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WILKES-BARRE — Homelessness has declined in Pennsylvania, according to the latest national estimate from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found the total number of persons experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania on a single night in 2017 fell 7.8 percent.
Local communities in Pennsylvania reported a 12.9 percent decrease in the number of homeless people in families and a 15.2 percent decrease in veteran homelessness.
“In many high-cost areas of our country, especially along the West Coast, the severe shortage of affordable housing is manifesting itself on our streets,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson in a news release. “With rents rising faster than incomes, we need to bring everybody to the table to produce more affordable housing and ease the pressure that is forcing too many of our neighbors into our shelters and onto our streets. This is not a federal problem — it’s everybody’s problem.”
Joe DeFelice, Regional Administrator of HUD’s Mid-Atlantic region, said while there’s an average decrease of 6.6 percent in total homelessness across the Mid-Atlantic region, the work is far from finished.
“We must continue to build on our progress and find enduring solutions to end all homelessness in the region,” DeFelice said. “Every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home.”
HUD’s national estimate is based upon data reported by approximately 3,000 cities and counties across the nation. Every year on a single night in January, planning agencies called ‘Continuums of Care’ and tens of thousands of volunteers seek to identify the number of individuals and families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs and in unsheltered settings.
These one-night “snapshot” counts — in addition to quarterly counts from some communities and data from other sources (U.S. Housing Survey, Department of Education) — are crucial in understanding the scope of homelessness and measuring progress toward reducing it.
On a single night in January 2017, state and local planning agencies in Pennsylvania reported:
• 14,138 people experienced homelessness, representing a 7.8 percent decrease between 2016 and January 2017. Most homeless people (12,340) were located in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs while 1,798 were unsheltered.
• The number of homeless people in families experiencing homelessness declined 12.9 percent since 2016.
• Veteran homelessness decreased by 15.2 percent between 2016 and January 2017. On a single night in January 2017, 963 veterans were experiencing homelessness.
• Chronic or long-term homelessness among individuals increased by 13.5 percent over 2016 levels but has declined 10 percent since 2010.
• The number of unaccompanied homeless youth and children in 2017 is estimated to be 756. This year, HUD and local communities launched an intense effort to more accurately account for this important, difficult-to-count population. HUD will treat 2017 as a baseline year for purposes of tracking progress toward reducing youth homelessness.
Farm tax credits available
to help with conservation
Pennsylvania farmers who want to implement best management practices (BMPs) or purchase on-farm conservation equipment should apply for 2017-18 Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) tax credits.
REAP is a Pennsylvania program for agricultural producers who install BMPs or make equipment purchases that reduce nutrient and sediment runoff, which improves Pennsylvania’s streams and watersheds. The program is administered by Pennsylvania’s State Conservation Commission, which provides support and oversight to state county conservation districts.
“Ten years ago, we developed REAP in partnership with the General Assembly, as a new way to encourage and improve conservation efforts on Pennsylvania farms,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “Since then, farmers have implemented more than 4,800 projects, with impressive results. Their efforts have kept nearly 12 million pounds of nitrogen, nearly 800,000 pounds of phosphorus, and more than 700,000 tons of sediment where they belong: in our fields, where they contribute to agricultural productivity, rather than threatening our waterways and the species that call them home.”
Farmers may receive tax credits of up to $150,000 per agricultural operation for 50 to 75 percent of the project’s cost. The most commonly approved projects are for no-till planting and precision ag equipment, waste storage facilities, Conservation Plans, Nutrient Management Plans, and protecting barnyards and other areas with animals. Cover crops and riparian stream buffers are also popular REAP-eligible practices. REAP can be used in conjunction with other funding sources, such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program or the Chesapeake Bay Program.
REAP applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Private investors may act as project sponsors by providing capital in exchange for tax credits. Any individual or business subject to taxation through personal income tax, corporate net income tax, the bank shares tax or other taxes is eligible to participate.
Summit’s focus: Reducing
mental illness in local jails
A two-day summit bringing together county leaders from across Pennsylvania was held recently as part of Stepping Up, a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illness in jails.
The Pennsylvania Stepping Up Summit hosted elected county leaders, state officials, representatives from state and national organizations, and others to discuss challenges, best practices, and advance their plans for measuring and reducing the prevalence of mental illness in local jails.
“Despite the best efforts of communities to make an impact, there are more people with mental illnesses in local jails than ever before, the majority of which don’t pose a public safety risk,” said John Wetzel, secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections. “I applaud the counties and leaders who are coming together to evaluate what their jails are doing and defining concrete steps so that they can take action and measure progress once they return home.”
Pennsylvania has already advanced a number of strategies to fund treatment, supervision, and community support for people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. Those include establishing Criminal Justice Advisory Boards in nearly every county in the state; providing innovation grants that focus on diversion programs; establishing funding for housing supports; and improving information sharing in local communities.
At the summit, county teams attended work sessions related to the commitment of their local leadership, their use of screening and assessments, the existing level of baseline data in their county, the degree to which they track progress, and other considerations. As participants, Stepping Up counties receive access to an online toolkit to assist with their efforts.
