Chronic Homeless Population Drops by 30 Percent, Study Finds
August 4, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
A federal effort known as “housing first,” which seeks to find permanent shelter for the chronically homeless, is being cited as a reason the number of chronically homeless people living in the streets and in shelters dropped by about 30 percent, reports The New York Times. The data, which cover 2005 to 2007, are part of a new Bush administration study.
The decline may also be a result of better data collection and reporting by cities and towns, the paper reports. But at least one researcher, Martha R. Burt, calls the drop in homelessness “nothing short of phenomenal,” adding that with the right support and housing, the homeless population will not end up back on the street.
Still, the acting director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, Michael Stoops, cautions against putting too much focus on the chronically homeless, who account to about 18 percent of the homeless population overall.
Read coverage in The Chronicle of Philanthropy of the housing-first movement and efforts to end homelessness by 2014.
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