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The McKinney Act
The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (PL100-77) was the first
-- and remains the only -- major federal legislative response to homelessness.
This fact sheet provides a brief history of the McKinney Act, describes
its content and evolution, and summarizes recent trends in McKinney Act
legislation and funding. A list of resources for further reading is also
provided.
HISTORY
In the early 1980s, the initial responses to widespread and increasing
homelessness were primarily local. Homelessness was viewed by the Reagan
Administration as a problem that did not require federal intervention.
In 1983, the first federal task force on homelessness was created to provide
information to localities on how to obtain surplus federal property; this
task force did not address homelessness through programmatic or policy
actions.
In the years which followed, advocates around the country demanded that
the federal government acknowledge homelessness as a national problem
requiring a national response. With this goal in mind, the Homeless Persons'
Survival Act was introduced in both houses of Congress in 1986. This act
contained emergency relief measures, preventive measures, and long term
solutions to homelessness. Only small pieces of this proposal, however,
were enacted into law. The first, the Homeless Eligibility Clarification
Act of 1986, removed permanent address requirements and other barriers
to existing programs such as Supplemental Security Income, Aid to Families
with Dependent Children, Veterans Benefits, Food Stamps, and Medicaid.
Also in 1986, the Homeless Housing Act was adopted. This legislation created
the Emergency Shelter Grant program and a transitional housing demonstration
program; both programs were administered by the Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD).
In late 1986, legislation containing Title I of the Homeless Persons'
Survival Act -- emergency relief provisions for shelter, food, mobile
health care, and transitional housing -- was introduced as the Urgent
Relief for the Homeless Act. After an intensive advocacy campaign, the
legislation was passed by large bipartisan majorities in both houses of
Congress in 1987. After the death of its chief Republican sponsor, Representative
Stewart B. McKinney of Connecticut, the act was renamed the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. It was signed into law by a reluctant
President Ronald Reagan on July 22, 1987.
CONTENT
The McKinney Act originally consisted of fifteen programs providing a
range of services to homeless people, including emergency shelter, transitional
housing, job training, primary health care, education, and some permanent
housing. The McKinney Act contains nine titles:
* Title I of the McKinney Act includes a statement of six findings by
Congress and provides a definition of homelessness.
* Title II establishes and describes the functions of the Interagency
Council on the Homeless, an independent entity within the Executive Branch
composed of the heads of 15 federal agencies.
* Title III of the McKinney Act authorizes the Emergency Food and Shelter
Program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA).
* Title IV authorizes the emergency shelter and transitional housing programs
administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including
the Emergency Shelter Grant program (expanded from the program created
by the Homeless Housing Act in 1986), the Supportive Housing Demonstration
Program, Supplemental Assistance for Facilities to Assist the Homeless,
and Section 8 Single Room Occupancy Moderate Rehabilitation.
* Title V of the McKinney Act imposes requirements on federal agencies
to identify and make available surplus federal property, such as buildings
and land, for use by states, local governments, and nonprofit agencies
to assist homeless people.
* Title VI authorizes several programs administered by the Department
of Health and Human Services to provide health care services to homeless
persons, including the Health Care for the Homeless program, a Community
Mental Health Services block grant program, and two demonstration programs
providing mental health and alcohol and drug abuse treatment services
to homeless persons.
* Title VII of the McKinney Act authorizes four programs: the Adult Education
for the Homeless Program and the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
Program, both administered by the Department of Education; the Job Training
for the Homeless Demonstration Program, administered by the Department
of Labor; and the Emergency Community Services Homeless Grant Program,
administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.
* Title VIII amends the Food Stamp program to facilitate participation
in the program by persons who are homeless, and also expands the Temporary
Emergency Food Assistance Program, administered by the Department of Agriculture.
* Title IX of the McKinney Act extends the Veterans Job Training Act.
EVOLUTION
The McKinney Act has been amended four times: in 1988, 1990, 1992 and
1994. These amendments have, for the most part, expanded the scope and
strengthened the provisions of the original legislation.
In 1988, Congress amended the McKinney Act with relatively minor changes.
The 1988 amendments mostly served to expand eligible activities and to
modify the distribution of McKinney funds.
The 1990 amendments were more far reaching, altering the majority of programs
authorized by the original act. In addition to expanding eligible activities
for several McKinney Act programs, a few new programs were created. These
included the Shelter Plus Care program, which provides housing assistance
to homeless individuals with disabilities, mental illness, AIDS, and drug
or alcohol addiction, and a demonstration program within the Health Care
for the Homeless program to provide primary health care and outreach to
at-risk and homeless children. Also in 1990, the Community Mental Health
Services program was amended and given a new name: the Projects for Assistance
in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program. The 1990 amendments also
specified in greater detail the obligations of states and local educational
agencies in assuring the access of homeless children and youth to public
education. The amendments also increased the Education of Homeless Children
and Youth program's authorization and required states to make grants to
local educational agencies for the purpose of implementing the law.
The 1992 amendments modified and expanded Title IV of the McKinney Act,
the shelter and housing provisions. Included in these amendments were
the creation of "safe havens," or very low-cost shelter for
persons unwilling or unable to participate in supportive services; the
creation of a Rural Homeless Housing Assistance grant program; and the
consolidation of the mental health services demonstration program and
the alcohol and drug abuse treatment demonstration program into the Access
to Community Care and Effective Services and Support (ACCESS) program.
The ACCESS demonstration program was designed to fund projects that integrate
services for severely mentally ill people.
In 1994, Congress amended the Education of the Homeless Children and Youth
program and the Surplus Property Program. The amendments to the Education
of Homeless Children and Youth program provided local educational authorities
with greater flexibility in the use of funds; specified the rights of
homeless preschoolers to a free and appropriate public preschool education;
gave parents of homeless children and youth a voice regarding their children's
school placement; and required educational authorities to coordinate with
housing authorities. The 1994 amendments also removed military bases closed
under base-closure laws from the McKinney Act process and created a new
process under which service providers could apply to Local Redevelopment
Agencies to use property at closed bases to assist homeless persons.
RECENT TRENDS AND CURRENT STATUS
Since the passage of the McKinney Act in 1987, the McKinney Act programs
have been expanded, and funding has significantly increased. However,
McKinney programs have suffered setbacks in recent years. These programs
now face new challenges as homelessness persists unabated across the country.
Congress authorized just over $1 billion in expenditures for McKinney
Act programs for 1987 and 1988; however, a total $712 million was appropriated
for those years. In subsequent years, overall funding levels increased
from $350.2 million in FY87 to the all-time high of $1.49 billion in FY95.
Recently, however, support for McKinney Act programs has fluctuated. In
FY94, the Interagency Council on the Homeless lost its funding and was
made part of the White House's Domestic Policy Council. In FY95, funding
for the Job Training for the Homeless program was terminated. In FY96,
funding for McKinney programs was cut by a total of 27%. Several McKinney
programs saw their funding eliminated entirely. These programs included
the Adult Education for the Homeless program, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration
Project, the Emergency Community Services Homeless Grant Program, and
the Family Support Centers. Over the past few years, funding has been
partly restored to some of these programs, although few have surpassed
their FY95 funding levels.
More recently, a few McKinney Act programs have been repealed and some
may face dramatic restructuring. In 1998, consolidation legislation repealed
the Job Training for the Homeless program and the Adult Education for
the Homeless program. A current legislative proposal would consolidate
the shelter and housing programs administered by HUD. If adopted, the
proposal would distribute the bulk of the HUD Homeless Assistance funds
through block grants to cities and states; limit the authorized funding
level; and gradually decrease the amount of HUD money spent on supportive
services.
The Education for Homeless Children and Youth program faces reauthorization
in 1999 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization.
CONCLUSION
The McKinney Act has created valuable programs that have saved lives and
helped hundreds of thousands of Americans to regain stability. A 1995
evaluation of the HUD McKinney programs concluded that the programs "have
assisted significant numbers of homeless persons to regain independence
and permanent housing and at reasonable costs." A 1996 evaluation
of the HUD McKinney programs' Continuum of Care process noted that this
approach to implementing the programs has "given localities and states
new tools for addressing the problem of homelessness" (Fuchs and
McAllister, 1996). Similarly, a 1995 evaluation of the Health Care for
the Homeless (HCH) program found that HCH programs "represent innovative
and effective efforts to improve access to health and health-related services
for homeless people in the United States" (Cousineau, 1995). And
a 1995 evaluation of the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program
found that homeless children's access to school has improved significantly
since passage of the McKinney Act, and that "state coordinators and
local school district administrators have worked hard, with limited resources,
to ensure homeless children's and youth's access to a free, appropriate
education" (Anderson et al., 1995). All of these evaluations noted,
however, that the resources allocated to the McKinney programs are insufficient
to meet demand, and that lack of adequate funding limits the programs'
success.
While inadequate funding clearly impedes the effectiveness of the McKinney
Act programs, the McKinney Act's greatest weakness is its focus on emergency
measures -- it responds to the symptoms of homelessness, not its causes.
The McKinney Act was intended as a first step toward resolving homelessness;
in the absence of legislation containing farther reaching measures, homelessness
can only be expected to increase. In speaking on the floor of the Senate
when the McKinney Act was first introduced, then Senator Albert Gore (D-TN),
one of the bill's chief sponsors, said:
"(McKinney) is an essential first step towards establishing a national
agenda for action to eradicate homelessness in America... No one in this
body should believe that the legislation we begin considering today is
anything more than a first step towards reversing the record increase
in homelessness" (Congressional Record, p. S3683, March 23, 1987).
The McKinney Act was, and remains, landmark legislation. The programs
created by the McKinney Act are needed now more than ever, as homelessness
shows no signs of abating. However, after more than a decade of an emergency
response to a long-term crisis, it is clear that only by addressing the
causes of homelessness -- lack of jobs that pay a living wage, inadequate
benefits for those who cannot work, lack of affordable housing, and lack
of access to health care -- will homelessness be ended.
RESOURCES
Adler, Wendy Chris. Addressing Homelessness: Status of Programs Under
the Stewart B. McKinney Act and Related Legislation, 1991. Available for
$5.00 from the National Coalition for the Homeless, 1012 14th Street,
NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005; 202/737-6444.
Anderson, Leslie et al. An Evaluation of State and Local Efforts to Serve
the Educational Needs of Homeless Children and Youth, 1995. Available,
free, from the U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Ave., SW,
Room 4168, Washington, DC 20202-8240; 202/401 0590.
Cousineau, Michael et al. A Study of the Health Care for the Homeless
Program: Final Report, 1995. Available, free, from the National Clearinghouse
for Primary Care Information, 2070 Chain Bridge Rd., Suite 450, Vienna,
VA 22182-2536; 800/400-2742. In the Washington, DC metro area: 703/902-1248.
Foscarinas, Maria. "The Federal Response: The Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act," in Homelessness in America, 1996. Available
for $43.50 from the National Coalition for the Homeless, 1012 14th Street,
NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005; 202/737-6444.
Fuchs, Ester and William McAllister. The Continuum of Care: A Report on
the New Federal Policy to Address Homelessness, 1996. Available from Community
Connections, PO Box 7189, Gaithersburg, MD 20898-7189; 800/998-9999.
Hombs, Mary Ellen. American Homelessness: A Reference Handbook. Second
Edition, 1994. Available for $39.50 from ABC-CLIO, Inc., PO Box 1911,
Santa Barbara, CA 93116 1911. 800/422-2546.
National Coalition for the Homeless. Necessary Relief: The Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, 1988. Available for $1.00 from the National
Coalition for the Homeless, 1012 14th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington,
DC 20005; 202/737-6444.
National
Coalition for the Homeless. Unfinished Business: The Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act After Two Years, 1990. Available for $3.00 from
the National Coalition for the Homeless, 1012 14th Street, NW, Suite 600,
Washington, DC 20005; 202/737-6444.
U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Review of Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Programs Administered by HUD: Report to Congress, 1995. Available,
free, from HUD User, P.O. Box 6091, Rockville, MD 20849; 1-800-245-2691.
Last
updated - April 1999 - National Coalition for the Homeless
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