Press Room

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of state prisoners in the United States has declined, according to Prison Count 2010," a new survey by the Pew Center on the States. As of January 2010, there were 1,403,091 persons under the jurisdiction of state prison authorities, 5,739 fewer than on December 31, 2008.

Today, Fannie Mae announced the results of its 22nd annual Help the Homeless Program, the nation's largest fund-raising effort focused on homelessness. In 2009, the D.C. metropolitan area came together to raise $5.8 million for 134 regional non-profit organizations serving people who are either homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. More than 117,000 people raised funds through the Help the Homeless Walkathon on the National Mall, 657 community Mini-Walks, corporate sponsorships, and related activities.

The number of Veterans homeless on a typical night dropped 18 percent as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) entered the second year of its campaign to eliminate homelessness among Veterans within five years.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation announced today an additional $25 million allocation for social investments – a set of strategies that would use endowment dollars to generate financial returns as well as social returns that advance the Foundation’s mission to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced today competitive research grants totaling nearly $6 million to 13 institutions to explore how housing matters to children, families, and communities. The grants will be used to produce a base of empirical evidence to show how housing affects children’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development and how housing choices shape the economic, physical, and emotional well-being of adults.

A radio interview with REDF's Carla Javits.

Hawaii has taken bold steps to house the homeless during the past few years, opening six new shelters since May 2006 and helping thousands of people with no roofs over their heads. Overall, the number of people taking refuge at homeless shelters on Oahu has grown steadily, reaching 5,311 in the last year, up from 3,857 in 2005, according to the Center on the Family at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. But Honolulu's street population shot up even faster.

Housing first isn't going to be a cure for all Anchorage's problems with alcohol. And it's not rehab for the people who live there. But studies show when you take chronic alcoholics off the streets, they drink less, and that means fewer visits to emergency rooms, the sleep-off center and jail. That saves a lot of public money.

Every year, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce sends a delegation to Washington, D.C. to push for business-friendly policies and vie for federal funds. In the past, they’ve tackled issues related to mass transit, water and education. The Chamber is returning to the nation’s capital March 15-17, but the lobbying agenda includes a new issue this time: homelessness.

Ohio is violating the constitutional rights of mentally ill inmates by releasing them without proper access to follow-up care, a prisoners' rights group alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.