Established in 1994, the Homeless Assistance Program is designed to augment assistance offered under the HUD Emergency Shelter Grant Program (ESG), a program that allocates funds to all states by formula. HAP allows the same activities as ESG, including homelessness prevention, and serves all low-income state residents. Two state agencies, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) contribute funds to HAP, which in turn allocates funds to local programs via a competitive grant process. Each agency receiving HAP awards is responsible for developing its own policies. Most limit assistance to once in a 12-month period and require some form of third-party evidence that a housing crisis exists.

The mission of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation is to provide Alaskans access to safe, quality, affordable housing.

In fiscal years 2003 and 2004 a total of $750,000 was allocated, approximately 30 percent of which has been awarded for homelessness prevention activities. The number of HAP programs varies from year to year. In FY03, 14 projects were funded. In FY04, 8 projects received funding. In FY03, HAP helped 382 households to retain their housing, at an average cost of $515 per household. HAP grantees report that an average of 85 percent of their clients receiving assistance remained in their housing after 90 days.