Posted on 12/17/2018 9:01:27 AM PST by yesthatjallen
Homelessness in the U.S. increased in 2018 for the second straight year after being in decline for 7 years previously, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The small 0.3 percent increase from last year comes as the economy is booming and unemployment is at its lowest point in decades.
The homelessness rate is included in an annual report given to Congress Monday conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
HUD secretary Ben Carson called the rise in homelessness last year relatively muted, saying that for it “to be relatively flat is actually pretty good” given the rise in real estate prices.
The report separates homeless by “sheltered” and “unsheltered.”
The “unsheltered” homeless population has increased steadily since 2015, while the “sheltered” population has decreased since 2014.
Advocates say the lack of affordable housing, particularly in metropolitan settings, is a leading factor in homelessness.
“There is a critical shortage of affordable rental housing in every jurisdiction across the country,” Barbara Poppe, the former executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, told the Journal.
Nearly one quarter of the country’s entire homeless population lives in New York City or Los Angeles as both cities grapple with increasing rents prices. Average rent in Los Angeles has increased 35 percent since 2012 and 20 percent in New York, according to the Journal.
Closing all the mental institutions wasn’t such a good idea.
Legalized Pot.
This is how death squads come about.
My son and his wife are employed and homeless. Even though their income is paltry, the fact that both work disqualifies them from any assistance or subsidized housing. So far, they spend part of the week in a motel, and the other part sleeping in their vehicles. Please pray for them. They have two teenaged sons and a couple of dogs along for the adventure.
“Homelessness” or, “unemployed” are not the same things as “unemployed and homeless.” My son and his wife both work, and the whole family is homeless. Thank goodness they are in a warm climate.
I hate to hear that, but there must be more to the story. Is it location?
They are all in blue cities getting high.
Not sure if it boils down to location. They are in southern Utah, work there, have family
ties there, but housing is hard to find, especially since
their pay is low, and because they both work, they don’t qualify for subsidies. Things appear to be turning around, though. Housing offers are finally beginning to trickle in. He is crippled from job injuries in the oilfields of the North Slope and North Dakota, so the high-paying jobs he is qualified for require that he be on his feet all the time. (Wish he could be a fracking tech while sitting down...)
Isn't there a possibility that a fracking tech can qualify for ADA provisions?
I didn’t see the words “mental illness” anywhere in this report? I guess if we don’t say it, it will just go away.
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