HUD RELEASES NEW HOMELESS COUNT

The key points in the just-released 2022 AHAR: Part 1 - PIT Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S. are:

• Between 2020 and 2022, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness increased by less than 1% (1,996 people).
• However, between 2021 and 2022, sheltered homelessness increased by 7%, or 22,504 people. 
• A total of 582,462 people experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2022. 
• 60% were staying in sheltered locations—emergency shelters, safe havens, or transitional housing programs.
• 40% were in unsheltered locations such as on the street, in abandoned buildings, or in other places not suitable for human habitation.

The report said that a possible cause for the increase in sheltered homelessness was the easing of pandemic-related restrictions some emergency shelter providers were using during the 2021 PIT count. These restrictions included reducing shelter capacity to allow for more space between people sleeping in congregate settings to reduce their exposure risk. The total number of shelter beds increased between 2021 and 2022, probably because of increased pandemic-related funding that supported additional non-congregate shelter beds. The number of veterans experiencing homelessness declined by 11% (4,123 fewer people) between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, 40,238 fewer veterans were experiencing homelessness than in 2009, when these data were first reported, a drop of nearly 55%. The 2022 report also provides estimates of chronic homelessness as well as data about people experiencing homelessness who are veterans, children, and youth.

HUD released its 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) Part 1 to Congress on December 19, 2022. The AHAR provides national estimates of homelessness, including demographic characteristics, service use patterns, and the capacity to house people experiencing homelessness. The report is based on Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) data regarding persons who experience homelessness during a 12-month period, point-in-time counts of people experiencing homelessness on one day in January, and data about the inventory of shelter and housing available in a community.

The 2022 AHAR Part 1 outlines the key findings of the Point-In-Time (PIT) count and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) that were conducted in January 2022. 

To view all AHARs since 2007, visit the AHAR page.

HUD User is a great source for various information about housing and housing trends.

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Source: HUD release, December 19, 2022.