Author: Adriana McCarty

Check out the November 2016 Data Matters Newsletter available here!

Homelessness continues to decline in the U.S, specifically among families with children, veterans, and individuals with long-term disabling conditions according to the latest national estimate by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD’s 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 549,928 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2016, a decline of 14 percent since 2010, the year the Obama Administration launched Opening Doors, the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness.

Over this seven-year period, HUD estimates the nation experienced a 23 percent reduction among homeless families, a 47 percent drop in veteran homelessness, and a 27 percent decline in individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. This national estimate is based upon data reported by approximately 3,000 cities and counties across the nation. Every year on a single night in January, planning agencies called “Continuums of Care (CoCs)” and tens of thousands of volunteers seek to identify the number of individuals and families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, and in unsheltered settings.

In making the announcement, HUD Secretary Julián Castro noted that though the nation is making significant progress in reducing homelessness, the number of ‘doubled up’ or rent-burdened families remains a vexing problem.

“Every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” said Secretary Castro. “The Obama Administration has made unprecedented progress toward ending homelessness and today marks the seventh straight year of measureable progress. While we know that our work is far from finished, it’s clear we’re on the right track to prevent and end homelessness for good.”

“While our continued progress reinforces that we are on the right path, the data also makes clear that we must increase the pace of that progress,” said Matthew Doherty, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). “To do so, we must be unwavering in our commitment to strategies and investments that are working. Our communities and our citizens deserve nothing less.”

During one night in late January of 2016, tens of thousands of volunteers across the nation sought to identify individuals and families living on their streets as well as in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs. These one-night ‘snapshot’ counts, as well as full-year counts and data from other sources (U.S. Housing Survey, Department of Education), are crucial in understanding the scope of homelessness and measuring progress toward reducing it.

Key Findings of HUD’s 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR):

On a single night in January 2016, state and local planning agencies reported:

• 549,928 people were homeless representing an overall 14 percent reduction from January 2010. Most homeless persons (373,571) were located in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs while 176,357 persons were unsheltered.
• The number of families with children experiencing homelessness declined 23 percent since 2010.
• Veteran homelessness dropped by 47 percent (or 34,616 persons) since January 2010. On a single night in January 2016, 39,471 veterans were experiencing homelessness.
• Chronic or long-term homelessness among individuals declined by 27 percent (or 77,486 persons) since 2010.
• The number of unaccompanied homeless youth and children appeared to decline in 2016 to 35,686 though HUD will launch a more robust effort to more accurately account for this important population in January of 2017.

The Obama Administration’s strategic plan to end homelessness is called Opening Doors – a roadmap for joint action by the 19 federal member agencies of USICH along with local and state partners in the public and private sectors. The Plan offers strategies to connect mainstream housing, health, education, and human service programs as part of a coordinate plan to prevent and end homelessness.

Family Homelessness

There were 61,265 family households experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2016, a nearly 23 percent decline since 2010. Meanwhile, the number of persons in families declined by nearly 20 percent during that time, due in large measure to the expansion of Rapid Rehousing Programs across the country and a concerted effort by local planners to reallocate scarce resources in a more strategic way.

Veteran Homelessness

Since the launch of Opening Doors, several states and local communities have declared an effective end to veteran homelessness as part of the Mayors Challenge. As a consequence of intense planning and targeted intervention, homelessness among veterans fell by nearly 50 percent since 2010. This decline is largely attributed to the close collaboration between HUD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on a joint program called HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH). Since 2008, more than 79,000 rental vouchers have been awarded and approximately 111,000 formerly homeless veterans are currently in homes of their own because of HUD-VASH.

Chronic Homelessness

Long-term or chronic homelessness among individuals declined 27 percent since 2010. This reduction is due in part to a concerted effort to make available more permanent supportive housing opportunities for people with disabling health conditions who otherwise continually cycle through local shelters or the streets. Research demonstrates that for those experiencing chronic homelessness, providing permanent housing, coupled with appropriate low-barrier supportive services, is the most effective solution for ending homelessness. This ‘housing first’ approach also saves the taxpayer considerable money by interrupting a costly cycle of emergency room and hospital, detox, and even jail visits.

While homelessness nationally continues to decline, some communities are reporting less progress. Read more information on state and local-level homelessness

On November 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s final rule regarding the implementation of housing protections authorized in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) was published in the Federal Register. This final rule is a critical step in protecting housing of survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

The rule becomes effective on December 16, 2016. Please note that covered housing providers will have 180 days from the effective date to develop emergency transfer plans. Emergency transfer provisions will become effective June 14, 2017.

HUD Secretary Julían Castro stated that “Nobody should have to choose between an unsafe home and no home at all. Today we take a necessary step toward ensuring domestic violence survivors are protected from being twice victimized when it comes to finding and keeping a home they can feel safe in.”

Some of the critical components of the final rule include:

• Extension of the core protections to Continuum of Care (CoC), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) – The rule codifies the core protection across HUD’s covered programs ensuring survivors are not denied assistance as an applicant, or evicted or have assistance terminated as a tenant, because the applicant or tenant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
• Emergency transfers – One of the key elements of VAWA’s housing protections is the emergency transfer plan which allows for survivors to move to another safe and available unit if they fear for their life and safety. The final rule includes a model emergency transfer plan, which was required in VAWA 2013, and an emergency transfer request form.
• Protections against denials, terminations, and evictions that directly result from being a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking – Survivors often face denial, termination, or eviction from housing for a reason that seems unrelated to being a survivor (such as poor rental history or poor credit), but is actually a direct result of being a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking. For example, as part of an act of domestic violence an abuser may cause damage to the survivor’s apartment, which in turn may cause the survivor to be evicted and have a poor rental history. Or stalking may involve taking out credit cards in a person’s name and misusing them to cause the person emotional distress, and the misuse of those cards may cause the person to have poor credit. To protect survivors in situations like these, the final rule prohibits any denial, termination, or eviction that is “a direct result of the fact that the applicant or tenant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, if the applicant or tenant otherwise qualifies for admission, assistance, participation, or occupancy.”
• Low-barrier certification process – The final rule makes it clear that under most circumstances, a survivor need only to self-certify in order to document the domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, ensuring third party documentation does not cause a barrier in a survivor expressing their rights and receiving the protections needed to keep themselves safe. The rule includes a certification form that may be used by covered housing providers.

HUD will be publishing additional guidance in the coming months. In the meantime, if you have a question, please submit it to the HUD Exchange Ask A Question (AAQ) portal.