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McKinney-Vento/SAMHSA Advocacy Materials




How is Your Congressperson Voting?

Over the past couple of weeks, Arizona’s Congressional delegation voted on vital legislation for children and working families.

Unemployment Benefits

Representatives John Shadegg, Jeff Flake and Trent Franks voted against a bill that extends unemployment benefits to out of work Arizonans. Shadegg, Flake and Franks’ were three of only twelve Congressmen in the entire U.S. Congress that voted against H.R. 3548, the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009.

H.R. 3548 extends unemployment for out-of-work Arizonans whose benefits would have run out at the end of the year. The benefit extension will ensure thousands of unemployed Arizonans can continue to provide for their families and boost local economies. Arizona has a 9.1% unemployment rate. To learn more about the extension click here.

Health Care

On November 7, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 220-215 in favor of health reform legislation with Arizona Representatives Gabrielle Giffords, Raul Grijalva, Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell and Ed Pastor voting YES. While H.R. 3962 is not perfect, it moves children's health forward in a number of ways. As the health care reform debate continues in Congress, CAA values the support of these members of our delegation in ensuring that Arizonans of every age will have the health care coverage they need. Representatives John Shadegg, Jeff Flake and Trent Franks voted NO on this health care reform legislation.




Locate Your Representatives



Arizona Delegates to the NAEH Conference "Hit the Hill"

The last week in July, the National Alliance to End Homelessness hosted its annual conference in Washington, DC. Your Arizona conference participants included:

The conference provided participants with three days of top notch keynoters as well as sessions featuring "best practices" from across the country. It also provided the perfect venue for access to our Arizona congressional delegates. We were able to contact (with the topic of discussion in parentheses):

Together, those who attended the conference will offer a session on "best practices" learned at the NAEH conference. It will be presented at the Coalition's 16th Annual Statewide Conference on Homelessness on October 27th.


Mark Clark, Jacki Taylor, Rep. Grabrielle Giffords,
Olivia Gutzman, Barbara Montrose, Amy Schwabenlender


Efrain Romero, Rep. Ed Pastor
Jacki Taylor, Olivia Gutzman, Barbara Montrose


Brandon Ashley, Jacki Taylor

Jacki Taylor, Jim Swift

Matthew Tulley, Jacki Taylor

Alex Moreno, Jacki Taylor, Olivia Gutzman, Barbara Montrose

Jacki Taylor, Matt Kaplan, Alex Moreno

Current Issues

HUD-VASH Op Ed 2007

In Phoenix today, Sam is spending time at a day program for elderly homeless adults, waiting for news from his behavioral health case manager or the veteran's case manager at the shelter where he lives. He is waiting to hear when he will be scheduled to receive a voucher for subsidized housing for those who are chronically homeless. Sam has been homeless for years, despite serving in our country's military.

Sam's situation is not an isolated story, and many veteran's do not have access to the kind of subsidy for which Fred has been approved. The National Alliance to End Homelessness has just released a report entitled Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans. The report shows that in Arizona alone, there are almost 4,000 veterans experiencing homelessness today.

And the problem is widespread. Nationwide, a shocking 195,827 veterans slept on the street, in shelter, or in transitional housing on any given night in 2006 and 495,400 were homeless over the course of the year, a number which represents a disproportionately large representation of veterans (approximately one-fourth) who contribute to the total homeless population in general.

The solution to ending homelessness among veterans is not a social enigma. Homeless veterans need the same things as all homeless people - access to affordable housing and, for those who are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression - social supports. As a nation, we certainly do not lack the knowledge to end homelessness among veterans. The answers are mapped out in both research and common sense.

Research shows that it will cost approximately $6 billion dollars to provide affordable housing and reduce chronic homelessness among veterans by half while preventing it among thousands more. This may seem costly, but it is $2 billion less than the amount of money the federal government currently spends each month on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and much less than the projected total cost of $1.2 trillion.

It is imperative that our Senators (McCain and Kyl) and Representatives (Franks, Shadegg, Pastor, Mitchell, Flake, Grijalva and Giffords) act now to support increased funding for a program with proven success - the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, jointly run by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs. With the current funding, this program is only able to serve a meager 1,780 veterans. If well funded, the program, which provides permanent housing subsidies and case management services to homeless veterans, including those with serious mental illness and substance use disorders, could significantly reduce homelessness and increase housing stability for veterans.

As the saying goes, "freedom is not free" and that means that we must start pursuing the funding for public policies that reflect our debt and gratitude to the soldiers who have served our country. We are a country with tremendous resources, and at the very minimum, we should be ensuring that our troops receive access to both stable, affordable housing and the social supports that help prevent homelessness. It is time to embark on a new and truly vital mission - preventing and ending homelessness among U.S. veterans.

McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Grants
Organizational Sign-On Letter

The National Alliance to End Homelessness requested the participation of service providers in their advocacy campaign to increase funding for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants. The Alliance gathered a total of 460 signatures nationally, including the following Arizona organizations:

McKinney-Vento Links

History and Background

McKinney-Vento Appropriations / Federal Budget