The Biden administration on Thursday unviled a new federal initiative to combat homelessness in five U.S. cities — Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Seattle — and the state of California.

Through the plan, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and its 19 federal member agencies will partner with state and local governments in those areas to bolster local efforts to house unsheltered people.

The White House calls the "first-of-its-kind" program, dubbed ALL INside, a core component of the Biden administration's federal strategy which aims to cut homelessness 25% by 2025.

The Biden administration will offer "innovative and tailored support" to the participating communities for two years, including:

• Embedding a federal official in each community to help on the local level
• Deploying teams across the federal government to help navigate obtaining federal funding, facilitate a peer learning network and identify areas for regulatory flexibilities
• Convening the private sector, community groups, philanthropic organizations and others to find opportunities to work together and support these initiatives 

"We know we cannot meaningfully address our nation’s homelessness problem without a distinct focus on unsheltered homelessness," said Ambassador Susan Rice, Director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council, in a statement, adding how "proud" she and her team are to partner with the cities and California to launch the initiative.

"These communities are taking meaningful action to address unsheltered homelessness, and this first-of-its-kind partnership with our administration will help strengthen and accelerate local efforts in these sites, and communities across America, to ensure every unsheltered person has accesses to the housing they need," she added.

Other agencies across the federal government will work to address barriers to housing, health care and other issues for people experiencing homelessness.

The Department of Health and Human Services will work to help communities leverage programs like Medicaid to provide housing-related services, the Department of Labor will connect communities with local workforce boards and Job Corps to help provide employment opportunities for unsheltered youth, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development will help navigate barriers connecting people to housing programs or rental aid.

Other agencies, like AmeriCorps, the Justice Department, and the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Transportation and Treasury have also pledged support for the program.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, who helped launch the plan at the event Thursday, touted his success in helping to reduce veteran homelessness, and says the administration's plan will help serve more Americans —  veterans and non-veterans alike. 

“Last year alone, VA worked with communities to help more than 40,000 veterans out of homelessness and into the safe, stable homes that they deserve,” said McDonough. “We know that it’s possible to end homelessness because we are making real progress every day, and the ALL INside Initiative will help us deliver for even more veterans and non-veterans across America.”

According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, every day in America, 2,500 people leave homelessness; but on a daily basis, roughly the same number fall into homelessness.

The White House also touted President Joe Biden's 2024 budget proposal, which it says "proposes unprecedented investments not only to urgently address homelessness but also to prevent homelessness, including through additional housing vouchers; emergency rental assistance; increasing the supply of affordable housing; and establishing a guarantee of rental assistance for extremely low-income veterans and youth aging out of foster care—two groups disproportionately at risk of and experiencing homelessness."