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| Homelessness in the United States | |
|---|---|
| Name | Homelessness in the United States |
| Caption | Encampment beneath urban overpass |
| Population estimate | Variable; point-in-time counts and estimates |
| Regions | United States |
| Causes | Housing shortages, poverty, mental illness, substance use, policy changes |
| Notable responses | Housing First, McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act |
Homelessness in the United States is the condition of individuals and families lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing across the United States. It encompasses unsheltered people on streets and in encampments, sheltered populations in emergency facilities, and those in transitional or doubled-up arrangements; modern responses intersect with federal statutes, municipal ordinances, nonprofit providers, and healthcare systems. Prevalence varies by city, county, and state and is tracked through periodic point-in-time counts, administrative data, and research by academic institutions and national agencies.
Definitions used in the United States derive from federal statutes and programmatic criteria such as the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidance; these classify individuals as unsheltered, sheltered, couch-surfing, or at imminent risk of losing housing. Operational definitions used by HUD, the Department of Health and Human Services, and local Continuums of Care inform program eligibility for agencies like Department of Veterans Affairs and Health Resources and Services Administration. Legal frameworks intersect with case law from courts including the Supreme Court of the United States on constitutionality of anti-camping ordinances in municipalities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon.
Patterns of homelessness reflect historical shifts: post-World War II urbanization linked to policies such as GI Bill implementation and suburbanization, while later deindustrialization in cities like Detroit and Baltimore contributed to housing instability. The 1980s saw policy retrenchment including reductions in federally funded public housing and deinstitutionalization associated with institutions such as state psychiatric hospitals; legislative responses included the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act in 1987 and later amendments. Trends since the 2008 Great Recession and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic produced regionally divergent trajectories monitored by HUD, academic centers at Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, and think tanks like the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.
Key proximate causes include affordable housing shortages linked to zoning decisions by municipal governments and market forces reflected in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s metrics, while structural drivers include income inequality examined by scholars at Columbia University, Stanford University, and Princeton University. Individual risk factors include serious mental illness as treated in clinical settings at institutions like Massachusetts General Hospital and substance use disorder addressed by programs affiliated with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Additional contributors include veteran status addressed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, involvement with the Child Welfare System, and discrimination documented by civil rights organizations such as the ACLU.
Homeless populations encompass diverse subgroups: veterans served by the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, families usually eligible under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families frameworks, unaccompanied youth often linked to Runaway and Homeless Youth Act services, older adults accessing Social Security benefits, and people experiencing chronic homelessness identified in HUD’s Chronic Homelessness definition. Geographic concentrations occur in metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles', Seattle, and San Diego, and in states including California, New York, and Florida. Disparities by race and ethnicity are documented by researchers at University of Michigan, Yale University, and advocacy groups including National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Federal initiatives include HUD programs such as Housing Choice Voucher Program and Emergency Solutions Grants, while the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act funds shelters and services. Interagency collaborations involve HUD, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Health Resources and Services Administration; municipal policies range from encampment clearance ordinances to rapid rehousing pilots in cities like Houston and Austin, Texas. Litigation and civil-rights advocacy have involved entities including the ACLU and municipal governments such as City of Los Angeles and City and County of San Francisco.
Evidence-based interventions include Housing First programs pioneered by researchers at Pathways to Housing and evaluated by institutions such as RAND Corporation and National Bureau of Economic Research. Supportive housing models link permanent housing with services delivered by nonprofit providers like Catholic Charities USA and The Salvation Army, and by healthcare partnerships exemplified by initiatives at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Kaiser Permanente. Emergency shelter systems, transitional housing, and rapid rehousing are core components administered through Continuums of Care coordinated with HUD.
Health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness show elevated rates of infectious disease managed in facilities such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, chronic disease encounters at clinics affiliated with Mount Sinai Health System, and behavioral-health conditions treated through Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration programs. Public-safety concerns intersect with law enforcement agencies including local police departments and public-health responses coordinated with CDC and Local Health Departments. Social impacts include educational disruptions under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and McKinney–Vento protections for homeless students.
Measurement relies on HUD’s Point-in-Time counts conducted by Continuums of Care, administrative data from agencies like HUD and Department of Veterans Affairs, and longitudinal surveys by researchers at University of Pennsylvania, University of California, Los Angeles, and Princeton University. Methodological debates involve capture-recapture techniques used by statisticians, mixed-methods studies published through journals like American Journal of Public Health and Journal of the American Medical Association, and data linkage projects employing privacy standards from Office of Management and Budget and research ethics boards at major universities.