Chronic Homelessness presents the most challenging barriers and highest social cost of the various forms of homelessness. This guide assists communities with developing plans to address these problems and effectively end homelessness.

The United States Interagency Council supports and encourages the development of local 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness. Planning to end homelessness –not to manage or maintenance –is new. Inspired by the President’s call to end this profile of homelessness and by city and county 10-year plans that have been developed across our country, these planning processes have offered new resources, new collaborations, and new energy to create solutions. By mid-2006, over 215 cities and counties had committed to such 10-year plans.

The Council’s work with federal departments and agencies promises new collaborative approaches and new funding opportunities at the national level. Our encouragement of Governors to create state interagency councils on homelessness will create new state level opportunities. Again, by 2006, 53 Governors had made such a commitment.

Most importantly, the new research and new technologies offer performance based, results oriented strategies to reduce and end homelessness. We have prioritized people on the streets and in long term stays in shelters, those experiencing “chronic homelessness.”They are the most vulnerable, visible, and costly.

This document is designed to guide your community through the steps of developing and implementing a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness. (USICH)