flexibility in utilizing McKinney funds.
• Modestly expands the definition of homelessness to include people who are losing their housing in the next 14 days and who lack resources or support networks to obtain housing as well as families and youth who are persistently unstable and lack independent housing and will continue to do so.

For more information:

National Alliance to End Homelessness information on
the HEARTH Act