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Current Statistics on thePrevalence and Characteristics of

People Experiencing Homelessnessin the United States

(Last Updated July 2011)

Research data describing the national prevalence of homelessness and related issues are

limited. n this fact sheet! you "ill find data from multiple sources! including the U.#.

$epartment of %ousing and Urban $evelopment&s (%U$) June 2010 'nnual %omeless

'ssessment Report to ongress ('%'R). his fact sheet also includes data from the 1**+

,ational #urvey of %omeless 'ssistance -roviders and lients (,#%'-). 'lthough these

data are older! they represent the most comprehensive study of homelessness to date and

are cited to provide historical contet. ,otes about differing definitions of homelessness

are included as needed. To provide updated resources or ask questions, contact

Kristen Paquette at [email protected].

Individuals who are Homeless'ccording to the U# $epartment of %ousing and Urban $evelopment&s June 2010 'nnual

%omeless 'ssessment Report to ongress (2010 '%'R)1! on a given night in January

2010/

407,966individuals "ere homeless in shelters! transitional housing programs! or on the

streets (this number does not include persons in family households)i

109,812individuals "ere chronically homeless! a 1 decrease from the previous year

1.$ata in the '%'R are comprised of annual pointintime counts and %3# data reported

throughout the year (4ctober 200*#eptember 2010). $ata are reported based on %U$&s

definition of homelessness! "hich includes people in shelters and on the streets! but not

those "ho are 5doubled up6 "ith families or friends.

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4ver the course of a year (4ctober 200*#eptember 2010)ii! the 2010 '%'R found that2/

1!7*8!170 individuals eperienced homelessness

'ccording to 1**+ ,ational #urvey of %omeless 'ssistance -roviders and lients (1**+

,#%'-) data8! 8!of homeless clients "ere single.

Gender, Age, ace!Ethnicit"'mong all sheltered individuals over the course of a year (4ctober 200*#eptember

2010)iii/

62!"ere male

"8!"ere female

21.8!are under age 19

2".!are 1980

"7!are 81 to 70

14.9!are 71 to +1

2.8! are +2 or older

41.6! are :hite! ,on%ispanic

9.7!are :hite! %ispanic

"7!are ;lac

7.2!are multiple races

#ental Illness $ Su%stance Use4n a given night in January 2010

iv/

26.2!of all sheltered persons "ho "ere homeless had a severe mental illness

2.his number represents people "ho accessed emergency shelter or transitional

housing programs.

8.,#%'- data only includes people "ho accessed homeless assistance programs.

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"4.7! of all sheltered adults "ho "ere homeless had chronic substance use issues

Individuals Experiencing Chronic!&ong'(erm

Homelessness4n a given night in January 2010

v/

109,812individuals "ere chronically homeless

4f people utili?ing emergency shelters bet"een 4ctober 200* and #eptember 2010! +.2

stayed for + months or longer.

Gender, Age, ace!Ethnicit"'mong longterm stayers (persons staying si months or more) in emergency shelters in

2009vi/

6.6!"ere ;lac


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#ental Illness $ Su%stance Use$ata from research conducted in the past five years indicates that

i ii iii/

$%out "0!of people "ho are chronically homeless have mental health conditions.

$%out 0!have cooccurring substance use problems.

'ccording to analyses of data from the 1**+ ,#%'-iv

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&ver 60!of people "ho are chronically homelessness have eperienced lifetime mentalhealth problems

&ver 80!have eperienced lifetime alcohol and=or drug problems

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Individuals Experiencing Short'(erm

HomelessnessResearch on shelter use in ,e" Aor< ity and -hiladelphia concluded that

CD/

-eople eperiencing transitional homelessness7constitute 80!of shelter users

-eople eperiencing episodic homelessness+comprise 10! of shelter users.

n ,e" Aor< ityvi

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ransitionally homeless individuals eperience an average of 1.4 sta'sover a 8

year period! for a total of 8 da'son average over the 8 years.

Episodically homeless individuals! on average! eperience 4.9 s(e)ter episodes

over a 8year period totaling 264 da's"ith an average length of stay of 4.4

da's.

$ata from the 1**+ ,#%'- sho" that about 70 of people "ho "ere homeless "ere

eperiencing their first or second episode of homelessness! "hich typically lasted a fe"

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Serious #ental Illness $ Su%stance Usen ,e" Aor< ity and -hiladelphia! research sho"ed that people eperiencing

transitional and episodic homelessness generally have lo"er rates of disabilities in

comparison to people eperiencing chronic homelessnesi

.

3ental illness/

6.!of transitional and 11.9 of episodic in ,e" Aor other

found disproportionate representation among racial=ethnic minority youth "ho become

homelesslviii

.

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Serious #ental Illness, (raumatic Stress, $

Su%stance Use'mong homeless youth! "hen compared to housed peers or the general adolescent

populationli

/

Rates of mood disorders! suicide attempts! conduct disorders! and posttraumatic stress

disorder are (i+(er.

Ris< for mental health problems is (i+(eramong streetinvolved homeless youth than

youth "ho are homeless but not living on the streets.

Ris< of alcohol or drug abuse or dependence is (i+(er.

Aouth "ho are homeless/

're more )ike)'to have histories of physical or seual abusel li lii

.

4ften eperience trauma prior to becoming homeless and are atincreased riskof trauma

after they become homelessliii

.

Research on rates of posttraumatic stress among homeless youth is minimal! but a 1*9*

study in %olly"ood! ' found that rates "ereup to t(ree times (i+(erthan their housedpeers

liv.

Sexual Identit"!+rientationAouth "ho are LK;2#Fand %omeless

n 200F! the ,ational 'lliance to End %omelessness analy?ed 1F research studies to

estimate that 20! o 'out("ho are homeless identify as LK;9lv

. 4ther prevalence

estimates range from 6! to "!of youth "ho are homelesslvi

.

hese youth often leave home because of family reection or conflictlvii lviii

F.Lesbian! gay! biseual! transgender! Buestioning! interse! or t"ospirit

9.Lesbian! gay! biseual! transgender! or Buestioning

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Aouth "ho are LK;2# and homeless are at (i+( riskfor substance use! mental

health issues! selfharming behavior! and seually transmitted diseasesli

Aouth "ho are LK; eperience seual victimi?ation before becoming homeless at

tice t(e rateof their heteroseual peersl

LK; youth "ho are homeless are more )ike)'to attempt suicide than heteroseual

peers "ho are homelessli

ompared to heteroseual homeless youth! LK; homeless youth eperience post

traumatic stress disorder (-#$) more oten 47! compared to ""!

Lesbian youth "ho are homeless have particu)ar)' (i+( ratesof -#$ (7*)lii

LK; homeless youth are more )ike)'than heteroseual homeless youth to report

eperiencing neglect! physical victimi?ation! seual victimi?ation by a careta


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Elders!+lder Adults who are Homeless%U$&s 2010 '%'R points to an estimate of the number of elderly people among sheltered

individuals/

4.2!of sheltered individuals and 2.8!of the total sheltered homeless population are

ages +2 or older in 2010! as compared "ith 10."!of individuals living in poverty in 200*.

$ata from the 1**+ ,#%'- sho"ed that 8!of all homeless clients "ere age 77 years

or olderl. 'ccording to the %omeless 4lder 'dults #trategic -lan for Los 'ngelesli/

4n any given night! there are ",000 to 4,000homeless older adults! +2 years or older! in

Los

'ngeles ounty

Age, Gender, ace!Ethnicit"' study of 8F9 older homeless adults in 3innesota sho"ed that/

81!"ere male

19!"ere female

1!"ere persons of color

he %omeless 4lder 'dults #trategic -lan for Los 'ngeles reports that of the homeless

older adults in Los 'ngeles ountylii

/

7!are ;lac

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