November 24, 2004
ROMNEY RENEWS COMMITMENT TO HELPING THE HOMELESS
Pledges full funding for homeless programs in 2006 budget
ROXBURY- Reiterating his commitment to helping the Commonwealth’s most needy citizens, Governor Mitt Romney today announced that his Fiscal Year 2006 budget will preserve full funding for programs that serve homeless individuals and families.
“Over the past two years, my Administration has placed a high priority on developing tools that strike at the root of homelessness,” said Romney, after serving meals with his wife, Ann, at Morgan Memorial Goodwill’s Annual Thanksgiving Dinner. “For the third year in a row, my budget proposal will include full funding to help homeless families and individuals turn their lives around.”
Each of Romney’s past budget submissions has included full funding for programs that serve the homeless despite having to manage through a $3 billion budget deficit his first year in office. In Fiscal Year 2004, Romney approved spending $135 million on homeless programs and, in Fiscal Year 2005, he signed into law $139 million in spending. In Fiscal Year 2006, Romney pledged to maintain that level of funding.
In addition to maintaining financial support, the Romney administration has also developed and implemented innovative programs and policies to combat homelessness. Nearly a year ago, Romney created the Interagency Council on Homelessness and Housing chaired by Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. Since the launch of the council, homeless families are already seeing results.
In August, Healey announced that the number of homeless families living in motels had been reduced from 599 to zero over the course of a year thanks to a voluntary rapid re-housing program.
The Administration is also working to increase housing for low income families; emphasizing prevention by improving post shelter housing services; improving inter-agency service coordination to address the full range of challenges facing the homeless; and enhancing data collection and reporting to speed assistance to homeless.
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