On April 2, U.S. House and Senate introduced the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (or HEARTH Act)— a bill to reauthorize HUD's McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs. The Senate bill (S. 808) was introduced by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Kit Bond (R-MO), and 11 other Senators. The House bill (H.R. 1877) was introduced by Representatives Gwen Moore (D-WI), Judy Biggert (R-IL), and 5 other House Members. The House and Senate bills are nearly identical to a version that passed the House last year, which itself was a compromise between a bill that passed the House Financial Services Committee in July 2008, and one that passed the Senate Banking Committee in September 2007.

The HEARTH Act will provide communities with new resources and better tools to prevent and end homelessness. The bill:

• Increases priority on homeless families with children, by providing new resources for rapid re-housing programs, designating funding to permanently house families, and ensuring that families are included in the chronic homelessness initiative.
• Significantly increases resources to prevent homelessness for people who are at risk of homelessness, doubled up, living in hotels, or in other precarious housing situations through the Emergency Solutions Grant program.
• Continues to provide incentives for developing permanent supportive housing and provides dedicated funding for permanent housing renewals.
• Grants rural communities greater flexibility in utilizing McKinney funds.
• Modestly expands the definition of homelessness to include people who are losing their housing in the next 14 days and who lack resources or support networks to obtain housing, as well as families and youth who are persistently unstable and lack independent housing and will continue to do so.

View link below for additional resources from the National Alliance pertaining to the HEARTH Act.