Fact Sheet
Health Care of Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2016
Oct. 2017
Health Centers serve a critical role in providing health care for homeless individuals and other low-income individuals. During 2014, 1.15 million homeless people among 22.9 million people were seen at Federally Qualified Health Centers (“Health Centers”) for medical care, dental care, and other health care, including 813,331 homeless people at Health Care for the Homeless Program Grantee Health Centers (“HCH Health Centers”). In 2015, the number of homeless patients and total patients increased with 1.19 million homeless people among 24.3 million people seen at Health Centers, including 840,130 homeless people at HCH Health Centers. In 2016, the number of homeless patients and total patients increased again with 1.26 million homeless people among 25.8 million people seen at Health Centers, including 886,576 homeless people at HCH Health Centers.
Report
Without a Home and More: Homeless Youth Count 2015
June 2016
With 46,000 homeless unaccompanied and parenting youth, it is important to compile information on the characteristics and causes of youth homelessness and on the needs of homeless youth. This report has analyzed and summarized survey responses from 3,000 homeless and unstably housed youth from fifteen locations across the nation to provide a better understanding of homeless youth and recommendations to prevent and end homelessness of youth.
Blog
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program Provides Shelter, Rent/Mortgage Assistance, and Utility Assistance for Thousands and a Funding Increase of $100 Million Could Prevent and End Unsheltered Homelessness
October 28, 2017
With millions of persons who experience homelessness every year and hundreds of thousands of them without shelter and susceptible to death, serious bodily injury, or trauma from cold weather, violent acts, and sexual violence and other traumatic events, the funding for emergency shelters, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and other homeless and housing services for persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness should be accessed to determine the adequacy of the funding levels to provide shelter for every single person who is experiencing homelessness.
Blog
Latest ACS Data Show That Homelessness is Related to Housing, Employment, and Poverty
October 20, 2017
In 2016, 549,000 persons were homeless on a given night in unsheltered locations, emergency shelters, and transitional housing in the United States. Of the half a million homeless persons, 355,000 were unaccompanied adult individuals, including youth between the ages of 18 and 24, and 194,000 were adults and children in families.
Blog
“Health Care for Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2016” Shows Many Homeless People Without Diagnosis and/or Treatment
October 11, 2017
Our new fact sheet “Health Care of Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2016” reports the current state of diagnosis and treatment of homeless patients for twelve chronic and other life-threatening or serious health conditions to assess whether homeless patients are receiving prompt and life-saving diagnosis or treatment and to determine what improvements are needed to ensure that they are able to receive such diagnosis and treatment.
Blog
FY2018 House and Senate Appropriations Committee Bills Cut $985 Million and $23 Million in Funding to Critical Labor Programs That Assist Homeless People and People At-Risk of Homelessness
September 12, 2017
The House bill and Senate bill for the Department of Labor, that passed out of Committee propose various funding levels to provide employment services to persons, including homeless people and people at-risk of homelessness, compared to the enacted FY2017 funding levels, with cuts to programs totaling $985 million in the House Committee Bill and $23 million in the Senate Committee Bill.
Blog
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 House and Senate Appropriations Committee Bills Cut $300 Million and $2 Million in Funding to Some Health Programs That Assist Homeless People and People At-Risk of Homelessness
September 11, 2017
The House bill and Senate bill for the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), that passed out of Committee propose various funding levels to provide health, mental health, substance abuse, and support services to people, including homeless people and people at-risk of homelessness, compared to the enacted FY2016 and the enacted FY2017 funding levels, the latter which was not enacted at the time the budget request was prepared, with cuts to some programs totaling $300 million in the House Committee Bill and $2 million in the Senate Committee Bill.
Blog
The FY2018 House and Senate Appropriations Committee Bills Cut $200 Million and $27 Million in Funding to Some Programs That Assist Homeless People and People At-Risk of Homelessness
August 31, 2017
The House Committee Bills and Senate Committee Bills for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) that passed out of Committee propose various funding levels to assist homeless people and people at-risk of homelessness compared to the enacted FY2016 and the enacted FY2017 funding levels, the latter which was not enacted at the time the budget request was prepared, with cuts to some programs totaling $200 million in the House Committee Bills and $27 million in the Senate Committee Bills.
Blog
The Revised Senate Health Care Bill Would Still Likely Decrease Health Care for Hundreds of Thousands of Homeless People
July 19, 2017
The revised Senate version of the health care bill H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, released on July 13 would still likely decrease health care access for the approximately 155,000 homeless adults enrolled in Medicaid since the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expansion and for many of the 201,000 homeless adults and 70,000 homeless children enrolled in Medicaid in 2013 prior to the ACA expansion and provide decreased access to health care than is expected for many of the 312,000 homeless adults who are currently uninsured, but who likely reside in states that are expected to eventually expand Medicaid coverage as the Center on Homelessness, Health, and Employment Law and Policy’s previous blog post estimated.
Blog
The Senate Health Care Bill, H.R. 1628, Would Likely Decrease Health Care for Hundreds of Thousands of Homeless People
June 28, 2017
The Senate version of the health care bill H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, released last Thursday would likely decrease health care access for homeless people currently enrolled in regular Medicaid and provide decreased access to health care than is expected for some homeless people who are currently uninsured, but who reside in states that are expected to eventually expand Medicaid coverage.
Blog
The FY2018 Budget Request Cuts Employment Services to Homeless People and People At-Risk of Homelessness by $1.8 Billion
June 16, 2017
The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget Request proposes to cut employment services funding to assist homeless people and people at-risk of homelessness in the Department of Labor budget by $1.8 billion compared to both the enacted FY2016 funding level and the enacted FY2017 funding level, the latter which was not enacted at the time the budget request was prepared.
Blog
The FY2018 Budget Request Cuts Health Assistance to Homeless People and People At-Risk of Homelessness by More Than $4 Billion
June 13, 2017
The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget Request for the Department of Health and Human Services proposes to cut health funding to assist homeless people and people at-risk of homelessness with health, mental health, and substance abuse treatment and prevention services by more than $4 billion compared to both the enacted FY2016 funding level and the enacted FY2017 funding level, the latter which was not enacted at the time the budget request was prepared.
Blog
The FY2018 Budget Request Cuts Assistance to Homeless People and People At-Risk of Homelessness by $6 Billion
May 30, 2017
The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget Request proposes to cut funding to assist homeless people and people at-risk of homelessness by more than $6 billion compared to the enacted FY2016 funding level and the enacted FY2017 funding level, the latter which was not enacted at the time the budget request was prepared.
Blog
As the Community Development Block Grant Program Provides $31 Million to $51 Million to Assist Homeless Persons, Congress Should Maintain or Increase CDBG Funding for FY2017
April 12, 2017
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are currently funded for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 through April 28 through two continuing resolutions, Pub. L. No. 114-223 and Pub. L. No. 114-254, at FY 2016 appropriated levels, including for Homeless Assistance Grants and other Community Planning and Development programs, with exceptions to provide sufficient funding to renew rental assistance for Public and Indian Housing Tenant-Based Rental Assistance and an additional $1.8 billion for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funding.
Blog
Homeless Persons were More Likely to Have Health Insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare and Receive Critical Preventive Care and Treatment in Medicaid-expansion States
March 15, 2017
Last week, two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives passed out of the committee two health bills, jointly referred to as the American Health Care Act (AHCA), to modify the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare). Congressional leaders plan that a third committee is going to consider the AHCA this week and that the U.S. House of Representatives is going to consider the bill on the House floor next week.
Blog
One-fifth of Homeless Adults Gained Medicaid Coverage from 2013 to 2015 so Congress Should Not Repeal the Medicaid Expansion
February 21, 2017
This year Congress is debating repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare). As the ACA allowed states to expand Medicaid to cover all adults with income less than 138% of the federal poverty level and 32 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid pursuant to the Act and 14 million people have gained access to Medicaid coverage due to this expansion, an important part of the debate on repealing and replacing the ACA is Medicaid.
Blog
With More Than 100 Homeless People Dying from Hypothermia and Exposure to the Cold in the Past 5 Years, More Housing and Shelter is Needed
January 11, 2017
Federal, state, and local governments are not doing enough to save the lives of homeless Americans. Homeless persons die at least 12 years earlier than other Americans, on average, and have a mortality rate four to nine times higher than those who are not homeless. Over the past five years, thousands of homeless people have died, including an estimated 2,000 in 2013 and 2,700 in 2016.
Blog
New “Health Care of Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2015” Shows Many Homeless People Without Diagnosis and/or Treatment
December 6, 2016
Our new fact sheet “Health Care of Homeless Individuals Fact Sheet – 2015” reports the current state of diagnosis and treatment of homeless patients for twelve chronic and other life-threatening or serious health conditions to assess whether homeless patients are receiving prompt and life-saving diagnosis or treatment and to determine what improvements are needed to ensure that they are able to receive such diagnosis and treatment.
Blog
The Newly-Released HUD Homeless Report Shows Unsheltered Homelessness Increased by 2% or 3,000 Persons in 2016
November 21, 2016
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released Part 1 of its Annual Homelessness Assessment Report for 2016 this past week reporting the number of homeless people, homeless individuals, homeless families, homeless veterans, chronically homeless people, and homeless youth on a given night. In the report, the number of homeless people on a single night was 549,928, a decrease of 2.6% from the year before. Unfortunately, the report noted that the declines were composed entirely of people staying in sheltered locations and that homelessness increased among people without shelter by 2%. The number of homeless persons without shelter increased by 3,089 persons from 173,268 in 2015 to 176,357 in 2016.
Blog
PHAs Administering the Family Unification Program, with the HOTMA Revisions, Should Use the Statutory, Not the Regulatory, Definition of “At Risk of Homelessness”
October 27, 2016
On June 29, President Obama signed into law the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA), which included several reforms of federal rental assistance, including expanding the family unification program (FUP) for youth leaving and aging out of foster care. First, section 110 of HOTMA expanded the length of the term for FUP assistance of youth leaving or aging out of foster care from 18 months to 36 months. HOTMA, Pub. L. No. 114-201, § 110(1)(A), 130 Stat. 782, 803 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(x)(2)). Second, section 110 increased the maximum age of eligibility for FUP assistance of youth leaving or aging out of foster care from 21 years old to 24 years old. Id. § 110(1)(B), 130 Stat. at 803. Third, section 110 increased eligibility for FUP assistance from youth who have left foster care to include youth who will leave foster care within 90 days, in accordance with a transition plan. Id. § 110(1)(C), 130 Stat. at 803. Fourth, section 110 stated eligibility for FUP assistance of youth leaving or aging out of foster care if they were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Id.