The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness released “All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness” on December 19.

The Plan is a multi-year roadmap “to create the systemic changes needed to end homelessness in our country.” The Plan establishes an initial goal to reduce overall homelessness by 25% from the Point-in-Time Count in 2022 by 2025. To drive progress toward this ambitious goal, USICH will develop implementation work plans and begin putting the strategies in the plan into action during this fiscal year.

“While housing is the solution to homelessness, the United States suffers from a severe shortage of safe, affordable, and accessible rental housing,” the Plan says. With hundreds of others, LeadingAge commented on the Plan’s development in December 2021, calling for a national focus on preventing and ending homelessness among older adults, which is on the rise, and improving data on older adults experiencing homelessness.

“After steady declines from 2010 to 2016, homelessness in America has been rising, and more individuals are experiencing it in unsheltered settings, such as encampments. This increase stems from decades of growing economic inequality exacerbated by a global pandemic, soaring housing costs, and housing supply shortfalls,” the Plan says.

As part of the Plan’s strategy to maximize the use of existing federal housing assistance, USICH and relevant member agencies will conduct a comprehensive review of available policy mechanisms that can increase access to federal housing programs among people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including eligibility, admissions preferences, referral partnerships, funding incentives, and administrative fees.