{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=70bbd7a5-c54e-46a7-90d2-fa1e044cf7b6", "New Report Finds Serious Inefficiencies in Federal Homeless Assistance Program", "2014-11-04", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 A federal program meant to help homeless assistance providers is inefficient and flawed, wasting time and resources for both the federal government and the groups it is designed to help, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, highlighted GAO\u2019s findings that the federal government has evaluated more than 40,000 federal properties for use by homeless assistance providers, but has only transferred 122 properties to homeless groups in 27 years and underscored GAO\u2019s recommendations for the federal government to improve its homeless assistance program.\r\nThe report examined Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which was established in 1987 to help identify and provide unused federal properties to homeless assistance organizations for use as emergency shelter, traditional housing, and other services. As part of the McKinney-Vento Act, federal agencies are required to report all properties that are considered excess, surplus, underutilized, and unutilized to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as potential options for usage.\r\nGAO found that a majority of the properties that are required to be screened to determine whether they are suitable to be transferred to homeless assistance organizations are not viable and should not be put forward for screening in the first place. As a result, homeless organizations spend unnecessary time and resources reviewing HUD\u2019s suitability determination to find property that they can apply for. GAO recommends that Congress should take steps to alter the broad scope of properties that are reported to HUD and identify those that are less viable options for homeless assistance. GAO also recommends reducing the number of times reporting is required.\r\n\u201cThis report confirms many of the concerns homeless assistance providers have told us for years \u2013 that the process to find useful properties is burdensome, costly, and ineffective,\u201d said Chairman Carper. \u201cMuch of this results from the federal government\u2019s overall challenges managing its federal property portfolio. There is a general consensus that the federal government has to get smarter about the way it manages buildings and land. While the GAO report recommends a number of common-sense steps that should be implemented, more work remains to get a better handle of our massive federal property portfolio. Last year, Dr. Coburn and I introduced legislation that would help reduce waste and inefficiency by requiring all federal agencies to not only maintain a comprehensive inventory of their properties, but to also take a hard look at which assets they actually need and which could be sold or put to better use, including properties that could help some of our nation\u2019s most vulnerable. I will continue to work with my colleagues and the Administration to improve our federal property management practices, including passing this legislation.\u201d\r\n\u201cMany taxpayers wonder how so many Americans lack stable housing or are homeless when the federal government spends billions every year on housing assistance,\u201d said Dr. Coburn. \u201cThis report highlights one reason and it is not a lack of funds but rather a lack of efficient management. The federal government wasted time and resources evaluating over 40,000 federal properties for use by homeless assistance providers, but only 122 properties were transferred\u00a0 to homeless groups in 27 years. This pitiful performance demonstrates a clear lack of urgency about the plight of families in need.\u201d\r\nThe Federal Real Property Asset Reform Act of 2013, introduced by Senators Carper, Coburn, Begich, Portman, Pryor, and Tester last year, would codify a 2004 executive order and require the previously established Federal Real Property Council to oversee reductions in federal real property inventory. The bill would also require agencies to continuously survey their real property to identify excess and underutilized property and to report any excess or underutilized property to the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Federal Real Property Council, a process that agencies do not always consistently follow. Finally, it would also establish a pilot program for the expedited disposal of surplus real property. The bill was also included as a provision of the Postal Reform Act of 2014.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=70bbd7a5-c54e-46a7-90d2-fa1e044cf7b6"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8472101762890816, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}