HUD 2008 Homeless Report Submitted to Congress

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has submitted its 2008 homeless report to Congress. The 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report asserts homelessness has increased particularly in suburban and rural areas. The report provides a national review of homelessness in the country. In releasing its report, the department also unveiled a new quarterly assessment of homelessness, Homeless Pulse Project, which is designed to help the government determine the impact of the current economic crisis on families.

The annual report indicates the number of homeless individuals seeking shelter remained constant; however, the number of homeless families seeking shelter increased by 56 percent in the suburbs and rural areas while experiencing a nine percent increase overall.

HUD’s press statement also included the following data about sheltered homeless persons from the report:

• 68 percent are in principal cities – 32 percent are in suburban and rural areas.
• 68 percent are individuals – 32 percent are persons in families with children.
• 62 percent are members of minorities.
• 64 percent of all sheltered homeless adults are men and 36 percent are women.
• 40 percent of all homeless individuals are 31-to-50 years old.
• 12 percent of all sheltered homeless adults are veterans.

Additional findings in the report include the following:

1. About 664,000 people nationwide were homeless—either sheltered or unsheltered—on a single night in January 2008, down about 7,500 people (or one percent) from the previous year.

2. The number of people using homeless residential programs during the course of the year remained steady. Between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008, approximately 1.6 million homeless people used shelters or transitional housing programs at least once.

3. While the number of homeless individuals in shelters in 2008 was about the same as in 2007, the number of people in families increased by nine percent to 516,700, suggesting that family homelessness may be on the rise.

4. Family homelessness increased most especially in suburban and rural areas, by nearly 56 percent between 2007 and 2008. During that same time, the number of homeless individuals in suburban and rural areas increased by nearly 34 percent (see exhibit 4-2 and 4-3).

5. Homeless persons in shelters and on the street continued to be most heavily concentrated in urban areas. One in five people homeless on a single night in January were located in Los Angeles, New York, and Detroit.

6. However, in the twelve months ending on September 30, 2008, the number of people who accessed residential programs in suburban and rural areas increased substantially, from 23 percent in 2007 to 32 percent in 2008.

7. There were early signs that the economic crisis may be affecting trends in homelessness nationally. Notably, a greater share of people accessing the homeless system in 2008 came from stays with friends and family and from places where they had lived a year or more, suggesting that people who had been stably housed were becoming homeless after exhausting their housing options.

HUD to hold Web Cast on Fair Housing

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will hold a forum and simultaneous web cast on “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” Wednesday, July 22. The forum will be held at its headquarters office in Washington, DC. The “discussion” is designed to assist the department in its efforts to ensure its efforts to further fair housing are effective.

Specifically, the department hopes to answer the following questions:

1. How can the existing AFFH review process be improved?
2. What documentation do recipients currently use to demonstrate compliance with AFFH requirements and to support their certifications to AFFH?
3. What factors should be included in an analysis of impediments (AI) for fair housing choice?
4. How often should AIs be updated without creating undue burden?
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of creating a regional approach to affirmatively further fair housing?
6. What can communities and public housing agencies do to reduce housing segregation and increase housing opportunities for protected classes under the federal housing civil rights laws?

If you want to attend the forum you must register by sending an email to affh@hud.gov, with “Headquarters” in the subject line and the following information: (a) your full name; (b) organization; (c) phone number; and (d) e-mail address.

To participate via webcast, you must send an e-mail to affh@hud.gov, with “Webcast” in the subject line and the following information: (a) your full name; (b) organization; (c) phone number; and (d) e-mail address. You may view the webcast by going to www.hud.gov and clicking on Webcasts.

Mayoral Group Votes New Officers

The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) elected Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels its new president during its summer meeting in June. Also elected officers by the organization’s membership was Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz as Vice President and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa as Second Vice President for 2009–2010.

Other offices elected include five selected to complete vacancies on the organization’s Trustee and Advisory Board. They included Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Southfield (MI) Mayor Brenda Lawrence, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppart, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and Bowling Green (KY) Mayor Elaine Walker.

Also appointed to the Advisory Board were: Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Arlington (TX) Mayor Robert Cluck, Rochester (NY) Mayor Robert J. Duffy, Bridgeport (CT) Mayor Bill Finch, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, Redondo Beach Mayor Michael A. Gin, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, Laredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas, St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay, Mesa (AZ) Mayor Scott Smith, and Piscataway (NJ) Mayor Brian C. Wahler.

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