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Nation's homeless estimate: 754,000
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 28, 2007
WASHINGTON - The nation has three-quarters of a million homeless people, filling emergency shelters through the year and spilling into special seasonal shelters in the coldest months, the government said Wednesday. The Housing and Urban Development Department estimated there were 754,000 homeless people in 2005. That's about 300,000 more people than beds in shelters and transitional housing. The estimate is similar to one by an advocacy group in January. The 2000 census pegged the number of homeless at 170,700, but it was widely considered an undercount. In 1996, the Urban Institute used Census Bureau data to estimate there were between 640,000 and 840,000. HUD developed the estimate using data collected by local agencies that serve the homeless. Agencies across the country tried to count the people living on the street one night in January 2005. The agencies also collected information from people in emergency shelters and transitional housing from February to April 2005. Emergency shelters are more than 90 percent full on average nights, the report said. By comparison, less than three-quarters of transitional housing units for families are occupied on an average night. HUD has been shifting resources from emergency shelters to transitional and permanent housing for years. The number of emergency shelter beds dropped by 35 percent from 1996 to 2005, to 217,900. The number of transitional housing beds increased by 38 percent during the same period, to 220,400. Fast Facts: HUD's report Among the findings for people in shelters and transitional housing: - Nearly half were single adult men. - Nearly a quarter were minors. - Less than 2 percent were older than 65. - About 59 percent were members of minority groups. - About 45 percent were black. - About a quarter had a disability, though experts said the percentage is probably much higher.
[Last modified February 28, 2007, 01:35:15]
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