Homeless policy group wants to boost status

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

An ad hoc policy group on homeless families wants to boost its clout by getting the Legislature to make it an official task force under the governor's office.

The group's leader said the move would raise the profile of the homeless issue and increase the organization's influence in the state.

The 19-member task force would include members of the Legislature, directors of state social service agencies, officials from municipalities across the state and homeless shelters and a formerly homeless person. No such organization currently exists.

The ad hoc group has been meeting for nearly a year, pursuing its goals of identifying gaps in services for the homeless statewide and cutting through red tape to get public and private agencies from the north and south and across municipalities to work together more effectively.

During this time, its members have encouraged Medicaid and welfare officials to work together on a pilot program to obtain housing for pregnant women who are homeless or on the verge of homelessness.

Now, they want to up the ante, said Anne Cory, president of United Way for Northern Nevada and co-chairwoman of the group.

"Going through the process (of becoming a governor's task force) allows us to intervene and influence policy," Cory said.

Shawna Parker, an analyst with Clark County Community Resources Management and a member of the group, said that becoming a task force would also ensure the life of the group's work, independent of who is in office.

"It would institutionalize homeless services statewide and give the issue legitimacy regardless of state leadership," she said.

The task force would be created for an indefinite period of time and cost the state from $5,000 to $10,000 per year. Its status would also allow the group to raise funds for uses such as public awareness.