The House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity convened a hearing on July 13, 2004, on the Samaritan Initiative Act (HR 4057). Sponsored by Representative Rick Renzi (R-AZ), HR 4057 fights chronic homelessness by distributing $70 million in grants for supportive housing projects.

To view the text of the legislation, click here.

As envisioned in the legislation, supportive housing for the chronically homeless helps reinforce mental illness and substance abuse treatment services. An editorial in the Boston Globe stated: "With a secure place to live, [chronically homeless adults] could work more effectively to manage drug addictions, mental illnesses, and developmental delays."

To view this Boston Globe editorial, click here.

The grant program proposed by the Samaritan Initiative Act would be administered by three federal agencies – Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Philip Mangano, head of the Interagency Council, has also participated
in the Re-Entry Policy Council, an unprecedented national initiative coordinated by CSG to develop bipartisan recommendations to improve the likelihood that adults released from prison or jail will avoid crime and become productive, healthy members of families and communities.

To view Mr. Mangano's testimony at the hearing, click here.