Shelters See Flood of Homeless Families

categories: Housing, Policy, recession, Research

Published August 16, 2009 @ 06:23AM PT

This week, the Washington Post called families the "new face of homelessness." But family homelessness is by no means a new, recession-induced phenomenon. Low-income, single parent households have for years been just one or two paychecks away from falling through the cracks. If anything, the depths of our current recession are simply bringing to light the vulnerability these families have been living with for decades.

Still, this doesn't change the fact that more families are showing up in droves to shelters and housing assistance providers in need of assistance. The latest numbers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development show that the number of homeless families rose 9 percent last year. In rural and suburban areas, homeless families increased by a whopping 56 percent. All in all, more than half a million people who were members of a family used an emergency shelter or transitional housing between Oct. 1, 2007, and Oct. 1, 2008. That's a lot of people falling through the cracks.

So what does the average homeless family look like? According the the latest HUD data, women make up 81 percent of adults in homeless families. They often are younger than 30 with children younger than 5.

While these numbers are disturbing, it's even more disconcerting that the HUD numbers don't even capture the number of families who may be homeless or on the verge of homelessness, but are not included in the current federal definition used for housing purposes. As the Washington Post article rightly points out, most families will utilize every single housing option possible before resorting to shelter, be it couches, floors, motels - you name it. Yet these types of "doubled-up" arrangements are not considered homeless by HUD.

That said, I don't necessarily think expanding the current federal definition of homelessness will solve this problem. Finding and counting every family living on Grandma's couch would simply compound the challenges of conducting homelessness counts. Therefore, we can only wonder how much higher the figures would be if every precariously housed/unhoused family were included in the HUD numbers.

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Comments (2)

One question, Shannon. If expanding the definition to include the millions of homeless kids and parents outside of shelter "systems" isn't the answer, what is?

What do you think it will take to get Congress to pay attention to this commonly-acknowledged skyrocketing homeless population devastating families and teens the worst? HUD spews a few indiscernible, confusing numbers, the press picks up the message, and many don't think it's a problem.

Some of us have been trying to get the message "Homeless kids count!" across for decades. We have seen and tried to help countless impoverished and struggling families falling through the ever-widening and increasingly deteriorating safety net. We can document the painful and drastic realities: Public housing dollars and resources were slashed, affordable housing dried up and blew away, and welfare changed into an often punitive dribble of what it was.

Now, as the economy tanks, we're surprised that the number of homeless families and teens is increasing??

Fighting AGAINST counting homeless kids and families seems like enabling the rampant denial that got us here in the first place. What would you say to the 320 children, with their families, who were turned away at the Oakland County (MI) shelter last month? This is the dreadful reality playing out in communities of all sizes across the nation.

Waiting till Congress has a clue will be too late for millions of kids who have discovered that they don't count.

I say we're long overdue for the courage to face homelessness and poverty in this nation. It would be nice for advocates and decent human beings across the land to say HOMELESS KIDS DO COUNT!

Posted by HEAR US on 08/16/2009 @ 02:13PM PT
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It would seem to be that the D.C. government would try to get some of these homeless people in touch with relatives who are looking for them. I have tried unsuccessfully to locate a missing relative and the police department gave me a few calls and offered to do DNA testing but I have not heard back from them. This relative has not been seen by family members for about four years and has been living in D.C. shelters for the past 30 years. He is about 70 years old and too old to be living that kind of life. We need help in finding him to at least know that he has a family ! HELP

Posted by Nettie Harris on 08/19/2009 @ 03:26PM PT
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Author

Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.