The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) is a federal agency charged with coordinating the federal response to homelessness and creating a national partnership at every level of government and with the private sector to reduce and end homelessness in the nation. USICH also is charged with working with its 19 member agencies to develop and implement a federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness.
History of the Council
Formerly known as the Interagency Council on the Homeless, USICH was authorized by Title II of the landmark Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act enacted on July 22, 1987 (PL 100-77). The council was created as an “independent establishment” within the executive branch to review the effectiveness of federal activities and programs to assist people experiencing homelessness, promote better coordination among agency programs, and inform state and local governments and public and private sector organizations about the availability of federal homeless assistance. In 2002, council members voted to change the name of the agency to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. This change was enacted into law in 2004 (PL 108-199).
The most recent reauthorization (PDF, 72 pages) of USICH occurred in 2009 with enactment of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. (PL 111-22).
Council Membership
The current members of the council include the heads of the following 19 departments and agencies:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Commerce
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Education
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- U.S. Department of Justice
- U.S. Department of Labor
- U.S. Department of Transportation
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- AmeriCorps (formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service)
- General Services Administration
- Social Security Administration
- United States Postal Service
- White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives
- Office of Management and Budget
Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
The council released its most recent strategic plan, All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (PDF, 104 pages)(herein referred to as All In), in December 2022. This plan is a multiyear, interagency blueprint for a future in which no one experiences homelessness, and everyone has a safe, stable, accessible, and affordable home. It serves as a roadmap for federal action to ensure state and local communities have sufficient resources and guidance to build the effective, lasting systems required to end homelessness. Although it is a federal plan, local communities can use it to collaboratively develop local and systems-level plans for preventing and ending homelessness. The plan sets an ambitious interim goal to reduce homelessness by 25 percent by January 2025 and sets us on a path to end homelessness for all Americans. The plan builds on former federal strategic plans to prevent and end homelessness and is organized around three foundational pillars—Lead with Equity, Use Data and Evidence to Make Decisions, and Collaborate at All Levels—and three solutions-focused pillars—Scale Housing and Supports That Meet Demand, Improve the Effectiveness of the Homelessness Response System, and Prevent Homelessness. Each pillar includes strategies that the federal government will pursue to facilitate increased availability of and access to housing, economic security, health care, and stability for all Americans. For a summary of all six pillars, please visit All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (PDF, 104 pages) and read page 11 of All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.
Strategies to Address Youth Homelessness
All In includes multiple strategies to address youth homelessness, including the following:
- Increasing the supply and impact of permanent supportive housing for individuals and families with complex service needs, including unaccompanied, pregnant, and parenting youth and young adults.
- Improving the effectiveness of rapid rehousing for individuals and families, including unaccompanied, pregnant, and parenting youth and young adults.
- Reducing housing instability among youth and young adults, especially at key transition points, such as exits from foster care or disconnection from family, school, and/or work, to prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place.
- Promoting the creation of local youth advisory councils comprising young people to partner and lead the design and implementation of programs that focus on youth homelessness.
- Exploring the feasibility of expanding existing programs that target youth or young adults.
Because we know that LGBTQI+ youth are at greater risk for experiencing homelessness and represent up to 40 percent of the youth homeless population, addressing youth homelessness also is a matter of advancing equity priorities within the plan.
Resources
All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (PDF, 104 pages)
All In is a multiyear, interagency blueprint for a future in which no one experiences homelessness, and everyone has a safe, stable, accessible, and affordable home. It serves as a roadmap for federal action to ensure that state and local communities have sufficient resources and guidance to build the effective, lasting systems required to end homelessness. The plan sets an ambitious interim goal to reduce homelessness by 25 percent by January 2025 and sets us on a path to end homelessness for all Americans.
Federal Programs to End Homelessness
Many federal programs are designed to help prevent and end homelessness. Some are specifically targeted toward this goal, whereas others, referred to as “mainstream programs,” are available to all low-income persons who meet eligibility criteria. Select each agency’s name on this page to learn about what different agencies are doing to end homelessness.
