The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said today that the number of chronically homeless people living on the streets is down nearly 12 percent. The press release attributes the decline mainly to an increase in supportive housing (housing that provides homeless folks with services and, uh, support):
HUD's analysis found that more than 20,000 persons moved from the streets into transitional and permanent supportive housing between 2005 and 2006.According to data from 3,900 cities and counties across the country, HUD found that more than 1,500 communities reported a reduction in the number of long-term homeless persons over a one-year period. HUD's analysis indicates there were 155,623 chronically homeless individuals in 2006, down from 175,914 from the year before -- an 11.5 percent decrease.
The data comes from counts done in cities across the country. Unfortunately, the most recent count by Charlotte's Homeless Services Network indicates that homelessness is up here.