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Homelessness Task Force |
SB |
SJM 63 |
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FY03 |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates: SJM 52
Relates to SB 208
Department
of Health (DOH)
Health
Policy Commission (HPC)
New
Mexico Correction Department (NMCD)
Children
Youth and Families Department (CYFD)
New
Mexico State Department of Education (NMSDE)
Human
Services Department (HSD)
New
Mexico Department of Labor (NMDOL)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate
Joint Memorial 63 (SJM 63) requests that the Department of Health (DOH) convene
a task force, in cooperation with local, state and federal agencies, including
providers of support and services to the homeless, to address the chronic
problem of homelessness and to better provide access to mainstream services to
this population. The task force would be
comprised of members representing the following departments: Human Services
(HSD), Children, Youth & Families, (CYFD), Labor (DOL), Public Education
(SDE), and Corrections (DOC); the New Mexico (NM) Veterans’ Service Commission,
the NM Health Policy Commission, the NM Mortgage Finance Authority, and service
providers.
SJM 63 would require that a state plan to address chronic
homelessness be developed, to include economic development incentives,
affordable housing and integrated health and educational supports, therapeutic
daycare, substance abuse and behavioral health treatment. Further, findings and recommendations would
be presented to the governor and the appropriate interim legislative committee
before the second session of the forty-sixth legislature and copies of SJM 63
would be distributed to all agencies comprising the task force.
Significant
Issues
DOH states
that SJM 63 would provide opportunity for public and private organizations to
collectively address the issue of homelessness in New Mexico (NM), recognizing
that the problem is complex and requires a comprehensive, collaborative
approach to determine solutions. SJM 63
would enhance the work of the NM Policy Academy Team on Homelessness through
this collaborative effort and assure that all stakeholders work towards a
statewide plan to include economic development, affordable housing and
therapeutic interventions.
The number of
homeless persons in NM stands at approximately 13,000 in any given time, costing
local communities approximately $40,000 per year per person for the provision
of emergency shelter and other support services. Families with children and persons with
disabilities, particularly veterans, make up the wide distribution of homeless
persons who seek emergency shelters and who utilize emergency room care due to
the lack of access to appropriate primary health care services.
The SDE currently receives the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance grant. The Education
for Homeless Children and Youth program was enacted in 1987 as Title VII,
Subtitle B, of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, and most
recently amended by the No Child Left Behind Act. The purpose of this program is to ensure that
all homeless children and youth have equal access to the same free appropriate
public education as is provided to other children and youth.
DUPLICATION, RELATIONSHIP
Duplicates
SJM 52
Relates
to SB 208 that would appropriate one million dollars to the HSD to fund
emergency shelters, transitional housing, mental health, veterans and case
management services, therapeutic childcare and rent assistance.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
SJM063 includes agencies relative to
homelessness in
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
In September
2001, the NM DOH submitted an application to the federal Department of Health
& Human Services (DHHS), who in conjunction with the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Health
Systems Research, Inc., granted NM approval to participate in a
The Department
of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 1999 study entitled The Forgotten
Americans: Homeless Programs and the People They Serve, states that when
homeless people obtain housing assistance and needed services such as health
care, substance abuse treatment, mental health services, education and
supported employment, 76% of those living in families and 60% of those living
alone end their homeless status and move to an improved living situation after
completion of the assistance program.
DOH says that
nationally, efforts to end homelessness are on the radar screen. The development of a statewide plan, that supports the physical and behavioral health needs
of homeless persons, including appropriate housing and treatment interventions
would put NM on the right track to address a complex issue that requires the
collaboration between multi state and local government organizations, local
providers and consumers.
BD/ls/njw