POLICY CHANGE AND ACTION STRATEGIES
Working with local governments, service providers, advocates, and homeless people, HomeBase works to identify needed areas of policy change and then to promote those changes at the federal, state and/or local level.

Fund Development & Finance Reform

Policy Change & Action Strategies

		Enhancing Access to Mainstream Funding to Cover Homeless Services
		Expanding the Supply of Affordable Housing and Supportive Housing
		Mainstreaming the Response to Homelessness

Program Design & Operations

Follow HomeBase
on Twitter!

Expanding the Supply of Affordable Housing and Supportive Housing

Access to affordable housing is absolutely essential to the effort to end homelessness, however, affordable housing is in critical short supply in most of our nation's communities. HomeBase works tirelessly to advocate that federal, state and local monies for affordable housing be sustained, and where possible expanded. In addition, we work with communities to implement other creative strategies that make the most of existing housing, including the development of master leasing programs using existing, but under-utilized hotels or other multi-family structures and the organization of landlord education and outreach efforts to expand the utility of Section 8 vouchers, especially in tight housing markets. HomeBase also works to facilitate partnerships between housing developers and service providers for the development of supportive housing units for people who are chronically homeless or have ongoing needs for assistance, and we work with communities to facilitate neighborhood acceptance of new housing and supportive housing programs.

Housing for Youth

HomeBase has worked in collaboration with the Corporation for Supportive Housing and ICF Consulting to facilitate two U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) foster youth housing events. The first event "All the Way Home: Creating Partnerships to House Emancipated Foster and Homeless Youth" was held October 28, 2003, in Oakland, CA. The second conference, "A Home of Their Own, Creating Partnerships to House Emancipated, Foster and Homeless Youth" was held in Los Angeles on December 1, 2004.

Both of these conferences focused on creating partnerships between service providers, developers, funders and landlords in an effort to create more housing for emancipating and homeless youth. Panelists at both conferences included speakers who already have a program to house emancipating youth, developers and funders who wish to help create more housing for the youth, and foster and emancipated youth themselves. The participation and attendance at these conferences was quite broad, but the overall goal was the same throughout. That aim is to find ways to ensure that all youth leaving the foster care system have a home in which to live.

To download conferences materials from either the Oakland conference or the LA Conference, please click on the appropriate link below.

Master Leasing: An Effective Tool For Expanding Affordable Housing Options For Homeless People

Master leasing, a legal arrangement in which a master tenant subleases units to subtenants, is a strategy that can expand homeless people's access to affordable housing. With many programs seeking to implement a "Housing First" approach with their homeless clients, master leasing provides a means for accessing housing units that can then be used for clients who are often unattractive to landlords, such as those who have bad credit histories or problems with addiction or mental illness. In addition, by developing collaborative arrangements with providers of services needed by the clients, master leasing becomes a quick way to bring vitally needed supportive housing units on line.