Doctors for Change

Rebuilding a Healthier Houston Together

Template for Health Workers to Submit a Public Comment

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Template for Health Workers to Submit a Public Comment on the Proposed HUD Rule 

Deadline: Sept 22nd, 11:59 PM EDT

From: https://housingsaveslives.org/

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Go to the Federal Register.
  2. Click “Comment Now” on the right side.
  3. Copy directly into the text box (5000-character limit), OR upload your comment as a PDF attachment (no length limit).
  4. Enter your name, and contact information (optional).
  5. Click “Continue” for a preview of the comment, then click “Submit Comment.”  

TEMPLATE:

[Insert Date]

Re: Docket No. FR-6152-P-0; Making Admission or Placement Determinations Based on Sex in Facilities Under Community Planning and Development Housing Programs

Dear Office of the Secretary, HUD,

I am submitting this comment to oppose the proposed rule “Making Admission or Placement Determinations Based on Sex in Facilities Under Community Planning and Development Housing Programs”.

I am a [give your credentials, any experience or work relevant to commenting on these changes. If you are part of an organization who works with LGBTQ+ people and/or homelessness give any relevant data that shows your perspective in being able to comment]. 

As a [position], I am extremely concerned about the proposed changes to the U.S. shelter system and demand they are withdrawn in their entirety. Shelters are often a person’s best access-point to programs that provide safe, individual housing, a critical need during a global pandemic that endangers anyone who is forced to share living spaces with others, whether outdoors or in a shelter.

  • These proposed changes will have a harmful impact on my patients and my practice as [insert practice type].
      1. While housing transgender people according to their gender identity does not pose a safety issue to others, failing to do so puts transgender people in danger.
      2. According to the 2015 US Transgender Survey, over half of transgender survey respondents who stayed in a shelter in the past year were verbally harassed, physical attacked, and/or sexually assaulted because of their gender identity.
  • The proposed changes severely restrict ensure safe access to shelter for transgender people experiencing homelessness, survivors of violence, and fleeing disasters.

For these reasons, I oppose the proposed changes. Although I did not comment on every change among the many proposed, I oppose the entire regulation and urge the departments to withdraw it in its entirety.

Thank you,

[Name, title, affiliations]

ADDITIONAL POINTS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COMMENT:

Consider uploading your comment as a PDF attachment (no length limit), as the text box has a 5000-character limit.

  1. During recoveries from economic downturns like the one currently caused by the COVID-19 crisis, homelessness continues to rise even while other economic health indicators—like employment rates and consumer trends—rebound. 
    1. Many transgender people are doing everything they can to stay housed right now but face homelessness when eviction and foreclosure moratoriums are lifted. We will see an increase in homelessness in all communities over the next year. 
    2. HUD should be doing everything they can to scale up housing and homelessness services so they can be available to everyone who needs them, NOT pushing forward with policies that will make it harder to access housing. 

Read the full 8-page document with all the proposed changes here.

From: https://housingsaveslives.org/