“Ending homelessness” does not mean homelessness will never exist again.
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) indicates an end to homelessness means that every community will have a comprehensive response in place that ensures homelessness is prevented whenever possible, or if it can’t be prevented, it is a rare, brief and nonrecurring.
USICH is the only federal agency with the responsibility of ending homelessness. It works with partners in both the public and private sectors, to improve federal spending outcomes for homelessness. Additionally, it has established benchmarks for ending homelessness across subpopulations. These benchmarks help communities to evaluate their overall effectiveness.
For the Atlanta Continuum of Care, ending homelessness requires partners working together on a coordinated strategy to help neighbors in need. Homelessness is an ongoing crisis that exists 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Many people across the world enter into homelessness on a daily basis and our role as a CoC is to ensure there are adequate resources in place, and a clearly identified solution, that helps our vulnerable neighbors exit their homelessness experience quickly.