HB 422

Abstract

This Act dissolves the Delaware Interagency Council on Homelessness (DICH). The DICH has been an important venue for significant progress in addressing homelessness in Delaware. However, changes to the primary source of federal assistance for resources for homelessness required the establishment of a Continuum of Care. The similar goals, tasks, and membership of the Continuum of Care have made the DICH obsolete and duplicative of these efforts. Delaware’s Continuum of Care was established in July 2015 and is charged with statewide coordination to address homelessness including the review system performance, identifying system gaps, and advancing solutions. It is a membership body with open membership to any who would like to participate and the membership elects the Continuum of Care Board. The Continuum of Care Board includes representation similar to that of the DICH: state agencies, local government, service providers, and advocates. Until the establishment of the Continuum of Care Governance Charter in 2015, the DICH was also responsible for many systems tasks that now must be completed by the Continuum of Care. There is significant overlap in membership between the DICH and the Continuum of Care and combined with the Continuum of Care’s responsibility for the tasks previously handled by the DICH, it is difficult to get a quorum at DICH meetings and it is not feasible or sensible to have 2 separate, active entities working on the same issues.