Challenging my Misconceptions about Homelessness
Experts looking at U.S. homelessness trends during the 1950s and 1960s thought it would no longer exist by the 80s.
Instead, homeless people are defecating in the streets and other citizens are avoiding entire city districts.
With this being such an important topic for all citizens, I decided to challenge my preconceptions. Some of them were accurate, others were not. I asked myself questions such as how much of a factor is substance abuse, how many homeless are veterans, how is the government responding, and more. Below are the summarized questions and answers from my research.
Sources at the bottom of the article.
What causes people to become homeless?
Four major reasons:
Note: Drug abuse and psychological issues are not marked as causes, but those are factors that contribute to the four listed.?
What is the process supposed to look like to get a home, if the system is working?
What causes people to stay homeless?
Inability to get employed (substance abuse, criminal record, mental illness) combined with a reluctance to change habits. For example, some people want to stay on the street rather than go to a shelter because that is what they are used to. Dogs and other pets are often not allowed in shelters, so people with pets may choose to live on the street.
Note: Here we see substance abuse and mental illness mentioned as key issues that restrict employment options, which in turn keep people homeless.
How many homeless have substance abuse problems?
There is shockingly poor data on this topic. After looking at various sources, somewhere between 25% and 50% is likely.
How many homeless suffer from mental illnesses?
30% of homeless men have reported mental illnesses. 50-60% of homeless women have reported mental illnesses.
How many homeless are veterans?
11% of the national homeless population are veterans. This number has dropped significantly from 2011 when significant efforts were made for this specific group.
Are all homeless unemployed?
Many homeless are actually employed to some extent. 40% of unsheltered homeless had earnings from formal employment. However, the study with that statistic did not specify how much they were working per week. One survey study reported ~50% were employed in some capacity, and roughly half of those had temporary or informal jobs.
What has the U.S. federal government done about the homeless? For example, Obama's Opening Doors program?
Opening Doors was a plan to tackle ten objectives aimed at ending homelessness in the U.S. These include research, temporary housing, long-term subsidized housing, health services, financial stability, and more. It was a strategic plan rather than a financially supported policy or action. The U.S. federal government’s approach centers around funding localized initiatives.
What is California doing at a state level?
In 2021 Gavin Newsom got a bill passed for $12B (paid over two years) which included a $6B investment in HomeKey for 42,000 new temporary housing units and $2B in 7200 units of low-income housing for people exiting homelessness.
In 2022, he is proposing an additional $2B bill to continue to support those initiatives with money for housing solutions like tiny homes and other temporary options to bridge the gap to long-term housing.
The eviction moratorium in California during COVID-19 was also designed in part to address homelessness.
Also of note, in 1994 San Francisco tried to enact a rent control policy. However, it exacerbated the problem. Owners either bulldozed for new construction (where the restrictions did not apply) or sold the rooms as condos.
How is California doing from a management standpoint?
According to an audit report, the state of California has no statewide plan and instead defers to local communities. The audit report shows 2 of 5 audited Continuum of Care (CoC) had no comprehensive plan at all. And none of the 5 had reviewed whether they had adequate resources to meet the needs of the homeless.
How much money would it take to end homelessness in the U.S.?
?According to a report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $20B.
Note: Clearly this is unrealistic given California alone is looking to spend $14B in just two years.?
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Why don't homeless in high cost areas move to more remote locations?
Homes are still expensive purchases, even if less so in some places. The lack of social services (like libraries, water, friends, healthcare, shelters, food) makes it incredibly difficult to survive in small towns.
How much are homeless moving around?
Between 2018 and 2020, 98% of people who accessed homeless services in California did so in a single jurisdiction.
In LA in 2020, 20% of the new homeless population was from out of state.
To interpret that combination: once homeless settle into a location they do not often move, but there is certainly an influx into California.
Are resources like soup kitchens enabling the homeless crisis?
No good data available. Based on qualitative information, they may contribute, but they are not the underlying causes. For example, effort that homeless spend on personal improvements would otherwise be spent trying to find food.
How many homeless live in shelters?
It ranges by location. 72% of homeless in California are unsheltered, whereas only 5% in NYC are unsheltered.
Final Thoughts
I thought there were more homeless with substance abuse issues. I thought almost all homeless were unemployed. I thought there was a far higher percentage of veterans.
It was valuable for me to learn more about this problem, correct my misconceptions, and understand how different groups are trying to end homelessness. Hopefully this brief was valuable for you as well.
Disclaimer:
This is an extremely difficult population to survey and track. As a result, data is sparse and inconsistent between sources, even when each source is reputable. Please take the data provided above as indicators of a general range rather than absolute truths.
Sources
Note: Since this was originally a casual note taking activity and not something I intended to publish, I noted the sites I used, but I didn’t bother to use citations for each data point I referenced. The links used are below.?
Your compassion for the homeless community is inspiring! Thanks for using your platform to make a difference. Let's connect and work together to support those in need. ??
Clipboard Education | prev. Product @ Disney
2 年Interesting article. Definitely challenged some of my conceptions about homelessness as well.
Accenture Strategy | UW Alum
2 年Great read Kyle - Would also be interesting to see the percentage of homelessness cases that are caused by substance abuse vs those who picked up a substance addiction while on the streets