The 2007 Annual Homeless Assessment Report A Report

The 2007 Annual Homeless Assessment Report: A Report to Congress on Homelessness in America Paul Dornan, Office of PD&R, HUD Jill Khadduri, Abt Associates Inc. 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the September 22, 2008 Standard - U. S. Department of

The AHAR Report in Brief • National estimates based on a sample of data from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) – sheltered homeless people and their use of emergency shelter and transitional housing • Supplementary national estimates from 2007 Continuum of Care applications – sheltered and unsheltered homeless people 2 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

What’s Special about this AHAR? • First report based on an entire year of data to provide national estimates of numbers of homeless people and their characteristics • Baseline for year to year comparisons • New information about long-term shelter users • Community-level information on the number of homeless persons 3 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Defining Homelessness • Literally homeless: shelters, transitional housing, or street • The AHAR report provides estimates of people who are literally homeless—the definition used for HUD Mc. Kinney-Vento programs 4 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

HMIS Data Used for AHAR Estimates • 98 jurisdictions: 61 sample sites plus 37 contributing sites • One year period: October 2006 -September 2007 • Records for 284, 000 people (counting each person once) • Aggregate data was provided by AHAR jurisdictions in predefined tables and then analyzed by the study team 5 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Sheltered Homeless Persons: October 2006 to September 2007 • 1, 589, 000 people are living in emergency shelter or transitional housing during the study period • 70% are alone; 30% in families • 77% are in principal cities • 13% of homeless adults are veterans 6 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Sheltered Homeless Individuals • 1, 115, 000 people are homeless alone • 69% are adult men • 55% are between 32 and 50; only 4% are over age 62 • 57% are minority; 33% are African American • 40% are disabled 7 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Prior Housing of Sheltered Homeless Individuals Living Situation of Sheltered Individuals Not Homeless before Program Entry Sources: Homeless Management Information System data, October 2006–September 2007. 8 • 43% were already homeless (came from another shelter or the streets) • For those who did not come from shelter or the streets, many were staying with family/friends and in institutional settings 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Use of Residential Services by Sheltered Homeless Individuals Emergency Shelter • 82% used emergency shelter only • 40% stay a week or less; 70% stay no more than 1 month • Long-term users (in shelter 6+ months) are more likely to be African American and over age 50 Transitional Housing • 12% used transitional housing only; 6% used both TH & ES • Length of stay is longer than for emergency housing – about three months 9 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Sheltered Homeless Families with Children • 474, 000 homeless people – adults and children – in 131, 000 households during the study year • Typical family is a mother and 2 children • More than half of homeless children are under age 6 • 55% of sheltered homeless family members are African American 10 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Prior Housing of Sheltered Homeless Families with Children Living Situation of Sheltered Persons in Families Not Homeless Before Program Entry • 4% came from the streets; 27% came from another shelter • For those who did not come from shelter or the streets, the majority were staying with family/friends Source: Homeless Management Information System data, October 2006–September 2007. 11 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Use of Residential Services by Sheltered Homeless Families with Children Emergency Shelter • 69% used emergency housing only • 23% stay a week or less • But typical length of stay is 30 days (longer than for individuals) Transitional Housing • 31% spent some time in transitional housing during the year • Typical length of stay is 151 days 12 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

2007 Point in Time Estimate: Sheltered and Unsheltered Homeless • Data submitted via annual Co. C funding applications • Communities estimated people in shelter and on streets, in abandoned buildings, or in other places not meant for human habitation • Almost certainly an overestimate because some communities included precariously housed people 13 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

2006 -2007 Point-in-Time Counts Point-in-Time Count of Homeless Individuals and Persons in Families, January 2007 60% 63% 40% 37% Source: 2006 and 2007 Continuum of Care Application: Exhibit 1, Co. C Pont-in-Time Homeless Population and Subpopulations Charts. 14 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Chronically Homeless Persons • 124, 000 persons were chronically homeless on a night in January 2007 (18% of all homeless persons). Point in Time Count of Chronically Homeless Persons Source: 2007 Continuum of Care Application: Exhibit 1, Co. C Point-in-Time Homeless Population and Subpopulations Chart. 15 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Highlights of the 2007 AHAR • The number of homeless persons on a single night has dropped, including the number of chronically homeless. • For most, homelessness is short-term. • Homelessness is largely an urban phenomenon. • People who are long-term stayers are older and more likely to be disabled. • 474, 000 persons in families are homeless; younger families with pre-school children are at greatest risk. • Slight uptick in the number of homeless people who became homeless because of eviction/foreclosure. 16 2008 HMIS Training: Setting the Standard - U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development