All of these are key to its vision of how to solve the problem.  </p

The Manner of Homelessness</p

Thernreport defines several different types of homelessness…</p

Unsheltered: This is the most common face of homelessness;rnpeople who live on the streets, camp outdoors, or live in cars or abandonedrnbuildings.</p

Sheltered: Those without a permanent home who stay inrnemergency shelters or other transitional and temporary housing.</p

Doubled-up:  Persons and families who are livingrntemporarily with family, friends, or in a group.</p

Whilerneach of these sub-groups needs safe, stable housing, health care, income andrncommunity support; specific approaches and programs are needed to address theirrnindividual situations. </p

HowrnMany are Homeless?  </p

Asrnwe said last week, the 2009 AHAR reported that during its single night surveyrnin January 2009, 643,067 people were homeless. rn63 percent of those were sheltered, 37 percent were unsheltered.  The longer term component of AHAR countedrn1,558,917 people who had used emergency shelters or transitional housingrnprograms at some point during the year, although many had relatively shortrnstays in emergency shelters.  Thesernnumbers are growing.  Thirty years agornthe homeless were single adults; the problem simply did not exist amongrnchildren, and homelessness was largely tied to economic downturns.  The report says, however, that in the lastrnthree decades the numbers of homeless remain high, even when times are good. </p

Whornare the Homeless?</p

Amongrnthe persons counted in the one-night survey, 404,957 or 63 percent were livingrnas individuals, and 238,110 or 47 percent were living within family groups. Families,rnhowever, were sheltered in greater numbers than individuals with more than 79rnpercent finding a roof in a shelter or transitional housing. </p

Thernlong term survey found that 34 percent of the 1.5 million counted werernindividuals in families and family homelessness is growing.  The 534,447 individuals in families HUDrnreported in 2009 was an increase of 4 percent over 2008 and 13 percent higherrnthan in 2007. </p

Morernthan two-thirds of the homeless are located in large cities and the proportionrnof the sheltered homeless is even higher. rnThis, however, says more about urban shelter capacity than numbers ofrnpeople. Homelessness is concentrated in several states and large cities.  20 percent of the homeless population residedrnin large cities, especially the Los Angeles area, New York City, Las Vegas, andrnNew Orleans which account for only 8 percent of the nation's population.  Half of the homeless are in California,rnFlorida, Nevada, Texas, Georgia, and Washington; states that represent just 31rnpercent of the country's population.</p

Thernrural homeless are a very different population from those in large cities.  They tend to live in cars, doubled up, or inrngrossly substandard housing.  There arernalso fewer shelters and other resources to help the homeless although peoplernare more likely to have extended family or friends to assist them.  The rural homeless tend to be married, white,rnworking females, often with children and the rate of unsheltered families isrnnearly double that found in urban areas. rnThere are also higher numbers of Native Americans and farm laborersrnamong the rural than the urban homeless. </p

AfricanrnAmericans account for a disproportionate number of the homeless on a nationalrnbasis, accounting for 12.4 percent of the total population but 39 percent ofrnthe sheltered homeless.</p

Ofrnthe 983,835 persons who used shelters or transitional housing programs duringrn2009, 63 percent were individual adults and nearly three-quarters of those werernmen.  One out of four single adults wasrnover fifty years of age, a proportion that is increasing and 43 percent had atrnleast one disabling condition.  13rnpercent of individuals were Veterans, however, that number has been decliningrnover the past two years.</p

Anotherrnsignificant population is unaccompanied youth. rnThe size of this population is unknown and estimates vary depending onrnthe definition of homelessness.  HUDrnestimates about 2.2 percent of the sheltered homeless or about 22,700 are youthrnbut also state that this is probably a serious undercount.  Other sources suggest that approximatelyrn110,000 live on the streets, in cars, and abandoned buildings.</p

Withinrnfamilies, public schools reported close to one million homeless students werernenrolled in the 2008-2009 school year, a 20 percent increase over the previousrnyears.  The families of these children arernusually headed by a single female with an average age in the late 20s with approximatelyrntwo children.  As the data indicate that atrnleast one of this average woman's children is less than six years of age, thernnumber of homeless school age children may be a serious undercount of homelessrnchildren.</p

Eachrnof these populations has a different set of reasons for being homeless andrnissues that affect services to them.  Wernwill take a closer look at these issues in a subsequent article. </p

READ MORE ABOUT HOMELESSNESS

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