On Any Given Night, 84,000 to 95,000 Homeless Adult Individuals Can Find No Shelter

In addition to establishing the goal of preventing and ending homelessness for families, youth, and children in 2020, Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness describes goals to prevent and end homelessness among Veterans in 2015 and end chronic homelessness in 2017 and to set a path to end all types of homelessness.  Specific goals to end all types of homelessness are needed and shelter is needed for all persons that experience homelessness to save lives, reduce injuries and health-related complications, and provide a place of respite to sleep and restore the sense of stability needed to obtain housing, jobs, or other support.

By drafting specific goals to end homelessness among Veterans, chronic homelessness, and homelessness among families, children, and youth, analysis of efforts needed to achieve those goals was completed. Opening Doors notes the President’s budget for fiscal year 2016 was constructed through a careful analysis of the number of housing units needed to end Veterans homelessness in 2015 and chronic homelessness in 2017, and to make significant progress in ending homelessness among families, children, and youth in 2020.  It explains that the budget provides $2.48 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants, $345 million above the amount in the enacted fiscal year 2015 budget, which will enable the nation to achieve the goal of ending chronic homelessness in 2017 through the creation of 25,500 new permanent supportive housing units and advance progress in ending homelessness among families by assisting 15,000 additional families through rapid
rehousing.

To achieve these goals and to end homelessness for all Americans, Congress should appropriate the funding to meet the estimated homeless assistance renewal demand, to build additional permanent supportive housing units, to provide additional rapid rehousing assistance, and to provide assistance to all homeless persons.

Unfortunately, the current House and Senate housing appropriations bills do not provide sufficient funding to meet the estimated renewals, build additional permanent supportive housing units, and provide additional rapid rehousing assistance.  The House-passed appropriations bill only appropriates $2.185 billion for homeless assistance, with only $250 million for Emergency Solutions Grants and $1.93 billion for Continuum of Care competitive funding available, $16 million below the estimated demand for fiscal year 2016 and leaves unfunded the units needed to end chronic homelessness and homelessness among families. The Senate bill proposes $2.235 billion, allocating $33 million of the additional funding to reduce youth homelessness and not funding the additional units needed to end chronic homelessness and homelessness among families.

To end homelessness for all Americans, as with families and youth, the federal government should set a specific goal to end homelessness among adult individuals and Congress should provide homeless assistance for adult individuals.  On a given night in January 2014, more than half of the homeless persons were adult individuals.  Specifically, 311,602 adult individuals were homeless and 128,035 homeless adult individuals were without shelter.  Homeless adult individuals and homeless adult individuals without shelter were located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  There were not enough shelter beds for all of the unsheltered homeless adult individuals in at least 38 states. Depending on the number of beds available in shelters that assist both individuals and families, additional shelter beds may be needed in an additional 7 states.

Overall, 84,735 to 95,378 additional beds are needed to be able to provide shelter for all homeless adult individuals on a given night. Additional shelter beds are needed in different geographic regions of the country for homeless adult individuals without shelter.  In the West, for example, 46,172 to 48,278 additional beds are needed in California, 2,616 to 2,867 additional beds are needed in Oregon, and 2,629 to 3,004 additional beds are needed in Washington.  In the Midwest, 129 to 241 additional beds are needed in Missouri, and 111 to 191 additional beds are needed in Minnesota, and 73 to 197 additional beds are needed in Ohio.  In the Northeast, 266 to 516 additional beds are needed in Connecticut, 195 to 244 additional beds are needed in New Jersey, and 35 to 58 additional beds are needed in Vermont.  In the South, 10,801 to 11,629 additional beds are needed in Florida, 1,060 to 1,144 additional beds are needed in Tennessee, and 726 to 1,013 additional beds are needed in South Carolina.

The need for shelter beds is widespread within each state as well and is felt in about half of the nation’s CoC areas.  Additional beds are needed in at least 193 of the 410 CoCs.  Depending on the number of beds available in shelters that assist both individuals and families, additional shelter beds may be needed for adult individuals without shelter in an additional 52 CoCs.  In California, more shelter beds are needed in all 40 of the state’s CoCs.  In Missouri, more shelter beds are needed in 4 of the state’s 8 CoCs.  In Connecticut, more shelter beds are needed in 5 of the state’s 6 CoCs.  In Florida, more shelter beds are needed in 25 of the state’s 28 CoCs.

With such a lack of shelter bed availability across the country and in locations that are sweltering or bitterly cold and life-threatening, Congress should provide funding to provide for these 84,735 to 95,378 additional beds so that no person is homeless on the streets.

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