Opinion: HUD Homeless Count Fails To Connect Dots On Supply And Displacement

By EDWARD PINTO On December 15, HUD released its annual Point-In-Time (PIT) homeless and housing inventory counts (HIC) conducted in January 2023. The key finding was that homelessness reached a record high as the 2023 annual count increased 12% and 18% respectively from 2022 and 2017. The average rate of homelessness per 1,000 population in 2023 was 20. The PIT is calculated for the 381 local and state Continuums of Care (CoC), which HUD uses to track homelessness. The hundred-plus page report had lots of data along with a handful of anecdotal references to burgeoning housing purchase and rental costs. However, it contained precious little insight as to the steps needed to address our burgeoning homeless problem. Conspicuous in its…

Homelessness Report Released By HUD Officials

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Homelessness has risen for individuals and people with disabilities, according to the 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report released on Monday by officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Homelessness among single individuals increased by 3.1%. The number of people with disabilities experiencing homelessness for long periods of time increased by 16% between 2020 and 2022. The report found 582,462 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2022. States with the highest numbers of people who were homeless in 2022 include California (171,521), New York (74,178), Florida (25,959), Washington (25,211), and Texas (24,432). Officials say the Biden-Harris Administration is working to reverse the post-2016 trend of rising homelessness. Their goal is to…

$2.65 Billion In Funding Awarded To Help The Homeless

By KIMBERLEY HAAS The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced over $2.6 billion to fund roughly 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs throughout the country. HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said that access to stable housing is a basic necessity and the safety of a home is essential as the United States continues to fight COVID. “These Continuum of Care program grants, coupled with the historic resources in the American Rescue Plan, will deliver communities the resources needed to ensure that every person in a respective community has the equitable opportunity to a safe and stable home,” Fudge said in a statement released on Monday. The FY 2021 Continuum of Care Competition Awards will provide funding…

Biden Ups Fed Share Of Emergency Housing Funds

President Joe Biden issued an executive order Thursday that increases the percentage of funding the federal government will provide when emergency officials provide housing to people during the Covid-19 pandemic. The order, issued on Biden’s second day in office, increases the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s share of the costs from 75 percent to 100 percent when providing emergency housing during the pandemic. Previously, states or cities would have to pay whatever the federal government did not cover. The change was recommended by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which had issued a report that said “the resources needed to keep people experiencing homelessness afe during the public health emergency exceed the response capabilities of state and local governments and warrant the full…