In an effort to combat the crisis of homelessness nationwide, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced its new All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and Homelessness aimed at the "bold but achievable goal" of reducing the country’s unhoused population by 25% by the year 2025.

The plan expands on a slate of "proven" evidence-based strategies (including, most especially, the so-called "Housing First" model) and will allow states to set their own goals within the timeframe and use the White House’s blueprint as a guideline.

"My plan offers a roadmap for not only getting people into housing but also ensuring that they have access to the support, services, and income that allow them to thrive," President Biden said at the announcement. "It is a plan that is grounded in the best evidence and aims to improve equity and strengthen collaboration at all levels."

According to the White House and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the number of people experiencing homelessness has increased by 6% since the year 2016, despite efforts included in the American Rescue Plan and other Covid-19 economic countermeasures to keep people off the streets. The new plan will therefore address these increases through the following four measures beginning early next year:

• Full-time federal assistance: "A community response team will develop and execute a new local strategy over two years to reduce unsheltered homelessness. The team will be made up of a full-time lead and part-time federal program experts, including a USICH senior regional advisor, who will work in partnership with elected and local leaders, homeless service providers, and people who have prior or current experience of homelessness."
• Maximum flexibility and regulatory relief: "The community response teams will identify problems and USICH will lead a task force to identify solutions and minimize red tape and bureaucratic processes."
• Technical support and additional capacity: "The federal government will help participating communities utilize and analyze all available data."
• Volunteer support: "Agencies will provide volunteers for outreach to people experiencing homelessness and access to peer-to-peer networks to exchange best practices and approaches."

"Ending unsheltered homelessness will require a coordinated effort to promote healthy and safe communities where all can live in dignity," a statement from the administration reads finally. "Effective practices, such as using an emergency management approach to resolve encampments by rapidly moving people into housing with services and supports, are starting to emerge as national models. Although each community is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution, these practices could be successfully replicated in communities facing the growing challenge of unsheltered homelessness."