Homelessness

Fifty federal programs run by eight agencies provide services to the homeless. Of the 50 programs, 16 are targeted, or reserved for, the homeless, and 34 are nontargeted, or available to low-income persons generally. Although all of the nontargeted programs GAO identified may serve homeless people, the extent to which they do so is generally unknown because the primary purpose of these programs is to serve poor -- not homeless -- people and, therefore, most of the programs do not track the number of homeless people served. Both targeted and nontargeted programs provide an array of services, such as housing, health care, job training, and transportation. In some cases, programs operated by more than one agency offer the same type of service. For example, 23 programs run by four agencies offer housing, such as emergency shelter, transitional housing, and other housing assistance. Twenty-six programs run by six agencies offer food and nutrition services, including food stamps, school lunch subsidies, and supplements for food banks. In fiscal year 1997, more than $1.2 billion in obligations was reported for programs targeted to the homeless. Federal efforts to help the homeless are being coordinated in several ways, and many agencies have established performance measures for their efforts, as required by the Government Performance and Results Act.

GAO noted that: (1) 50 federal programs administered by eight federal agencies can provide services to homeless people; (2) of the 50 programs, 16 are targeted, or reserved for the homeless, and 34 are nontargeted, or available to low-income people generally; (3) while all of the nontargeted programs GAO identified may serve homeless people, the extent to which they do so is generally unknown; (4) both targeted and nontargeted programs provide an array of services, such as housing, health care, job training, and transportation; (5) in some cases, programs operated by more than one agency offer the same type of service; (6) 26 programs administered by six agencies offer food and nutrition services, including food stamps, school lunch subsidies, and supplements for food banks; (7) in fiscal year (FY) 1997, over $1.2 billion in obligations was reported for programs targeted to the homeless, and about $215 billion in obligations was reported for nontargeted programs that serve people with low incomes, which can include the homeless; (8) over three fourths of the funding for the targeted programs is provided through project grants, which are allocated to service providers and state and local governments through formula grants; (9) information is not available on how much of the funding for nontargeted programs is used to assist homeless people; (10) however, a significant portion of the funding for nontargeted programs is not used to serve the homeless; (11) about 20 percent of the funding for nontargeted programs provided through formula grants; (12) the remainder of the funding for nontargeted programs consists of direct payments and project grants; (13) federal efforts to assist the homeless are being coordinated in several ways, and many agencies have established performance measures for their efforts; (14) some departments administer specific programs jointly; (15) although some coordination is occurring through the use of these mechanisms and most agencies that administer targeted programs for the homeless have identified crosscutting responsibilities related to homelessness under the Government Performance and Results Act, the agencies have not yet described how they will coordinate or consolidate their efforts at the strategic level; and (16) most agencies have established process or output measures for the services they provide to the homeless through their targeted programs, but they have not consistently incorporated results-oriented goals and outcome measures related to homelessness in their plans.