By Tricia Rosetti, Content Marketer
The initiative will help eight selected states and the District of Columbia expand services to help individuals experiencing homelessness get and keep stable housing.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Friday the “Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator,” which aims to help states leverage resources such as cross-sector partnerships and federal programs and resources to address homelessness.
HHS and HUD have selected eight states and the District of Columbia to participate in the program. The departments will support Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Washington for 12 months.
“Nobody in America should experience homelessness. Today we are taking important steps to help communities better access HHS’ programs to address homelessness and connect people with housing-related services and supports – which could be life changing,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “The Biden-Harris Administration has worked tirelessly to help people experiencing homelessness to provide needed services and supports that help them maintain that housing. We will continue to work on strengthening partnerships across housing, disability, aging, and health sectors and do everything we can to prevent and address homelessness.”
The program will offer states technical assistance to implement HHS’ recently issued guidance on services that can be covered under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. For example, states can improve access to health care through Medicaid section 1115 demonstrations that offer services such as housing transition services and case management to help individuals avoid lease violation, said HHS, adding that states can also connect individuals with HUD housing programs by covering short-term housing costs like security deposits and application fees.