National Technical Assistance Center on Chronic Homelessness

The most disenfranchised and hardest-to-serve homeless people—the "chronically homeless"— are those who are homeless for long periods, have complex needs, and use a disproportionate amount of services.

In an effort to reduce the number of chronically homeless individuals, The National Center is engaged in the Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness (The Initiative). This Initiative, being implemented at eleven sites, aims to improve these individuals' access to services by moving them from streets and shelters into permanent housing linked to services.

To support the eleven sites in development and implementation of their comprehensive plans to end chronic homelessness in their communities, The National Center, in collaboration with The CDM Group Inc. and New England Research Institute, has formed the National Technical Assistance Center on Chronic Homelessness (NTACH). Technical assistance expertise available through NTACH includes creating mechanisms to increase coordination and collaboration across the sites and partner agencies. Major activities include assisting sites in coordinating services, implementing evidence-based practices, and leveraging mainstream resources.

The Initiative is coordinated by the United States Interagency Council on the Homeless. The eleven sites are in California (3 sites), Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

NTACH is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Funding for the sites is provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Health Resources and Services Administrations (HRSA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).