BECAUSE IT'S COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM IN ACTION THE LEFT CAN'T ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUCCESS:

Headway with the homeless: Through a concept called 'housing first,' America is finally reducing homelessness. (CS Monitor's Editorial Board, August 28, 2008)

From 2005 to 2007, the number of chronically homeless fell 30 percent, to 123,833, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report last month. The overall number of homeless fell to about 672,000 people. (Merely counting the homeless is quite a feat.)

Congress began to push "housing first" in 1999 by ordering HUD to funnel a third of its homeless funds into permanent housing. Then, under President Bush, HUD began to provide incentive money to communities that focus on the chronically homeless. Now there are 345 such communities – local governments, charities, and businesses – working with 10-year plans to reduce or end homelessness.