As Continuums of Care (CoCs) across the United States are preparing to conduct their 2024 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count later this month, HUD has released the 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR): Part 1, which provides an estimate of individuals and families experiencing homelessness during the 2023 PIT Count.?
Key findings from the AHAR indicate:?
- Homelessness continues to increase. CoCs counted 653,104 people experiencing homelessness (about 20 of every 10,000 people) in the United States. This is the highest number of people counted since PIT Count reporting began in 2007.
- Of those counted, six in 10 people experiencing homelessness were staying in sheltered locations, and four in 10 were unsheltered — that is, staying in a place not meant for human habitation. Unsheltered homelessness was highest among persons in largely rural CoCs (43%) and major city CoCs (40%).
- About one-third (31% or 143,105) of individuals experiencing homelessness in adult-only households were experiencing chronic homelessness, the highest number since these data were first reported in 2007. Two-thirds of these individuals, or almost 93,000 people, were counted in unsheltered locations. This is the highest number recorded.?
- Racial disparities continue to increase. Black, African American, and African people experienced an increase in sheltered homelessness of 14 percent while American Indian, Alaska Native, or Indigenous saw an increase in sheltered homelessness by 18 percent. The number of Hispanic or Latin(a)(o)(x) persons experiencing homelessness increased by 28 percent with a 43 percent increase in sheltered homelessness. Asian or Asian Americans had the largest percentage increase in unsheltered homelessness at 64 percent.?
?Understanding these data and the historical trends requires some additional context:
- Communities are continually working to better identify people experiencing homelessness in their communities, not only to complete an accurate PIT count, but also to connect them with needed resources. Some increases are the result of improved data collection efforts, improved relationships across the homeless response system, and meaningful partnerships with people with lived experience of homelessness.
- While the COVID-19 pandemic required communities to make sudden shifts to non-congregate sheltering, the resulting public health emergency brought an influx of funds through the American Rescue Plan and national, state, and local eviction moratoriums across the county. Many more individuals were able to access shelter during the public health emergency, but the end of eviction moratoria caused more families to lose their homes.?
- Some communities saw spikes in homelessness in their communities due to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian or surges of asylum seekers arriving in their communities as the southern border reopened.?
Despite the increases, many urban, suburban, and rural communities have made progress toward ending homelessness.
- More than one-fourth (27%) of CoCs experienced a reduction in overall homelessness.
- There was an eight percent increase in persons exiting homelessness to permanent housing.
- There was a seven percent increase in shelter bed inventory and a six percent increase in permanent housing for formerly homeless persons.
Cloudburst’s Homeless Assistance Team works everyday with local communities across the country to help them address racial disparities in their homeless response systems, better identify and serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and improve projects that provide the shelter, services, and housing needed to address their homelessness crises, as well as supporting communities in responding to natural disasters, public health emergencies, and influxes of new arrivals.
