MEASURE TO KEEP HOMELESS SHELTERS OPEN ADVANCES

With homelessness rising, legislative leaders support funding youth shelters

AUGUSTA—A bill aimed at keeping Maine’s existing emergency youth homeless shelters funded and open will move forward for consideration by the full legislature after a 7 to 3 vote by a panel of legislative leaders earlier today.

“An Act to End Homelessness,” (LR 2404) will re-appropriate funding from the closure of Halcyon House in Skowhegan to other emergency youth homeless shelters in Lewiston and Portland, and other community shelters.

“Without these shelters and the services they provide, the people who depend upon them will end up in jail or in the hospital, which is more expensive,” said Senator Craven, a Democrat from Lewiston, the sponsor of the bill. “Safe housing is a basic right. These shelters ensure the safety, health, and well-being for some of our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Portland, Lewiston, and other communities across Maine are experiencing record numbers of people who are homeless, including a surge of homeless youth. During 2013, about 40 Maine shelters received 20% less in funding due to federal and state reductions. Most homeless shelters in Maine are funded through the Maine Housing Emergency Solutions Grants Program.

“It’s hard to keep the doors open without consistent or adequate funding,” added Senator Craven. “There is only one 24-hour shelter in Maine–all the others are “overnight” shelters which means young people have to leave during the day. Having no one to look after them to make sure they go to school or are in a safe place during the day is not going to help youth rise out of poverty.”

Barbara Poppe, an Obama Administration official from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, is the keynote speaker on youth homelessness at today’s 2013 Maine Affordable Housing Conference in Portland. During her visit to Maine, Poppe has spent time visiting local homeless shelters and praised Maine’s work on the issue of youth homelessness, but noted that the continuing rise of youth without housing is concerning. The Obama Administration through its Open Doors plan is committed to ending youth and family homelessness by 2020.

For the second regular session of the legislature, bills must be approved by the Legislative Council, a committee comprised of the ten legislative leaders. The Legislative Council met today to consider 401 bills for the second regular session, including Senator Craven’s bill.

The full legislature will reconvene in January 2014.

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