Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 18, 1994                   TAG: 9405180099
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

PLAN UNVEILED TO AID HOMELESS

The 100-page report, if approved by President Clinton and submitted to Congress, would be the first time the government has labeled homelessness as a major problem demanding large-scale federal action.

"We are ready to mobilize the powerful resources of the federal government to bring an end to this tragedy," said Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse Brown. He estimated that roughly 500,000 U.S. veterans are homeless at some time over the course of a year.

The plan, compiled by the Interagency Task Force on the Homeless, suggested that homeless people be taken in through short-term emergency shelters, given transitional housing while they undergo counseling or job training, then placed in affordable, permanent homes.

It also recommended a dramatic overhaul of present programs, and called for "emergency measures" to move homeless people back into society.

"We must remember that government's role is to help people help themselves," the report said. "The current homeless system across the country was not planned, but rather evolved as a result of uncoordinated efforts. ... The result is a disjointed approach which provides for some needs while ignoring others."

The administration described two classes of homeless people: those with long-term, disabling conditions and those in "crisis poverty," who are so poor that sudden tragedy, such as a house fire or the loss of a job, pushes them onto the streets.

"For people who live in poverty, homelessness is an ever-present threat," said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, chairman of the task force. "In the past, people have misunderstood the dynamics of homelessness. The plan we've delivered to the president ... attempts to comprehend and respond to these dynamics."

Cisneros said some aspects of the plan, such as funds to community groups, would begin immediately. Others require legislation. But, he said, the administration hopes to cut the homeless population by one-third by the end of Clinton's term.

The task force report estimated the nation's homeless population at 7 million at the close of the 1980s, with 600,000 on the street on any given night. Previous administrations put the figure at 600,000; the most recent draft of Tuesday's report gave a range between 4.95 million and 9.52 million.