Chronic Homelessness Dips Under Bush

[hjmick]

As a rule, I don't usually post the same topics on two different boards, especially boards that share members. This is an exception. I originally intended to post this here, but the board was being serviced. Now that it is back up, I hope that my cross posting transgression will be forgiven.

I try to make every effort to be fair to all sides of the political spectrum, despite my conservative leanings (which, after a few months as a member here, strike me as very moderate) I think I do a pretty good job of it.

With that in mind, I figure that if all the bad news can be dumped on the doorstep of this administration (and I've dumped my share there), then good news should rest with them as well.

Any time the number of homeless is reduced and they transition to a more stable existence, I believe that is good news. Though I do wonder how accurate the numbers are, it has to be a bitch and a half to count them.

Chronic Homelessness Takes Dip in 2005
Nov 7 03:27 PM US/Eastern
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of people who are chronically homeless dropped by nearly 12 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to government estimates being released Wednesday.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development credited government programs designed to move homeless people into permanent housing.

"HUD and local communities are increasingly providing permanent housing solutions and breaking a vicious cycle of homelessness for those who have lived on the streets as a way of life," HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said in a statement.

HUD says people are chronically homeless if they have been continuously living on the streets for a year or more, or if they have been homeless at least four times in the past three years. They also have to have a disability, often mental illness or substance abuse.

The number of chronically homeless people dropped from 175,900 in 2005 to 155,600 in 2006, according to data collected by HUD from about 3,900 cities and counties.

Earlier this year, HUD estimated there were a total of 754,000 homeless people on a given night in January 2005. The overall estimate for 2006 is expected early next year.

The homeless are notoriously difficult to count, though HUD started requiring housing agencies to try in 2005. The agencies are required to count their local homeless populations every other year, though about 60 percent do it annually.

The 2006 estimate for people who were chronically homeless was based on annual data from agencies that conduct the counts each year.

Many cities had declines. New York went from 7,002 in 2005 to 6,503 in HUD reported. In Miami-Dade County, Fla., the number dropped from 831 in 2005 to 577 the following year. In Washington, D.C., the number increased from 1,773 to 1,891, though city officials told HUD they believed the change was caused in part by better counting methods.

Advocates for the homeless said they expected a decrease on the national level, given the government's increasing emphasis on permanent housing instead of temporary shelters.

"In the past few years, there has been a significant investment in ending chronic homelessness, both in time and resources," said Mary Cunningham, director of the Homelessness Research Institute at the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

"Communities across the country are really working hard on this issue," she said. "It would be a major disappointment if the numbers were not going down."

HUD has been shifting resources from emergency shelters to transitional and permanent housing for years. The number of emergency shelter beds dropped by 35 percent from 1996 to 2005, to 217,900.

Meanwhile, the number of beds in permanent housing for the homeless increased by 83 percent, to 208,700.

HUD spent $287 million last year on programs that serve people who are chronically homeless, creating 4,000 permanent housing units, the agency said.


Bush policies lead to fewer homeless

[red states rule]

Damn!! More bad news for the left. They lost another doom and gloom talking point

[typomaniac]

Any time the number of homeless is reduced and they transition to a more stable existence, I believe that is good news. Though I do wonder how accurate the numbers are, it has to be a bitch and a half to count them.

It is. Gotta make one wonder how much those numbers were motivated by self-serving targets.

[red states rule]

It is. Gotta make one wonder how much those numbers were motivated by self-serving targets.

I noticed how stories about the homeless were common under Pres Reagan, they disappeared under Clinton, and came roaring back under Pres Bush

The number is probably inflated, much like the uninsured number the left tosses out

[typomaniac]

I noticed how stories about the homeless were common under Pres Reagan, they disappeared under Clinton, and came roaring back under Pres Bush

The number is probably inflated, much like the uninsured number the left tosses out

The only reason they were so common under Reagan was that he closed most of the nation's mental hospitals and gave the patients no other alternative but the streets.

And as far as I know, stories about the homeless certainly didn't "disappear" under Clinton.

[avatar4321]

Wait... there is a government program that works? is that really what happened or are these homeless people beginning to realize that they need to choose a better life?

[82Marine89]

Though I do wonder how accurate the numbers are, it has to be a bitch and a half to count them.

Paint ball guns. It helps with not being duplicitous.

[hjmick]

Paint ball guns. It helps with not being duplicitous.

ROFLMAO

[typomaniac]

Wait... there is a government program that works? is that really what happened or are these homeless people beginning to realize that they need to choose a better life?

If you believe that every homeless person is homeless by choice, you're more delusional than Saddam ever was.

[avatar4321]

If you believe that every homeless person is homeless by choice, you're more delusional than Saddam ever was.

almost everything in life comes from making choices. If you deny that than you don't understand reality.

[gabosaurus]

Yes, I am sure people choose to lose their jobs and benefits. They choose to fall behind on their bills and home payments. They choose to not be able to take care of their families.

With all the budget cuts for HUD and related agencies, how can they hope to keep track of the homeless. Many cities deliberately undercount the homeless population to make themselves look better. San Francisco is notorious for this.

[typomaniac]

almost everything in life comes from making choices. If you deny that than you don't understand reality.

Do they choose to become schizophrenic?

(Sounds like a certain antiliberal poster here might be making this choice. )

[manu1959]

Do they choose to become schizophrenic?

(Sounds like a certain antiliberal poster here might be making this choice. )

so there are no homeless people that are there as a result of their own choices and continue to make choices that do nothing to help them get out of that lifestyle......

[typomaniac]

so there are no homeless people that are there as a result of their own choices and continue to make choices that do nothing to help them get out of that lifestyle......

Nice try, but I never said that. There are most definitely some who are homeless by choice. They just don't make up the entire homeless population, or even close to it.

[Yurt]

almost everything in life comes from making choices. If you deny that than you don't understand reality.

with the poor be with us always?

if not, why

if so, why