SELHA Introduced in Senate

Below is from Jersey City Police Officer Dina Reilly, as Hamilton Park's homeless population is often brought up in neighborhood meetings.

The Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act (SELHA) was introduced on Feb. 14 by Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Jack Reed (D-RI), with original co-sponsors Bill Nelson (D-FL), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), and Susan Collins (R-ME). The bill, S. 593, calls for the establishment of a grant program for services in supportive housing.

"This legislation is critical to ending long-term homelessness in the next decade," said Deborah De Santis, President and CEO of CSH. "If enacted, SELHA would create an efficient mechanism for the federal Department of Health and Human Services to fund services in supportive housing for the long-term homeless, which would in turn leverage other streams of local, state, and federal funding needed to make supportive housing work for this vulnerable population."

The legislation was developed by a broad coalition led by CSH, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Alliance for Mental Illness, Enterprise, and the National AIDS Housing Coalition. For more information, visit http://www.csh. org/elhsi

Click to read CSH President and CEO Deborah De Santis' letters to Senator Burr and Senator Reed.