More families are homeless and on the streets

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/16/news/economy/homelessness/index.htm

By Tami Luhby, senior writerJune 16, 2010: 2:49 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Great Recession drove more families into homeless shelters in 2009, a new federal report has found.

Some 170,000 families needed shelter last year, up from 159,000 in 2008, according to an annual survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. There were 535,000 people in those families.

Over the course of the past year, the number of people in homeless shelters dipped slightly to 1.56 million, from 1.6 million a year earlier. This translates into one of every 200 Americans.

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One reason for the overall drop in homelessness is the increased federal effort to help those chronically on the street. Nearly 111,000 long-term homeless were on the streets on a single night in January 2009, down more than 10% from a year earlier and nearly 30% from 2006.

Marquez attributes the decline to the construction of additional permanent supporting housing: Some 42,000 beds were added between 2006 and 2009.
Families need more help

Families also stayed longer in shelters in 2009, with the median number of nights rising to 36, up from 30 a year earlier. Most of these families are headed by women under the age of 31, and more than half of children in shelters are under the age of 6. But more families with two adults and more headed only by a father also fell into homelessness, indicative of the recession's toll, Marquez said.

By contrast, homeless individuals are overwhelmingly male and over age 30. More than 10% are veterans and more than 40% have a disability.
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