(Tribune News Service) \u2014 Family homelessness in the US is on the rise in an alarming sign of how the increasing cost of goods, the ever-tightening housing supply and the end of most pandemic-era benefits are putting pressure on Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some 72,700 people in families with children were experiencing homelessness in 20 of the largest cities in the nation as of January, a 37.6% jump from a year before, according to an analysis of data provided by jurisdictions. In New York, that figure shot up by two thirds, while Chicago, the District of Columbia and Fort Worth, Texas, also saw outsize increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings \u2014 based on data collected from cities that conducted a count of people staying in shelters or on the streets \u2014 show a worsening national picture ahead of a government report due at the end of year. The Housing & Urban Development Department typically releases a full count that includes point-in-time data from more than 400 jurisdictions in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The situation is likely even more grim than the numbers show: so-called point-in-time samples often are a significant undercount, and cities including San Francisco and Seattle \u2014 which have dire homeless crises \u2014 were excluded from the analysis because they only counted the number of people in their shelters this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest estimates illustrate the worrisome direction family homelessness is headed \u2014 all as eviction bans, stimulus payments and enhanced food and child-care programs expire. Families of color also tend to be disproportionately affected, with Black Americans making up half of those experiencing family homelessness, according to HUD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard Cho, a senior adviser at HUD, said that early reports indicate that the number of families with children experiencing homelessness \u201chas been increasing dramatically.\u201d The department is anticipating \u201csome probably really difficult and challenging data\u201d going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere were many, many, many people that were already just barely making it,\u201d said Kathy Johnson, executive director of Oak City Cares, a nonprofit focused on helping people experiencing homelessness in North Carolina. \u201cAnd then when inflation hit and the economy changed, those people who were just on the edge teetered over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HUD estimates some 161,000 Americans in families with children experienced homelessness in 2022. Though the pandemic readings marked the lowest in data going back to 2007, some experts caution that jurisdictions were unable to conduct accurate counts during the health-care crisis. The Department of Education uses a broader definition and also counts those living out of motels or with relatives due to a lack of housing. It said some 1.1 million children were homeless during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be sure, in many places family homelessness is still below pre-pandemic levels, and cities like New York, Boston and Chicago said the arrival of asylum seekers since last year is weighing on the numbers they reported. In New York City, which updates its figures daily, there were about 53,500 people in families with children staying in its shelters as of July 9 \u2014 roughly 10,000 more than when the city conducted its point-in-time count in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These numbers come as the cost of nearly everything continues to climb. Housing prices were up 7.8% nationwide in June from a year ago. Pre-pandemic, research from the Government Accountability Office estimated that a $100 increase in median rent was associated with a 9% jump in homelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An increase in the number of homeless families could weigh on the development and well-being of American families in years to come. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that homeless children are at higher risk of facing serious health conditions and are more susceptible to substance abuse and violence. Every person experiencing chronic homelessness costs taxpayers almost $36,000 annually, and for every new American who becomes homeless, that means more resources need to be spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHomelessness is not a static event,\u201d said Ellen Bassuk, founder of the National Center on Family Homelessness. \u201cYou don\u2019t become homeless, and then you\u2019re not homeless two months later and it\u2019s over. It goes on and on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an effort to avoid some of those vicious cycles, the Biden administration unveiled a plan last year aimed at reducing overall homelessness in the US by one-fourth by 2025 by expanding access to housing vouchers and simplifying the application process for government assistance programs, among other initiatives. The president\u2019s budget for fiscal year 2024 proposes $10.3 billion for homelessness assistance programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The District of Columbia saw a 30% increase in family homelessness this year, according to numbers provided by the city. A vast majority of those people were women, and more of than half of them had experienced domestic violence at some point. What\u2019s more, three in four of those people said they had an income despite being homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among those homeless in the nation\u2019s capital is Mercedez Millings, a 28-year-old single mother of four. She delivered packages and worked at a pizza shop during the pandemic, but experienced homelessness during that time and bounced between living in her car and staying with family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She and her children have been living in a Salvation Army shelter with some 25 other families for most of this year \u2014 and Millings is taking personal finance and workforce development classes. But one big obstacle is stopping her from getting a job: She gave birth to her youngest at her mother\u2019s home during the pandemic and never received an official birth certificate. Without it, she\u2019s unable to sign her daughter up for child care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s too many things to think about,\u201d she said. \u201cMaking sure we have a place to sleep is just one of them.\u201d Still, Millings remains optimistic. She wants to return to school almost a decade after dropping out of college, and hopes to become a doula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce you become comfortable with a house, you don\u2019t want to see the streets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Millings is fortunate to live in a city where she\u2019s been able to find shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While policies like right-to-shelter \u2014 which guarantee families a place to sleep at night \u2014 exist in cities like New York, Boston and DC, many households in other parts of the country are left to navigate homelessness on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roughly half of all homeless families with children in places like Tennessee and Idaho were unsheltered as of last year, according to HUD. In Oregon, that number was even higher. In Raleigh, North Carolina, where that number is closer to 72% \u2014 the highest among big cities in the US \u2014 local authorities are running against the clock to expand their services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lorena McDowell, who directs the department of housing affordability in Wake County, where Raleigh is located, has taken on the challenge after living at shelters and group homes herself while growing up in Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am not the norm. The norm is you end up just trying to figure out how to survive and feed yourself,\u201d she said. \u201cThe American dream, the idea of owning a home or going to college, is almost just like you don\u2019t even see it because you\u2019re just trying to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McDowell is waiting on a study on shelter needs that will help her team set priorities to tackle the issue. Still, she says the solution can\u2019t lie solely on finding people a place to sleep \u2014 it\u2019s finding people a place to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce you fall into homelessness, it is incredibly difficult to dig back out of it,\u201d said McDowell. \u201cYour kids lost all their toys, all their clothes, all their comforts, all your furniture, all the things you need to build a home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n