September 25, 2003
Governor Rounds Taking Steps to Help End Homelessness
Governor Mike Rounds today issued and signed Executive Order 03-7 to establish the South Dakota Interagency Council on Homelessness to evaluate and address homelessness issues in South Dakota.
"There exists a need for increased and improved collaboration among State agencies which receive federal funding to address homelessness needs," commented Rounds. "With a joint effort such as this, mainstream service and housing resources can be better targeted to be utilized to their greatest potential."
Rounds' action supports President Bush's federal Interagency Council initiative, which was created after it was determined that twenty percent of homeless individuals, those now categorized as chronically homeless, are using eighty percent of the federal funding resources targeted for homeless initiatives.
"Rather than continue to pump dollars into systems that simply re-cycle the same people, we need to work with the feds to develop a less costly method by focusing funding already targeted to these individuals into better delivery mechanisms," said Rounds.
The Council will consist of the Governor; Cabinet Secretaries from the Departments of Health, Human Services, Social Services, Corrections, Education, and Labor; the Adjutant General of Military and Veteran's Affairs; the Director of Tribal Government Relations; and the Executive Director of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority.
Department of Human Services Secretary Betty Oldenkamp was appointed by Governor Rounds to chair the Council. "People become homeless as a result of multiple factors. No one agency alone can solve this problem. The Interagency Council brings the necessary agencies together to work on developing better, more efficient methods for service delivery systems," said Oldenkamp.
The Council is challenged with a variety of duties including identifying and defining homeless issues, determining effective strategies for the prevention of homelessness in South Dakota, providing public education to, and working with various advocacy, business, and faith-based groups and consumers regarding policy and program development.
"With the Council working together with homeless advocates and local service providers, we plan to focus specifically how best to help these individuals obtain training, employment, housing, and transportation." concluded Rounds.
