Trump Administration Announces Continued decline in Veteran Homelessness

Veteran homeless is down nationally and in Alaska, Idaho and Washington but up in Oregon

November 12, 2019 SEATTLE - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported today that there was a decline in the number of homeless veterans in Alaska, Idaho and Washington state between the point-in-time counts conducted by HUD-funded local Continuums of Care in January 2018 and in January 2019.  In Oregon, however, there was an increase in veteran homelessness from 2018 to 2019.
 

• In Alaska, the total number of homeless veterans declined by 15.9 percent from 2018 to 2019 and by 63 percent between 2010 and 2019.
• In Idaho, the total number of homeless veterans declined by 6.5 percent from 2018 to 2019 and by 15.9 percent between 2010 and 2019.
• In Washington state the total number of homeless veterans declined by 3.1 percent from 2018 to 2019 and by 22.4 percent from 2010 to 2019.
• In Oregon the total number of homeless veterans increased by 5.5 percent from 2018 to 2019 and by 11.9 percent from 2010 to 2019.

 
In New Hampshire today, HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced that nationwide the total number of reported veterans experiencing homelessness in January 2019 decreased 2.1 percent from January 2018, falling to half of the number of homeless veterans reported in 2010. This year’s estimate finds 37,085 veterans experienced homelessness in January 2019, compared to 37,878 reported in January 2018. HUD estimates among the total number of reported veterans experiencing homelessness in 2019, 22,740 veterans were found in sheltered settings while volunteers counted 14,345 veterans living in places not meant for human habitation.
 
“Our nation’s veterans have sacrificed so much for our country and now it’s our duty to make certain they have a home to call their own,” said Secretary Carson. “We’ve made great progress in our efforts to end veteran homelessness, but we still have a lot of work to do to ensure our heroes have access to affordable housing.”
 
“Thanks to the dedication and hard work of our Continuums of Care, we have made real progress in reducing veteran homelessness in many communities across Alaska and the Northwest,” said HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Jeff McMorris.  “Obviously, however, there is still much work to do to insure veterans have the homes they deserve.”
 
Here are the statewide homeless veteran counts for HUD in Region X:

		2010			2018			2019
State	Sheltered Veterans	Unsheltered Veterans	Total Veterans	Sheltered Veterans	Unsheltered Veterans	Total Veterans	Sheltered Veterans	Unsheltered Veterans	Total Veterans
AK	270	30	300	110	22	132	85	26	111
ID	128	111	239	146	69	215	129	72	201
OR	573	712	1285	600	763	1363	611	827	1438
WA	1282	761	2043	770	866	1636	818	767	1585
Reg X	2253	853	3867	1626	1720	3346	1643	1692	3335
National	43437	30650	74087	23312	14566	37878	22740	14345	37085

Each year usually in January, HUD-funded Continuums of Care across the country conduct one-night “point-in-time” counts of’ the number of persons experiencing homelessness—in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs and in unsheltered locations.   There are 17 Continuums of Care in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Below you will find the count results for those Continuums for 2011, 2018 and 2019:

		2010			2018			2019
Continuum of Care Name	Sheltered Veterans	Unsheltered Veterans	Total Veterans	Sheltered Veterans	Unsheltered Veterans	Total Veterans	Sheltered Veterans	Unsheltered Veterans	Total Veterans
Anchorage	168	31	199	58	4	62	37	10	47
Alaska Balance of State	68	21	89	52	18	70	48	16	64
Boise/Ada County	120	15	135	98	15	113	112	9	121
Idaho Balance of State	49	66	115	48	54	102	17	63	80
Eugene/Springfield/Lane County	68	186	254	53	120	173	52	145	197
Portland-Gresham-Multnomah County	239	218	457	265	183	448	243	230	473
Medford/Ashland/Jackson County	163	17	180	82	34	116	72	35	107
Central Oregon	15	62	77	24	36	60	13	49	62
Oregon Balance of State	135	234	369	128	346	474	142	316	458
Hillsboro/Beaverton/Washington County	35	27	62	47	24	71	61	23	84
Clackamas County	0	75	75	1	20	21	28	29	57
Seattle/King County	546	41	587	392	529	921	365	465	830
Washington Balance of State	322	140	462	215	175	390	282	151	433
Spokane City and County	73	18	91	67	29	96	66	19	85
Tacoma/Lakewood/Pierce County	125	33	158	60	80	140	57	67	124
Everett/Snohomish County	38	47	85	20	32	52	23	35	58
Vancouver/Clark County	63	32	95	16	21	37	25	30	55

In addition to funding Continuums, HUD collaborates with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly administer the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, which combines permanent HUD rental assistance with case management and clinical services provided by the VA. HUD-VASH is complemented by a continuum of VA programs that use modern tools and technology to identify the most vulnerable Veterans and rapidly connect them to the appropriate interventions to become and remain stably housed. This year to date, more than 11,000 veterans, many experiencing chronic forms of homelessness, found permanent housing and critically needed support services through the HUD-VASH program.
 
To date, 78 local communities and three states have declared an effective end to veteran homelessness, creating systems to ensure that a veteran’s homelessness is rare, brief, and one-time. Read more. 
 
HUD and VA have a wide range of programs that prevent and end homelessness among veterans, including health care, housing solutions, job training and education. HUD VASH funding provides permanent and affordable housing to some 6,000 formerly veterans in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. More information about VA’s homeless programs is available at VA.gov/homeless. More information about HUD’s program is available here. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless should contact their local VA Medical Center and ask to speak to a homeless coordinator or call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 1-877-4AID-VET.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. More information about HUD is available at www.hud.gov and https://espanol.hud.gov. You can also connect with HUD on social media and follow Secretary Carson on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for news alerts on HUD's Email List.
 
VA’s mission is to fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's veterans.  More information about VA and its programs is available at www.va.gov