Getting The #RealFactsOnHomelessness Starts with Debunking Common Myths about Homelessness Policy

Source: National Coalition for the Homeless. This image is from the original Housing Now! March on October 7, 1989 in Washington, DC

 Thanks to our friends at the National Coalition for the Homeless, Housing NOW! 2020 is a national call to action to end homelessness. This campaign is designed to re-energize local, state, and national advocates to come together to demand a significant increase in federal funding that keeps pace with rising local needs. It is based on the premise that housing is a human right and homelessness is NOT inevitable.

For the next few months, we will share 14 Myths of Homelessness and #RealFactsonHomelessness to help expose myths related to housing, homelessness, and funding.

Myth: HUD Point-in-Time numbers are an accurate count of people experiencing homelessness in the United States.

Facts: The Point in Time (PIT) count is only a snapshot of people experiencing homelessness in one night in January. It is generally acknowledged that the PIT is a vast undercount because:

1. it relies on HUD’s narrower definition of homelessness

2. it is performed primarily by volunteers

3. it requires self-reporting

4. it omits people who do not want to be counted

5. it undercounts children, youth and families, and

6. it fails to count people who are doubled up, sleeping in motels, in jails, staying in hospitals, or otherwise can’t be found.

It is also important to note that:

• In 2017, PIT numbers showed there were 550,996 people experiencing homelessness during a 24-hour period of time in which the count was taken. Experts estimate that those experiencing homelessness during the course of the year are 2.5 to 3 times this number – or 1.3 to 1.6 million.

• HUD uses a more restrictive definition of “homelessness” which results in a significant undercount compared to the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education. For example, in 2017 the Department of Education, which uses a more inclusive definition and methodology, estimated that there were 1,355,881 students experiencing homelessness, not counting parents and siblings not in school.

• The PIT count also does not count persons temporarily housed through Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) assistance – which is generally limited to 3 to 24 months – as HUD considers these households “permanently housed” upon entry. Similarly, those who are housed in HUD funded Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) are also not counted as homeless, even though the vast majority of HUD Homeless Assistance funding through the Continuum of Care Program covers the costs of continuing housing and supportive services for people in PSH.

Myth: Coordinated Entry Systems (CES) required by HUD are connecting more people with more housing resources.

Facts: In theory, CES systems should be matching people experiencing homelessness with appropriate and available housing and service resources. However, in many communities, these systems create long waiting lists, fail to consider unique circumstances like geographical preferences when making referrals, are ill-suited to target specific resources to targeted populations, and are often managed by entities that do not have direct relationships or meaningful contacts with the people the system is intended to serve. CES systems with limited housing resources create bottlenecks that potentially give people experiencing homelessness a false hope that they may obtain housing, when such likelihood is limited. Even the best hotel reservation system in the world is useless if there is never, or rarely, a vacant room to reserve. Unfortunately, that is the case for most communities implementing CES.