Community | July 29, 2008 | 20 comments

U.S. Reports Drop in Homeless Population

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/us/30homelessweb.html?ex=1375070400&en=3313f79c34f0eaf9&ei...

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mjsmith11
WASHINGTON — The number of chronically homeless people living in the nation’s streets and shelters has dropped by about 30 percent — to 123,833 from 175,914 — between 2005 and 2007, Bush administration officials said on Tuesday.

Housing officials say the statistics, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development collects each year from more than 3,800 cities and counties, may reflect better data collection and reporting and some variation in the number of communities reporting on an annual basis. But the officials attribute much of the decline to the “housing first” strategy that has been promoted by the Bush administration and Congress and increasingly adopted across the country.

In that approach, local officials place chronically homeless people into permanent shelter — apartments, halfway houses or rooms — and then focus on treating addiction and mental and health problems. HUD defines chronically homeless people as disabled individuals who have been continuously homeless for more than a year or have experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.

Until cities and states began adopting the program, many of those people seemed to shuttle endlessly between shelters, hospitals and the street. The “housing first” strategy has begun to stabilize that population, officials say.

“We can all be encouraged that we’re making progress in reducing chronic street homelessness,” Housing Secretary Steven C. Preston said in a statement. “But we must also recognize that we have a long way to go to find a more lasting solution for those struggling with homelessness every day.”

HUD collects the statistics as part of its Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. The report said that 1.6 million people experienced homelessness and found shelter between Oct. 1, 2006 and Sept. 30, 2007. Individuals accounted for 70 percent of the people living in shelters during that time. The rest were families with children. About 13 percent of all homeless adults living in shelters were veterans.
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20 comments // U.S. Reports Drop in Homeless Population

  • aJohnDoeHomeless
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      aJohnDoeHomeless  
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    • BEFORE Katrina hit the homeless tally exceeded 3 MILLION... 2 Million who were not homeless 2 years before - INCREASED! Many of us are no longer being counted as we are compelled to keep a low profile with criminal charges that violate our Civil Rights are imposed on us. Many have never "plugged into the system" and have never been counted in the first place. I personally don't prefer to be "warehoused", and have no complaints with the economics I'm dealing with (if the cops would quit compelling me to cop a criminal frame of mind)... only the idiots who are now surprised in the results.
      Typically, like the unemployment rates they sometimes say are improving not to take into consideration that many are no longer eligible for unemployment and others never qualified in the first place. Alot of citizens have even given up looking for work, as the few jobs available don't pay a "living" wage. I can't afford to work a job that is a losing proposition... much less one that doesn't pay enough to afford rent. The jobs that do, won't hire anyone that looks like they crawled out of the bushes with twigs in the hair or spiders crawling out of their shirts... especially having been kept awake through most nights being rousted by the cops. Like the definition of a "rut" goes... it's a grave with both ends kicked out.
      Not all of us are alcoholic, drug addicts, or otherwise derelict (do I sound like?)... some of us are used to working for a living!!

      http://IamJohnDoeHomelesswithViewpoints.blogspot.com/

    • 3 years ago
  • mjsmith11
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      mjsmith11  

    • The article is published by the New York Times. They are not always 100% credible. They also are not the mouthpiece of GOP propaganda either. I am wondering how many homeless people would like to get off of the streets. I know mental illness is a great cause of homelessness.

    • 3 years ago
  • phoenixtoo
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      phoenixtoo  

    • I don't know how the republicans got those numbers it's interesting that their "method " is never mentioned. What with the drop in housing stock and increse in those out of work in most areas and inflation I find the "happy numbers" as easy to believe as the other things they have told me:the iraqi's have nukes and chemical and biological weapons, we've won mission accomplished,we don't know who outed an undercover CIA agent,what?torture? that horrible "liberal "press keeps printing obvious lies without even bothering to phrase it in their own words much less check on the validity and the american public laps it up without giving it the smallest check to find out if its true

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
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      jubal  

    • I see more homeless in our town then I used to see 8 years ago. In our town there are food shortages at the food banks, and there are more street peddlers, even some with pets and children, too.

    • 3 years ago
  • aJohnDoeHomeless
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      aJohnDoeHomeless  
    • jubal:

      Thanx 4 your realistic observance. The figures being dished out to the public are deliberately inaccurate. When we hear that food banks, shelters, and services in general are hurting while donations are down and budgets are being cut... would it have anything to do with the FACTS that some of the former donors are now clients!!??
      The only thing that needs to be mad at is the injustices being done to homeless victims including Civil Rights violations by some communities, discrimination against the homeless (underprivileged) hate crimes that add to already being victimized, and then on top of trying to survive within ones means with an already meager existence handicapped for attempting to gain work having the status of being homeless CRIMINALIZED by skirting around the abolishment of former vagrancy laws by making it a crime to be homeless!!! How does that solve ANYTHING??
      http://homelessreality.org/html/houseless.html

    • 3 years ago
  • twodee
  • aJohnDoeHomeless
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      aJohnDoeHomeless  
    • twodee:

      You are listening to the stats they want you to believe. Note the earlier reply I posted to explain without repeating. 3 months ago stated that the economic problems did not happen overnight, that they have taken a while. 3 months before that, he was trying to sell that the "economy is strong" and the job market had been improving. Does he think that 3 months was a long time?? The economic problems have been developing since 1982 while I have been advocating the economic imbalance with wages vs housing costs that we are now seeing develop.
      I WILL REPEAT that what we are finally able to see with our own eyes is not something that happened... but is JUST BEGINNING!!!!!!!!
      The foreclosures currently discussed took over 10 years to result in the "bubble" bursting. We are aware of the 1st wave while thousands more have yet to be impacted. Meanwhile with BIG businesses (airlines, car mfgs, mortgage cos, etc) failing so will available jobs so will enhance it all.
      Remember the classic definition of a depression is when banks fail. The "safeguards" of government bailing them out like they have done HAS limits before the squeeze affects the worth of the dollar....... OH... it already HAS!!!!
      http://homelessreality.org/fireflood.html

    • 3 years ago
  • twodee
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      twodee  
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    • The article points out a very small window of time. Bush has been in office for 8 years now.

      Here is another little snapshot of what was going on in 2004 while Bush was in office.

      More Americans Are Homeless

      "Over the past year, over 3 million men, women, and children were homeless...in 2004, the demand for shelter rose 14%, according to a survey released in December 2004 by the U.S. Conference of Mayors on hunger and homelessness." (US National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, website accessed June 17, 2005)

      More American Veterans Are Homeless

      "U.S. veterans from the war in Iraq are beginning to show up at homeless shelters around the country, and advocates fear they are the leading edge of a new generation of homeless vets not seen since the Vietnam era." (United Press International, December 7, 2004)

      "The VA estimates that more than 299,321 veterans are homeless on any given night...more than half a million experience homelessness over the course of a year...one out of every four homeless males...has put on a uniform and served our country." (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, website accessed June 16, 2005)
      More American Children Are Poor


      "In 2003, both the poverty rate and the number in poverty for children under 18 increased--to 17.6 percent and 12.9 million, up from 16.7 percent and 12.1 million in 2002. The poverty rate for children was higher than the rates for both adults 18 to 64 years old (10.8 percent) and people 65 and older (10.2 percent). In addition, children represented 35.9 percent of the people in poverty, compared with 25.4 percent of the total population." (U.S. Census Bureau, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003," August 2004)

      "In 2003, the poverty rate and the number in poverty for related children under 6 living in families increased from 18.5 percent and 4.3 million in 2002 to 19.8 percent and 4.7 million in 2003." (U.S. Census Bureau, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003," August 2004)

    • 3 years ago
  • mjsmith11
  • twodee
    • 0
      twodee  

    • wow! This thread is twisting all over the place off the actual subject. Sounds more like yet another hole in the wall to say "yeah those Dems are bad because" or " Those neocons are wa wa wa wa"

      i hate when it just turns into noise not worth getting into .

    • 3 years ago
  • aJohnDoeHomeless
  • mjsmith11
    • 0
      mjsmith11  

    • wowser334 - I agree with you. I am sure the democrats will just cage-up all of the "undesirables" that do show up in Denver, just like they did in Boston four years ago. I do like to hear good news for a change as well.

    • 3 years ago
  • mjsmith11
    • 0
      mjsmith11  

    • SpaycG - I do not think the exploitation of homeless people in order to gain political ends is the least bit "frivolous". For too long the misery and suffering of homeless Americans has been used as a tool to help people in their personal political endeavors. I am very happy to see the numbers go down and I would like to see this trend to continue.

    • 3 years ago
  • SpaycG
  • mjsmith11
  • SpaycG
  • aJohnDoeHomeless
    • 0
      aJohnDoeHomeless  
    • SpaycG:

      The statistics are NOT MJs, but is quoting Housing Secretary Steven C. Preston who is INCORRECT! I believe MJ is tongue-in-cheeking the erroneous propaganda being publicized! At least the awareness is increasing (along WITH the growing numbers of homeless citizens), which by observing actual news coverage of foreclosures, job loses, etc., it's JUST BEGINNING!!!
      http://homelessreality.org/

    • 3 years ago
  • mjsmith11
    • 0
      mjsmith11  

    • I am very happy to see the number of homeless people decreasing rather than increase. I guess the democrat party will not be able to exploit the homeless people this election cycle.

    • 3 years ago
  • phoenixtoo
    • 0
      phoenixtoo  
    • mjsmith11:

      Honey ,take the time to ask around at the local homeless shelter. Don't worry you can do it by phone. Ask them and you will find that this has as much validity as the other lies, courtesy of the Bush administration. Maybe you want to know the truth,or like so may ,perhaps you prefer to accept what you're handed when the truth is only an arm's reach away.I have been working with the homeless for many years and know may others who arealso working with them all over the country and what the paper printed is pure fantasy in most of the country.

    • 3 years ago
  • aJohnDoeHomeless
    • 0
      aJohnDoeHomeless  
    • mjsmith11:

      The statistics are misguiding. Many homeless are not only NOT "plugged into" the "system", by surviving with skills most people have no idea how they would accomplish, are not counted when they try to. For every homeless citizen that is counted, there are as many living on someone’s couch (temporarily of course), and TRY not to consider themselves “homeless” out of pride. The shock that over 2 MILLION people (before Katrina hit) that fell into that "homeless" category exemplifies an approximate number that have become homeless since. What needs to be realized is WHO ARE (were) THESE CITIZENS... AND WHO WILL BE THE NEXT 2 MILLION!!!
      As one who seems to project compassion, please educate yourself with th statistics I've posted (since 1982) on various sites at:
      http://IamJohnDoeHomelesswithViewpoints.blogspot.com/
      http://current.com/people/aJohnDoeHomeless

    • 3 years ago
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