HUD: U.S Homelessness Up 18%
The "Point-In-Time" count report found the increase in homelessness is due, in part, to migrant families facing housing instability.
WASHINGTON – The number of homeless people counted across the country on a single night in January 2024 soared by 18% over a year-earlier count to 770,000 individuals, the Biden administration said Friday.
The "Point-In-Time" (PIT) count report released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development attributed a major portion of the increase to a 39% rise in homelessness among migrant families in 13 greatly affected U.S. communities. Family homelessness in 373 other communities, meanwhile, showed a much slower rise at less than 8% over 2023, HUD said.
The homeless migrants were counted "prior to the Biden-Harris administration taking executive action to secure our border" in the wake of a failed bipartisan attempt to address border issues earlier this year, the report noted.
The deadly Maui wildfire and other natural disasters also had an effect on this year's Point-in-Time Count. In Hawaii, more than 5,200 people were sleeping in disaster emergency shelters on the night of the count.
Conversely, homelessness among veterans decreased by nearly 8% from 35,574 in 2023 to 32,882 in 2024, which HUD attributed to Veterans Administration programs helping nearly 90,000 veteran households to find "stable, rental homes."
The administration cited "our worsening national affordable housing crisis, rising inflation, stagnating wages among middle- and lower-income households, and the persisting effects of systemic racism" as major contributing factors to the jump in homelessness, which have "stretched homelessness services systems to their limits."
"No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the affordable, safe, and quality housing they deserve," acting HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman said in a statement.
"While this data is nearly a year old, and no longer reflects the situation we are seeing, it is critical that we focus on evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness. We know what works and our success in reducing veteran homelessness by 55.2% since 2010 shows that," she added.
Todman said that in the months since the PIT count was taken, unlawful crossings at the border have dropped by more than 60% -- their lowest level since July 2020 -- while rents have "stabilized significantly" and HUD has added 435,000 new rental units.
Also on Friday, the Biden administration announced a series of measures to address homelessness across the country, including updating regulations to speed the repurposing of surplus federal properties for affordable housing and homelessness services.
In addition, HUD announced that states can now apply to participate in a second round of the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator, which provides individualized technical assistance to local officials seeking to reduce homelessness by addressing health-related social needs, such as services that connect the elderly and people with disabilities to affordable, accessible housing.
The White House also revealed it is allocating nearly $40 million to support veterans through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program.
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