The ARP created the Homelessness Assistance Supportive Services Program. 23Specifically, this program appropriates $5 billion to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for homelessness assistance and supportive services, including housing counseling and homeless prevention services, for qualifying individuals or families. Of this $5 billion, $25 million is allocated for technical assistance providers.24
The program is intended to create housing and provide services for people who are at risk of becoming homeless. Specifically, the funding may be used for:
“Supportive services to qualifying individuals or families not already receiving such supportive services, including –
(A) activities listed in section 401(29) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360(29));25
(B) housing counseling; and
(C) homeless prevention services.”26
Legal services are explicitly mentioned as supportive services in the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act, and legal services for eviction prevention and legal defense are clearly methods of homelessness prevention.