More Than 600,000 Americans Are Homeless On Any Given Night

[xchrom]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/11/22/2982691/hud-homeless-count/



More than 600,000 Americans are homeless on a given night, according to the latest government data, which conducts a count on a specific night in January every year. Nearly a quarter are children and a third were living in unsheltered places like parks, cars, or abandoned buildings.

The number of people who are chronically homeless, or who have been continuously homeless for more than one year or experienced at least four episodes over the last three, is over 100,000, and two-thirds go unsheltered. There were more than 57,000 homeless veterans.

The good news is that the government says the numbers have been declining overall. Homelessness declined by 4 percent compared to last year and by 9 percent since the beginning of the recession in 2007. Chronic homelessness has dropped by 25 percent since 2007 and homelessness among veterans went down by 24 percent.

But they aren’t declining everywhere, and some states actually saw huge increases. Five states — California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas — account for more than half of the country’s homeless population, and of those three saw some of the largest upticks. Homelessness rose by 11.3 percent in New York, by 8.7 percent in Massachusetts, and by 4.5 percent in California over 2012. Other states had far larger jumps, such as a 33.1 percent increase in South Carolina and 26 percent increase in Maine. Overall, 20 states saw their rates go up compared to last year. Since 2007, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and Washington, DC have seen increases of more than 20 percent.

[LiberalEsto]

1. I wonder what it would cost to create appropriate housing

for all these people.

[ladyVet]

2. More than we could get the government to spend.

Even if it was $1, somebody would dig in their heels and deny it.

I've had brief periods of homelessness, but thankfully had family that could take me in until I could get a place.

[reddread]

5. we are already paying enough, why do you think they count them?

just something about money that connected rich folk cant get enough of, so there is a slight problem.
best to look at cheap and free remedies and demand compliance from the leeches in local government.

[LiberalEsto]

6. I don't understand what point you're making

please explain

[reddread]

8. the homeless are a cash crop for local government and "service providers"

they depend on money in proportion to the homeless they can claim to serve.
so it is a catch 22. to solve the problem would be a true horror to those who
make money from it. Often those funds get diverted to a police department dirtier than
the grubbiest of homeless people.

As the homeless are by and large, dependent on themselves and their associates
for safety and survival- given a secure, safe location to live in peace, they can
and do improve their own lives much more than any BULLSHIT faith based subsidized
drunk tank sobriety program mandating, donation collecting, used car lot dealers ever will.

thats the way I see it, because thats the way it is, where I come from.

[LiberalEsto]

10. In my humble opinion, local governments will do anything to avoid

helping the homeless.

In some cases they tell the police to roust homeless people out of town.

The only time I've seen local governments do anything to help the homeless is if they are heavily prodded and shamed by advocates for the homeless, and even then, what's done is minimal.

I say this as a retired journalist who covered local and county government in two states for more than 25 years.

[reddread]

12. thats how Fresno's repeated "Ten Year Plan(s) to End Homelessness" have ended up

bulldozers and a five member police "task force"/posse telling them to disappear from their lifelong hometown.

our tax dollars at work.

[KamaAina]

15. We did it once before

to house shipyard workers during World War II. An entire city sprung up almost overnight outside Portland, then was later destroyed in a flood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanport_City,_Oregon

Of course, back then, we had the political will to get something done.

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. "57,000 homeless veterans" - should put that in the recruitment info.

.
.
.

USA ain't treating its veterans any better than they did 30 years ago - I saw how they treated veterans when I lived in CA in '79.

"REVOLTING" is one of the polite words that comes to mind.

CC

[NuclearDem]

11. Not fighting the 1%'s wars anymore? Useless.

[JaneyVee]

4. Yeah but don't give them money because FOX news says you're enabling them.

[PowerToThePeople]

7. 2010 Census - Total vacant housing units: 14,988,438

http://www.census.gov/housing/files/FCSM%20paper.pdf

http://www.census.gov/housing/

[ProSense]

9. Homelessness has dropped 9 percent since 2007. Will it last?

Homelessness has dropped 9 percent since 2007. Will it last?

By Brad Plumer

On a single night last January, an estimated 610,042 people around the United States were homeless. About two-thirds were living in shelters, while the rest were on the streets — sleeping on sidewalks, on benches, in cars.

The one bright spot? This number has dropped considerably in recent years— falling 9 percent since 2007, even amid a severe recession. That's according to a new survey put out by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:



<...>

The Obama administration largely kept that program in place and launched a new initiative in 2010, the Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness, which aimed to bring the number of homeless people down to zero. So, for example, the Veterans Administration made big policy changes and began giving housing vouchers to tens of thousands of veterans, with no strings attached. The result? Homelessness among veterans has declined 24 percent since 2009.

All told, overall U.S. homelessness has dropped 6 percent since the new federal plan was launched.

- more -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/22/homelessness-has-dropped-9-percent-since-2007-will-that-last/

[reddread]

13. if it is up 5% in California (id say a BUNCH more than that)

those numbers are bogus in a HUGE way.

[KamaAina]

16. If they were in one city, it would be bigger than Oklahoma City, Milwaukee, or Las Vegas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

If they were a state, it would be larger than Wyoming! (And Liz Cheney wouldn't be running for Senate. )