The number of homeless people in America will reach an all-time high in 2023, leaving many people across the country concerned about what will happen in 2024 and what is being done to address the nation's growing homelessness crisis. There is.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an estimated 653,104 people will experience homelessness on any given night in 2023, an increase of 12% from 2022 and the highest number of homeless people since the country began using annual points. became. -2007 Intime Survey.
One of the factors contributing to the increase in homelessness is the end of pandemic programs such as the eviction moratorium and rising rent prices, the report outlines.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, data showed that the U.S. was making steady progress in reducing its homeless population as the government focused on increasing investment to secure housing for veterans. The number of homeless people decreased from about 637,000 in 2010 to about 554,000 in 2017.
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Encampment on the streets of San Francisco on April 14, 2023. Homelessness and crime continue to plague the city's Tenderloin neighborhood. (Flight Risk on Fox News Digital)
HUD noted in its report that the number of people experiencing homelessness jumped 25% between the 2021 and 2022 federal fiscal years. Fiscal year 2022 ended in September 2022.
The number of homeless veterans increased by 7.4% last year, the largest increase in the past 12 years, as revealed in HUD's annual report.
The report also found that on one night in January 2023, there were 35,574 homeless veterans in the United States. Unsheltered veterans accounted for nearly 80% of the overall increase in homelessness seen in 2023.
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HUD reports that compared to 2022, the overall number of homeless people increased by 12%, or approximately 70,650 people. According to the report:
- Sheltered homelessness increased by 13.7%
- Unsheltered homelessness increased by 9.7%.
- Individual homelessness increased by 10.8%.
- Homelessness among families with children increased by 15.5%.
- Homelessness among unaccompanied youth increased by 15.3%.
- Veteran homelessness increased by 7.4%.
- 12% increase in individuals experiencing chronic homelessness
Signs have been placed on the fence surrounding a homeless encampment in Minneapolis' East Phillips neighborhood. The city is preparing to clear camps and house homeless people in shelters and housing before the cold weather sets in. (Michael Silk/UCG/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images, File)
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Congress also adopted $3.633 billion for homeless assistance in last year's fiscal year 2023 funding bill. The National Alliance to End Homelessness is pushing for a $200 million increase in fiscal year 2024, $84 million more than the Biden administration's proposal.
In response to the growing need for shelter, communities have also expanded the number of shelters, temporary housing, and safe haven beds. The number of beds in shelters and temporary housing increased by 7% in 2023 compared to 2022.
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Homeless people hold belongings in front of an outpatient mental health clinic in Los Angeles on December 6, 2022. (Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images, File)
According to the data, California has the highest number of homeless people in the country, with Los Angeles leading the way with just over 71,000 people without a place to call home, followed by San Diego with more than 10,000 people, San Jose, and Oakland. , which shows Sacramento in second place with nearly 10,000 people, followed by San Francisco. It is in the top 10 with over 7,500.
New York City, the most populous city in the United States, ranks first as the city with the most homeless people, with more than 88,000 people. New York state's homelessness rate has increased more than three times the national rate, according to a HUD report.
1. New York City: 88,025
2. Los Angeles: 71,320
3. Seattle: 14,149
4. San Diego: 10,264
5. Denver: 10,054
6. San Jose, California: 9,903
7. Auckland: 9,759
8. Phoenix: 9,642
9. Sacramento, California: 9,281
10. San Francisco: 7,582
The Supreme Court is currently scheduled to rule on a case that could help clean up cities that are bearing the brunt of the crisis.
On January 12, the high court agreed to hear the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which concerns whether cities can ban homeless people from sleeping in public areas.
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Homeless activists work to clean up a homeless camp in the Reno neighborhood near the Platte River in Denver on May 17, 2022. Gather your friends. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post, Getty Images)
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled that a camping ban in Grants Pass, Oregon, was unconstitutional because it violated the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” was under way.
But, according to The Hill, Grants Pass argues that allowing homeless people to stay in encampments could lead to increased crime, fires, a “return of medieval diseases” and environmental damage. did.
Jason Lantz, host of KTTH Radio Seattle/Tacoma's “Jason Lantz Show” and author of “What's Killing America,” told FOX News Digital that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision , said it is extremely detrimental to the city when dealing with the homeless crisis. .
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A dog emerges from a tent set up on a street in San Francisco on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Homelessness and crime continue to plague the city's Mission District. (Flight Risk on Fox News Digital)
“The truth is that nothing will improve unless we take a carrot-and-stick approach. Homeless people often decline offers of shelter because they know they can't be easily chased away. If we make it easy to say no, we ask, “If we think about what to do with shelters and other resources, what will happen?'' They say no. We have to be able to create policies that work in our communities without being held back by liberal judges in the division,” Lantz said.
Luntz added that leftists are obfuscating the truth by claiming that homelessness is caused by rents being too high. Rather, he said, the influx of drugs is to blame.
“Cities, counties, and states that have a permissive approach to drug use are flooding the streets with drugs and porous borders. At the same time, imagine what's happening. Homelessness. and related crimes. If we want to meaningfully address the homelessness crisis, we must reject harm reduction policies that inherently enable drug use, stop pretending this is a housing issue, and respond to demands. “This will help fund treatment,” Lantz said.
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If passed, the ruling would apply to nine Western states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
A 2018 Ninth Circuit decision in a Boise, Idaho case also ruled that penalizing homeless people for sleeping on the streets when there is no available shelter violates the Eighth Amendment. It was done.
In November, the city of San Francisco came under fire for removing homeless people to beautify the city ahead of a summit between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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“I know people are saying, 'Oh, they're just cleaning this place up because these nifty leaders are coming to town.' That's true, because it's true. So – but that's also true for months and months before APEC. [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit]we continue to have conversations,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said.
Newsom's 10-year plan to end homelessness in San Francisco, like the rest of California, is far from solving the problem, and December marked the 20th anniversary of the failed effort.
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“Twenty years ago, then-Mayor Newsom launched a 10-year plan to end homelessness in San Francisco,” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson told Fox News Digital. “Not only does the problem remain unresolved today, but he has since taken his failure to the forefront across the state, with communities across California grappling with a devastating homelessness crisis.”
Newsom's office did not respond to Fox News Digital.
Rising housing prices and rising costs of necessities such as food and transportation are also contributing to an increase in the number of people without a place to live.
The federal government sent Americans $817 billion in stimulus checks, with the pandemic-era program ending in March 2021, according to New York Times estimates.
FOX News' Andrew Mark Miller, Bree Stimson, Houston Keene and Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.
